Gmail’s New ‘Block’ Option: Pros and Cons for MarketersGmail rolled out new “block” functionality to all Gmail webmail users yesterday, giving consumers yet another option to rid their inboxes of email they don’t want. On the surface, that might not sound like a great thing for marketers, but it’s not as bad as it sounds.

This option is just one of many that Gmail users have for getting rid of emails they don’t want, which also include deleting, unsubscribing, reporting as spam, and reporting as phishing. “Block” sits right in between “Unsubscribe” and “Report Spam” on the severity spectrum.

For marketers, the upside is that the new “block” option should reduce spam complaints because some subscribers who would have previously clicked “report spam” will now click “block” instead. The downside is that the “block” button may have created a new lower bar for ISP intervention, so some subscribers who might have previously clicked “unsubscribe” will now click “block” instead.

There are 4 ways email marketers can minimize the downside of this new development…

>> Read the full post on the Litmus Blog

4 Characteristics of Contextually Aware Emails

Read all of Chad's Marketing Land columns“Email is the most contextual medium—much more than the web,” Kevin Mandeville, Litmus’ content designer, said during a targeting and hacks workshop at The Email Design Conference in Boston last week. “We know much more about our users.”

Kevin was speaking mostly about marketers’ ability to target email clients like Outlook and Yahoo with various coding hacks, but when you think about email marketing on a program level, what he said is even truer.

Contextually aware systems are ones that can sense their environment and adapt their behavior accordingly. Email does this extremely well.

In my latest Marketing Land column, I discuss the four characteristics of a contextually aware system…

  1. Identity & Activity
  2. Time
  3. Location
  4. Device and Email Client

…and explain how email marketers can take advantage of each characteristic to create more relevant emails. I also include several examples of brands that have used contextual awareness in their email programs.

>> Read the entire column on MarketingLand.com

Salesforce Marketing CloudcastI was honored to be one of the first guests on Salesforce’s new podcast, the Marketing Cloudcast, which is hosted by my friends Heike Young and Joel Book. The podcast is available on Soundcloud and via iTunes.

In “The Email Episode: Giving Email a Little Respect,” we talk about:

  • What I do at Litmus and how I got started in email marketing
  • Why marketers have struggled with mobile
  • How engagement-based filtering has changed deliverability
  • How marketers can use data to create more engaging subscriber experiences
  • Which brands I have a “brand crush” on
  • The awesome power of triggered messaging
  • Who has had the biggest influence on how I think about email marketing
  • And much more…

>> Listen to the Marketing Cloudcast

Fast Company - Shop, Play Games, And Check Twitter—From Your InboxHow to bring interactivity to email—and whether we should—was a major topic at The Email Design Conference last month. In this article, Fast Company talks with Justine Jordan and I and others in the industry about the benefits and challenges of interactive emails.

I summed up the benefits of bringing video, carousels, product browsing, checkout, and other web functionality to email in terms of reducing friction in the subscriber experience:

“Every year, people are in more and more of a hurry, and that definitely is the case with email users. If you can give them something actually in the email that’s actionable, they’re way more likely to engage with that, versus forcing them to click through to a website where they have to regain their bearings and find the things that they’re interested in.”

The challenges were much harder to sum up, but largely boil down to uneven support across email clients because of the lack of accepted email coding standards. To see what Mark Robbins of RebelMail, Justin Khoo of FreshInbox, Kraig Swensrud of Campaign Monitor, and others said…

>> Read the entire article on FastCompany.com

The Last Word on August 2015

The Last WordA roundup of email marketing articles, posts, tweets and examples you might have missed last month…

Must-read articles, posts & whitepapers

Android Fragmentation Visualized (Open Signal)

Microsoft Outlook For Apple Watch One-Ups Apple’s Native Email Client (TechCrunch)

Why Open-Bait Doesn’t Work in Email (Email Critic)

Your Email Marketing May Impact Your Rankings (ClickZ)

Does An Animated Pop-up Work or Annoy? (WhichTestWon)

Candid answers to CAN-SPAM questions (FTC)

Insightful & entertaining tweets

@iamelliot: “human to human marketing” is a bullshit infused buzzword about why we shouldn’t use buzzword infused bullshit #h2hmarketing

@chelseajcook: I’m just a girl looking for a perfectly designed email in an imperfect email client world. #TEDC15

@lozzzytweets: Less cool than in person but @RodriguezCommaJ is joining us via robot for #tedc15! We miss you Ceej! pic.twitter.com/d6HX6iveaF

@yarrcat: 5% of your list are responsible for 38% of opens – treat ’em special! #TEDC15

@dcaro12: There is no such thing as pixel perfect design in email. It is impossible. @flcarneiro #tedc15

@EmailSnarketing: Status: #TEDC15 withdrawals and digging myself out of a pile of emails. Send snacks.

Noteworthy subject lines

The Container Store, 8/19 – Back To School with Some Favorite Mommy Bloggers
Victoria’s Secret, 8/6 – PINK Friday starts TONIGHT!
Levi’s, 8/30 – The Fall Checklists (+ Up to 30% off ends soon)
Saks Fifth Avenue, 8/19 – It’s never too soon to think COATS.
The Container Store, 8/15 – 1st time ever – Free elfa Installation
P&G everyday, 8/20 – Just for you: free shopping bag from Shutterfly
FragranceNet.com, 8/6 – Fragrance Layering 101 (plus TWO new coupons!)
Karmaloop, 8/24 – It’s All About The Tall Tee. See Our Top Styling Tips.
Anthropologie, 8/29 – 7 must-have tops, 1 must-have SALE.
Ann Taylor, 8/4 – We Heart You Too! What You’re Loving Now
Under Armour, 8/30 – This Hoodie Has No Off-Season
FansEdge, 8/15 – Retro gear never gets old!
Banana Republic, 8/15 – Shoes don’t make the man, but…
Ann Taylor, 8/19 – Between Sandals And Boots, There’s This…
Threadless, 8/24 – Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Bete…
Garnet Hill, 8/19 – Couldn’t shop garnethill.com? We apologize.
GNC, 8/29 – Oops! We meant – Save up to 60% ALL Weekend In Stores and Online!
J.Crew, 8/4 – Ends tonight: 20% off full-price styles with your J.Crew Card. Don’t have one? Sign up now.
Ninety Nine Restaurant, 8/19 – Together We’ve Raised Over 550k!
Urban Outfitters, 8/19 – These shirts. Just saying.
Etsy, 8/12 – Hit Refresh
Banana Republic, 8/24 – Instant gratification is inside
AutoAnything: You’re Missing This!
Victoria’s Secret, 8/12 – Open for offer code.

New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com

6 Keys to a Successful Welcome Email Experience

The Savvy, Time-Saving Responsive-Aware Approach to Email Design

The 5 Levels of Mobile-Friendly Email Design

The Last Word on June and July 2015

Email Marketing Rules (2nd Edition)The 2nd Edition of “Email Marketing Rules” was published 1 year ago today and I just want to again say, Thank You! Thanks to everyone who has purchased it. Thanks to everyone who has tweeted, blogged, and otherwise said nice things about it. And an extra big thanks to the 57 people who have reviewed it on Amazon.

As a sign of my heartfelt appreciation, I’ve cut the paperback list price by 13% to $12.99 and the Kindle price by 33% to just $3.99.

For those of you who haven’t grabbed a copy yet, I hope this makes it easier for you to do so.

>> Buy print edition—and afterward get the digital version for FREE via Kindle Matchbook

>> Buy Kindle edition (which is readable on any device with the free Kindle Reader app)

For those of you who already have a copy, I would be thrilled if you would write a review on Amazon or recommend it to your friends or colleagues.

>> Click to Tweet: I highly recommend “Email Marketing Rules” by @chadswhite. Pick it up today at Amazon the new reduced price: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1500981974/

I’d also like to once again thank my awesome editors, Mark Brownlow and Aaron Smith; Jay Baer, who wrote the insightful foreword; Andrea Smith, who designed the cool cover and illustrations; my copyeditor, Brian Walls; and all the folks who generously wrote blurbs for the book: Jeff Rohrs, Don Davis, Simms Jenkins, Kyle Lacy, Loren McDonald, Andrew Bonar, Dave Chaffey, and Justine Jordan. And last, but certainly not least, thanks again to my wonderful wife, Kate, who has supported me all the way.

6 Keys to a Successful Welcome Email ExperienceYou’ve honed your email signup appeal language to entice people to subscribe. You’ve created a signup form that minimizes friction. You’ve placed that form on your website, in your mobile app, on your Facebook page, and in other places where your customers and potential customers will see them. And—success—people are subscribing. Now what?

Sending a welcome email is that next crucial step. Here are six tips to ensure that your welcome email creates a great subscriber experience:

1. Send a welcome email immediately! Don’t settle for overnight batched welcome email sending. It has to be sent immediately after someone signs up. The reason is that…

>> Read the full post on the Litmus Blog

The Responsive-Aware ApproachWhile responsive email design is seeing the highest adoption rate among B2C marketers, responsive-aware may be the savviest and most time-efficient approach to creating a mobile-friendly subscriber experience.

What’s responsive-aware design? It’s an email design approach that uses responsive design for the headers and footers, while using mobile-aware design for the remaining body content. It’s a savvy approach to email design for three reasons:

First, this approach uses responsive design in the portions of an email where the highest link densities and smallest text font sizes are found. Using responsive design to turn an 8-link desktop navigation bar into a much more tappable 3-link one on mobile, for instance, makes the subscriber experience much better. And navigation bar links generally convert at a high rate, so ensuring that they’re easily tappable with a finger is smart business.

Second, header and footer coding is built into your templates, so…

>> Read the full post on Litmus.com

The 5 Levels of Mobile-Friendly Email Design

Read all of Chad's Marketing Land columnsSometimes being mobile-friendly can seem black and white. You’re either using responsive design or you’re not. But there are actually gradations of mobile-friendliness, especially in emails.

In my latest Marketing Land column, I discuss the 5 levels of mobile-friendly email design:

5. Responsive email design: Email content and layout adjust to user’s screen size
4. Responsive-aware design: Headers and footers are responsive, while remaining body content is mobile-aware
3. Mobile-aware design: Single-column layout, large text and images, large and well-spaced buttons and links
2. Quasi–mobile-aware design: Header and footer are desktop-centric, while significant portions of the remaining body content are mobile-aware
1. Desktop-centric design: Multiple columns, small text and images, tightly clustered buttons and links

I also share some additional insights from our joint research with Salesforce that we didn’t include in our 2015 Mobile-Friendly Email & Landing Page Trends infographic.

>> Read the entire column on MarketingLand.com

 

The Last Word on June and July 2015

The Last WordA roundup of email marketing articles, posts, tweets and examples you might have missed last month…

Must-read articles, posts & whitepapers

This is how you make your emails Apple Siri-proof (Email Audience)

Punched card coding – Javascript functionality with CSS – Mark Robbins / Front-Trends 2015 (RebelMail)

How the Top 500 Internet Retailers Collect Email Sign-ups (250ok)

How Email Engagement Compares to Social Engagement (Marketing Tech Blog)

Cart Abandonment Incentives: More Hindrance than Help? (Relevance)

Mind the Marketing Gap (Oracle)

Everything You Need to Know About Gmail’s New Postmaster Tools (Return Path)

Typographic patterns in email (StyleCampaign)

Fastest Way to Lose Customers (KISSmetrics)

Yes, Virginia, there is list churn (Word to the Wise)

Insightful & entertaining tweets

@iamelliot: Blimey. “People don’t buy on mobile so it’s not important” is still apparently a thing in 2015. You keep telling yourself that.

@listrak: Any holiday theme created for your website should carry over into your messages across the board. #ShineBrighter

@joelbook: By 2018, Gartner predicts that organizations that excel in personalization will outsell companies that don’t by 20%. lnkd.in/eEvs3Yw

@iamelliot: Just got an email from Google that looks better on iPhone than in Gmail. pic.twitter.com/Lpdq0NRHou

Noteworthy subject lines

Under Armour, 7/4 — Honor Our Heroes This 4th
Saks Fifth Avenue, 7/4 — Saks Celebrates American Designers
Petco, 7/23 — EARLY ACCESS: Black. Friday. In. July.
FragranceNet.com, 7/30 — 25% off sitewide – Christmas in July Sale ends today!
eBags, 6/1 — 2 Reasons to Celebrate: Dads & Grads Double Deal
Uncommon Goods, 6/2 — Father’s Day Finds For Great Guys.
Brooks Brothers, 6/2 — Need a gift? The Pop Shop is open.
Golfsmith, 6/5 — Top 5 Gifts for Dad!
Boston Market, 6/4 — Too Good to be a Nugget‏
Subway, 6/2 — The Meal of Approval
Dunkin’ Donuts, 6/10 — Celebrate National Iced Tea Day!
Dunkin’ Donuts, 6/5 — Free Donut on #NationalDonutDay – Today (June 5)
Discovery Store, 7/9 — Cheers to Shark Week! The Most Wonderful Week of the Year
Applebee’s, 7/29 — Chad, Celebrate Nat’l Chicken Wing Day with 1/2 Price Apps!
Anthropologie, 6/21 — Hearted: your Instagrams + our TAG SALE.
IKEA, 7/29 — Sign up for the new 2016 IKEA Catalog!
ThinkGeek, 7/9 — ThinkGeek yells “CONNNNNNNNN!”
Express, 7/29 — The Girlfriend Jean vs. the Boyfriend Jean
Vera Bradley, 6/2 — Meet us here for lunch …
Overstock.com, 6/2 — A to Zzzzz. Save on Everything You Need for a Better Bedroom (And Sleep!)
Clinique, 6/2 — You’ll be glowing—without the sun. 3 FREE minis with purchase.
Ann Taylor, 6/3 — Up For Promotion: 30% Off Suits
Vera Bradley, 6/8 — How long have you been friends?
Lululemon, 6/2 — more fun than skinny dipping
Gilt, 7/11 — Parsol: Go-to shades for stylish badasses
Crate & Barrel, 7/11 — Pull up a seat. They’re just $99.95 each.
Overstock.com, 7/14 — 2+2 = Up to 50% off Everything for Back to School
Zulily, 7/16 — Made you look…Sesame Street Collection and more
Express, 7/16 — Hey girl, let us ask you a question…
eBags, 7/23 — 100% Awesome, ??$ Off
American Red Cross, 7/31 — H2 Oh no! 5 Water Safety Questions
Zulily, 7/9 — Buying a new dress > Work
Brooks Brothers, 6/1 — Stop scrolling. Start saving on clearance.
REI, 7/16 — Copy, Paste & Save
Overstock.com, 6/5 — Open This or We’ll Tell Your Father
Applebee’s, 6/22 — Chad, The boldest email you’ll open today.

New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com

5 Reasons External Email Benchmarks Are Less Useful Than You Think

The Hierarchy of Subscriber Needs: Are You Satisfying All 4?

Infographic: 2015 Mobile-Friendly Email & Landing Page Trends

Tactics Used by the Top 1% of Viral Emails

5 Secrets to Getting Subscribers to Forward Your Emails

Shopping Cart Abandonment Gamesmanship

8 Keys to Making Your Emails Go Viral

The Dangers of Not Regularly Reviewing Your Triggered Emails

The Viral Email Report: How to Make Your Emails Go Viral

The Last Word on May 2015