Email Marketing RulesB2B Forum Presentation: Inbox Optimization
Posted on October 24, 2016
Consumers opt-out and report emails as spam for a wide range of reasons, only one of which is a lack of permission. That’s because while permission is needed to be welcome in the inbox, sending functional emails with relevant content is needed to stay welcome.
In our session at MarketingProfs’ B2B Forum in Boston, Litmus VP of Marketing Justine Jordan and I shared new research into consumer email behavior and tips on how to stay in subscribers’ good graces.
In addition to the information we discussed during our presentation, we also shared a workbook to help marketers create better campaigns that fulfill the Hierarchy of Subscriber Needs, plus links to a lot of resources where you can dive deeper into a topic.
>> Download the slides, workbook, and resource list
6 Shocking Subject Line Myths
Posted on October 12, 2016
Subject lines are the most written about email marketing element, and they’re probably the most misunderstood as well. The internet is full of bad subject line advice that gets endlessly echoed until it has the ring of truth to it.
Here are six myths about subject lines that you may believe are true:
- Subject lines have the biggest impact on whether a subscriber opens an email.
- Subject lines can only impact email open rates.
- The subject line’s one and only goal is to get subscribers to open the email.
- To compel subscribers to open, subject lines need to grab their attention with provocative and intriguing language.
- The worst thing that can happen to an email is that it isn’t opened.
- If an email isn’t opened, then it’s like you never sent it.
For the truth about email subject lines…
>>Read the full post on the Litmus blog
Tips for Holiday Email Success
Posted on October 7, 2016
For online retailers, the holiday season is a critical time of the year. MailCharts’ 2016 Holiday Email Marketing Report includes analysis of email frequency, promotions, discounts, subject line copy, and much more that can help you plan the most effective campaigns.
The report also includes holiday marketing advice from Litmus, as well as AWeber, Movable Ink, and Return Path. The advice I offered from Litmus included tips about email content planning, managing inactives, and triggered emails—particularly shopping cart abandonment emails.
In addition, the 114-page report contains lots of examples of seasonal email campaigns and subject lines.
>> Download MailCharts’ 2016 Holiday Email Marketing Report
The Last Word on September 2016
Posted on October 5, 2016
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
Update: Gmail Rolls Out Support for Responsive Design, Improved Font Styling + CSS for Accessibility (Litmus)
Subscription Bombing: COI, CAPTCHA, and the Next Generation of Mail Bombs (Spamhaus)
Reports of email’s demise have been greatly exaggerated (Venture Beat)
AOL’s new Alto mail client lets you take action from your inbox (TechCrunch)
It’s good to talk? Actually, no, I’ll send you a message, say mobile phone users (The Telegraph)
Email Continues to Deliver Strong ROI and Value for Marketers (eMarketer)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
Teens Use YouTube, Gmail More than Social Networks – eMarketer https://t.co/zcB7GQkCSB via @eMarketer
— Alyssa Nahatis (@ANahatis) September 22, 2016
Im pretty pumped about @Apple‘s new iOS 10 unsubscribe feature built into the native mail app! #emailmarketing pic.twitter.com/3Aean8sVDz
— Anthony Chiulli (@AnthonyChiulli) September 7, 2016
“The cognitive computing era is the next digital revolution.” – @rwlord #THINKmarketing #AWNewYork pic.twitter.com/mrklyYeIn5
— Jay Baer (@jaybaer) September 28, 2016
“Boosting customer retention by 5% can increase profits by as much as 80%.” Those…are big numbers. #wwdsummits
— Matt Lindner (@mattlindnerIR) September 21, 2016
“Don’t let the pixel perfect distract you. You care. Users don’t.” from @ericlepetitsf at #LitmusLive #emailmarketing
— Chris Sietsema (@sietsema) September 16, 2016
Noteworthy subject lines
Pier 1 Imports, 9/8 — Christmas cheer starts here!
Sony, 9/23 — Give Moments | Reserve Your Sony Holiday Catalog by 9/27
Southwest, 9/23 — Thanksgiving flights on sale! Book now.
GNC, 9/8 — Get Your Pumpkin Spice On. Without The Guilt.
ModCloth, 9/22 — ‘Ghouls’ just wanna have fun.
Democrats.org, 9/19 — $1 a day keeps Trump away
Fossil, 9/27 — We Interrupt This Broadcast…
Brooks Brothers, 9/28 — Shop our Made in the USA collection
Moosejaw, 9/6 — FREE $10 Coupon for taking a Survey
Epicurious, 9/7 — KFC’s Secret to Better Fried Chicken
Apple, 9/23 — Apple Watch Series 2 is here.
Under Armour, 9/28 — Every Athlete Needs A Swacket
J.Crew, 9/22 — What is “tomgirl”? (Plus, watch J.Crew Style Hacks.)
Gap, 9/12 — That great feeling when asked “Where’d you get your dress?”
Under Armour, 9/20 — The Weather Doesn’t Matter
J.Crew, 9/20 — Fall starts in 2 days. Get ready with 25% off $150+ & free shipping.
Brooks Brothers, 9/20 — Fall’s almost here. So are 150+ new arrivals.
eBags, 9/22 — First Day Of Fall, Last Day of 20% Off
GapKids, 9/22 — 9/22: AKA first day of Fall, AKA time for outerwear
Scotts, 9/23 — Fall Has Arrived — Seeding Season Is Here!
Walgreens, 9/27 — Get the flu shot that helps a child in need
Gucci, 9/22 — The Women’s Spring Summer 2017 Fashion Show
FansEdge, 9/12 — Get It By Friday. Wear It On Gameday.
Gander Mountain, 9/7 — NRA Weekend at Gander Mountain
Barneys New York, 9/12 — The Handbags Everyone is Carrying at New York Fashion Week
MAC Cosmetics, 9/12 — Chat Live with a Makeup Artist + Get Advice with Photo Upload Now. Plus FREE Sample with Purchase
Neiman Marcus, 9/7 — TOM FORD live runway video starts 8:15 PM CT
Lands’ End, 9/12 — 25% off + even dozing pups are big fans
Express, 9/23 — #FitnessFriday inspo + Clearance is up to 70% off!
Aeropostale, 9/20 — Closing Many Stores! Phenomenal Savings! 50% off Polos
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Answers to 4 Burning Questions about Gmail Supporting Responsive Design
Webinar: Top Tips to Drive More Conversions from Email
4 Kinds of Email Addresses That Are Damaging Your Deliverability
Infographic: Many Email Marketing Mistakes Going Undetected
Why You Shouldn’t Use Opens to Gauge Subject Line Success
Report: 2016 State of Email Design
The (Largely Invisible) Key to Holiday Email Marketing Success
Answers to 4 Burning Questions about Gmail Supporting Responsive Design
Posted on September 30, 2016
As of the wee hours of this morning, Gmail began rolling out support for media queries across its webmail and iOS and Android email apps. This follows their Sept. 14 announcement about the change, which included developer documentation. And that Gmail announcement followed the announcement in August that Microsoft is partnering with Litmus to improve rendering in Outlook.
Gmail supporting responsive design raises four important questions:
- Do marketers need to use hybrid email design anymore?
- Do marketers need to inline CSS in their emails anymore?
- Can marketers now use interactive email elements in Gmail?
- What’s driving these changes at the inbox providers?
I answer each of those questions in my latest Marketing Land column.
>> Read my entire column on MarketingLand.com
Webinar: Top Tips to Drive More Conversions from Email
Posted on September 27, 2016
Over 50% of emails today are opened on mobile devices. Savvy email marketers are implementing a mobile first strategy focused on providing a consistent, personalized customer journey that drives both online and offline conversions from email, including calls and in-store visits.
Join me and my fellow panels—Sigstr VP of Customer Success David Duke and Invoca Director of Product Marketing Paul Rudwall—on Oct. 11 at 2pm ET as we discuss the newest and most effective tactics to drive more conversions from email, including:
- Tactics to create a mobile-first email experience
- Tales of success from leading email marketers
- Tools to measure all conversions from email, and get credit for all the calls that your email campaigns are driving
- Tips to leverage caller data, to provide better email segmentation and a more personalized customer journey
>> Register for the webinar
4 Kinds of Email Addresses That Are Damaging Your Deliverability
Posted on September 26, 2016
Email is a great medium for connecting with leads and customers. But when your list becomes bloated with bad addresses and inactive subscribers, your deliverability can be in serious jeopardy.
Here are four types of offending addresses and how to deal with each of them effectively:
- Invalid Email Addresses. These addresses are unmailable, which means they don’t match any existing email accounts.
- Spam Traps. All spam traps pose risks to marketers, but the most harmful are pristine spam traps—email addresses created by inbox providers and blacklisting organizations to identify spammers.
- Role-based Email Addresses. These include departmental addresses, such as “sales@company.com” or “events@company.com.”
- Inactive Subscribers. These fall into two categories: never-actives and chronic inactives. Never-actives are new subscribers who haven’t engaged with any of your emails; chronic inactives have opened and clicked through your messages in the past, but they have since ignored them for several months or longer.
For a detailed discussion of each of these…
>> Read the full article on MarketingProfs.com
30 Must-Subscribe Brands
Posted on September 21, 2016
Which brands do you think have the most inspiring email marketing programs? We asked more than 900 email marketers that question and then shared their top 25 must-subscribe brands in our 2016 State of Email Design report.
We also did video interviews with four speakers from The Email Design Conference, asking them to pick their must-subscribe brands and explain why. They named five more brands—bring our total to 30—and there were some clear themes around these brands doing personalization and interactivity really well.
To watch the video and see the list of must-subscribe brands…
>> Read the full post on the Litmus blog
Infographic: Many Email Marketing Mistakes Going Undetected
Posted on September 20, 2016
Our 2016 State of Email Production report found that 31.6% of marketers hadn’t halted a single email send in the past 12 months and that 49.4% hadn’t sent a single apology or correction email. At first, we were very impressed by these brands.
However, as we dug into the data, we became increasingly concerned. That’s because the marketers who weren’t halting or sending apologies appear to be significantly less sophisticated and fewer safeguards in place than marketers who were halting sends and sending apologies.
Our conclusion? Most marketers are making apology-worthy mistakes. But only half of them are aware of the mistakes they’re making.
In this infographic, we explore this issue and offer seven tips on how you can improve your visibility of email marketing mistakes.
>> View the infographic on the Litmus blog
Why You Shouldn’t Use Opens to Gauge Subject Line Success
Posted on September 16, 2016
Marketers understand that subject lines are incredibly important to the success of an email marketing program. However, what many marketers don’t understand is how to determine whether a subject line is successful or not.
You’ve probably heard people say that the goal of subject lines is to get opens; that the goal of an email’s body copy is to get clicks; and that the goal a landing page is to get conversions. That sounds really reasonable, but it’s misleading.
This kind of thinking leads marketers to believe that a higher open rate is better because it means they’ve opened the top of their funnel up wider and more people have seen their email’s message. And if more people enter the top of their funnel, then they have more opportunities to convince those people to take action. So they write subject lines with the aim of attracting as many openers as possible—often using vague, overly familiar, or even misleading subject lines to accomplish that.
But that’s an overly simplified view of how audiences work. It assumes that all opens are equal—and they’re not.
>>Read the entire 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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