Email Marketing RulesGet Inspired by ‘The Best of the Email Swipe File’
Posted on May 30, 2013
A swipe file is a record of your top-performing campaigns that you return to for learnings and ideas. It was this concept that inspired us to create the Email Swipe File on Pinterest, where we share the emails and landing pages that excite and impress us. We’ve already shared nearly 150 examples of email awesomeness dating all the way back to 2006—and there’s much more to come.
In The Best of the Email Swipe File, we highlight the 20 examples from the past year that we love most and put them in the context of five trends that are having a major impact on email design:
- Mobile-Friendly: The shift from wide screens and mice to narrow screens and fat fingers
- Personalization: A key tactic for making messages more personally relevant
- Triggered Sophistication: Longer campaigns, smarter content and better triggers
- Editorial Voice: The influence of content marketing’ success
- Inspired Fundamentals: The tactics that have been effective for years and years
Learn more about these trends, see which emails and landing pages we loved best, and check out the ideas we most hope you’ll steal, test and make your own. Get inspired!
>> Download The Best of the Email Swipe File
Things I Would and Would Not Apologize For
Posted on May 23, 2013
Considering the complexities and high volume of our industry, mistakes are practically unavoidable. But just because you’ve made a mistake doesn’t mean an apology email is necessary.
Most brands won’t send a single apology email over the course of a year, and in recent years less than one-tenth of one percent of email volume is apologies for email mistakes. To say that apology emails are rare is an understatement.
When considering whether to send an apology and correction, remember that most of your subscribers will not have seen the email with the mistake in it. So apologizing draws additional attention to the error and sending that additional email may lead to annoyance and more unsubscribes.
With that in mind, here are some mistakes that I would not apologize for:
Formatting errors: An ugly, broken-up email is a reminder to be more diligent with your coding and do pre-send rendering testing, but not a cause for an apology. Just a couple of days ago Costco sent an email where their 3-column-6-row product grid broke, becoming a 1-column-18-row grid. They smartly let it go and moved on.
Typos: Unless the typo is in your coupon code or creates a profane word, it’s good to let these go as even subscribers who read the email may not notice them or will be able to figure out what you meant using sentence context. Typos in subject lines are not a special case—let those go too.
For instance, on Cyber Monday in 2011, Linens-N-Things had the following typo in the subject line of their third email of the day: “Last Chance: Cyber Monday Deals End in 60 Miutes”. They responded 2 hours later by sending an apology email—their fourth email of the day—with this subject line: “Oops! Sorry for the Typo: Cyber Monday Deals End in Minutes!” On the highest-volume day of the year, this was an ill-advised risk.
Deployment misfires: Sending out an email at the wrong time, especially with missing content, is painful and potentially embarrassing. But even these are worth letting go in most cases.
For instance, in 2007, Drs. Foster & Smith sent out a “Happy Thanksgiving” seasons greeting email a full week early. They didn’t send an apology or resend it the following week. They just let it stand as an early seasons greeting.
And earlier this year, Amazon.com accidentally sent out an email promoting BCS championship gear 24 hours before the game was to take place. They sent an apology, but it was really unnecessary as it was clearly an error to those most likely to buy the gear. They should have just sent the email after the game as planned and in the meantime used the landing page to make it clear that championship gear would be available at the conclusion of the game “tomorrow.”
All that said, here are the three email mistakes that would cause me to send an apology:
1. An email error that seriously impairs the message, such as the wrong coupon code for the primary message or mistakes in the critical links in an email.
2. An email accidentally sent to the list of a sister brand. Permission is sacred. Accidentally violating it is worth apologizing for and making it clear that they won’t receive any more messages from the sister brand—with the subtext being, “Please don’t mark that email as spam.”
3. An email that was unintentionally offensive. For example, in 2011, Backcountry.com sent an email with the headline “Mother Nature Hates You. Deal with It.” That email was sent on the same day that lethal tornadoes devastated Alabama. Backcountry wisely sent an apology, explaining themselves and saying they were wrong in no uncertain terms.
I hope you’re able to avoid an apology-worthy email mistake, but it’s a good idea to have a contingency plan in place and an apology email drafted, just in case.
Once Again, I Double-Dog Dare You!
Posted on May 21, 2013
In 2008 and 2010 I double-dog dared marketers to experiment with some little-used, out-of-the-box, perhaps even weird tactics. Some of those tactics are not so uncommon anymore while others are just as rare as they ever were.
Since it’s been more than three years and email marketing is all about experimentation, I think we need some fresh dares. So here we go. I dare you—no, I double-dog dare you!—to… Read my entire Email Insider column >>
Email Marketing Rules Is Now on Pinterest
Posted on May 20, 2013
You can now find every image posted on EmailMarketingRules.com on Pinterest. Just visit the Email Marketing Rules pinboard or click on any image in any of my posts and you’ll be taken directly to the pin on Pinterest.
Also be sure to check out ExactTarget’s other pinboards including:
Email Swipe File
Facebook Swipe File
Infographics!
…and many more.
Happy pinning!
Promoting Sister Brands without Violating Permission
Posted on May 16, 2013
If you operate more than one brand, it can be tempting to abuse an email opt-in at one of your brands by extending it to your other brands. Because of the dangers of increased spam complaints, the vast majority of brands wisely resist this temptation and many smartly use their email programs to raise awareness of their other brands and secure additional opt-ins.
The opportunities start with the email signup form and signup confirmation page. For instance, Gap uses a universal email opt-in page that allows a consumer to sign up for emails from multiple brands at the same time, along with product category preferences as well.
Every email you send offers an opportunity to raise awareness of your other brands and drive subscribers to the websites of your sister brands. For instance, Toys “R” Us promotes Babies “R” Us in the header of each of their promotional emails. Garnet Hill does the same thing with their Garnet Hill Kids brand.
Because header space is so valuable, it’s more common to promote sister brands in footers. I often refer to these as “sister brand bars,” similar to a social media bar that promotes the social networks where you are active. For instance, Banana Republic, SeaWorld, Neiman Marcus and Crate & Barrel include the logos of all of their sister brands at the bottom of their emails.
Taking it up a notch, some brands have included secondary messaging from sister brands, although it’s much more common to send full, dedicated emails from a sister brand. For instance, West Elm periodically sends their subscribers emails from West Elm Market; and Anthropologie recently sent their subscribers an email about their sister brand, Terrain. That email smartly included an opt-in request to get emails from Terrain.
The rule that keeps brands honest when doing this is that these emails should use your usual sender address (preferably your usual sender name as well) and the unsubscribe should cover the brand they opted in to receive messages from, not just the sister brand. If that seems like too big of a risk, then you should stick to the less invasive tactics like sister brand bars.
Whatever your approach, take advantage of the email opt-in you do have to try to secure others, just as you use your email program to build your social following.
Join My Webinar on Email Marketing Best Practices on May 28
Posted on May 15, 2013
The Good, the Bad and the Best: Practices for a Post-Wild West Email Marketing World
Adopting email marketing best practices isn’t about ticking boxes. It’s about execution. Join me on Tuesday, May 28, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. (EDT), as I discuss a variety of best practices and share real-world examples of brands with good, bad and the best executions. Topics to be covered will include signup forms, welcome emails, mobile-friendly emails, preheaders, personalization, unsubscribe pages, and more.
‘Email Marketing Rules’ Now Available in Paperback with Foreword by Jay Baer
Posted on May 13, 2013
My book on email marketing best practices, Email Marketing Rules, is now available in paperback with a Foreword by Jay Baer, the President of Convince & Convert, author of Youtility, and co-author of The NOW Revolution. Jay is that rare individual that understands how social media, email marketing and content marketing all work together. I am honored to have him write the foreword, where he discusses the currency of modern marketing.
I am also happy to announce that for every paperback purchased through Amazon.com’s CreateSpace I will donate $1 to the ExactTarget Foundation to support projects and programs that reduce childhood hunger, improve education, and spur entrepreneurship. To learn more about the Foundation’s work, please visit ExactTargetFoundation.org.
BUY THE KINDLE BOOK ($4.99) >> available exclusively around the world through Amazon.com. (Download the free Kindle Reader app to read it on any smartphone, tablet or computer.)
BUY THE PAPERBACK ($11.99) >> $1 is donated to the ExactTarget Foundation for every book purchased through Amazon.com’s CreateSpace
Nothing in Email Marketing Is ‘Set It and Forget It’
Posted on May 9, 2013
If ever there was a channel where “set it and forget it” thinking doesn’t work, email marketing is that channel. Things are always changing and marketers have to keep up. My favorite indicator that marketers are falling behind is old copyright dates.
While some brands now automatically update these dates, you may consider manually updating them as a way to force yourself to go in and actually look at your promotional email template, triggered emails, preference centers, and other landing pages at least once a year. Reviewing these more frequently—like every 3-6 months—is best, but once a year is better than having them slip through and go unchecked for two or more years.
For instance, CNN requires that people register with their site in order to receive emails and participate in the CNN community and part of that process includes an opt-in confirmation request email. That email carries a copyright of 2007—which means that it hasn’t been updated in five or so years. That’s a lifetime in the world of email marketing and it shows in this email, which doesn’t have the current CNN logo and could benefit from sharper copy.
Carrying a 2009 copyright, Crutchfield’s welcome email has also been forgotten for too long. Its logo and navigation bar are both out of date. And while the copy was really good for 2009, it could be doing more, especially considering all the excellent new content and social efforts Crutchfield now has at their disposal.
LifeWay’s email signup confirmation page carries a 2011 copyright and could also benefit from some updating. The page squanders the opportunity to further engage new subscribers by not offering even a single call-to-action or doing any additional expectation setting for their email program. Suffering from a bad case of Back Alley Syndrome, this lonely page doesn’t even have Lifeway’s standard website navigation bar or footer.
Make sure you’re reviewing your email templates, triggered emails, and landing pages on a regular basis by first taking an inventory of all your different assets and then creating a schedule for regular reviews of each one.
Attracting 1-Year-Old and 113-Year-Old Subscribers
Posted on May 7, 2013
Brands spend a lot of time scrutinizing their checkout process, whether they’re retailers or nonprofits accepting donations. They know that unnecessary friction in the process means frustration for their visitors, lower conversions and fewer repeat purchases. That same scrutiny should be applied to email signup processes since an email subscription is worth a lot of money.
ExactTarget examined email subscription processes of more than 160 B2C brands—including retailers, restaurants, manufacturers, travel and hospitality, and nonprofits—and found plenty of unnecessary friction. One area that is emblematic of the kinds of opportunities that brands have to make their signup process smoother is the dropdown menus used to collect year of birth.
For example, Boden’s email opt-in form starts with the current year. Clearly they don’t want 1-year-olds on their email list, so it makes sense to start with an earlier date so that older would-be subscribers have to scroll less. As it currently stands, anyone over 18 (born before 1995) would have to scroll to select their birth year—and for J. Jill that likely means that the vast, vast majority of their subscribers had to scroll.
Similarly, AutoZone’s dropdown menu started with the year 2011 and J. Jill’s with the year 2009, as if 2- and 4-year-old subscribers are acceptable.
At the other end of the spectrum, Applebee’s and Tide’s opt-in forms were deferential to the oldest living people on the planet, starting their dropdown menu with the year 1900 and making those born in 1929 and later scroll. For someone in their 30s or 40s that meant a lot of scrolling.
While those brands make would-be subscribers work a little harder to sign up for promotional emails, Wine.com is clearly paying attention to the details. Their dropdown menu starts with the year 1993, the earliest year that you could be of legal drinking age. That’s smart.
And although many brands like Wine.com ask for their subscribers’ date of birth for legal and compliance reasons, it’s wise to couch the request as an opportunity for the subscriber to get something in exchange for this data. DailyCandy does a good job on their opt-in form of explaining why they need your birth date while answering the question every subscriber is asking themselves: “What’s in it for me?”
While this may all seem a little picky to some, consumers get hung up on the details, so you should sweat the details. Less friction in your signup process means more visitors convert into subscribers, which means a more successful email marketing program.
Infographic: The State of Welcome Emails
Posted on May 3, 2013
To determine the current state of welcome email programs, ExactTarget examined the welcome emails of more than 160 B2C brands, including retailers, restaurants, manufacturers, travel and hospitality, and nonprofits. The infographic below summarizes our findings.
For more on this research, including examples of welcome emails, check out More Brands Sending Welcome Emails, But Opportunities Remain and Quarter of B2C Marketers Send a Welcome Email Series.
Want this infographic for your blog? Here is the code you can use:
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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