The Challenge
Ticket vendor StubHub has relied on e-mail and its biweekly e-mail newsletter as a primary marketing channel since its founding in 2000, and even more so since it was acquired by eBay last year. However, as much as 30% of StubHub's e-mails sent to people who were subscribers were getting blocked by spam filters, as were the links and images contained in the newsletter. StubHub needed a system that could push these e-mails and newsletters past its subscriber's filters and allow the images and links to be seen, even in preview panes.

The Plan
StubHub, San Francisco, hired Goodmail, Mountain View, Calif., which provides a service that essentially certifies e-mail. Messages are sent with a secured token and are marked with a blue ribbon icon that routes them directly to the inbox and around spam filters. The ribbon lets recipients distinguish which messages come from trusted vendors. The message is delivered with links and images turned on. Petco, Overstock.com and Time Inc. are among other companies that have used the system.

The Results
After four months, StubHub found that 100% of consumers who wanted the newsletter received it. Ticket sales directly attributed to e-mail efforts increased 36% and there was a 17% increase in the number of orders. There was also a 16% lift in unique click-throughs.