Email Marketing RulesReceived 100+ Welcome Emails. Here’s What I Learned
Posted on March 2, 2023
I shared takeaways from having signed up for promotional emails from 100 brands in my CMSWire last column, so for this one I want to share what happened next: I received a lot of welcome emails!
But that’s not to say there weren’t some surprises. There were. Here are my key takeaways and the major opportunities I see for brands when it comes to crafting better onboarding experiences.
Email Marketing Trends for 2023: Competitive Differentiators
Posted on February 28, 2023
Email marketing is constantly evolving, so it can be difficult to know where to invest your time and energy from year to year. It’s extra challenging in turbulent times like these, when the economic environment, consumer behaviors, and business goals are shifting rapidly.
To help you prioritize your email marketing efforts this year, we surveyed Oracle Marketing Consulting’s more than 500 digital marketing experts, asking them to rate the current adoption of a range of email marketing technologies and tactics, as well as their predicted impact during 2023. We then mapped the results into adoption-impact quadrants.
In this post, we’re looking at the Competitive Differentiators, which are in the low adoption–high impact quadrant. The technologies and tactics in this quadrant are not completely proven, but some companies are already seeing great results from using them. They offer a significant competitive advantage with considerably less risk than our Unproven Opportunities.
But, there are still risks, including the acquisition of smaller providers, frequent process and feature changes as the technology stabilizes, frequent changes in best practices as knowledge grows, changing cost structures, scarcity of needed skills, and other issues. These hassles and expenses are easier to accept, however, because many adopters are already seeing sizable returns on their investments. Their willingness to accept some uncertainty in exchange for good returns gives them a distinct advantage over their competitors, most of whom have yet to embrace these tactics and technologies.
Of the 26 trends we surveyed our digital marketing consultants about, eight of them were rated as being in the low adoption–high impact quadrant for 2023. Let’s talk about each of them in turn.
Email Marketing Trends for 2023: Unproven Opportunities
Posted on February 23, 2023
Email marketing is constantly evolving, so it can be difficult to know where to invest your time and energy from year to year. It’s extra challenging in turbulent times like these, when the economic environment, consumer behaviors, and business goals are shifting rapidly.
To help you prioritize your email marketing efforts this year, we surveyed Oracle Marketing Consulting’s more than 500 digital marketing experts, asking them to rate the current adoption of a range of email marketing technologies and tactics, as well as their predicted impact during 2023. We then mapped the results into adoption-impact quadrants.
In this post, we’re looking at the Unproven Opportunities, which are in the low adoption–low impact quadrant. The technologies and tactics here are not fully vetted and may not generate long-term adoption or impact. There are significant risks that could undermine your investment in part or entirely—including rejection by consumers, inadequate inbox provider support, inadequate digital marketing platform support, the passage of legislative impediments, and other issues.
Because of those risks, most brands will find that the best strategy is to wait and let others work out all the details, uncover the best practices, and stress-test the technologies. However, the pioneering companies who embrace these trends at this early stage may seize a sizable advantage over their competitors.
Of the 26 trends we surveyed our digital marketing consultants about, four of them were rated as being in the low adoption–low impact quadrant for 2023. Let’s talk about each of them in turn.
Email Blocklists: How to Get Off One, and Stay Off Them
Posted on February 17, 2023
Having your email IP address or domain added to an email blocklist can seriously affect your deliverability, and therefore the profitability of your email program. This is doubly true if you’re blocklisted during one of your key selling seasons.
For those reasons, it’s important to routinely check if your brand is on any email blocklists and, if it is, to take the necessary steps to get removed and then to make changes so it’s less likely to end up on an email blocklist again.
In this post, Oracle Marketing Consulting Head of Email Deliverability Services Daniel Deneweth and I explain…
- What email blocklists are, including the two different kinds and a list of major blocklist operators
- How to determine if you’re on one or more email blocklists, including a list of paid and free tools
- How to get your brand removed from a blocklist
- How to avoid getting blocklisted, including recommended and highly recommended action items
To get all the details on each of these topics…
The Last Word on January 2023
Posted on February 6, 2023
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and social buzz you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
The Future of Email Marketing & Marketing Automation 2023 (EmailMonday)
Deliverability in 2023: Looking Back, Looking Forward (Kickbox)
B2B Gamble: Brands Boost Their Marketing As They Brace For A Recession (MediaPost)
Does Your Email Copy Persuade or Sell? (Holistic Email Marketing)
What Are Email Headers, How Are They Used, and How to Find Them? (Kickbox)
Insightful & entertaining social posts
Owning your own distribution channel is an important lesson for creators. Build your emails list, take a lesson from other creators #theoatmeal #emailgeeks pic.twitter.com/1op9rJvCZE
— Matthew Vernhout – @emailkarma@deliverabililt.ie (@EmailKarma) January 12, 2023
LOL, I asked ChatGPT to write a Drake verse about not emailing your list. 😂#EmailGeeks pic.twitter.com/DJYVwowrJa
— Travis Ketchum (@TravisKetchum) January 19, 2023
My top 5 email pet peeves:
1. Fake order confirmations (heart attack by email)
2. Fake RE: and Fake FWD:
3. All images + No alt-text
4. Bait-and-switch subject lines
5. Getting a sale email after I purchasedAnything to add?
— Kat Garcia (@heykatgarcia) January 3, 2023
I just opened an email and audio from the email immediately started playing and I NEVER want to experience that again. I didn’t even know audio in an email was a thing.
— Kelly Vaughn (@kvlly) January 24, 2023
Noteworthy subject lines
Michaels, 1/3 – Try something new in 2023! 🤩 Check out our classes and events.
Big Lots, 1/3 – ❤️ Ease into a healthier lifestyle!
Everlane, 1/3 – New Year Style Resolutions
Clinique Online, 1/2 – Start 2023 looking BRIGHT 🔆
Michaels, 1/11 – Try something new in 2023! 🤩 Check out our classes and events.
Art.com, 1/4 – REVEALED: Pantone’s color of 2023!
Nike, 1/12 – Todd X Nike: 2022 Year in review
Goldbelly, 1/5 – Fuel Your Resolution 🥗🍍 Fresh Fruits, Clean Proteins, & More!
The Container Store, 1/11 – Get Your Office Set For 2023
Forever 21, 1/17 – Trending colors for 2023 🦋🥝
Allbirds, 1/17 – Our Lunar New Year Exclusive
Peloton, 1/13 – Quitter’s Day who?
Vineyard Vines, 1/14 – The Valentine’s Shop Is Open 😍
YETI, 1/17 – Our Valentine’s Day Gift Guide Is Here
Uncommon Goods, 1/14 – What’s a gift like you doing in a guide like this?
The Container Store, 1/21 – You Love Them. They’ll Love This.
Fanatics, 1/10 – Georgia Bulldogs Are Back-To-Back National Champions!
Vineyard Vines, 1/30 – Super Bowl Styles: Chiefs Vs. Eagles
Goldbelly, 1/30 – Top Picks for Game Day 🏈🍕
NFLShop.com, 1/21 – Now Available! The Super Bowl LVII Collection
Macy’s, 1/5 – These fitness essentials are part of a balanced lifestyle
The North Face, 1/5 – Gloves, beanies & slippers make all the difference
Priceline, 1/19 – Choose your savings (Escape the cold!)
Nordstrom, 1/11 – Styles for sunny escapes 🌞🌺
Art.com, 1/3 – 10 family photo wall ideas!
Lane Bryant, 1/3 – Hurry. Head-to-toe looks for $59 don’t last.
Olive Garden, 1/3 – What’s always here and always on us?
Crate & Kids, 1/26 – Tuck them into supersoft bedding →
Abercrombie & Fitch, 1/5 – INTRODUCING YPB >>>
Clinique, 1/14 – This makeup remover feels like a spa treat. Try it free! With purchase.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 1/12 – Like a shot of serotonin.
Crate & Barrel, 1/26 – Organized kitchen = clear mind.
Chubbies, 1/28 – I like big putts
Crate & Barrel, 1/11 – Hemp bedding: Good for you and the planet.
Lululemon, 1/19 – The Define Jacket? All over social media.
The Hustle, 1/10 – 🔥 Goodbye, gas stoves?
MyPanera, 1/11 – Join us for Wellness Wednesdays 😊
Target, 1/8 – New Tabitha Brown for Target vegan food & kitchen collection.
Quiksilver, 1/12 – New: Blank Canvas x Gregg Kaplan
Redbubble, 1/14 – 🧑🎨 Meet an artist: ECMazur
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Continued Marketing Investments More Vital Now than during Past Downturns
Uplers: 2023 Email Marketing Predictions from 23 Experts
Webbula: Based on Past Economic Downturns, How Should Marketers Approach This One?
How to Fill Your Digital Marketing Content Calendar in 8 Steps
First Quarter 2023 Holiday Marketing Quarterly
The Newest Automation Trigger: Internet-Connected Devices
Visual Branding in Email Marketing: 7 Elements to Optimize
Content Calendar Assistant 2023
Navigating the Post-Holiday Season: Gift Returns, Customer Debt, & Gift Cards
Posted on February 3, 2023
The holiday season doesn’t end on Christmas Day—or even at the end of December. The ripple effects of the holidays can be felt well into the New Year.
Some of those effects are negative, such as gift returns and holiday-accumulated consumer debt. And some of them are positive, such as increased gift card balances.
Let’s talk about ways to reduce the negative impacts and boost the positive impacts through smart marketing and other strategies.
5 Takeaways from Signing Up for Marketing Emails from 100 Brands
Posted on February 1, 2023
I recently signed up to receive promotional emails from 100 B2C brands that span the retail, travel, consumer products, and media industries. I noticed five major areas of opportunity for brands to improve their signup processes:
- Signup forms are often hard to find
- Too many brands ask for phone numbers
- Exactly what you’re signing up for is sometimes unclear or misleading
- Some confirmation and preference pages are dead ends
- Double opt-in confirmation is increasingly used
For a full discussion of each of those…
Continued Marketing Investments More Vital Now than during Past Downturns
Posted on January 30, 2023
When times get tough, brands rely even more on their marketing efforts. That’s because, as everyone knows, it’s far easier to generate sales from existing customers than to acquire new ones. As we head into an expected downcycle with reduced advertising spending, companies will need to mitigate the contraction in sales through increased marketing efforts.
But that’s not the only reason to accelerate your marketing spend during this particular downturn. Here are four others…
Uplers: 2023 Email Marketing Predictions from 23 Experts
Posted on January 26, 2023
I join 22 other email experts in sharing my predictions for 2023. My predictions focus on customer data platforms (CDPs) and on Brand Indicators For Message Identification (BIMI). While I encourage you to click through and see what I say about those two promising technologies, I also encourage you to read the other predictions.
In particular, I urge you to check out those from…
- Jordie van Rijn, who talks about prompt craft and how email marketers will take on other similar channels like SMS and mobile push
- Kath Pay, who predicts a stronger focus on automation, including A/B testing it, which powerful and yet very underutilized
- Shmuel Herschberg, who says marketers will make greater use of replies, which are potent engagement signals that most programs not only ignore, but actively discourage
- Darrell Alfonso, who predicts that email platforms will improve their integration with other suites and that long-form emails will grow
- Mrugesh Dabhi, who says marketers will focus more on storytelling, user-generated content, and optimizing their unsubscribe processes for better retention
Webbula: Based on Past Economic Downturns, How Should Marketers Approach This One?
Posted on January 24, 2023
I join 11 other email experts in this Webbula roundup as we answer the question: How have your prior encounters enriched and modified your marketing approaches to prepare for an economic downturn?
My answer focuses on my observations from the 2008-09 recession. Based on that, I recommend that brands consider:
- Upping their discounting
- Lean more on their private label products
- Focus on messaging around value, versatility, and durability
- Messaging in the vein of buy one, get two or more items
I also point out that many of your customers won’t be feeling the downturn in a significant way. For those loyal, high-spend customers—particularly those that tend to buy full-price items—use personalization and segmentation to avoid sending them discounts and other recessionary messaging.
To watch my full answer, as well as the advice of the other experts…
Welcome! Email Marketing Rules is your guide to understanding the best practices of this complex, often misunderstood channel as you craft the best executions for your brand. Every week, we’ll explore strategies and tactics, discuss tips and inspiration, and dig into industry news and trends.
Chad S. White
Head of Research
Oracle Digital Experience Agency
Author of Email Marketing Rules and nearly 4,000 articles about digital and email marketing
