Email Marketing RulesWebbula: What’s One Tool Email Marketers Aren’t Using But Should?
Posted on August 11, 2023
I join 10 other email experts in this Webbula roundup as we answer the question: What’s one program or tool email marketers aren’t doing but should be doing?
I was happy to see that I wasn’t the only participant to cheat a little and give more than one answer. For larger senders, I think BIMI is underused, especially in light of Apple’s new support for the standard. However, for senders of all sizes, it’s re-permission programs that aren’t seeing enough adoption, particularly considering how much more difficult Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection is making it to accurately tell if a subscriber is inactive or not.
To watch my full answer, as well as the advice of the other experts…
Picking the Right Sender Name: Brand or Person?
Posted on August 9, 2023
Perhaps it’s the focus on empathy and connecting with our subscribers on a human level. Or it’s all of the emphasis on writing in plain English—using colloquialisms, sentence fragments, emojis, and even slang. Or maybe it’s the risky desire to con their way into the Primary tab instead of the Promotions tab.
Whatever the reason, some brands have gotten the message that it’s in their best interest to position their emails as coming from a person—the CEO, a salesperson, a support rep, almost anyone—rather from their brand. This pressure appears to be the greatest among B2B brands, but can also affect B2C brands like Peloton, which has sent bulk emails that appear to be from their instructors.
Done in the wrong way, this tactic can cause a number of problems. Let’s talk about those problems and how to avoid them.
>> Read the entire article on Oracle’s Modern Marketing Blog
The Gmail Promotions Tab: 10 Years of Email Marketing Misunderstandings
Posted on August 7, 2023
Ten years ago, Gmail introduced inbox tabs, including the infamous Promotions tab. Among marketers, the development caused panic. You see, there were reports that open rates were slipping at Gmail, and marketers blamed the Promotions tab. To combat this shift, many major senders ran campaigns asking their subscribers to re-tab their emails from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab.
Fast forward to today and such requests are exceedingly rare. Most brands recognize—like it or not—tabs are here to stay. Indeed, having been copied by other inbox providers to various degrees, tabbed inbox interfaces are now common and highly accepted by and familiar to consumers.
However, some senders continue to fight against tabs. So, here on the 10-year anniversary of Gmail Tabs, let’s talk about five truths about tabs, as well as some real new concerns.
The Last Word on July 2023
Posted on August 3, 2023
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and social buzz you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
Consumers Worldwide Are Most Willing To Share their Email Address (MediaPost)
Public Web Unravels in AI-Driven Storm (Axios)
Rising Interest Rates Might Herald the End of the Open Internet (Wired)
Animated Gifs (a11y.email)
The Best 577 Welcome Email Examples in 2023 (Really Good Emails)
Insightful & entertaining social posts
Stop building your business in Facebook’s world. pic.twitter.com/YXhJ9Hliix
— Chris Vasquez (@ClickPop) July 6, 2023
A lot of Twitter threadbois are waking up this morning thinking…
“I wish I would have invested more in my Instagram following…”
When what they should be thinking is…
“I wish I would have invested more in building up my email list.”
— Ryan Deiss (@ryandeiss) July 6, 2023
Sassiness from cold email sequences I’ve been ignoring is not the vibe I was looking for today.
— Lauren Meyer (@LaurenEmailGeek) July 14, 2023
DON’T ❌ say whatever you want just to get the open.
DO ✅ align your subject line with the email content.
I haven’t ordered anything from this brand, but this subject line is saying that I did. Please don’t do this, y’all. pic.twitter.com/04SGzO0WRf
— Greg Saunders (@gregsaunders_) July 24, 2023
“People ask me, ‘Do you trust AI?’
I don’t trust AI.
I don’t trust people either.
Test everything.”
—@quaesita, @Google Chief Decision Scientist at #MAICON
— Jeffrey K. Rohrs (@jkrohrs) July 28, 2023
Noteworthy subject lines
Nuts.com, 7/12 – This Prime Ship Is Sailing Away…. 🚢
Macy’s, 7/7 – 🚦 It’s go time on Black Friday in July Specials!
Allbirds, 7/13 – Just In: The Death Valley Pack
AutoZone, 7/20 – Watch this quick hack for colder A/C
Diesel, 7/3 – Summer’s Must-Have Accessories
West Elm, 7/23 – Take your relaxing moments outside
Williams Sonoma, 7/14 – Hello, summer guests
J.Crew, 7/17 – For summer weddings, dinner parties & more…
Gap Email Exclusive, 7/12 – The beary cutest 1st birthday gifts
Michaels, 7/10 – 📯 Camp Creatology has begun! Register your kiddo in fun arts and crafts classes in store or online →
Art.com, 7/14 – Make learning fun!
kate spade surprise, 7/17 – Our school shop is here! Check out styles from $25
IKEA Family, 7/12 – Get ready for college with IKEA
The Company Store, 7/14 – 25% Off Back to College
Crate & Barrel, 7/14 – Introducing | The Dorm Shop
Duluth Trading, 7/14 – $14 Buck Naked Underwear For National Naked Day!
Spirit Halloween, 7/25 – 🔪 We’re slashing animatronic prices!
Nuts.com, 7/16 – I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For…
Nuts.com, 7/18 – NEW at Nuts.com 🍪 🍪 🍪
Clinique Online, 7/14 – 🎀 Do this before lipstick 💋
Williams Sonoma, 7/23 – Give your home a signature scent
Gap, 7/5 – 1,000 five-star reviews + Up to 75% OFF MARKDOWNS
Clinique Online, 7/3 – Our best body smoothers.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/14 – Open if you need a new dress.
Zara, 7/31 – HOME – NEW COLLECTION
katespade.com, 7/14 – Just arrived: the bag that ticks all the “boxxes”
Spirit Halloween, 7/19 – Coming soon: NEW Barbie the Movie costumes! 💕
Allbirds, 7/18 – Allbirds X Olivia Rubin in 3, 2, 1
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
12 Trends a-Trending: What to Plan for This Holiday Season
Digital Marketing Tests to Run in the Runup to the Holiday Season
5 Foundational Marketing Books You Need to Read
Third Quarter 2023 Holiday Marketing Quarterly
Making Seasonal Adjustments to Automated Campaigns to Boost Results
12 Trends a-Trending: What to Plan for This Holiday Season
Posted on July 28, 2023
The 2023 holiday season is shaping up to be as dynamic and turbulent as the past few have been. But knowing what to expect and proper planning can help make the best of another tough holiday season.
Here are our predictions for 12 trends to account for in your holiday campaign planning process:
- Shopper Anxiety & Uncertainty
- Consumer Financials Weakening
- In-Store Shopping Evolving
- Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection Hits 2-Year Anniversary
- Apple’s Link Tracking Protection Debuts
- Holiday Season Starts in October
- Veterans Day Is in Play This Year
- Sprawl of Marquee Shopping Days
- More Last-Minute Shopping Options
- Leveraging New Tech Capabilities
- Measuring More Holistically
- Hard Landing vs. Soft Landing
For a discussion of each of those trends, plus how marketers should respond…
Digital Marketing Tests to Run in the Runup to the Holiday Season
Posted on July 25, 2023
The back-to-school season, Labor Day, and Halloween represent great opportunities to better align with your ever-changing customers before heading into the all-important holiday season, when digital marketing misalignments are most costly.
- Is your branding strong?
- Are your offers clear and focused on what’s in it for your audience?
- Are we making it easy for our audience to do what we want them to do?
- Are we differentiating ourselves in the inbox?
- What words and imagery are your customers responding to most?
- Is your audience feeling the pinch financially or spending freely?
The way to answer these questions and others is to experiment and run A/B tests. Here are eight digital marketing tests we highly recommend.
5 Foundational Marketing Books You Need to Read
Posted on July 17, 2023
Here at Oracle Marketing Consulting, we know we’re only as good as our ideas and our ability to execute. In other words, we’re only as good as our people. That means we not only aim to hire the most talented strategists, designers, analysts, coders, and account managers around, we are also constantly looking for ways to help them become even better at helping our clients exceed their business goals.
One of the ways we do that is by recommending books that can make them more effective—not only as marketers, but as team members and leaders. We’d like to share those recommendations with you, too.
Third Quarter 2023 Holiday Marketing Quarterly
Posted on July 13, 2023
The holiday season doesn’t have an off-season. Having a successful holiday season means executing a successful year-round strategy. Oracle’s Holiday Marketing Quarterly gives you a quarter-by-quarter plan for how to achieve more during this critical time of the year.
The third quarter is focused on the final prep for the start of the holiday season. In this Holiday Marketing Quarterly, we’ll cover:
- Campaign Planning
- Workload Management
- Contingency Planning
- Audience Optimization
- Performance Monitoring Plans
- Solidifying Your MarTech Stack
For the full checklist…
>> Get the Holiday Marketing Quarterly for free via a no-form download
Making Seasonal Adjustments to Automated Campaigns to Boost Results
Posted on July 10, 2023
Automated campaigns—whether sent via email, SMS, or mobile push—perform so well that they’re often overlooked as not needing attention. However, it’s because of their high engagement and conversion rates that we should be constantly giving automated campaigns extra attention and trying to make them even better.
This is especially true during the holiday season, which is make-or-break for most B2C brands. Here are several areas to focus on…
The Last Word on June 2023
Posted on July 6, 2023
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and social buzz you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
Beyond Belt-Tightening: How Marketing Can Drive Resiliency during Uncertain Times (McKinsey & Co.)
The Font-Size Issue (Type E)
5 Steps to Mastering the Modern Martech Landscape (RPE Origin)
Why Newsletters Are Set to Be the Hottest Side Hustle of 2023 (Fast Company)
I Spy AI: Half Of Consumers Can Spot An AI-Written Email (MediaPost)
Why and How to Use Loss Aversion in Email Marketing (Plus 4 Examples) (Holistic Email Marketing)
Email Warming Services: Manipulating Spam Filters (EmailKarma)
Big Tech Is Bad. Big A.I. Will Be Worse. (New York Times)
Insightful & entertaining social posts
When you collect customer data, you enter into an obligation to use that data.
So don’t collect information without a plan to execute.
And for the love of god, don’t ignore it.
(“How often should we email you?” is the biggest culprit here)
— Alex (@heyitsalexP) June 1, 2023
There’s no AI in email
— Elliot Ross (@IAmElliot) June 27, 2023
Being smart isn’t about having the right answers. It’s about knowing how to build a network of people who do.
— Mathew Sweezey (@msweezey) June 30, 2023
Noteworthy subject lines
Columbia Sportswear, 6/2 – PRIDE outside, today and every day.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 6/24 – PROUD AND LOUD 🏳️🌈
katespade.com, 6/6 – How we celebrate pride & joy
J.Crew, 6/5 – J.Crew Pride 2023
Lowe’s Home Improvement, 6/8 – Now’s the time to save big on what Dad will love.
Crate & Barrel, 6/9 – Get Father’s Day gift recs from our team
IKEA, 6/27 – College living, A-Z!
REI, 6/12 – A Gift Card for Them, a Bonus for You 🎓👔
Nordstrom, 6/16 – It’s wedding season—let’s do this
Zales, 6/29 – Black Friday In July! Up to 50% Off 🔥🔥🔥
Crate & Kids, 6/2 – NEW backpacks that’ll make a splash at camp ☀️
Michaels, 6/27 – 🚙 Parents: Save on kids’ crafts to take on the go this summer!
West Elm, 6/2 – Patio party starters!
vineyard vines, 6/2 – Comfy Cashmere & Polished Prints
Everlane, 6/2 – We Have New Summer Dresses
Nordstrom, 6/2 – Shorts weather, we’re ready for you
Everlane, 6/20 – Crochet Tops Are Back In Stock
Superdry, 6/22 – Ready for t-shirt weather?
Nordstrom, 6/6 – Now entering your skirt era
J.Crew, 6/2 – Nautical nods, new textures & more of Olympia’s picks…
Victoria’s Secret Semi-Annual Sale, 6/8 – Our Biggest Sale of the Year is Online Now
West Elm, 6/5 – Outside-the-box gallery wall ideas
Art.com, 6/4 – What’s your dining room’s personality?
Clinique Online, 6/30 – 💋 Tips for lips.
MyCollection by Lifetouch, 6/8 – Collect, celebrate and cherish every milestone of Dexter.
The North Face, 6/20 – Our Nuptse jacket is flying off the shelves
Williams Sonoma, 6/22 – How old are your nonstick pans?
YETI, 6/12 – Our First Ever Cast Iron Skillet
Magic: The Gathering, 6/8 – Here’s your preview card from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle Earth™ 👀
Big Lots, 6/29 – Check out our new Broyhill collection! 😍
RH, 6/16 – Now Open. RH England, The Gallery at the Historic Aynho Park.
Michaels, 6/29 – Hey VIP, want a 25% off coupon + the latest scoop on deals? 🕶️ Sign up for texts →
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Hot Digital Marketing Redesign Trends: Changes Brands Are Making Now
The Fifth Age of Email Deliverability
Sinch CX Education Podcast: Bridging the Gap between Omnichannel Marketing & CX
Loyalty Program KPIs: Measuring Health and Performance
The Future of Content Marketing: 5 Predictions
Mailbox Providers Retiring Inactive Accounts: The Risks & How to Respond
6 of My All-Time Favorite Quotes about Marketing
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
