Email Marketing Rules20 Things Successful Email Marketing Programs Do
Posted on November 29, 2017
While it’s difficult to fail at email marketing, success can be elusive. Shifting consumer behaviors and expectations, new technologies, improving cross-channel integration, changing anti-spam and privacy laws, evolving inbox provider capabilities—all can make getting ahead a huge challenge.
Less than 10% of marketers say their email programs are very successful, according to Litmus’ State of Email Research Series. The majority say their email programs are average or even unsuccessful.
It can be difficult to know how to take your email program up a notch. What changes should you make? What technologies should you leverage? How can you improve your organization?
We can help. Based on our survey of more than 3,500 marketers worldwide, we’ve identified 20 operational, strategic, and technological differences between successful email marketing programs and less successful ones.
Here are the 20 things that successful email marketing programs do more often than others…
>> Read the full post on the Litmus blog
Campaign Monitor: 2018 Email Marketing Predictions
Posted on November 22, 2017
What’s in store for email marketers in 2018? Campaign Monitor asked this question to me and five other email experts:
- Samantha Anderl, Senior Director, Acquisition Channels, Campaign Monitor
- Alex Williams, Creative Director, Trendline Interactive
- Philip Storey, Founder and CEO, Enchant
- Kath Pay, CEO, Holistic Email Marketing
- Jordie van Rijn, Founder, emailvendorselection.com
My prediction focused on automated emails and how we’re approaching a tipping point that will affect marketers’ overall email strategy and workflow. Others’ 2018 email marketing predictions centered on personalization, omnichannel integration, predictive analytics, customer journeys, and ESP tools. Their roundup of predictions also included some great ones from the Campaign Monitor community.
All the predictions will get you leaning forward as we enter 2018. There are lots of opportunities ahead!
>> Read all the predictions on CampaignMonitor.com
The 30+ Emails that Email Marketers Love Most
Posted on November 21, 2017
The first step in designing a great email of your own is often receiving a great email from another brand. In a word, the first step is Inspiration.
To get their inspiration fix, 64% of marketers subscribe to 20 or more brands’ emails. Just over 9% of marketers subscribe to 100 or more brands’ emails.
Want to know which brands you should subscribe to? In our 2017 State of Email Creative report, we share the top 30 brands that most inspire email marketers, based on more than 3,000 brand suggestions from more than 1,000 marketers. You should consider these must-subscribe brands. These are the emails that email marketers love.
>> See the list on the Litmus blog
Webinar: The Top 5 Opportunities for Improving Your Email Creative on Dec. 12
Posted on November 20, 2017
Email creative is unlike web or print creative. It has its own unique constraints that marketers must master to make the most of the channel.
In this webinar, expert email developer Kevin Mandeville and I will identify the top 5 opportunities to improve your team’s email creative process, based on the findings of Litmus’ 2017 State of Email Creative research report. But we won’t just give you the insights, we’ll share practical how-to advice to help you executive on each opportunity at your brand.
The Top 5 Opportunities for Improving Your Email Creative
Dec. 12, 2017
10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET / 5:00pm GMT
Your presenters:
Chad White, Research Director, Litmus
Kevin Mandeville, Builder Product Manager, Litmus
Can’t make it on Dec. 12? Don’t worry. Register and you’ll receive the recording of the webinar.
>> Register for the free webinar
Report: 2017 State of Email Creative
Posted on November 17, 2017
Email creative is unlike web or print design. It has its own unique constraints and opportunities that marketers must master to make the most of the channel.
The rendering of your design is affected by the email client and screen size used to view it, whether images are disabled, and more. And you have lots of opportunities to up-level your design by using dynamic content, interactive email elements, A/B testing, and more.
Based on our survey of more than 3,500 marketers worldwide, our second annual State of Email Creative report examines every facet of email creative strategy, including:
- Finding email inspiration
- Brand guidelines
- Email design approaches
- The popularity of various design elements
- The use of one-off email designs
- A/B testing
- Email redesign schedules
- Landing page responsibilities
This 31-page report explores each of these findings and much more, with 25 charts providing data-based evidence of current practices and trends that impact the email creative process.
Use the results to benchmark your own email creative and design processes, to identify opportunities for improvement, and as evidence to argue for the need to experiment with new email approaches, elements, and tactics.
>> Download the free report
Sleeknote’s E-Commerce Boost Podcast: The Hierarchy of Subscriber Needs
Posted on November 15, 2017
I’m honored to be among the first guests on Sleeknote’s new podcast, E-Commerce Boost. In my episode, I spoke with Sleeknote’s Julie Fjeldgaard about the Hierarchy of Subscriber Needs. I explain why creating respectful, functional, valuable, and remarkable email experiences is critical to email marketing success.
In addition to the Hierarchy of Subscriber Needs, we discuss some of the finding from Litmus’ 2017 State of Email Deliverability report, including:
- Sign-up processes
- How the context of a sign-up affects subscriber quality and needs
- The best and most problematic subscriber acquisition sources
- The opportunity around signup confirmation pages
>> Listen to the podcast
Email Marketing Job Hotspots and Hot Skills
Posted on November 7, 2017
Looking for an email marketing job in the US? Then California, Massachusetts, Georgia, Illinois, and New York are the top states for you. In Canada? Then Ontario is tops. In the United Kingdom? London is king.
Those are the top locations that were listed in the highest number of job postings to the Litmus Community Job Board between August 2016 and August 2017, when there were 256 total job postings.
Continuing to live up to its reputation as a high-tech hub, California was by far the state with the most job postings for email marketers. It had at least twice as many email marketing job listings as any other state, with the exception of Massachusetts.
While the United States had considerably more email marketing job postings than the United Kingdom, the city of London had more postings than any US state except for California.
>> Read the full post on the Litmus blog
The Last Word on October 2017
Posted on November 6, 2017
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
The Better Email on Design (Jason Rodriguez)
95% Boost in Conversions from a Small, Simple Change (Email Optimization Shop)
What annoys your clients the most when receiving an email? (Smart Insights)
Why Email Is the Locomotive of Digital Marketing (Forbes)
Email marketing trends 2018 (Smart Insights)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
Heading to the office Halloween party as a wireframe cause I suck at Halloween 🤦🏻♂🤷🏻♂ pic.twitter.com/NWYXq1W3lI
— Gearóid (@gearoidorourke) October 31, 2017
For my #email pals! via @tomfishburne https://t.co/DUYwOZweI3 #marketoon pic.twitter.com/UXYYRlPVlg
— Janet Roberts (@evansmom) October 16, 2017
Me: “What’s your rate?”
Freelancer: “What’s your budget?” pic.twitter.com/82nmnYEEN3— Anna Jenelius 👻 (@TheAnaka) October 23, 2017
I may have gone too far. #emailgeeks pic.twitter.com/6PBRKHUEGR
— Alex Ilhan (@omgitsonlyalex) September 26, 2017
Noteworthy subject lines
ASPCA, 10/18 — Don’t Miss Out. Get Your ASPCA Calendar!
Kate Spade, 10/18 — cat ladies, rejoice!
Clinique, 10/14 — Gift sets for that holiday glow. 5 FREE minis with purchase.
RH, 10/12 — Introducing the Holiday 2017 Collection. Free Shipping on Hundreds of Items.
The Container Store, 10/1 — Got an organizing project? We’ve got a Starter Kit that’ll help
The Crutchfield Team, 10/22 — Sonos + Alexa = Sonos One
DNC Rapid Response, 10/25 — Our rights > Big corporations
FansEdge, 10/12 — THE YANKEES WIN! NY Is In The ALCS!
Nike, 10/22 — Layer your way to peak performance.
ModCloth, 10/7 — ’Cause legs need love, too.
RH, 10/22 — Introducing the Moroccan Cactus Silk Pillow Collection
Wayfair, 10/14 — UNDER-$150 TV stands. Popcorn not included.
GapKids, 10/14 — Here to save the day: Gap x Justice League
Hasbro, 10/12 — Super(hero) Savings
Gucci, 10/11 — Debuting the Unskilled Worker Collection
Godiva Chocolatier, 10/14 — You Asked, We Listened! Our Large Chocolate Bars are BACK
NFLshop, 10/31 — RESTOCK ALERT: Patriots Nike Free Trainer V7 Shoes (will sell out fast!)
Subway, 10/12 — Are you ready for some fooootlooongs?
San Diego Zoo & Safari, 10/13 — Happy, Happy Hippos
Gander Outdoors, 10/25 — Field Tips: The Lowdown on Ground Blinds
Neiman Marcus, 10/14 — Say yes to dresses under $300
Victoria’s Secret, 10/14 — HOLD ON: Free tote in stores!
The Container Store, 10/27 — Watch our Best-Selling Products In Action
Anthropologie, 10/14 — Text me, pls.
Victoria’s Secret, 10/12 — BRA #GOALS: New fall colors!
Sony Electronics, 10/18 — Be a Part of Sony Research | Tell Us What You Think
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
The Rarest and Coolest Defensive Design Tactic: Email Pixel Art
Smart Insights: Email Marketing Trends in 2018
Email Interactivity: Opportunities and Challenges
Webinar Recording + Q&A: The Root Cause of Poor Email Deliverability
Email Design Podcast #78: The 2017 State of Email Deliverability
Smart Insights: Email Marketing Trends in 2018
Posted on October 26, 2017
2018 is fast approaching, so Smart Insights’ breakdown of six emerging email and marketing automation trends is timely.
Their top email marketing trends in 2018—which were informed by contributions from experts, including myself—covered:
- GDPR, which Tim Watson of Zettasphere said would be “very disruptive if not terminal for email 3rd party data and that it would spur “more innovation in list growth this year than for the last 14 years.”
- Interactive email, which presents many opportunities and challenges for email marketers
- Conversational email copywriting, which is essentially about how to write email copy like a human
- Mobile-friendly designs, which are an imperative given the current email reading habits
- Deliverability, which I predicted would be boosted by an increase in email authentication driven by the emerging Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) standard
- Personalization and segmentation, which will be driven by affordable machine learning and AI solutions
For all the details…
>> Read the full article on SmartInsights.com
Webinar Recording + Q&A: The Root Cause of Poor Email Deliverability
Posted on October 17, 2017
Being blocked and blacklisted should be far less common than they are today, when 34% of marketers have been blocked and nearly 15% have been blacklisted in the past 12 months, according to Litmus’ 2017 State of Email Deliverability report.
After examining the subscriber acquisition, permission, inactivity management, and other practices of more than 3,500 marketers, we’ve identified the root causes of poor inbox placement. We’ve also identified the half-measures marketers take to avoid addressing those root causes.
In this webinar, deliverability expert and Litmus Product Manager Jay Brangiforte and I discuss the various ways that marketers try to improve their poor email deliverability and which ones work best.
If you didn’t make the webinar, there’s no need to worry. You can watch the whole thing, plus see the answers to the questions we didn’t get to during the live webinar.
>> Watch the webinar on the Litmus Blog
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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