Lori Hunter is one of those good people that I've worked with more than once! In her most recent role as Director of Partnerships for Valimail, she (along with me and others) worked to build partnership connections with a number of email service provider (ESP) platforms. And going back a bit further, from 2011 to 2016 she worked for Return Path, the pre-eminent purveyor of deliverability tools. With my deliverability role at ExactTarget/Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and her channel partnership role at RP, we worked together quite a bit to help SFMC clients measure and monitor deliverability using Return Path's cool tools.
You can find her Linkedin profile here.
Lori, thank you very much for agreeing to chat with me for my little blog! I appreciate it. I usually kick these things off by asking people how they got started in the email industry. What twists and turns did your career path take to land you in the email world?My journey into email was a serendipitous blend of friendship and opportunity. I was working in the world of SMS fundraising when a friend connected me with Clea Moore who led me to Return Path (thanks, Clea!). There, I ran our partnership with ExactTarget/Salesforce Marketing Cloud and had the privilege of meeting and working with Al!
After Return Path, you went on to stints at Cheetah and Attentive – moving you from the partner/vendor side of things to the actual mothership of a sending platform. What, if anything, did you find different between the two environments: The vendor partner selling or managing sales of deliverability tools and partnerships, versus working for the automation/email platform, where you're ... maybe closer to that email marketing persona? I'm wondering if it means making different kinds of relationships. What do you think?
Transitioning from the partner-vendor side at Return Path to the 'mothership' environment at Cheetah was interesting. While my role focused on introducing partner solutions like Movable Ink and Persado to Cheetah's customer base, the core principles of relationship-building remained consistent. Whether you're selling a tool, platform, or service, success hinges on understanding your audience, earning their trust, and demonstrating how your offering aligns with their business objectives.
While I initially stepped away from email by moving to Attentive, they launched email a couple of years into my tenure. And now, as I wrap up my time at Valimail and embark on a new chapter at MSP Dynamic Quest (I will be running their Customer Success group), I'm confident that my email expertise will continue to be valuable (and that there is a decent chance that I may end up in the industry again).
What's the most annoying thing you see people do in email? Could be bad marketing, bad targeting, poor communication or even a persistent typo or other pet peeve! What drives you crazy?
Oh goodness -- funny you mention typos. That is a huge pet peeve of mine and I have a knack for instantly seeing them.
Another thing I find annoying is when a company collects data on their subscribers but then fails to use it to personalize emails. If you expect me to provide first party data, I expect you to use it to make your emails more relevant to me.
If you could convince the whole email universe to listen to you for the next three minutes, what would you want to tell them? (We'll assume "implement DMARC" is in there somewhere, no need to include it!)
My general message would be that we've got a fantastic community of experts sharing invaluable knowledge. Let's continue to tap into that wisdom and elevate our email game.
And for the love of all things email, please stop forcing people to re-enter their email address to unsubscribe.
Oh, and triple check the hands on your AI images -- that is always the telltale sign. 😀
OK, enough of that. Now let's get to the tough questions. Do you hate raisins?
Raisins? I'm not a raisin enthusiast, but I can appreciate their role in the grand scheme of snacking, especially in trail mix.
Favorite food or drink? Or one that you absolutely hate and you can't believe that other people like?
Tacos are my fave! There's just something magical about a food you can customize for any meal - breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
As for things I can't stand, mushrooms and shrimp are at the top. And let's talk about something I have been given crap for all my life -- well-done steaks. I know it's a controversial stance, but I'm not backing down. I prefer my meat cooked through, thank you very much lol.
Ha. Steak temperatures are a touchy subject and I am definitely not one to judge.
Chip House (if you remember him from the ExactTarget days) is a pretty good rock drummer who, annoyingly, learns new songs pretty well just by listening to them. And Tara Natanson followed the Grateful Dead around once upon a time! Where do you fall on that spectrum between musician and fan? Do you play music at all, or do you have a musician, singer or band that you just absolutely enjoy listening to, more than anything else?
My husband went to the Berklee College of Music in Boston -- does that count? Outside of rocking the clarinet in middle school, I am not a musician at all.
I am a huge music fan though. I went to college in Seattle during the grunge era and attended countless amazing shows -- Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Alice in Chains, and many Lollapaloozas to name a few. Even a Grateful Dead show or two @Tara! Now I go to quite a few concerts with my kids, which is cool.
I love this! I came of "concert age" in Minneapolis around the same time and saw a lot of similar bands as they toured through, usually at First Avenue (the club made famous by Prince) – and that is why I have a slight hearing problem today. It's probably too late for me to sue Alice in Chains or the Reverend Horton Heat over that.
And finally, tell me about Compass Rose -- what do they do and how did you learn about them?
Compass Rose International is an incredible organization dedicated to empowering young women both here in the U.S. and in Nepal. They're making a real difference by providing mental health support and preventing child trafficking. I've been fortunate enough to get involved as the Auction Chairperson for our upcoming gala on September 28th. We're aiming to raise crucial funds for their life-changing programs. If you're passionate about supporting young women and would like to attend the gala or donate an auction item, please reach out. Together we can create a brighter future for these amazing young people!
Lori, thank you so much for sharing all of this with me! I appreciate your thoughts and experience and insight, and I wish you much success at Dynamic Quest!
