Email Marketing RulesThe Last Word on November 2016
Posted on December 7, 2016
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
Study finds e-retailers are making it more difficult to unsubscribe from emails (Marketing Land)
Why People Open Emails (Backed by Research) (MailMunch)
Measuring success in email – we’re doing it wrong (Medium)
What Email Marketers Can Do to Stop Unsubscribes (MarketingProfs)
Have We Forgotten How To Market? (MediaPost)
Our Favorite Examples of Live Polling in Email Marketing (Movable Ink)
Is the new “easy” list unsubscribe a big problem? (Hive)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
For most retailers if they lose 1% of this loyal base, they will not be profitable this year. Yikes! #adobechat https://t.co/ejZDbQEC3j
— Tamara Gaffney (@tamarag) November 9, 2016
Marketers aren’t like normal people, that’s why they see the world so digitally versus reality: pic.twitter.com/L4e6xAGkmd
— Mark Ritson (@markritson) November 4, 2016
Only my closest friends call me Subscriber.#PesronalNotPersonal pic.twitter.com/RqzQTD2ys0
— Jared Spool (@jmspool) November 2, 2016
Interesting choice for this preference center… #unsubscribe #notrecommended pic.twitter.com/O3EE07C8ZU
— email stuffing (@EmailSnarketing) November 22, 2016
you’re really selling it 👍 #emaildesign pic.twitter.com/rNzIMLRvRp
— Elliot Ross (@iamelliot) November 22, 2016
Noteworthy subject lines
FansEdge, 11/4 — Everything Cubs. Everything Championship. While Supplies Last.
Under Armour, 11/4 — Cubs Fans: It’s Time To Celebrate!
AutoAnything, 11/11 — Thank You, Veterans.
The Swiss Colony, 11/8 — Serve and Give Our Best for Thanksgiving
P&G everyday, 11/14 — Simple Thanksgiving place settings
Net-a-Porter, 11/15 — Your stylish Thanksgiving starts here
Vera Bradley, 11/4 — The trick(s) to tackling holiday travel …
Costco Wholesale, 11/4 —Home For the Holidays! Save Up to $600 OFF on Modern Furniture for Every Room!
Pier 1 Imports, 11/3 — Give your guests the best.
Pier 1 Imports, 11/9 — Make an entrance they won’t forget.
LifeWay, 11/3 — Prepare Your Heart and Home for Christmas
Sears, 11/9 — ! Special Annoucement: Black Friday deals NOW on the Sears app >>
Sears, 11/4 — One holiday, TWO sales! Veterans Day savings + Black Friday deals!
Clinique, 11/4 — Let’s get merry! Our Holiday Shop has some big surprises.
Neiman Marcus, 11/3 — Gifts that give back: Our Love To Give Collection
Gucci, 11/14 — From the Gucci Garden: the New Campaign for the Holidays
Ikea, 11/11 — Introducing our new holiday collection for 2016!
Nike.com, 11/3 — Give Nike: The Ultimate Gift List
ThinkGeek, 11/3 — Insert Coin. Receive gift. Continue? Browse our Holiday Giftcade.
Nike, 11/14 — Customize Your Holiday Gifts with NIKEiD
Costco, 11/14 — Top Electronics & Gifts Too Big to Wrap – Don’t Miss These Costco-Sized Savings!
Gap, 11/21 — $25 and under stocking stuffers are here!
Harley-Davidson, 11/3 — If You’re on the Naughty List, You Better Enjoy It
ToysRUs, 11/14 — Save Like It’s Cyber Monday! 1-Day Online Only Sale!
Victoria’s Secret, 11/24 — Post-Dinner Plans = Shop With PINK!
Lands’ End, 11/24 — We are thankful for friends, family, elastic waistbands and this…
FansEdge, 11/24 — Today We Are Thankful. For Style. And Football.
Dell, 11/24 — Time to be thankful. DOORBUSTERS have arrived early!
ThinkGeek, 11/24 — Stop fixing the WiFi at your aunt’s house: 40-60% off over 100 products!
Lowe’s, 11/24 — Happy Thanksgiving! Start Your Holiday Off Right With These Black Friday Savings
REI, 11/24 — This Holiday Is About Family
Target, 11/24 — 6 pm: Black Friday starts at your Target store.
Blue Nile, 11/28 — Better Than Friday, 50% Off New Cyber Monday
Sears, 11/28 — ☺ Use code: CYBER (we’re giving you an EXTRA 25% off!)
Walmart, 11/14 — Apply for a Walmart Credit Card today!
Shopbop.com, 11/14 — Holiday How-To: Get dressed up with Lucy Hale!
Lands’ End, 11/13 — Here’s how to build a beautiful winter look & save 40%
Anthropologie, 11/21 — THIS jacket: required.
Etsy, 11/13 — It’s engagement season
Southwest, 11/15 — The slopes are calling. Open now for sale fares.
AutoAnything, 11/13 — You have 9 unread deals
BEHAVE.org, 11/15 — Don’t open if you love your job
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
6 Email Marketing Manipulations that Should Stop
Webinar Recording + Q&A: Adapting to Consumers’ New Spam Definition
Millennials Driven to Opt-out and Report Spam Largely by Same Factors as Everyone Else
7 Email Marketing Predictions for 2017
Posted on December 6, 2016
With 2017 just around the corner, Campaign Monitor sought predictions for the New Year from me and six other email marketing experts:
- Alex Williams, Trendline Interactive
- Matthew Smith, Really Good Emails
- Daniel Codella, ZURB
- Andrea Wildt, Campaign Monitor
- Jordie Van Rijn, Email Monday
- Ros Hodgekiss, Campaign Monitor
My prediction centers around automation and data-driven messaging, which was a theme echoed by a couple of the other contributors. Others focused on mobile payments, email design, email metrics, and new internet-connected devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home.
Despite being well-established, email marketing is constantly evolving. That means that email marketers need to be constantly evolving too.
>> See the email marketing predictions for 2017
Webinar: The State of Email – A Year in Review
Posted on December 2, 2016
To understand how email marketing is changing and to identify opportunities for brands, Litmus surveyed more than 900 marketers worldwide. Those extensive results powered our State of Email research series.
Join me on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at 1 pm ET as I share the most interesting and actionable insights from that research series and give you data-driven advice on:
- How to embrace mobile-friendliness with an eye to production efficiency
- Tools to strengthen your workflow
- How to improve the effectiveness of your email designs
- Tools to strengthen your workflow
- Salary trends to pay attention to
>> Register for the free webinar
6 Email Marketing Manipulations that Should Stop
Posted on November 29, 2016
While many brands have embraced customer-centricity, there are many relics of brand-centric thinking still out there in the email marketing world, unfortunately.
Here are 6 email marketing manipulations that we should stop in 2017:
- Using passive aggressive email signup and opt-out language
- Mandatory email opt-ins with purchase
- Hiding behind people’s names to obscure our brand
- Using misleading, vague, and overly clever subject lines
- Trying to trick Gmail and other inboxes into retabbing our emails
- Hiding unsubscribe links
For a full discussion of each of these manipulations, plus supporting research,…
>> Read the full column on MarketingLand.com
Webinar Recording + Q&A: Adapting to Consumers’ New Spam Definition
Posted on November 22, 2016
Marketers must shift their email strategies to match consumers’ shifting spam definition. Litmus worked with Fluent to survey 1,300+ American adults to determine what causes them to report emails as spam and to unsubscribe.
Jordan Cohen, Chief Marketing Officer at Fluent, and I teamed up to discuss these findings and what they mean for email marketers going forward. To watch the recording, download the slides, and read the Q&A from the webinar…
>> Get the full recap on the Litmus blog
Millennials Driven to Opt-out and Report Spam Largely by Same Factors as Everyone Else
Posted on November 16, 2016
Our Adapting to Consumers’ New Definition of Spam research, which surveyed more than 1,300 American adults, found that millennials were the same as older generations in many ways when it came to their email behavior. However, there were some differences.
Here are the five biggest differences that we could find from our research:
- Millennials check their spam folders more frequently and rescue brands they don’t want there more frequently.
- Millennials are more likely to take action based solely on an email’s subject line and other envelope content.
- Millennials are more likely to unsubscribe from emails over a bad customer service experience.
- Millennials are more likely to triage their mobile inbox, saving certain emails for later.
- Millennials are less likely to find unsubscribing from promotional emails to be difficult.
For all the details and takeaways on how to address each of these issues…
>> Read the entire post on the Litmus blog
Webinar: Adapting to Consumers’ New Definition of Spam
Posted on November 7, 2016
Consumer attitudes toward spam continue to shift dramatically, which in turn demands that brands make an equal shift in their email marketing strategies.
In this webinar, we’ll share findings and advice from our Adapting to Consumers’ New Definition of Spam report, which is based on a joint Litmus-Fluent survey of more than 1,300 American adults.
Join Jordan Cohen, Chief Marketing Officer of Fluent, and I on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 1 pm ET as we discuss:
- Consumers’ broadening definition of spam
- How consumers interact with the spam folder
- The blurring of the motivations for complaints and unsubscribes
- Consumers’ mobile inbox triaging behavior
- How millennials’ unsubscribe and complaint behavior differs from other age groups
- Their picks for the best ways to reduce spam complaints and unsubscribes
>> Register for the free webinar
The Last Word on October 2016
Posted on November 3, 2016
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
2016 Lookbook (Shaw + Scott)
2016 Holiday Email Marketing Report (MailCharts)
Retailers to Prepare for Post-Election Holiday Shopping (National Retail Federation)
Get Your Customers Back With Excellent Win-Back Emails (Sleeknote)
Google has killed Email Marketing … Again (LinkedIn)
2017 will be the year of interactive email (Medium)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
The globals powers of the world are being hacked….via email. 2017 will surely bring a rise in encrypted and secured email clients https://t.co/a3E02CUBH1
— Anthony Chiulli (@AnthonyChiulli) October 27, 2016
When just one emoji in your preview text just won’t do. pic.twitter.com/1G9MIBQ3Cw
— Jaina Mistry (@jainamistry) October 27, 2016
Email, its strength and weakness, is how flexible it is in ways people don’t appreciate. A modern system would never be designed like this.
— SwiftOnSecurity (@SwiftOnSecurity) October 14, 2016
Noteworthy subject lines
Dell, 10/4 — Here it is! The new laptop that lets you decide. The choice is yours.
Lands’ End, 10/1 — Join Lands’ End in fighting breast cancer
Vera Bradley, 10/1 — Pick up Art Poppies for the cause…
M•A•C Cosmetics, 10/4 — Halloween: Space Squad – Galactic Ghoul & Space Vampire
Pier 1 Imports, 10/1 — Welcome to the after-party
Lego, 10/1 — New Exclusive Winter Holiday Train now available!
Peet’s Coffee, 10/1 — Our Holiday Blend preview roast is here!
The Container Store, 10/20 — Get Ready for Holiday Guests!
Neiman Marcus, 10/31 — Parties coming up? Our fashion director’s favorites
Hayneedle, 10/11 — 40% off Christmas trees? Yes, please! Plus dining, lighting & more.
IKEA, 10/14 — Easy, affordable ideas to get you ready for the holidays!
SeaWorld Orlando, 10/6 — Our New Christmas Hotel Package will make you merry
PersonalizationMall.com, 10/14 — Save 50% On Personalized Christmas Cards
Neiman Marcus, 10/19 — The 2016 Christmas Book is here! Fantasy Gifts, exclusive finds, styles of the season + more
ToysRUs, 10/29 — Our AWWWESOME holiday catalog is here – let the wishing begin!
Zulily, 10/30 — These toys are GAME CHANGERS! Come shop Santa’s Workshop
Pier 1 Imports, 10/6 — Be a part of the holiday crew.
ToysRUs & BabiesRUs, 10/1 — We’re Hiring!
RH, 10/26 — Luxe Faux Fur Gifts. Explore the Holiday 2016 Collection.
Barneys New York, 10/6 — Furry Textures Are Our Favorite Fall Accent
Under Armour, 10/4 — It’s Hoodie Season—You Ready?
The North Face, 10/30 — Warm boots for winter’s worst
GNC, 10/13 — It’s National Train Your Brain Day, Remember?!
IKEA, 10/12 — Chad: you’re invited to the IKEA Cook and Eat Your Way Event!
ASPCA, 10/7 — Hurricane Matthew: ASPCA Deploys Response Team
Wine.com, 10/21 — Top-Scoring Wines for Every Budget
Walmart, 10/4 — ******SPECIAL BUYS****** while supplies last
Gap, 10/20 — Don’t let FOMS happen (that’s Fear Of Missing Sale)
UncommonGoods, 10/26 — First World Problems: Solved
Anthropologie, 10/10 — Wear this dress. Make an entrance.
Blue Nile, 10/13 — Calling All Ring Fingers: Engagement Collections
Golfsmith, 10/14 — We’re Closing in Northborough & Bellingham – Take 40% Off Everything!
Applebee’s, 10/7 — Game Time – Go Boston!
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Report: Adapting to Consumers’ New Definition of Spam
B2B Forum Presentation: Inbox Optimization
Key Success & Failure Metrics for the Hierarchy of Subscriber Needs
Posted on November 1, 2016
Subscriber expectations have grown steadily over the years, driven higher by a wide range of factors, including the adoption of smartphones, the increase in targeting, and the rise in omnichannel experiences.
For email marketers to be successful, they must exceed or at least meet these expectations, which can be measured by a set of success metrics and a set of failure metrics.
In my latest Marketing Land column, I discuss how these expectations line up with The Hierarchy of Subscriber Needs for respectful, functional, valuable, and remarkable experiences. I share the success metrics marketers should use to measure each of those needs.
Using the finding from our just-released Adapting to Consumers’ New Definition of Spam report, I share failure metrics for each of those needs as well.
>> Read my full column on MarketingLand.com
Report: Adapting to Consumers’ New Definition of Spam
Posted on October 26, 2016
Consumer attitudes toward spam continue to shift dramatically, which in turn demands that brands make an equal shift in their email marketing strategies. To understand consumers’ current definition of spam and why they end email relationships with brands, Litmus and Fluent surveyed more than 1,300 American adults, using Fluent’s ad serving technology.
Our research found that consumers unsubscribe and report emails as spam for the same reasons, and that those reasons now involve experiences that go well beyond the inbox.
To help you navigate these changes, we detail consumers’ spam folder behavior and share a 7-point plan for how marketers can avoid spam complaints and extend subscriber relationships:
- Improve your permissioning to ensure that your email consents are strong
- Send relevant emails at a good cadence
- Create mobile-friendly emails
- Create mobile-friendly landing page experiences
- Make opting out easy to avoid frustrating subscribers
- Don’t email subscribers who have just had poor customer experiences
- Maintain your subscribers’ interest
Use the findings and advice in this ebook to reduce list churn and in doing so increase your email list growth and subscriber lifetime value.
>> Download the free report
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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