Email Marketing RulesEmail Marketing Holiday Calendar 2013: August Preview & July Review
Posted on August 7, 2013
Every month I’ll be previewing holiday email marketing activity for the current month, as well as reviewing last month’s, as laid out in our 2013 Email Marketing Holiday Calendar.
>> Read the August preview & July review on the ExactTarget Blog
Infographic: Email Opt-In Audit Imperative
Posted on August 5, 2013
There are now many more ways to grow your list of subscribers than ever before, but the downside to that is that all those additional sources of subscribers have created a lot more complexity, which can make it difficult to see how each is performing and to see problems when they arise.
In a “tip of the iceberg” research study, we tested the homepage email signup process of more than 160 B2C brands, including retailers, restaurants, manufacturers, travel and hospitality, and nonprofits. For most brands, this is their best source of high-quality subscribers, so the breakdowns and delays that we discovered there are likely an indication of more troubles beneath the surface—and untapped opportunities to improve list growth.
The Last Word on July 2013
Posted on August 2, 2013
A roundup of articles, posts, tweets and emails you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & whitepapers
Increase the Value Of Your Abandoned Cart Emails (MediaPost)
Personalized digital marketing is your ticket to the relationship era (Responsys)
The death of IP based reputation (Word to the Wise)
Consumers Are Underwhelmed By Mobile Email (MediaPost)
Meet a Community Champion: Anna Yeaman (Campaign Monitor)
Which subject line words boost response rates? (+ infographic) (Smart Insights)
Royal baby ignored—at least in U.S. marketing e-mail. (Internet Retailer)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
@nadee_guy: Time inc. cut 4.5 million inactive subscribers from email & actually saw an increase in sales. The power of good #deliverability. #EMSSummit
@martinlieberman: @chadswhite Especially important to start marketing early this year because Hanukkah and Thanksgiving overlap. #ETCafe
@levarburton: “No comment…” MT @DustanSheehan: I made this, hope you like it. #Glass #startrek #levarburton pic.twitter.com/hiJXG6xBBU
Great additions to the Email Swipe File pinboard
Jonathan Adler email sent 7/22/13 >> View the pin
Anthropologie email sent on 6/11/13 >> View the pin
ModCloth triggered email sent 7/2013 >> View the pin
AT&T email sent 5/23/13 >> View the pin
Noteworthy subject lines
Zulily, 7/25 — Merry Christmas (in July)!
TigerDirect, 7/25 — 3-Day Christmas in July Event – See the Savings!
Walgreens, 7/24 — Ends Saturday! 15% OFF Holly Days in July | 20% OFF Contacts
Zazzle, 7/23 — Save up to 65% during Zazzle’s Christmas In July sale!
Zulily, 7/22 — Up to 85% off | tag: Christmas servingware & décor, Classic Christmas: Décor & Decorations, SlimMe by MeMoi seamless shapewear and more
SkyMall, 7/15 — Save 20% at the Christmas in July Sale
Target, 7/12 — Black Friday in July. Exclusive offers just for you.
Michael’s, 7/29 — 3 Trendiest Back-to-School Pins & 20% Off Your Entire Purchase
Brooks Brothers, 7/29 — Back to Campus – The Fall Red Fleece Collection
Pier 1 Imports, 7/29 — We’ll help you ace your college care package.
Under Armour, 7/25 — Ready To Get Back At It?
Levi’s, 7/22 — Earn extra credit on back-to-school
Vera Bradley, 7/22 — College gals in the pinning spirit …
IKEA, 7/17 — Design your college space with our online flyer!
TigerDirect, 7/7 — Up to 50% Off Back to School Tech + You could WIN $2500 in Prizes
ModCloth, 7/23 — Everyone’s a ‘wiener’ with 15% off on National Hot Dog Day!
Cold Stone Creamery, 7/21 — Celebrate National Ice Cream Day – Coupon
ThinkGeek, 7/31 — We solemnly swear we are up to no good… [celebrating J.K. Rowling’s birthday]
ModCloth, 7/28 — Connect your ModCloth & Facebook accounts for a birthday treat!
Anthropologie, 7/30 — The Rx for A/C.
The Container Store, 7/16 — #ShoesdayTuesday Savings!
Sony, 7/16 — Reserve the All-new PlayStation4 System Today + Join the #PS4 Conversation
Pepsi Cola, 7/9 — ❶ Register NOW-Last Chance ❷ Get points ❸ Enter for a chance to see Beyoncé!
Pepsi Cola, 7/5 — ❶ Register NOW ❷Get points ❸ Enter for a chance to see Beyoncé!
Vera Bradley, 7/1 — Summer checklist: ✓ Sarong ✓Beach Towel…
ThinkGeek, 7/3 — 20% off and 433 broken bones!
Jos. A Bank, 7/1 — Buy 1 Suit, Get 2 FREE + ‘Give’ 1 to a Returning Veteran
Threadless, 7/23 — You Buy One, We Give One
Uncommon Goods, 7/1 — Made in the U.S.A.
Chipotle, 7/1 — How do 20 years of free burritos sound to you?
Most popular posts on EmailMarketingRules.com last month
1. Happy Birthday to Me, a Free Book for You
2. The One-Two Punch of Subject Lines and Preheaders
3. The Long and Short of Progressive Profiling
Christmas in August: 31 Days of Holiday Pinspiration
Posted on August 1, 2013
The Email Swipe File on Pinterest is already home to some email design gems from Christmases past—like these from Norm Thompson, Tiffany & Co., Bed Bath & Beyond, and Style Campaign. But those are just the beginning. Everyday this month we’ll be pinning new inspiring examples of holiday emails to get you in a festive mood and thinking about campaigns that you might create for this holiday season.
To kick things off, we’ve pinned a Nov. 11, 2011 email from Zappos.
We hope you use these pins along with the Email Marketing Holiday Calendar to start plotting out your email campaigns. Good luck with your holiday planning and stay tuned for more holiday help from ExactTarget.
>> Explore the Email Swipe File
I’ll Be Talking Holiday Preparation on This Week’s #ETCafe Twitter Chat
Posted on July 30, 2013
I’ll be the guest for @ExactTarget’s #ETCafe Twitter chat this Thursday 11am-12pm EDT, where we’ll be discussing preparing for a successful 2013 holiday season. Here’s a preview of the questions that we’ll cover:
1. Have you reviewed the performance of your holiday email marketing campaigns from last year? What did that process entail?
2. Did you also review your campaign production and other processes to remove bottlenecks you hit last holiday season?
3. What surprised you most about last holiday season in terms of what you saw others doing or responses to your efforts?
4. What pre-holiday efforts (i.e., list hygiene, etc.) are you making to maximize the results of your holiday campaigns?
5. Are you testing any strategies or tactics during the back to school season in preparation for the holiday season?
6. How do you think mobile will affect your campaigns this holiday season?
7. How else do you think this holiday season will be different from last holiday season?
8. Do you have any favorite resources for holiday marketing insights and advice?
Follow the #ETCafe hashtag in your favorite Twitter application and be sure and add the hashtag to your tweet to participate.
Gmail’s New Inbox: Our Take on Tabs
Posted on July 26, 2013
The inbox is a dynamic place. The latest change comes from Gmail, which debuted its new tabbed interface two months ago and is now nearly done rolling it out to all their users. With every change that comes along, there’s understandable concern by marketers that their efforts will be undermined and, in particular, that their ability to reach their subscribers will be compromised.
To assess the risk posed by Gmail Tabs, a number of us got together and pooled our thoughts and findings under the direction of Al Iverson, ExactTarget’s director of deliverability products. The resulting 4-page whitepaper covers everything you need to know about this new Gmail functionality, including:
- The potential subscriber impact
- How it impacts mobile
- Using branding to your advantage
- What you can do to improve your marketing efforts
>> Download our report on Gmail’s New Inbox
My 15 Minutes with Google Glass
Posted on July 23, 2013
I recently got my hands on a Google Glass, thanks to intrepid Glass Explorer and fellow ETer Jeff Rohrs, who has already written extensively about his experiences with the wearable device. I wanted to share some of my impressions as well, plus a cross-channel marketing takeaway.
First, this is clearly a beta product. Google Glass is not market-ready. The form factor is clumsy and the navigation is non-intuitive, limited and frustrating. It takes a combination of voice and hand and head movements to fully operate it; navigation can be hijacked by other voices nearby; and the using Glass can make you look pretty ridiculous—Exhibit A: This photo of me.
Second, the apps that it launched with are…
Read my entire post on the ExactTarget blog >>
Infographic: 2013 Email Marketing Holiday Calendar
Posted on July 18, 2013
Christmas Day is just a little over five months away!!! That means it’s time to put on your Santa thinking caps and start mapping out your holiday email campaign strategy.
Already the first signs of the holiday season are showing up in inboxes as some marketers deploy their “Christmas in July” campaigns—or the newer “Black Friday in July” and “Cyber Monday in July” campaigns.
To help you with your holiday campaign planning, we’ve created this helpful calendar that for each month includes:
- A projection of the average number of promotional emails retailers will send each of their subscribers
- The portion of that overall email volume that will be holiday messaging
- Common holiday messaging themes
- Key days to be aware of
- And much more.
It Should Have Never Been Social Vs. Email
Posted on July 16, 2013
Email marketers have endured years of misguided “email is dead” rants from folks whom believed social was superior, but it appears that the script has been flipped. Increasingly, headlines like Email Is Crushing Twitter, Facebook for Selling Stuff Online, Why Email Punches 100x Above Social Media and Stores Seeking Shoppers Find Email Outdraws Facebook are the norm.
It’s looking more and more like social—after reaching the Peak of Inflated Expectations with Facebook’s IPO—has plunged into the Trough of Disillusionment a la Gartner’s Hype Cycle. While I’m not immune to the schadenfreude of the role-reversal and appreciate that folks are acknowledging email for the sales powerhouse that it is, it has become abundantly clear that email vs. social was never a fair matchup.
Email and social each excel at communicating with consumers at different points in the sales funnel and for different purposes. Email vs. social makes no more sense than…
>> Read my entire Email Insider column on MediaPost.com
Happy Birthday to Me, a Free Book for You
Posted on July 15, 2013
Today is my birthday! Besides being spoiled by my wonderful family, it’s a day when I tend to reflect on what I’ve accomplished over the past year and think about my goals for the next.
My biggest accomplishment over the past year has been the publication of my first book, Email Marketing Rules, which I’m tremendously proud of. And my goal for the next year is to get it into as many hands as possible, especially the hands of those who are new to email marketing.
To that end, today I’m giving away the Kindle Book edition of Email Marketing Rules for free. Just visit Amazon.com to download the book and get the free Kindle Reader app so you can read it on any smartphone, tablet or computer. Please help spread the word. (Apologies to my UK readers, as this offer isn’t available there for some reason.)
I hope you enjoy it and that it helps you identify opportunities where you can improve, serve your customers better and be more successful. Whether you love it or merely like it, I also hope that you’ll share your thoughts on it by submitting a review on Amazon.
Thanks for your readership and support,
Chad
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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