Email Marketing RulesThe Email Design Podcast #61: 2017 State of Email Workflows (Part I)
Posted on May 12, 2017
In this episode of The Email Design Podcast, I speak with host Kevin Mandeville about the findings of our 2017 State of Email Workflow.
We walk through each section of the report, talking about…
- Content planning
- Production cycles
- Email design and development tools
…before running out of time. We then recorded Part II, which covers the other topics in the report and will be released next week. But first things first: Here’s Part I.
>> Listen to the podcast on the Litmus blog
What Is the Biggest Email Marketing Myth?
Posted on May 11, 2017
Doing email marketing right is challenging in the best of circumstances. But it’s made more difficult by all of the outdated and just plain wrong advice out there that leads marketers astray.
To put you on the right course, we’re busting 25 email marketing myths—many of which you’ve probably heard repeated so many times that you’d swear they were true.
Along with a brief explanation of the truth, we provide a link to a full exploration of the issue so you can appreciate the entire context of it.
Which email marketing myth do you think is the biggest?
>> Read the full post on the Litmus blog
Marketing Cloudcast: It’s 2017. Are You Still Making These Email Marketing Mistakes?
Posted on May 10, 2017
I was fortunate to be asked back to be a guest again on Salesforce’s Marketing Cloudcast, which is hosted by Heike Young and Joel Book. During the 34-minute episode, we discussed the upcoming 3rd edition of my book, Email Marketing Rules, and what has changed over the years and is on the horizon.
Over the course of the podcast, we also talked about six mistakes that marketers continue to make in 2017 when it comes to email:
- Committing email marketing that’s neither functional nor respectful.
- Letting email marketing efforts transpire in a silo.
- Neglecting email for other channels where consumers don’t actually want brand interaction.
- Not leveraging the power of mobile.
- Sending more emails instead of better emails.
- Not personalizing for today’s high-expectation consumer.
I shared advice on how to avoid those mistakes, and much more.
>> Listen to the Marketing Cloudcast
Top Email Copy Tips from 12 Email Experts
Posted on May 8, 2017
Is there a secret sauce for great email copy? To find out, Tim Watson asked 12 email experts, including myself, to share their #1 email copy tip.
Here’s my advice:
Shorter is better, and clarity is king. We’ve been doing a lot of A/B testing here at Litmus over the past year around copy length, and shorter copy has been a continual winner for us. People are busy and in a hurry. Use clear headlines, subheads, and bulleted lists to quickly communicate the core of your message. Then let your landing page deliver more details.
There are some very clear common threads, so I highly recommend that you check out all the tips.
>> Read all the advice on the EmailPixels blog
Webinar: ‘Adapting to Consumers’ New Definition of Spam’ at MarketingProfs Email Marketing Virtual Conference
Posted on May 5, 2017
Join Kath Pay, Kevin Linden, and me at MarketingProfs Email Marketing Virtual Conference on May 12.
I’ll be discussing now email marketers can adjust to consumers’ new definition of spam. During my session, you will hear findings from the Adapting to Consumers’ New Definition of Spam report, which is based on a joint Litmus-Fluent survey of more than 1,300 American adults.
You will learn about and get actionable advice regarding:
- What consumers’ broadening definition of spam is, and how they interact with the spam folder
- How millennials’ unsubscribe and complaint behavior differs from other age groups
- The best ways marketers can reduce spam complaints and unsubscribes
Adapting to Consumers’ New Definition of Spam
May 12, 2017
12:30pm–1:15pm ET
Can’t make it on May 12? Don’t worry. Sign up and you’ll receive on-demand access for 90 days after the event.
>> Register for the free event
Report: 2017 State of Email Workflows
Posted on May 4, 2017
Creating a high-performing email takes time and the right resources. Your workflow is an expression of the investment you make in every email—and is itself a predictor of email program success.
Based on our State of Email Survey of more than 3,500 marketers, our second annual State of Email Workflows report takes a detailed look at how marketers:
- Plan their email content
- Allocate their time among tasks
- Use technology in their workflow
- Handle quality assurance
- Get approvals
- Send their emails
- Deal with email mistakes
- Use Litmus in their workflow
It’s our hope that you’ll use these results to benchmark your own process and identify opportunities for improvement, as well as using this report’s findings as evidence to make a compelling argument for more resources or process changes.
>> Download the free report
The Last Word on April 2017
Posted on May 3, 2017
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
Email Awards. Should We Have them? (Really Good Emails)
B2B Personas: Targeting Audiences (Salesforce)
3 Reasons the Death of Data Privacy Rules is Bad for Advertisers (DMNews)
Email Marketing & Marketing Automation Excellence 2017 (GetResponse)
Interactive Emails Increase Engagement (MediaPost)
Yahoo plus AOL? It’s now called Oath (USA Today)
How Special Offers in Email Subject Lines Impact Performance (MarketingProfs)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
Silicon Valley social media is a sucker’s game. You’re never the leader on someone else’s land.
— Brian Clark (@brianclark) April 14, 2017
Comcast killing it with their April Fools’ joke pic.twitter.com/UqnQ441iDU
— Paul O’Shannessy (@zpao) April 1, 2017
😂 Email addresses that would be really annoying to give out over the phone. https://t.co/xhzHUrsXdW pic.twitter.com/275ltn6Gio
— Ted Goas (@TedGoas) April 26, 2017
Noteworthy subject lines
Williams Sonoma, 4/8 — Easter is April 16th! Up to 30% Off EVERYTHING EASTER!
ToysRUs, 4/8 — Fill Their Baskets With Arts, Crafts & Plush Toys!
Godiva Chocolatier, 4/13 — Buy 1 Get 1 50% OFF Last Minute Easter Gifts in Boutiques
Etsy, 4/11 — Last-minute Easter *printables*
Applebee’s, 4/8 — Kids Eat Free on Easter!
Petco, 4/19 — Celebrate Pets at Work day with up to 40% off.
BabiesRUs, 4/19 — Earth Day BOGO Deals!
Brooks Brothers, 4/21 — Buy a shirt & we’ll plant a tree.
The Shopping Channel, 4/22 — Make Every Day Earth Day
Zulily, 4/19 — Call your mother — or buy her gifts! Tory Burch + Coach | Levi’s denim & U.S. Polo
Ninety Nine Restaurants, 4/4 — Red Sox Won! Kids Eat Free!
Saks Fifth Avenue, 4/6 — The 3 jackets you need for spring.
Ann Taylor, 4/10 — The 9 Must-Wear Outfits Of Spring
Hayneedle.com, 4/7 — Dig in ¬– Gardening Sale’s up to 50% off!
Lowe’s, 4/20 — The Secret to a Perfect Yard
Walmart, 4/22 — Save up to $25 for spring essentials when you open a Walmart Credit Card. Yes, please!
Pier 1 Imports, 4/28 — Your staycation is sorted.
ThinkGeek, 4/13 — Tiny lightsaber umbrellas not included: NEW Star Wars Geeki Tikis!
Clinique, 4/10 — Workout gear: New travel sizes!
Fossil, 4/24 — Make Your First Smartwatch This One
American Red Cross, 4/24 — Two more days to #help1family
ModCloth, 4/11 — #StyleForAll & personality that speaks volumes!
Clinique, 4/7 — #BehindTheFace: Jeremy Jauncey takes us on an unparalleled journey
eBags, 4/8 — Should you stay or should you go?
Feeding America, 4/5 — Take the quiz: Waste It or Taste It?
Neiman Marcus, 4/5 — Travel tips: Mexico City street style
The Container Store, 4/18 — Quick Tips to Update Your Closet & 15% Off
Ann Taylor, 4/18 — Doers. Dreamers. Inspiring Women.
Art.com, 4/19 — Explore Artist Ruben Ireland
RH, 2/19 — For the Love of Leather. Watch the Film.
Art.com, 4/7 — Featured On The Today Show
Sony Electronics, 4/19 — Your Spot on Our Instagram Page is Waiting
Neiman Marcus, 4/7 — Most-loved Instagram looks
Jetsetter, 4/7 — Jetsetter Employees Dish Where They’re Dying to Go
J.Crew, 4/10 — the 6 all-around best sellers this month
Express, 4/4 — ATTN: 30% off an entire workwear upgrade
Moosejaw, 4/4 — 25% off Lots of Stuff | Patagonia + Moosejaw Charity Thing
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Email Innovations for the Next 5 Years: Consumers vs. Experts
An Essential Preview Text Hack
Every Email Has Roughly 15,000 Potential Renderings
Email Innovations for the Next 5 Years: Consumers vs. Experts
Posted on April 25, 2017
To uncover how email is likely to evolve in the years ahead, Mailjet surveyed consumers about a range of email-related topics and spoke to several email marketing experts, including myself.
The resulting ebook is full of interesting insights, such as:
- Email is the channel that consumers most expect to still be using in 10 years
- Consumers are most excited about email interactivity and receiving real-time, location based emails
- Grocery and tech brands are doing the best job at engaging customers via email
For all the details on email innovations headed…
>> Download the free ebook from Mailjet
An Essential Preview Text Hack
Posted on April 20, 2017
Email clients that support preview text dedicate at least as many characters to it as subject lines—and in some cases, they give it twice as many. So, it’s valuable real estate that marketers can use to convince subscribers that opening their emails is worthwhile.
However, preview text has always been a bit of an imprecise instrument because email clients always pull in enough characters to fill all available preview text space. That means that marketers are left with two choices:
- Go long with their preview text and have it cut off, which can sometimes create embarrassing truncations just as we’ve seen with subject line truncations
- Go short with their preview text and have URLs, administrative text, and other “non-optimized” content from their emails pulled in to fill the space
There is, however, a little-known third choice…the ‌ preview text hack.
>> Read the full post on the Litmus blog
Every Email Has Roughly 15,000 Potential Renderings
Posted on April 13, 2017
Email rendering is significantly more complex than website rendering. In addition to operating system, browser, and screen size, email rendering is affected by the email service provider the marketer uses, the subscriber’s email client, and whether images are enabled or blocked.
If we bundle webmail clients together with browsers, there are five major layers in total affecting how an email renders:
- Email service providers
- Operating systems
- App and web-based email clients
- Screen sizes
- Images enabled/blocked
Let’s look at each of these layers as we build toward a big picture view of just how complex email rendering is…
>> Read the full post 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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