Email Marketing Rules4 Key Subject Line Trends Driven by Mobile and Social
Posted on February 17, 2015
After your sender name, your subject line has the biggest impact on whether subscribers open your emails or not. Here are four key subject line trends to keep in mind during 2015:
1. Mobile continues to shorten subject lines. Because mobile devices display fewer characters of a subject line than their webmail and desktop email client counterparts, the growth of mobile email reading is putting downward pressure on subject line lengths.
2. Snippet text becomes increasingly important “second subject line.” Counter-balancing shrinking subject lines is the fact that more subscribers are able to see snippet text, which gives subscribers a preview of the content of the email and appears next to or underneath the subject line in the inbox view of the native iPhone email app, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and other email clients. For instance, the native iPhone email app displays around 80 characters of snippet text, more than twice the number of characters that it displays of a subject line.
3. More images appear in subject lines. Subject lines aren’t limited to text anymore. Starting in 2012, there was good support for special characters like hearts, stars, and arrows. And now the native iPhone email app, Outlook.com, and other email clients support emojis. Currently around 2% of B2C subject lines include special characters or emojis.
4. More hashtags appear in subject lines. In the age of omni-channel campaigns, hashtags in subject lines connect email campaigns with social media campaigns. Often, using a hashtag in a subject line sacrifices a small percentage of opens in exchange for driving more social activity, so they should be used thoughtfully—and they tend to be. Currently, well under 1% of B2C subject lines include hashtags.
>> Read the entire post on the Salesforce blog
>> And for more on trends, check out 100 Inspiring Subject Lines from 2006 to 2014
Disconnects on Metrics: Health vs. Optimization vs. Success Metrics
Posted on February 12, 2015
Marketers have become very focused on measuring the effects of their work—which is both good and bad. On the one hand, quantifying things can prove that certain strategies and tactics are effective and worth additional investment. On the other hand, we don’t always do a very good job at understanding the numbers our work produces, which means data may be driving us to the wrong conclusions.
For instance, most brands haven’t figured out attribution, and therefore don’t know the return on investment they’re getting. According to Salesforce’s 2014 State of Marketing Leadership report, 48% of senior-level marketers rate “quantifying marketing’s ROI” as a major challenge, second only to “budgetary constraints.” Without an attribution model and ROI visibility, it’s difficult to have a cohesive, holistic strategy.
Complicating this further is evidence that channel marketers aren’t using the same metrics to measure success that their leaders do. Our State of Marketing Leadership report indicated that revenue growth, return on investment, and conversion rates were the top 3 success metrics for senior marketers. Those are great, business-oriented, bottom-of-the-funnel metrics.
However, when we asked channel marketers the same question in our 2015 State of Marketing report, we got very different answers…
>> Read the entire post on the Convince & Convert blog
Valentines for Email Marketers
Posted on February 11, 2015
I love email. And I love email marketers and subscribers. So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I’ve written some heartfelt words that go out to all the lovers of email marketing. Feel free to share them.
CLICK TO TWEET >> Happy Valentine’s Day, Email Marketers! http://rules.ws/1Ch0f9Q With love, @chadswhite pic.twitter.com/T2V5juHZwB
CLICK TO TWEET >> Happy Valentine’s Day, Email Marketers! http://rules.ws/1Ch0f9Q With love, @chadswhite pic.twitter.com/J2SwVL00vo
And I have a special Valentine for all the email designers and coders out there.
CLICK TO TWEET >> Happy Valentine’s Day, Email Marketers! http://rules.ws/1Ch0f9Q With love, @chadswhite pic.twitter.com/L2QAw7T79d
Need more email love in your life? Hook up with these email marketing and digital marketing rock stars.
January Review & Season Wrap-Up for the 2014 Email Marketing Holiday Calendar
Posted on February 10, 2015
Every month we’ve been reviewing our predictions from the 2014 Email Marketing Holiday Calendar for the previous month and this is our final recap.
For January, we predicted that major retailers would send their active subscribers 19 promotional emails. That prediction turned out to be a bit low, as our panel of more than 100 major retailers sent their subscribers 19.7 promotional emails on average last month.
However, for the entire July-to-January period, our predictions have been very accurate. We predicted that major retailers would send each of their active subscribers 142 emails. The actual number sent was 142.3. That’s pretty spot on, and speaks to the fact that there weren’t any significant unanticipated spikes in promotional email volume during the holiday season.
>> Read the entire post on the Salesforce Blog
The Last Word on January 2015
Posted on February 3, 2015
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, tweets, and examples you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & whitepapers
The Care and Keeping of Your Email Marketing Manager (Email Snarketing)
The State of Split Testing (Howling Mad)
Professional Email Design (Jason Rodriguez)
53% of Emails Opened on Mobile; Outlook Opens Decrease 33% (Litmus)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
@TimRoman: Dig the bubble-mini-preference-center email subscription box on mbusa.com http://t.co/NdlrbKkC8y
@alphacolin: 2015 prediction: 73 subscribers will be seriously injured in an “email blast” causing marketers everywhere to rethink their strategies.
@jcohen808: You’ve already heard of #LUMAscapes, but check out the first ever EMAIL MARKETINGscape >> http://t.co/GMwi6l28oG
@scott_riley: The best thing I’ve read on Twitter this week is that someone thought that someone thought Ariana Grande was a font.
@cafelido: “I hear CMOs still mention the word ‘cost’ instead of ‘investment.'” @lvojvodich at CMO panel at #dld15
@jvanrijn: Tips for crafting the perfect subjectline. ; ) http://t.co/5gHgtYGkez via @iamelliot #emailmarketing #fun
@samfbiddle: Uber is the only service that has to regularly send you email warnings about using it
Great additions to the Swipe File pinboards
Pizza Hut email with great mobile-aware design >> View the pin
Airbnb encourages subscribers to send thanks to hosts >> View the pin
Marriott’s annual activity summary email >> View the pin
Pizza Express gives us more defensive design magic >> View the pin
Noteworthy subject lines
NFLshop, 1/26 — Our Patriots Top Sellers for Super Bowl XLIX
NFLshop, 1/18 — The Patriots Are the 2014 AFC Champions! Get the Official Gear!
ThinkGeek, 1/20 — Press ↑↑↓↓← → ← → B A start for $10 off!
Baby Gap, 1/21 — tot picks ——————–>
Zulily, 1/14 — >>–♥–> Get ready for V-day! Plus, Hanna Andersson, Motherhood Maternity & A Pea in the Pod, Matisse & Coconuts, Kids’ educational materials and more
ThinkGeek, 1/23 — ThinkGeek never goes against a Sicilian when death is on the line!
MAC Cosmetics, 1/26 — M∙A∙C Chinese New Year Gift Card – Celebrate the Tradition of Giving. Plus Free Shipping
The Container Store, 1/14 — Happy National Organize Your Home Day – from the experts!
ModCloth, 1/30 — Flattering swimsuit = total beach confidence.
American Apparel, 1/19 — #POPQUIZ Student Event. 20% Off Everything!
MoMA Store, 1/12 — Ends Today! Save an Extra 50% Off Holiday Cards!
Barneys New York, 1/24 — Polar Vortex-Proof Outerwear, “Un-Makeup,” and More from The Window
Furniture.com, 1/11 — They’re Here! The Top 5 Interior Design Trends of 2015 (check ’em out!)
Anthropologie, 1/12 — What if Anthropologie had a registry? (We do!)
Pier 1 Imports, 1/7 — Your pin piqued our Pinterest.
Petco, 1/9 — Are you shipping me? All orders SHIP FREE TODAY!
SkyMall, 1/3 — Need Help with That Resolution?
OnlineShoes.com, 1/3 — Your goals are waiting for you to put your shoes on
Horchow, 1/1 — 1st day of 2015 = LAST DAY for 20%/15% Event + FREE shipping
ModCloth, 1/1 — Goodbye 2014, hello 2015!
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
100 Inspiring Subject Lines: 2006 to 2014
9 Experts Weigh in on Email Metrics that Matter
The New Litmus Test for a Great Email Marketing Program
How 4 Social Media Predictions Impact Email Marketers
13 Charts from “Email Marketing Rules”
December Review & January Preview for the 2014 Email Marketing Holiday Calendar
Trends for 2015: Views from 10 Email Marketing Experts
Posted on February 2, 2015
To understand the latest best practices and the newest email marketing opportunities, Smart Insights asked me and 9 other email marketing specialists from around the world to share our recommendations.
Published in Smart Insights – Email Trends 2015, the trends include:
- Responsive Email Design
- Animated Gifs
- Video in Email
- Dynamic Customization
- Predictive Intelligence
- Pop-up Sign-up Forms
- Email Acquisition through Social
- Blank Email Double Opt-in
- Real-Time Email Marketing
- Location-Specific
- Integrating Card Updates into Broadcast Emails
My recommendations focused on predictive intelligence and blank email double opt-in. Predictive intelligence is a great way of harnessing Big Data to inject personalized recommendations into your emails—particularly, your transactional, cart abandonment, and browse abandonment emails. Powered by analytical insights into individual and group behavioral patterns, predictive intelligence enables dynamic content offers to be the most relevant to maximize response—and can really move the needle on email marketing revenue.
Blank email double opt-in is a new opt-in method that allows a person to opt into a brand’s email program by sending a blank email to a particular email address. When someone does that, it triggers an opt-in confirmation request email that asks the person to activate their subscription by clicking on a link in the email. This method is exciting because it’s easier than SMS email opt-ins, eliminates malicious signups and typo spamtrap risks, and increases opt-in confirmations by keeping the opt-in process entirely within the inbox.
>> Check out all the recommendations in “Smart Insights – Email Trends 2015”
100 Inspiring Subject Lines: 2006 to 2014
Posted on January 29, 2015
The most effective subject lines are straightforward and predispose openers to engage with the content of an email. However, creativity has its place.
Whether you’re newsjacking, promoting a non-sales message, tapping into the voice of your customers, or just conveying your brand’s attitude, creativity in less than half the length of a tweet can give your emails the edge—especially when your subject line is backed up with great email content.
To spark some ideas, here are our picks for 100 of the most inspiring subject lines to land in inboxes during the 9 years since 2006, plus highlights of notable trends and events through the years that have affected email subject lines.
9 Experts Weigh in on Email Metrics that Matter
Posted on January 28, 2015
If you’re just looking at your email open and click rates, you’re missing out, says Tim Watson, founder of email marketing consultancy Zettasphere. I couldn’t agree more.
To help marketers better understand how to use the email metrics that are available to them, Tim asked me and eight other email marketing experts to share our thoughts on the metrics that matter and how to use metrics to drive improvements in email marketing performance.
I said:
When it comes to improving performance, the conversion rate is the most underused metric. Whether you’re looking at the performance of subject lines, email content, or landing pages, you should always be looking as far down the funnel as possible because all the elements of an email should be building toward that singular goal.
For instance, sometimes marketers think…
>> Check out the entire article on the Zettasphere blog
The New Litmus Test for a Great Email Marketing Program
Posted on January 27, 2015
I used to say the hallmark of a great email marketing program was that they have a robust A/B testing program. It’s not just because I consider A/B testing a key optimization tool and a vital part of “listening” to subscribers, but because if a brand is taking the time to follow a rigorous A/B testing calendar and methodically building on learnings then the chances are very high they are doing lots of other things right.
While I still believe in the power of testing and what it signifies about an email program, I now have a new litmus test for email marketing greatness for B2C companies:
Does the majority of your email marketing revenue and engagement come from triggered emails?
This is a valuable bar to clear for four reasons…
>> Read the entire column on MediaPost.com
How 4 Social Media Predictions Impact Email Marketers
Posted on January 15, 2015
The social and email marketing channels are increasingly intertwined. So when I read this great collection of 30+ Social Media Predictions for 2015, it immediately had me thinking about how they affect email marketers.
Here are four of the predictions that jumped out at me as being particularly relevant to email marketers:
@MarjiJSherman: Personalized responses will be expected more than ever. Companies will need to invest in more targeted software in order to create unique conversations with their consumers. Knowing everything about a consumer will be required in order to create tailored conversations that hit on exactly what the consumer is talking about in their life, so the brand seamlessly enters the conversation. Also, one-on-one communication with consumers will become mandatory for brands.
@katadhin: In 2015, marketers will move from “platform centered” to “content centered” social media. Content that flows across social and digital platforms and is relevant to the platform being used. As social referral surpasses search, this approach will create higher levels of engagement and conversion for those who do it well.
@JasonFalls: All indications are that 2015 is going to be the year that social media becomes more paid media than earned, which is sad in a way. Certainly, brands with great content can break through the clutter organically, but Facebook has carved out a new model and other networks will follow. If you want your social content seen, you’re going to have to put a budget behind it. I’d love to predict brands will flip the scene and get great organic pick-up despite the new rules of the road, but most brand content sucks. That, in all likelihood, won’t change.
@EllyDeutch: “Marketers in 2015 will shift their focus to include a more ubiquitous mobile content strategy, in order to instantly reach more fans through the palms of their hands.”
For the full discussion of how these social media predictions affect email marketers…
>> Read the full article on the Convince & Convert blog
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
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