Email Marketing RulesImagining an Amazon Email Client: Prime Mail
Posted on December 12, 2022
Gmail is getting old. What’s the next hot email app?
That was the gist of a tweet I saw early this year. At the time, the question made me reflect on the different features and capabilities of all of the major inbox providers, and what those differences said about inbox providers’ attitudes and beliefs about email. It was that reflection that led me to write What’s Wrong with Email Marketing?
But the question still remains: What’s the next hot email app?
While there have been several new email inbox apps since Gmail launched nearly two decades ago in 2004, these apps have generally had very narrow appeal around niche concerns. Convinced that the next hot email app doesn’t currently exist, I wondered:
- What company has the ability to build it?
- What company has the justification to build it?
- What company has the ability to scale adoption?
Only one company came to mind…Amazon.
4 Ways to Maximize Double Opt-In Confirmations
Posted on December 8, 2022
One of the many impacts of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection is that it’s now significantly more difficult to determine whether a subscriber is active or inactive. This challenge has led to a decline in deliverability rates and contributed to a spike in Spamhaus listings, with many marketers feeling forced to take greater risks as they lose visibility into the engagement of their Apple Mail users. In the not-too-distant future, growing deliverability problems will compel marketers to find ways to reduce these risks.
One such way is to make broader use of double opt-in (DOI). A DOI confirmation process is a valuable tool for protecting your sender reputation and email deliverability, especially when used for offline sign-ups, open sign-up forms, highly incentivized sign-ups, co-registrations, and other subscriber acquisition sources that tend to generate high bounce and complaint rates.
However, many brands hesitate to use DOI because they feel requiring people to confirm their subscription by clicking a link in their sign-up confirmation request email causes fewer people to complete the subscription process. Of course, that’s absolutely true. After all, the primary purpose of a double opt-in process is to screen out risky sign-ups, so you’d expect some addresses to go unconfirmed.
In an ideal world, all email addresses that aren’t confirmed would be spam traps, email bots, malicious sign-ups, and people who aren’t really interested in receiving your emails and will likely unsubscribe or report your emails as spam. However, we know that some truly interested people never confirm their subscription for a variety of reasons.
To minimize that as much as possible, follow these four best practices.
The Last Word on November 2022
Posted on December 6, 2022
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
2023 Will Break All Email Records – Here’s Why (Only Influencers)
Even The Experts Make Mistakes. (DanOshinsky.com)
Zoom Launches New Email Service (Spam Resource)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
for every time I’ve heard reassurances that email is not dead, I think #emailgeeks are entitled to declare that another platform is dead. At least once in a while.
— Martin Yoakum (@yomartin) November 16, 2022
General reminder that a “click” does not necessarily mean that a human clicked a link.#emailgeeks https://t.co/lx2BBog7J1
— Jacques Corby-Tuech (@iamacyborg) November 16, 2022
Noteworthy subject lines
Macy’s, 11/2 – It’s officially the holiday season & we’ve got the gifts to prove it
Panera Bread, 11/11 – Get thru the holiday with FREE DRINKS 🥤🎁
Lane Bryant, 11/2 – OK, but you’re missing it.
Uncommon Goods, 11/2 – How to get *into* the holiday spirit
Burlington, 11/2 – Holiday décor is HERE!
Venmo, 11/19 – Like shopping on Amazon?
Kopari Beauty, 11/21 – Don’t buy anything today!
JCPenney Black Friday, 11/11 – Gifts ↓$10 ↓$20 ↓$50…
JCPenney Black Friday, 11/22 – BLACK FRIDAY ⬇️$10 ⬇️$15 ⬇️$20…
Uncommon Goods, 11/22 – You probably know a lot of people
Uncommon Goods, 11/11 – We stuffed the 22 bestsellers of 2022 in this email
Home Depot, 11/11 – Join Us in Thanking Veterans, Today & Every Day
Office Depot, 11/11 – Saluting Veterans Today and Every Day
Applebee’s Grill + Bar, 11/11 – Today, let us serve you!
Bass Pro Shops, 11/11 – A Veterans Day Message
Gap Email Exclusive, 11/11 – Happy 11/11! Your exclusive code & 50% off inside –>
Kohl’s Dashing Deals, 11/11 – Start your weekend with Dashing Deals 🎉 Take 30% off!
Moosejaw, 11/24 – Happy Thanksgiving! Shop 30% off right now 🍗
Zales, 11/22 – 🎁BLACK FRIDAY Is ON! Take Up to 50% Off Black Friday Specials
Lowe’s Home Improvement, 11/24 – Time to shop! Black Friday Deals up to 50% OFF.
Sephora, 11/21 – THEY’RE HERE 💻 Cyber Week deals!
Patagonia, 11/26 – Support small businesses
Lane Bryant, 11/27 – Cyber *Sunday* your way to 10 for $35 panties!
Crate & Barrel, 11/29 – Let’s end hunger together this Giving Tuesday.
Burlington, 11/21 – Get 10% off when you donate a coat to Burlington’s Coat Drive!
Williams Sonoma, 11/2 – Holiday hosting guide from the table to the bar cart
The Container Store, 11/16 – Party Prep: From The Pros To You
Burlington | Holiday, 11/18 – Don’t show up to Thanksgiving empty-handed!
Wegmans, 11/20 – Thanksgiving Turkey 101
Macy’s, 11/22 – Thanksgiving Day Parade alert: major deets below!
NORDSTROM RACK, 11/21 – Women’s sweaters, because holiday dinners
Express, 11/18 – We found the perfect +1 for your next night out…
Gap Email Exclusive, 11/11 – PJs with vacay feels
Neiman Marcus, 11/22 – Gear up: Ski season is approaching
Quiksilver, 11/23 – Light Up The Season With Snoopy And Friends.
Gap Early Black Friday, 11/18 – Now Open: The Character Shop
Banana Republic, 11/2 – Introducing The Gift Shop
Eddie Bauer, 11/7 – Introducing the BC Adaptor Ski Jacket
Eddie Bauer, 11/11 – Introducing Eddie Bauer X Homme + Femme
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Litmus: 10 Email Marketing Predictions from the Experts
Key International Loyalty Regulations for Global Brands to Know
4 Ways Brands Go Wrong With Digital Marketing Metrics
Loyalty: KPIs that Go Beyond the Transaction
Webbula: What Are the Top Email Marketing Resources for Beginners?
Hard Truths about B2B Personalization, Its Effectiveness, and Its Future
Litmus: 10 Email Marketing Predictions from the Experts
Posted on November 22, 2022
Litmus invited me and 9 other Litmus Live speakers to share their email marketing predictions for 2023. My prediction was about customer data platforms:
“The sunsetting of third-party cookies, launch of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection and App Tracking Transparency, and other changes have heightened the need of businesses to utilize their cross-channel customer data to make key decisions in their email marketing programs and other operations. Unfortunately, in most cases, that data is scattered across the organization in multiple databases that don’t talk to each other very well, if at all.
Adoption of customer data platforms will accelerate in 2023 because these systems solve this problem by aggregating all customer data in one central repository—as well as cleaning the data, better controlling access to the data, and mobilizing the data for usage across channels. For email marketing, this will lead to more relevant personalization, better segmentation, and smarter automation that leverages a wider array of triggers across channels.”
Of the other email marketing predictions, I especially agreed with those by Aaron Beatty, Brian Westnedge, Lee Munroe, and Rebekah K. Josefy.
Key International Loyalty Regulations for Global Brands to Know
Posted on November 16, 2022
Laws affecting loyalty program management vary from country to country around the world. Key elements, which are meant to protect consumers, impact the expiration of loyalty points, define restrictions for redemption, and require permission and consent of data collection and use.
Some of the laws that our Oracle CrowdTwist customers have to account for are from Canada, South Africa, and Europe. You’ll want to consult an attorney to determine which laws you need to comply with and how, but Oracle Marketing Consulting’s Carly Mathews provides a quick look at the laws in those countries and how they impact loyalty programs.
4 Ways Brands Go Wrong With Digital Marketing Metrics
Posted on November 10, 2022
Numbers may not lie, but they certainly mislead and withhold the whole truth on a regular basis, if you’re not careful. And in today’s digital marketing world, it’s easier than ever to be fooled by data that’s masquerading as insights.
That’s because the end of third-party cookies, the introduction of Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) by Apple, the rise of omnichannel shopping, and other developments have made it harder to see the insights hiding in your data. All of those changes are highlighting the deficiencies in how digital marketers are currently using their metrics.
Let’s talk about four such deficiencies.
Loyalty: KPIs that Go Beyond the Transaction
Posted on November 8, 2022
While loyalty programs are ultimately about growing revenue, generating lift, and driving frequency, that doesn’t mean transactions are all you should be measuring. In fact, if that is your only key performance indicator, then you’re almost certainly dampening the growth of your loyalty program.
To learn about 4 important loyalty program goals you won’t be able to optimize for if you’re only looking at transactions…
The Last Word on October 2022
Posted on November 4, 2022
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
US holiday shopping 2022: ’Tis the season to be (cautiously) optimistic (McKinsey & Co.)
Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection One Year Later (MediaPost)
Tidying Up: B2B Brands Simplify Their Tech Stacks In Face Of Downturn (MediaPost)
Why Marketers Need to Jump on the AI Bandwagon (VentureBeat)
A Conversation With Aaron Smith of Sageflo (Campaign Genius)
Shining the light on HTML Emails Dark Modes (Notist)
Email Design Quick Wins (Email Design Review)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
Saw this on @semrush and couldn’t help it…
Which ones are spot on, and which ones do I need to add?#emailmarketing #email #emailgeeks pic.twitter.com/2AEBvyf7LK
— robbiefitz (@RobbieFitz) October 14, 2022
Shame is not a good retention strategy.#emailgeeks #emailmarketing pic.twitter.com/JTeOrlu2kL
— Jen Capstraw (@jencapstraw) October 12, 2022
First day at the new job. pic.twitter.com/VTCvM0x5V9
— 🐴 Frontend Horse (@FrontendHorse) October 9, 2022
Another Facebook email flop https://t.co/IsEggCEPv5
— Alex Williams (@alexcwilliams) October 4, 2022
Bad copywriting makes prospects feel like they’re being sold to.
Good copywriting makes prospects feel like they’re being helped.
— Chase Dimond | Email Marketing Nerd 📧 (@ecomchasedimond) October 30, 2022
Noteworthy subject lines
Uncommon Goods, 10/1 – 10 need-to-haves for hosting this fall
West Elm, 10/20 – Get in the spirit: Holiday decor now ships free!
Belk, 10/5 – Get holiday ready! Up to 65% off home must-haves
Crate & Barrel, 10/24 – Get your Christmas tree *now*—before they sell out 🌲
Ross Dress For Less, 10/15 – 🎁 Holiday Home Deals Start at Ross!
Hobby Lobby, 10/14 – Wrap Gifts With Style! 50% Off Christmas ✨
Williams Sonoma, 10/4 – No stress, no mess. Holiday foods delivered to your door >>>
VS PINK, 10/13 – Them: Is It Too Early? 🎄 Us: NEVER
Uncommon Goods, 10/13 – ABC: Always Be Christmassing
West Elm, 10/5 – All new holiday arrivals are here!
IKEA, 10/20 – Chad, the new holiday collection is here!
Banana Republic, 10/20 – Your Invitation Awaits: Preview The Gift of Imagination
Macy’s, 10/20 – Getting ahead of the holiday gift grind = more time to enjoy the merriment
Big Lots, 10/14 – ⚠️LAST CHANCE for big Ho-Ho-HOLIDAY DEALS
Quiksilver, 10/1 – Snow Is Near
Eddie Bauer, 10/14 – Are You DOWN To Save On Parkas & More?
Burlington, 10/5 – Layer up as temperatures go down
Gap, 10/13 – “Put on a jacket” – Every Mom Ever
Nordstrom, 10/20 – Coat season is just around the corner
Neiman Marcus, 10/5 – Must-have boots & jackets for fall
Michaels, 10/14 – Boo ya! Here’s 50% off Halloween décor essentials.
Gap, 10/6 – BASQUIAT x Gap
Bed Bath & Beyond, 10/1 – Brian Kelly, founder of The Points Guy 🤩 lives for rewards – shouldn’t you?
MyPanera, 10/6 – ✨Introducing a NEW MyPanera benefit!✨
Patagonia, 10/27 – Find community, path and purpose
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
BIMI: The Carrot to Get Email Marketing Managers to Fully Authenticate
Mailgun Podcast: Silver Linings in Omnichannel Marketing
7 Types of Customer Attributes for Segmentation & Personalization
One Year Later: How Mail Privacy Protection Has Impacted Marketers
OneSignal Podcast: Email Is Important Part of Omnichannel Journeys
Segmentation & Personalization Ideas to Explore: An Oracle Consulting Checklist
Fourth Quarter 2022 Holiday Marketing Quarterly
Message Prioritization: How to Emphasize the Right Messages
Webbula: What Are the Top Email Marketing Resources for Beginners?
Posted on November 2, 2022
Along with 8 other email marketing experts, I share some of my picks for the best resources for folks just starting out in the industry. My top picks include:
- Really Good Emails, in addition to signing up to lots of email programs yourself
- Email Geeks Slack community and the #EmailGeeks community on Twitter
- Your email service provider
- As well as (selfishly) my book, Email Marketing Rules
All of the contributors to this roundup really came at it from a different point of view, leading to a diverse range of suggestions. To see all of our recommendations…
Hard Truths about B2B Personalization, Its Effectiveness, and Its Future
Posted on November 1, 2022
Forget Personalisation, It’s Impossible and It Doesn’t Work. I’ll be honest: When I saw that headline in my Twitter feed, I nearly laughed out loud. In fact, I assumed the piece was satirical. It wasn’t.
As a long-time believer in and witness of the power of personalization in email marketing, I was skeptical. However, if you take the time to read the article as I did, then you’ll discover that the authors make some strong arguments about the weaknesses of personalization as a technical endeavor and business goal for B2B brands. Their opinion hinges on two points. Both are worth examining, along with some counterpoints.
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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