Email Marketing Rules3 Things that Are Already Different About This Holiday Season
Posted on November 5, 2013
Every holiday season is a little different when it comes to retailers’ email marketing. Here are a few things that are already different about this year’s:
Stronger Holiday Messaging Early
After late-July’s “Christmas in July” messaging, there’s a long break before retailers start sending significant holiday messaging again in September. This messaging tends to be banners and other secondary messaging. However, this year starting in late September there was a noticeable trend toward retailers sending full, dedicated emails about the holiday season. This trend continued into October, when…
>> Read my entire Email Insider column on MediaPost.com
Oct. 2013 B2C Email Volume Rises: Retailers Sent 17.8 per Subscriber, Non-Retailers 6.1
Posted on November 4, 2013
During October, retailers sent each of their subscribers 17.8 promotional emails on average, up 9% from September. Non-retailers sent each of their subscribers 6.1 promotional emails on average, up 1% from the previous month.
This data is based on the anonymous tracking for more than 150 B2C brands, including retailers, restaurants, manufacturers, travel and hospitality, political groups, and nonprofits.
Among retailers, increases in per subscriber email volume were driven by the ramp up to the holiday season, which is now officially underway with the arrival of November. For more on seasonal email marketing trends, check out the Email Marketing Holiday Calendar and this month’s update on the ExactTarget Blog…
>> Email Marketing Holiday Calendar 2013: November Preview & October Review
The Last Word on October 2013
Posted on November 1, 2013
A roundup of articles, posts, tweets and emails you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & whitepapers
“Free” is not a Dirty Word (and 4 other Subject Line Findings) (Return Path)
The Current State of Mobile 2013 Q3 (Spectacular Stats) (The Mobile Marketer)
The Email Design Conference 2013 San Francisco — 30 Email Dev Tips from Strangers! (Dev Tips For Designers)
Email Beats Social Networks for Online Offer Sharing: Study (AdAge)
There’s more love for marketing emails than you think (Smart Insights)
Infographic: Consumers’ Love-Hate Relationship with the Shopping Cart (DM News)
8 effective email marketing strategies, backed by science (Buffer)
Christmas and holiday email marketing 2013 (Smart Insights)
Don’t Let Holiday Hysteria Harm Your Email Program in 2014 (ClickZ)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
@jesuisandrea: Love this quote from @cstudabaker @litmusapp #TEDC13 pic.twitter.com/CHUCfDlViX
@trendlinei: Columbia goes responsive, more retailers are coming around… http://t.co/uM55nETi9w
@emailrocks: “I don’t care about big data – we can’t even do small data right” via @mitchjoel #LCMC13
@somniphobe: Smarketing may be my favourite new word. – @jaybaer #lcmc13
@StephanieSAM: Whatever phone your CEO owns, test that one for #emailmarketing rendering. Good advice from Wacarra @Responsys #DMA13
@Sam_CMUK: Things I never thought I’d witness: A round of applause for styled ALT text! #TEDC13
Great additions to the Email Swipe File pinboard
Best of the Best email sent on 8/19/13 >> View the pin
Warby Parker email sent on 10/24/13 >> View the pin
Apple email sent on 10/24/13 >> View the pin
Kiva email sent on 10/10/13 >> View the pin
Noteworthy subject lines
FansEdge, 10/31 — The Red Sox are World Series Champs!
Tiffany & Co., 10/28 — Discover the New Tiffany.com
Staples, 10/20 — The new staples.com is HERE!
GameSpot, 10/10 — See the new GameSpot
Saks, 10/9 — Now Online! Shop saksoff5th.com
Home Depot, 10/31 — Updates for the Holidays | From Boring to Blissful
Sephora, 10/29 — A girl can dream: GIFTaculars
SkyMall, 10/25 — Have You Thought Much About the Holidays? Save 15% Today!
Restoration Hardware, 10/25 — Our Holiday Gift Collection. 150+ Pages of Curated Gifts.
Crate & Barrel, 10/21 — Our Christmas ornaments are here.
The Container Store, 10/20 — Our Gift Wrap Wonderland is HERE!
Pier 1 Imports, 10/18 — Sparkle: Now available in small, medium and large.
Banana Republic, 10/18 — A sneak peek at holiday style.
Tiny Prints, 10/13 — Order Holiday Cards Early, Save 20% + Free Shipping
Michael’s, 10/12 — Learn How to Make the Perfect Holiday Gift
Neiman Marcus, 10/8 — The Christmas Book is here
Chili’s, 10/14 — Support the Movement. Thank a Veteran Today.
Boston Market, 10/4 — A special offer for Military and Federal employees!
Banana Republic, 10/12 — Fall favorites for 9 to 5 to 9.
REI, 10/1 — Meet Our New CEO, Jerry Stritzke
Victoria’s Secret, 10/29 — It’s on! #SecretRewardCard
Lenovo, 10/10 — A #betterway arrives Oct 30
Zulily, 10/1 — #trending now: Ava Loves Olli, and more
Most popular posts on EmailMarketingRules.com last month
1. The Many Uses (and 2 Drawbacks) of Animated Gifs
2. Are You Giving Those Who Unsubscribe the Cold Shoulder?
3. Happy Birthday, Dear Subscriber #Infographic
4. The One-Two Punch of Subject Lines and Preheaders
5. B2C Brands Sent Subscribers 13.1 Emails on Average during September 2013
iOS 7 Calendar Quirk Affecting Some Subject Lines
Posted on October 31, 2013
Making sure marketing emails look and perform well on mobile devices has never been more important. And that’s a goal that can be challenging when there are often small, unannounced changes in email clients.
I recently spoke with Bill Siwicki of Internet Retailer about a quirk in Apple’s new iOS 7 that occasionally converts portions of subject lines into calendar events links—sometimes accurately, sometimes not.
>> Read the full story at InternetRetailer.com
6 Ways to Get Email Marketing Rules
Posted on October 30, 2013
There are several ways that you can get Email Marketing Rules, including a few that let you get it at a discount or even for free.
1. Paperback
We may live in the digital age, but the paperback version of Email Marketing Rules outsells the electronic version by roughly 3 to 2. >> Get the paperback
2. Kindle Book
The digital version of Email Marketing Rules can be read on any smartphone, tablet or computer by downloading the free Kindle Reading App. >> Get the Kindle Book
3. New Kindle MatchBook
If you have previously purchased the Email Marketing Rules paperback from Amazon, Kindle MatchBook is a brand new feature that allows you to purchase the ebook version for just $1.99. >> Learn more about MatchBook
4. Borrow Books with Amazon Prime
If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can borrow the Email Marketing Rules ebook from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library for free. >> Learn more about borrowing ebooks
5. Kindle Book Lending
If you own the Email Marketing Rules Kindle Book, you can lend it to another reader for up to 14 days. >> Learn more about ebook lending
6. Bulk Orders of Paperbacks
If you want to order 20 or more Email Marketing Rules paperbacks for an event or training program, I can offer you a discount by ordering direct from my publisher. >> Connect with me on LinkedIn about a bulk order
Gmail’s New Inbox: What’s your Strategy? #Webinar
Posted on October 23, 2013
There has been a lot of talk about and a lot of hand-wringing over the debut of Gmail’s new tabbed inbox this summer. Now that the dust has settled a little, join Jeremy Bromwell, ExactTarget’s Senior Marketing Consultant, and me on Nov. 14 at 2 pm ET to hear the latest research findings and our advice on how data will help you understand potential challenges, develop a strategy, and present recommended actions. Also learn from one of our clients on how they’ve built their strategy to tackle Gmail’s new tabbed inbox.
Can’t attend the webinar? Register and we’ll make sure you get a copy of the webinar recording.
>> Register for this free webinar
Are You Giving Those Who Unsubscribe the Cold Shoulder?
Posted on October 22, 2013
Is your unsubscribe process in line with your brand? What message does your unsubscribe page and opt-out confirmation page send to your customers?
Too often those who opt out are met with a process that seems uncaring and messaging that conveys indifference and disinterest that sometimes borders on quiet hostility.
For instance, Verizon Wireless’s opt-out confirmation page is cold and clinical. No “thanks for being a subscriber.” No “sorry to see you go.” No indication that they want to interact or do business with them in the future.
What’s also missing is their usual navigation bar and footer links. There’s just a logo and a brief confirmation message. They don’t try to engage outgoing subscribers with any links at all. It’s a dead end. Landing pages like this suffer from what I call “back alley syndrome,” since it’s like being thrown out the back door of a store into the alley.
Uncommon Goods and Dell’s opt-out confirmation pages suffer similar messaging and design flaws.
In today’s complex, multichannel world, just because an email subscriber opts out, doesn’t mean that their relationship with your brand is over. They may find that other marketing channels are better for them, or may intend to sign up for email again in the future, or now use a different email account for promo emails, or—any number of other reasons that are difficult or impossible to know or control.
Hopefully you’re able to offer topic preference and opt-down options on your unsubscribe page or in your preference center as a way of being responsive to subscriber needs and reducing opt-outs. Fab.com and Jetsetter’s preference centers are great examples of presenting these options.
But when those tactics fail, remember to be gracious on your opt-out confirmation page. Thank them for being a subscriber and say that you hope they’ll re-subscribe in the future. Manners cost you next to nothing and could significantly impact how subscribers perceive your brand.
Also be sure to bring a cross-channel vision to your email opt-out confirmation page by giving folks the option to opt-over to another channel—whether it’s following your brand on Twitter, downloading your mobile app, subscribing to SMS alerts, or signing up to receive for your catalog. Increasing your audience in one or more of your other channels can help compensate for the loss of an email subscriber.
The Changing State of Email Nav Bars
Posted on October 17, 2013
The email navigation bar is evolving. Experimentation over the years has led to greater flexibility, fraying the connection between the links in website nav bars and those in email nav bars. And now the move to mobile-friendly is blowing up that connection completely, and whittling down the number of nav links to the bare necessities.
Mobile Navigation Bars
Back in 2009, I looked at the email nav bars used by major retailers and found that 38% of retailers used an email nav that matched their website’s and that on average they included a little more than 8 links in their email navs. The largest email navs included 19 links, while the smallest only 3.
Those at the low end were ahead of the curve, because…
>> Read the entire post on the ExactTarget Blog
5 Mobile-Aware Email Redesigns
Posted on October 15, 2013
With 48% of emails read on a mobile device, according to Litmus, and 63% of consumers saying they delete emails immediately if they are not optimized for mobile, according to Return Path, there’s a growing imperative to be mobile-friendly. But being mobile-friendly doesn’t necessarily mean moving to responsive email designs.
Depending upon your capabilities and the percentage of your emails opened on mobile, you might find moving to a mobile-aware template a very attractive alternative—at least for the near-term. According to ExactTarget research involving nearly 160 B2C brands, 78% of marketers don’t use either a responsive or mobile-aware template. So at least for now, there’s still a big competitive advantage to adopting mobile-aware email design, although…
>> Read the entire post on the ExactTarget Blog
Infographic: Happy Birthday, Dear Subscriber
Posted on October 10, 2013
Have you ever gotten an unexpected birthday gift? Feels great, right? And you probably ended up giving more time and attention to the gift-giver as a result. That’s the opportunity that triggered birthday emails offer. It’s a winning tactic that generates an outsized return on investment.
ExactTarget research involving more than 180 B2C brands—including retailers, restaurants, manufacturers, travel and hospitality, and nonprofits—shows that there’s plenty of opportunity for brands to delight subscribers with best wishes on their special day. Check out the stats and tactics to learn the who, what, when, why and how of birthday emails.
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
