Email Marketing RulesTop 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
Finding the Goldilocks Email Approval Process
Posted on April 11, 2017
Process predicts success. That’s true across the entire email marketing workflow, including how brands handle the approval process for new emails.
Successful email programs are 32% more likely than less successful programs to say they have an appropriately rigorous approval process (68.6% vs. 52.1%) rather than a burdensome process or one that’s too lax, according to Litmus’ State of Email Survey. Marketers who describe their email programs as sophisticated are also significantly more likely than less sophisticated programs to say their approval process is appropriately rigorous (69.6% vs. 55.2%).
A number of factors can tip the balance of an email approval process toward being too cumbersome or too lax:
- Number of Approvals Needed
- High-Level Executive Signoff Needed
- Frequency of Last-Minutes Changes
- Approval Lead Time
For all the details, including survey results around current approval process practices,…
>> Read the full post on the Litmus blog
The Last Word on March 2017
Posted on April 6, 2017
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
Sending an email with no CSS. #EmailWeekly Redesign – Week 1 (Medium)
The Conversion Benchmark Report (Unbounce)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
Love @zillow‘s approach 2 getting email team close 2 engineering means sitting together & shared goals + sailing & happy hour #EiQGathering
— Simms Jenkins (@SimmsJenkins) March 30, 2017
Wow @LinkedIn – Null is so excited to attend your webinar, have you met @litmusapp? #emailfail pic.twitter.com/wOnMRxRVSV
— Valerie Stover (@ValerieStover) March 8, 2017
Yesterday was the first time I have ever had to use style=”mso-table-lspace:0pt; mso-table-rspace:0pt;”
And in summary: I hate Outlook— Becs Rivett-Kemm (@becskr) March 17, 2017
Really can’t work out whether that’s intentional or part of the their template they forgot to change pic.twitter.com/QuRPBeWWAd
— Olly Browning (@yourolly) March 21, 2017
Elon: I’m building driverless cars, plan to colonize Mars, & merge brains with AI.
Me: Yeah I’m just trying to render this email properly…
— Kevin Mandeville (@KevinMandeville) March 28, 2017
Noteworthy subject lines
The Swiss Colony, 3/21 – Make It a 24-Carrot Easter
The Swiss Colony, 3/28 – How to Have the Easiest Easter Ever
Uncommon Goods, 3/7 – Our Leprechauns Approve
Ann Taylor, 3/8 – Let’s Empower Women Around The World
J.Crew, 3/8 –25% off wear-to-work styles = a closet promotion
Vera Bradley, 3/7 – We have spirit, yes we do!
Honda, 3/7 – A first look at the 2017 Civic Type R
Jetsetter, 3/28 – 7 Secret Passenger Rights You Need to Know
eBags, 3/27 – No carry-on? No problem! Check out our top 5 underseaters.
IKEA, 3/28 – Chad, say goodbye to crammed closets!
Clinique, 3/25 – How to find the right foundation shade.
Threadless, 3/6 – Check out our Watercolor winner!
Art.com, 3/24 – The Today Show Loves It, You Will Too
Kate Spade, 3/10 – the unofficial official fabric of spring
RH, 3/28 – Introducing the 2017 Outdoor Source Book
Neiman Marcus, 3/5 – New shoe crush: Pool Slides
J.Crew, 3/7 – 3 new swim ideas + free shipping & returns = the best
Pier 1 Imports, 3/5 – Blue skies and palm trees.
ModCloth, 3/25 – Pool party. You in?!
Express, 3/27 – new this week: palm prints, sun hats & shoulder details
REI Adventures, 3/7 – Be Prepared to Feel Tired, a Little Dirty and Very Much Alive
Victoria’s Secret, 3/24 — Vacation mode ON
Lowe’s, 3/8 – Spring Is Here: Are You Ready?
Pier 1 Imports, 3/2 – Is that a butterfly?
Petco, 3/5 – Small pets make life a lot happier.
Gander Mountain, 3/5 – Turkey Season is Here–Get $20 Off Your $100 Purchase.
Barneys New York, 3/5 – This Menswear Trend Will Be Huge
Gap, 3/5 – For: Date night, Sunday brunch, running errands (basically, looking cute everywhere)
Brooks Brothers, 3/7 – re: your request for the best sweater ever
Ann Taylor, 3/2 – This Is Our Time…
Lululemon, 3/7 – Greatest HIITs
Under Armour, 3/10 – We Supply The Technology, You Supply The Will
Wayfair, 3/27 – We interrupt this broadcast with a TV STAND SALE
GNC, 3/21 – Try A New Free Quest Bar At GNC!
ToysRUs, 3/24 – IT’S BACK! Nintendo Switch in Stores Tomorrow!
Saks Fifth Avenue, 3/27 – New: Saks’ 1st-ever exclusive Prada dress collection.
Karmaloop, 3/24 – If You Don’t Have Our App, You Should…
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
3 Embarrassing Subject Line Mistakes to Avoid
Make Your Unsubscribe Survey More Actionable
Email Attention Spans Have Gradually Increased over Past 6 Years
3 Embarrassing Subject Line Mistakes to Avoid
Posted on March 29, 2017
Subject lines are incredibly powerful, and marketers know it. That’s why, for instance, subject lines are by far the most A/B tested email element, according to Litmus’ 2016 State of Email Design.
But despite the recognition of their importance, subject lines mistakes are not uncommon. These mistakes are devastating to email performance because they distract subscribers and undermine your message at the very beginning of a potential email interaction and at a point when you have only a few seconds to grab their attention.
Some of these mistakes can also be quite embarrassing and…off-brand. In our latest SlideShare, we discuss three such mistakes and share numerous real-world examples.
>> View the full post and slidedeck 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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