Email Marketing Rules5 Digital Marketing Takeaways from the 2021 Holiday Season
Posted on February 2, 2022
A second consecutive chaotic and stressful holiday season is over—and just like last year, it’s tempting to want to close the book on it and never look back. However, that would be a mistake, as there are always lessons to be learned from Christmas Past that can help with our Christmas Future.
Here are 5 digital marketing takeaways that you should carry with you into your planning sessions for this year and the upcoming holiday season:
- Early start to holiday season has staying power
- Marquee shopping days are losing a little luster
- Adopt wider windows for measuring performance
- Improve cross-channel attribution
- Communicate product availability better
For a look at each of those takeaways…
First Quarter 2022 Holiday Marketing Quarterly
Posted on January 21, 2022
The holiday season doesn’t have an off-season. Having a successful holiday season means executing a successful four-quarter strategy. Oracle Consulting’s Holiday Marketing Quarterly gives you a quarter-by-quarter plan for how to achieve more during the critical holiday season with your digital marketing efforts.
The first quarter is focused on seizing opportunities, mitigating risks, learning from the just-passed holiday season, and starting to make the larger structural and programmatic changes necessary to succeed in the new year and during the next holiday season. In this Holiday Marketing Quarterly, we’ll cover:
- Holiday Post-Mortems
- Seasonal Buyer Reactivations
- Email Deliverability Recoveries
- Automated Email Optimization & Growth
- Creative Refreshes
- Upgrades & Expansions of Your Tech Stack
For the full checklist…
e-shot: Email Engagement Is on the Up, and 7 More Trends for 2022
Posted on January 18, 2022
The pandemic has put an increased focus on email marketing as a way for consumers to stay in touch with their favorite brands. Engagement is up, but e-shot wonders what marketers should focus on in 2022 to keep growing their email marketing programs growing. Along with Kath Pay, Jordie van Rijn, Dela Quist, Jenna Tiffany, Dave Chaffey, and Dan Hare, I help illuminate 7 trends for this year:
- Accessibility
- User-generated content and social proof
- Mindful personalization
- Data protection and privacy
- New ways to measure success
- Larger BIMI adoption across brands
- Interactivity in emails, including micro-interactions
For a detailed look at each of those…
SparkPost: Tips to Prevent Burnout and Recharge Email Inspiration
Posted on January 13, 2022
Burnout has become a national conversation, as job-switching has reached historic highs. It affects all facets of our professional and personal lives, including our social, mental, and physical well-being.
To help marketers recognize the signs of burnout and take action to alleviate them, the team at SparkPost has gathered their thoughts and tips, which I was honored to contribute to. We hope these ideas bring you some comfort and help you recharge your email inspiration. We’re all in this together.
Should Emails Expire? Yes and No
Posted on January 11, 2022
Most commercial email that’s sent is never deleted by recipients. Moreover, most commercial email content is only relevant for a fairly short period of time—say, weeks tops for the vast majority of it. As a consequence, mailbox providers currently store and maintain access to a tremendous amount of old and completely irrelevant email. That’s costly for them and an ecologically senseless use of electricity during a time of escalating climate risk.
For those reasons, the issue has been raised as to whether marketers should be allowed and enabled to schedule the emails they send to delete themselves. Even if only instituted for future emails, it would stop mailboxes from filling up with even more messages of limited long-term value.
We already have a good starting point for this process: the schema that’s used to tell Gmail and other mailbox providers when the deals in our emails expire. That schema could be used by all senders to set reasonable expiration dates for their messages, when applicable. This is a mechanism that wasn’t available when the idea of auto-deleting emails was first raised around 2012.
However, many of the barriers that stopped this idea from gaining traction a decade ago are still problems today. Let’s talk about those, plus an alternative approach to solving this problem.
On-Demand Webinar: Effective Testing & Optimization Across Digital Marketing Channels
Posted on January 7, 2022
Consumer behaviors, desires, and needs are changing faster than ever. Simply watching your analytics and listening to your customer service feedback isn’t enough, if it ever was. To stay aligned with your customers across all of your digital channels, having a robust testing program in place is critical.
But how do you set up an effective testing program across your digital channels? How do you avoid making mistakes that undermine your testing? How do you determine the right kind of test to use and right parameters?
To answer those questions and more, Oracle Marketing Consulting hosted a value-packed webinar, featuring JT Capps, Director of Analytic & Strategic Services, Oracle Marketing Consulting; Doug Sundahl, Senior Director of Analytic & Strategic Services, Oracle Marketing Consulting; and Chris De Marinis, Senior Consultant, Oracle Maxymiser.
To read the 5 key takeaways or to watch the 45-minute on-demand webinar…
7 Burning Questions about Email Unsubscribes
Posted on January 5, 2022
Brands work hard to build their email marketing lists, so they understandably want to minimize unsubscribes. However, lingering misconceptions about unsubscribes lead some brands to put the wrong tactics in place. So, in an effort to reduce unsubscribes, some brands actually end up increasing list churn or hurting their deliverability, or both.
Here are seven questions that you or your boss might have about unsubscribes that are at the heart of devising wise practices that protect your list and your reputation:
- If I make my unsubscribe link too prominent, am I essentially encouraging people to opt out?
- Do unsubscribes hurt my email deliverability?
- What about native unsubscribe links?
- How can I retain more subscribers when they visit my unsubscribe page?
- What about offering a “Snooze” option?
- How many clicks should it take to unsubscribe?
- What should I pay attention to when testing my unsubscribe process?
To the answers to those questions…
The Last Word on December 2021
Posted on January 3, 2022
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
2022 Marketing Predictions for an Increasingly Digital World (MarketingProfs)
Defining the Four Types of Data and Knowing When to Use Them (Litmus)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
It’s been a minute since we’ve seen #CASL enforcement but if you’re a retailer you’ll want to read this one carefully… https://t.co/A6faNfqx5J
— Matthew Vernhout (@EmailKarma) December 8, 2021
Ok so I built a little something…
It’s a magic trick.
It’s built in CSS.
It will predict your favourite email app.https://t.co/1h2YBujDjdCheck it out #EmailGeeks
— Mark Robbins (@M_J_Robbins) December 8, 2021
New acronym? PSPUF. Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, Forums. AKA the dreaded Gmail tabs.
— Al Iverson’s Spam Resource (@spamresource) December 1, 2021
Baffling how many forms don’t support autofill. Such an easy way to increase your conversation rates.
— 𝔸𝕃𝔼𝕏 (@alexcwilliams) December 13, 2021
Someone in @WomenOfEmail shared this amazing email and I cannot stop laughing at this copywriting glory. Someone at @Shinesty has the best job ever. Enjoy #emailgeeks! 🎄 https://t.co/U5sAgcCrEl
— April Mullen (@aprildmullen) December 22, 2021
Noteworthy subject lines
Spotify, 12/14 – Who’s your #1 artist of the year?
Nintendo, 12/14 – It’s here, Chad—your Year in Review with Nintendo Switch!
Uncommon Goods, 12/4 – We have almost 4,000 gifts—so you can find just the right one.🎁
Target, 12/4 – Now available LEGO Collection x Target 🙌
Belk, 12/21 – You get a flannel! And YOU get a flannel! 🎁🎁 From $10 flannels for the fam
Kohl’s Green Monday, 12/13 – Here’s an extra 15% off to sweeten your shopping trip!
DICK’S | Weekend Savings Event, 12/4 – 3🎁Days🎁Left🎁Shop the Guaranteed-Under-The-Tree Event
West Elm, 12/6 – Up to 70% off: In-stock styles, going FAST!
Neiman Marcus, 12/6 – 50% off runway names (before they sell out!)
Eddie Bauer, 12/12 – These Gifts Are In Stock & Ready to Ship!
Williams Sonoma, 12/13 – The modern holiday table | Shop in-stock & ready-to-ship dinnerware
T.J.MAXX, 12/12 – Shipping gifts? Now’s your last chance!
DICK’S Sporting Goods, 12/14 – Get it in time: Order by tomorrow & choose standard shipping
Nordstrom, 12/16 – The most wanted UGG gifts | Last day for free delivery by Christmas
Express, 12/21 – ❗Order by 10 a.m. ET to get style steals under the 🎄 in time❗
Zales, 12/22 – ⏳ Time’s Running Out! Order NOW to Get it By Christmas!
Kohl’s Last Minute Gifts, 12/22 – Last-minute gifts + fast & free store pickup = check off that list!
DICK’S Sporting Goods, 12/21 – 💰 Score last-minute deals TODAY with curbside or in-store pickup
Bed Bath & Beyond, 12/22 – Save 20% on your ENTIRE purchase when you use FREE 1-hour pickup OR get FREE same day delivery!
Big Lots, 12/24 – LAST CHANCE for 15% OFF pickup orders! 😱 Shop by 5PM!
Starbucks, 12/21 – The perfect last-minute gift ☕ 💚
Macy’s, 12/24 – Down to the wire? E-Gift Cards to the rescue! ✉️
Victoria’s Secret, 12/24 – Christmas Is Tomorrow! Send an E-Gift Card
Banana Republic, 12/24 – Save Time, Get an E-Gift Card
Lowe’s Home Improvement, 12/29 – Easily redeem your gift cards with new tools.
Sears, 12/25 – 🎮 Now it’s time to give YOURSELF something…
Zales, 12/26 – Didn’t Get Everything You Wanted For Christmas?
Express, 12/4 – Your invite’s inside! ✉️ Express Live with Rachel Zoe
IKEA, 12/14 – Chad, be the first to watch the Host Masters finale 🥂🍾
Bed Bath & Beyond, 12/6 – Katie Lee Biegel’s expert tips & picks for fun holiday get-togethers 🥳
Express, 12/6 – Ready to put on your party pants? 🎉
Nordstrom, 12/6 – Beauty picks for holiday parties
Burlington, 12/14 – Inside: Brand-name New Year’s Eve outfits!
Big Lots, 12/26 – 🎉 New Year’s party? 🎉 Ring it in right!
Belk, 12/29 – There’s no party like a pajama party! 🎉 55% off women’s & kids’ sleepwear
Nordstrom, 12/24 – Get set for winter self-care
Walgreens, 12/29 – 💰 YES. PLEASE. A FSA is waiting at Walgreens! These deals mean it’s time to order
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Wishing Every #EmailGeek a Safe and Happy Holidays!
Dyspatch: The Email Marketing Trends That’ll Dominate 2022
8 Lessons Learned from Giving 100+ Webinars
13 Inclusive Design Changes to Increase Your Digital Marketing Engagement
Wishing Every #EmailGeek a Safe and Happy Holidays!
Posted on December 23, 2021
From my family to yours, wishing you a safe and Happy Holidays!
Dyspatch: The Email Marketing Trends That’ll Dominate 2022
Posted on December 17, 2021
It’s that time of year again: Prediction time. Since the future is always hazy, Dyspatch’s Liz Willits pulled together 12 experts to share their thoughts on the email marketing trends that will take off in 2022 and help marketers succeed. I was honored to be included, along with:
- Dave Gerhardt, Chief Brand Officer at Drift & Founder of DGMG
- Eddie Shleyner, Founder, VeryGoodCopy.com
- Andy Crestodina, Co-Founder of Orbit Media
- Matthew Smith, Design Goofball and Founder Really Good Emails
- Ryan Robinson, a blogger and podcaster
- Kaleigh Moore, eCommerce writer
- Anne Tomlin, Founder of Emails Y’all and Email Loot
- Dylan Moore, Director of Customer Success at Dyspatch
- Brian Minick, COO at ZeroBounce
- Rachael Pilcher, B2B SaaS copywriter
- Andrew and Pete, Founders of ATOMIC
Across everyone’s predictions, some interesting themes bubbled up out of the haze. For example, subscriber-centricity in terms of empathetic copy, personalization and segmentation, and strong usability was stressed. Also, ease of production was a theme, which included more use of modular email architecture and more use of plain-text email. There was also some consensus that brands would spend considerable effort adapting to Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection, which was the focus of my prediction.
For a look at all the predictions…
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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