Email Marketing RulesLitmus: 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.
Mailgun Podcast: Silver Linings in Omnichannel Marketing
Posted on October 25, 2022
“Deliverability and strategy are inexorably intertwined. Deliverability sets the floor for what we need to achieve.” That was just one of the things I said during my time on Email’s Not Dead podcast with Mailgun’s Jonathan Torres, Eric Trinidad, and Nick Schafer.
During our conversation, which focused heavily on deliverability and performance measurement, we also talked about:
- Spamhaus becoming much more active
- How Mail Privacy Protection is impacting the industry
- Whether other inbox providers will adopt policies similar to MPP
- The value of clicks and how to get more of them
- The need for re-permissioning
- The silver lining of MPP
To hear about all of those topics…
7 Types of Customer Attributes for Segmentation & Personalization
Posted on October 19, 2022
As ways to increase the relevance of your digital marketing campaigns, segmentation and personalization have evolved dramatically over the past decade or so. Indeed, they’ve come so far that simple personalization like addressing subscribers by their first name are now viewed as hollow gestures.
Today, consumers expect brands to use segmentation and personalization to demonstrate that they’re paying attention and truly understand who they are and what they’re interested in. Thankfully, brands have a wealth of potential data they can use to get closer to their customers and prospects.
In Oracle Consulting’s latest Marketing Checklist, we share more than 170 customer attributes you can use to either send a segmented campaign or personalize a campaign. These attributes include seven different kinds of information. In this post, Kaiti Gary discusses each kind.
One Year Later: How Mail Privacy Protection Has Impacted Marketers
Posted on October 13, 2022
Sept. 20 marked the 1-year anniversary of Apple’s launch of Mail Privacy Protection, which has affected everything from email performance measurement to deliverability to email design. Despite the far-reaching nature of these impacts, the results of Oracle Marketing Consulting polls over the past year show that marketers are getting a grip on managing them.
Most notably, the percentage of marketers who say that MPP has extensively impacted their email marketing program has fallen from a high of 33% at the beginning of this year to just 6% last month. The majority of those who were seeing extensive impacts have managed those issues to the point where the impacts are now only significant.
The overall decline in impact is likely attributable to the availability of advice on how to adapt to MPP, as well as a general decrease in anxiety about the change over time. And the distribution of impact likely maps to the size of the respondents’ email programs, with smaller senders being less affected by MPP and larger senders more affected.
The variations are also likely the result of brands being less or more affected by how MPP has affected email analytics, deliverability, and design. Let’s go into more detail about how it has impacted each of those areas of email marketing.
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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