Email Marketing RulesWebinar: ‘The State of Email in 2018’ on Apr. 13
Posted on April 4, 2018
The email landscape is constantly changing, making it harder than ever to create high-performing email programs. New email clients and devices, unsubscribe functionality, and privacy laws will have an impact on your 2018 marketing program.
See how your plans stack up against some of the biggest challenges facing marketing teams and hear about the strategies and resources you need to tackle them head-on, including:
- How new devices and rendering changes can impact email design, putting brand reputation at risk
- Why inbox providers like Inbox by Gmail and Yahoo! Mail are making it easier for consumers to unsubscribe
- How changes in anti-spam and privacy regulations, like GDPR, are changing subscriber relationships
Invite your whole team—from the coders and copywriters to the VP of marketing—and learn how each of you can do your part to create innovative, on-brand campaigns that engage and delight your audience.
The State of Email in 2018: 5 Insights from the Litmus Team
Apr. 13, 2018
12pm ET / 9am PT / 5pm GMT
Your presenters:
Jason Rodriguez, Community & Product Evangelist, Litmus
Justine Jordan, VP of Marketing, Litmus
Chad S. White, Research Director, Litmus
Jaina Mistry, Email Marketing Specialist, Litmus
Kevin Mandeville, Product Manager for Builder, Litmus
Can’t make it on Apr. 13? Don’t worry. Register and you’ll receive the recording of the webinar.
Emarsys: How to Prepare for the GDPR
Posted on March 30, 2018
On May 25, 2018, the Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will go into effect. The new regulation is designed to “harmonize data privacy laws across Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens’ data privacy, and to reshape the way organizations across the region approach data privacy.”
In this mini eBook, Emarsys pulls together GDPR advice from eight e-commerce, digital marketing, and data privacy experts, including myself. The different perspectives provide a great sense on what you should be doing in response to the biggest data protection overhaul of the century.
The themes covered include:
- Accountability for data management and privacy
- Finding what works for your email marketing program
- Regulation against ‘bad actors’ for more relevant brand experiences
- GDPR is an unknown
- More engaged, confident, advocacyinclined subscribers
- GDPR dramatically impacts personalized and predictive marketing
- Use the GDPR as an opportunity
>> Download the ebook from Emarsys
I’m the EEC’s 2018 Email Marketer Thought Leader of the Year!
Posted on March 22, 2018
The Direct Marketing Association’s Email Experience Council announced today that I’m their 2018 Email Marketer Thought Leader of the Year!
I’m so incredibly honored to be recognized by the DMA and my peers. I feel truly fortunate to have found such a vibrant and dynamic industry to be a part of. A journalist by training, I’m always hungry for change, whether it’s new technology, tactics, or people.
The email industry has given me all of those—particularly the chance to work with and learn from amazing people. A special thanks to my current and former coworkers at Litmus, Salesforce, ExactTarget, Responsys, Smith-Harmon, and the EEC. I would not be where I am without them.
I’m also grateful for everyone who has read Email Marketing Rules, attended one of my workshops or webinars, and read my blog posts and articles. Thank you for all of your support!
>> Read more about the award
5 Embarrassing Subject Line Mistakes to Avoid
Posted on March 15, 2018
Subject lines are incredibly powerful. That’s because they are one of the first things that subscribers look at when they receive an email and are trying to decide whether to open it. The subject line is second only to your sender name in importance, as you’d expect with a permission-based channel like email.
Marketers are clearly aware of the power of subject lines, but their efforts are often inconsistent and their results mixed. This line of text is a hotbed of mistakes that can distract and confuse subscribers and be embarrassing for the brand.
Let’s discuss five such subject line mistakes, sharing numerous real-world examples along the way. We’ll also provide advice on how to avoid making these mistakes.
>> Read the full post on the Litmus blog
Holistic Email Marketing: The State of Retail Email Subscribe Forms in 2018
Posted on March 14, 2018
With GDPR going into effect in May, many brands are having to make changes to their email sign-up processes to become compliant. But since you’re touching all of your subscriber acquisition sources anyway, why not optimize them so that they perform better?
The State of Retail Email Subscribe Forms in 2018 from Holistic Email Marketing and Pure360 will help you benchmark your email signup process and identify opportunities to improve. The report examines the subscription practices of 80 retailers, and includes advice and commentary from me and Komal Helyer of Pure360, Jordie van Rijn of Emailmonday, Jo Crawford of Mr. Porter, Kate Barrett of eFocus Marketing, Ian Rhodes of Ecommerce Growth Co., and Ben Davis of Econsultancy.
The report includes interesting findings on email signup form fields, signup calls-to-action, and much more. It includes some particularly novel advice around email consent when unchecked boxes are a requirement.
I encourage you to check it out. You’ll be sure to find a few tactics that will help you with compliance and boosting your list growth.
>> Download the free report from Holistic Email Marketing
The Last Word on February 2018
Posted on March 9, 2018
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
The Seven Hidden Measures Of Email Deliverability (MediaPost)
Are You Distracted by the Wrong Email Metrics? (Iterable)
The six challenges every email marketer must face (Econsultancy)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
Need more marketing budget? Here’s how to get it – https://t.co/X7Ydo4iQC4 pic.twitter.com/eSZo0tS0aS
— Mathew Sweezey (@msweezey) February 20, 2018
3. Having tried to get Gmail actions included for one of my previous companies, I know you’re going to need serious volume to get it allowed.
4. And BTW, Google turned down my actions application with potentially 5 unspecified reasons – they didn’t tell us which.— Becs Rivett-Kemm (@becskr) February 20, 2018
5. And as an “ESP for stores”, we’re not going to be able to get blanket permission to get it allowed for all our stores if we are the sending entity.
6. Basically it’s just another pointless gimmick— Becs Rivett-Kemm (@becskr) February 20, 2018
Friendly reminder to always look at your subject lines on mobile 🙃🙃🙃 #happyvalentinesday #subjectlines pic.twitter.com/PDNmE9TOLl
— Email Snarketing (@EmailSnarketing) February 14, 2018
Dear companies,iIt’s 2018. Start hiring designers who don’t live in your city. It’s okay, we can work remotely, I promise. We’ll figure it out together! It’s impossible to have ALL DESIGNERS live in LA/SF/NY…you don’t pay us enough.
— ✨Lindsay G✨ (@linzlovesyou) February 1, 2018
Noteworthy subject lines
Nike, 2/9 – Show your Team USA colors
Nike, 2/13 – Chloe Kim: On top of the world
Fans Edge, 2/21 – Root For Olympic Gold In The Right Gear
Chili’s, 2/8 – $35 Valentine’s Deal for Two
ModCloth, 2/9 – You don’t have to wait for Valentine’s Day…
Victoria’s Secret, 2/13 – READY FOR TOMORROW?
Godiva Chocolatier, 2/13 – Need Last-Minute Valentine’s Gifts? Our Stores are Open Late!
Clinique, 2/5 – Share the love. FREE kits for two with purchase.
J.Crew, 2/10 – Your winter getaway inspiration, this way…
Hayneedle, 2/9 – Still hibernating? Time for a new bed!
Hayneedle, 2/24 – Indoor/outdoor dining faves – are you in or out?
Olive Garden, 2/21 – Get 10% off all online orders through Sunday!
White House Black Market, 2/6 – We Think This Pant Is Pretty Perfect…
Banana Republic, 2/8 – Zero Gravity Denim: comfortable, contouring, lifting.
Brooks Brothers, 2/10 – Stretch Advantage Chinos 3 ways
Horchow, 2/10 – Gold Tones: On-trend looks you want now
AutoAnything, 2/25 – The Results Are In….Meet Our 6 Best Sellers
Saks Fifth Avenue, 2/24 – Obsessed with beauty? Discover our Beauty Rewards program
Pier 1 Imports, 2/15 – You’re invited to Sip & Shop!
Michaels, 2/28 – Set an Alarm: 3PM – Close Bonus Coupon + Get in on the Slime Trend
Crutchfield, 2/8 – Our guides to headphones, wireless surround sound & more
Saks Fifth Avenue, 2/15 – What our Fashion Director is packing for London Fashion Week
Uncommon Goods, 2/5 – Because Six Stars Isn’t a Thing
ASPCA, 2/13 – Send Your Kitty-gram Today!
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Executive Summary: How to Overcome the Biggest Email Marketing Challenges of 2018
Posted on March 6, 2018
Do you know which email marketing challenges are holding your email marketing program back from achieving its full potential in 2018?
Litmus polled more than 600 marketers about eight major email marketing challenges—ranging from cross-channel coordination and strategy to data quality and metrics. But it’s not enough to simply recognize the challenges facing your email marketing program. You need a plan to address those challenges.
With this 11-page executive summary, you will…
- Understand the biggest challenges facing email teams
- See how challenges like poor coordination and inadequate tools impact email marketing success
- Get actionable advice on how to overcome each challenge
- Find detailed resources to share with your email team
>> Download the Executive Summary
Webinar Recording + Q&A: Email Tactics Customers Hate
Posted on March 5, 2018
There’s a disconnect in today’s email marketing technology. While some tactics are helping brands get closer to their customers, others are undermining their return on investment by pushing customers away.
For instance, 17% of brands are buying email addresses to grow their list and reach new prospects. However, many of those brands are among the 33% of brands that have been blocked and 15% that have been blacklisted in the past year.
In this webinar, I help you distinguish between the tools and tactics that improve your email program and those that hurt your program because they’re abusive and annoying. In addition to explaining why some of these tactics appear worthwhile on the surface, I discuss:
- Tools and services to avoid
- How to keep good tools from doing your program harm
- Using the right metrics to draw conclusions
Along the way, I share research, examples, and frameworks that will help you ensure you’re spending your marketing dollars on the right email tactics and technology.
>> Watch the recording, download the slides, and read the Q&A on the Litmus blog
Infographic: A Snapshot of the Email Professional
Posted on March 1, 2018
Nearly 3,000 marketers completed Litmus’ 2018 State of Email Survey, which explores how brands plan, build, approve, send, and measure the performance of their email campaigns.
In addition to fueling our State of Email Survey Research Series, those results provide a great portrait of today’s email professional, which we detail in the infographic below. Thanks again to everyone who took the 2018 State of Email Survey.
To see a snapshot of what our survey-takers look like in terms of demographics, work experience, and company information…
>> View the infographic on the Litmus blog
2018’s Email Marketing Priorities and Budget Changes
Posted on February 27, 2018
Personalization, automation, and A/B testing topped the list of 2018 email marketing priorities for brands, according to Litmus’ 2018 State of Email Survey of nearly 3,000 marketers. Other major email marketing priorities include optimizing the email creation workflow, exploring interactive email functionality, and growing analytics insights.
Those email marketing priorities are interesting in light of other research Litmus has done looking into the Top Email Design Trends for 2018 and The Biggest Email Marketing Challenges of 2018. They are also interesting when compared to planned budget changes across a range of email marketing activities.
For charts on email marketers’ priorities and budget changes for the year and a full analysis,…
>> 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
