Email Marketing RulesThe Last Word on October 2017
Posted on November 6, 2017
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
The Better Email on Design (Jason Rodriguez)
95% Boost in Conversions from a Small, Simple Change (Email Optimization Shop)
What annoys your clients the most when receiving an email? (Smart Insights)
Why Email Is the Locomotive of Digital Marketing (Forbes)
Email marketing trends 2018 (Smart Insights)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
Heading to the office Halloween party as a wireframe cause I suck at Halloween 🤦🏻♂🤷🏻♂ pic.twitter.com/NWYXq1W3lI
— Gearóid (@gearoidorourke) October 31, 2017
For my #email pals! via @tomfishburne https://t.co/DUYwOZweI3 #marketoon pic.twitter.com/UXYYRlPVlg
— Janet Roberts (@evansmom) October 16, 2017
Me: “What’s your rate?”
Freelancer: “What’s your budget?” pic.twitter.com/82nmnYEEN3— Anna Jenelius 👻 (@TheAnaka) October 23, 2017
I may have gone too far. #emailgeeks pic.twitter.com/6PBRKHUEGR
— Alex Ilhan (@omgitsonlyalex) September 26, 2017
Noteworthy subject lines
ASPCA, 10/18 — Don’t Miss Out. Get Your ASPCA Calendar!
Kate Spade, 10/18 — cat ladies, rejoice!
Clinique, 10/14 — Gift sets for that holiday glow. 5 FREE minis with purchase.
RH, 10/12 — Introducing the Holiday 2017 Collection. Free Shipping on Hundreds of Items.
The Container Store, 10/1 — Got an organizing project? We’ve got a Starter Kit that’ll help
The Crutchfield Team, 10/22 — Sonos + Alexa = Sonos One
DNC Rapid Response, 10/25 — Our rights > Big corporations
FansEdge, 10/12 — THE YANKEES WIN! NY Is In The ALCS!
Nike, 10/22 — Layer your way to peak performance.
ModCloth, 10/7 — ’Cause legs need love, too.
RH, 10/22 — Introducing the Moroccan Cactus Silk Pillow Collection
Wayfair, 10/14 — UNDER-$150 TV stands. Popcorn not included.
GapKids, 10/14 — Here to save the day: Gap x Justice League
Hasbro, 10/12 — Super(hero) Savings
Gucci, 10/11 — Debuting the Unskilled Worker Collection
Godiva Chocolatier, 10/14 — You Asked, We Listened! Our Large Chocolate Bars are BACK
NFLshop, 10/31 — RESTOCK ALERT: Patriots Nike Free Trainer V7 Shoes (will sell out fast!)
Subway, 10/12 — Are you ready for some fooootlooongs?
San Diego Zoo & Safari, 10/13 — Happy, Happy Hippos
Gander Outdoors, 10/25 — Field Tips: The Lowdown on Ground Blinds
Neiman Marcus, 10/14 — Say yes to dresses under $300
Victoria’s Secret, 10/14 — HOLD ON: Free tote in stores!
The Container Store, 10/27 — Watch our Best-Selling Products In Action
Anthropologie, 10/14 — Text me, pls.
Victoria’s Secret, 10/12 — BRA #GOALS: New fall colors!
Sony Electronics, 10/18 — Be a Part of Sony Research | Tell Us What You Think
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
The Rarest and Coolest Defensive Design Tactic: Email Pixel Art
Smart Insights: Email Marketing Trends in 2018
Email Interactivity: Opportunities and Challenges
Webinar Recording + Q&A: The Root Cause of Poor Email Deliverability
Email Design Podcast #78: The 2017 State of Email Deliverability
Smart Insights: Email Marketing Trends in 2018
Posted on October 26, 2017
2018 is fast approaching, so Smart Insights’ breakdown of six emerging email and marketing automation trends is timely.
Their top email marketing trends in 2018—which were informed by contributions from experts, including myself—covered:
- GDPR, which Tim Watson of Zettasphere said would be “very disruptive if not terminal for email 3rd party data and that it would spur “more innovation in list growth this year than for the last 14 years.”
- Interactive email, which presents many opportunities and challenges for email marketers
- Conversational email copywriting, which is essentially about how to write email copy like a human
- Mobile-friendly designs, which are an imperative given the current email reading habits
- Deliverability, which I predicted would be boosted by an increase in email authentication driven by the emerging Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) standard
- Personalization and segmentation, which will be driven by affordable machine learning and AI solutions
For all the details…
>> Read the full article on SmartInsights.com
Webinar Recording + Q&A: The Root Cause of Poor Email Deliverability
Posted on October 17, 2017
Being blocked and blacklisted should be far less common than they are today, when 34% of marketers have been blocked and nearly 15% have been blacklisted in the past 12 months, according to Litmus’ 2017 State of Email Deliverability report.
After examining the subscriber acquisition, permission, inactivity management, and other practices of more than 3,500 marketers, we’ve identified the root causes of poor inbox placement. We’ve also identified the half-measures marketers take to avoid addressing those root causes.
In this webinar, deliverability expert and Litmus Product Manager Jay Brangiforte and I discuss the various ways that marketers try to improve their poor email deliverability and which ones work best.
If you didn’t make the webinar, there’s no need to worry. You can watch the whole thing, plus see the answers to the questions we didn’t get to during the live webinar.
>> Watch the webinar on the Litmus Blog
The Last Word on September 2017
Posted on October 11, 2017
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
Improving Gmail Delivery (Word to the Wise)
7 Really Good Unsubscribe Pages + Preference Centers (Really Good Emails)
What’s the Most Annoying Thing About Email Marketing? (eMarketer)
Getting GDPR consent & opt-in (Zettasphere)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
Celebrating the newest member of the TLi family, congrats mama Gina! “Email never sleeps & neither do I” #betrendline #babyshowerfun pic.twitter.com/nNMdY4yzIN
— TrendlineInteractive (@trendlinei) September 13, 2017
The X is going to be a blast to design for
So simple, not complicated at all
Just like the other phones
Yup. Super simple.
No problem. pic.twitter.com/TPgMpg95Ef
— Jonathan Shariat🐢🛠 (@DesignUXUI) September 12, 2017
i dont know about the rest of you but i for one am so glad they ask you this every time pic.twitter.com/B2011e0guu
— jomny sun (@jonnysun) September 26, 2017
and you think I lied about loving email #InboxSummit17 pic.twitter.com/ZHnJjrXS0N
— andrewkordek (@andrewkordek) September 29, 2017
Noteworthy subject lines
American Red Cross, 9/5 — Stories from our Texas shelters
Lands’ End, 9/14 — Squall answers Mother Nature’s call + 30% off
Lenovo, 9/7 — Where Does Your Loyalty Lie?
Lego, 9/10 — 24 gifts are better than 1!
Ann Taylor, 9/19 — 1 Classic Piece. 3 Brand New Outfits.
ThinkGeek, 9/1 — Pre-order exclusive Star Wars: The Black Series figures!
Carnival Cruise Line, 9/2 — Our Monthly Destination Spotlight: Alaska
The North Face, 9/10 — Meet our NEW ridiculously comfortable fleece…
Hayneedle, 9/10 — Let’s do launch: Our NEW app is here!
Gucci, 9/7 — Introducing Gucci Decor
Gilt, 9/5 — Celebrate the New Gilt with $30 Off
Garnet Hill, 9/14 — New flannel pj’s to enjoy, organically
Apple, 9/15 — iPhone 8. Apple Watch Series 3. Pre-order now.
NFLshop, 9/17 — Patriots Win Week 2: Time for NEW Gear!
Olive Garden, 9/18 — Save on your favorites for game day.
Saks Fifth Avenue, 9/27 — Paris Fashion Week: everyone’s talking about Dries Van Noten
Saks Fifth Avenue, 9/30 — Joseph Altuzarra’s Must-See Guide to Paris
The Container Store, 9/10 — 5 Entryway Ideas for Quick Organization – 25% Off!
Epicurious, 9/6 — The Best Roast Chicken Recipe of All Time
Applebee’s, 9/5 — A meal for two that includes everything but the people.
Sony Electronics, 9/13 — Say it. See it. Control TV with Your Voice
Clinique, 9/7 — There’s a mascara for that. Free 4-pc. Kit with purchase.
ModCloth, 9/6 — Ordinary is so overrated.
Gap, 9/14 — Cher and Future meet in the Gap
eBags, 9/15 — Keep calm and get two weeks of clothes in your carry-on!
ToysRUs, 9/28 — Ready for Some Seriously Extended Play?
Kate Spade, 9/10 — last chance to enjoy 25% off when you shop with purpose…
Anthropologie, 9/27 — How to pre-shop.
Gap, 9/30 — Success! We found **puffers** for you
UncommonGoods, 9/27 — “Where’d You Get That?”
Petco, 9/30 — If you saw $5 on the floor, would you pick it up?
MAC Cosmetics, 9/7 — M•A•C Studio Fix – Get Your Fix. Join the #FIXFAM
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
The POGLE Media Model: Why Email Marketing Isn’t Owned Media
Email Marketing’s Gender Pay Gap
Email Design Podcast #78: The 2017 State of Email Deliverability
Posted on October 10, 2017
In this episode of The Email Design Podcast, I talk with host Kevin Mandeville about the findings of our 2017 State of Email Deliverability ebook, which is the latest in our State of Email Survey research series. The report addresses the email marketing behaviors that improve and harm deliverability.
During this 48-minute podcast, we discuss some of the major findings of the report, including:
- The prevalence of being blocked and blacklisted
- The effects of using various subscriber acquisition sources
- The merits of single vs. double opt-in practices
- The adoption of email authentication, list-unsubscribe, and encryption
- The use of email address verification, bounce management, and spam filter testing
- The adoption of re-engagement, win-back, and re-permission campaigns
- The use of deliverability monitoring and supplemental analytics
Our discussion provides insights and context not provided in the ebook.
>> Listen to the podcast on the Litmus Blog
The POGLE Media Model: Why Email Marketing Isn’t Owned Media
Posted on September 28, 2017
Email is the worst and most frustrating kind of owned media—because it’s not owned media at all. Email is like a pet dog. He doesn’t behave just because you “own” him.
If you think of email marketing as owned media, chances are that you struggle. Perhaps you rail against Outlook messing up your email designs. Perhaps you curse Gmail for not delivering your emails. Perhaps you get angry when people who opted in to get your emails then mark them as spam. Or perhaps you bristle at the thought of suppressing emails to subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in years. After all, they gave you permission. You own those email addresses.
It’s difficult to succeed with email marketing if you think of it like catalogs, direct mail, store signage, and other owned media. While brands create the content of their email messages and develop the audience that their emails are sent to, they don’t control the platform used to distribute that message. Inbox providers and email users control the platform.
That said, if you’ve always thought of email marketing as owned media, you can be forgiven. After all, if email isn’t owned media, then where does it fit into the paid-owned-earned (POE) media model? It’s not paid, because brands are not paying to reach an audience developed by a third-party. And it’s not earned, because the brand is creating the message, not consumers.
The problem is that the POE media model just can’t accommodate all modern marketing channels. While it did a good job of describing traditional media, it can’t account for most digital channels, which have generally been stuffed awkwardly into the owned media bucket
We need new language and a new framework to describe marketers’ various channel activities to bring greater clarity to the marketing mix. Say hello to the POGLE media model…
>> Read the full post on the Litmus blog
Webinar: The Root Causes of Poor Email Deliverability on Sept. 28
Posted on September 25, 2017
Being blocked and blacklisted should be far less common than they are today, when 34% of marketers have been blocked and nearly 15% have been blacklisted in the past 12 months, according to Litmus’ 2017 State of Email Deliverability report.
After examining the subscriber acquisition, permission, inactivity management, and other practices of more than 3,500 marketers, we’ve identified the root causes of poor inbox placement. We’ve also identified the half-measures marketers take to avoid addressing those root causes.
During this webinar, Research Director Chad White and deliverability expert and Litmus Product Manager Jay Brangiforte will discuss the various ways that marketers are trying to improve their deliverability and which ones work best.
The Root Causes of Poor Email Deliverability
Sept. 28, 2017
10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET / 5:00pm GMT
Can’t make it on Sept. 28? Don’t worry. Register and you’ll receive the recording of the webinar.
>> Register for the free webinar
Email Marketing’s Gender Pay Gap
Posted on September 18, 2017
At $68,000, the average salary for full-time workers involved in email marketing in the U.S. is comfortably above the median household income in America of $59,039 in 2016. Men and women don’t share equally in the good fortunes and strong health of the email marketing industry, according to Litmus’ State of Email Survey of more than 3,500 marketers.
Women earn just 89 cents for every dollar men earn in the email marketing industry ($65,000 for women vs. $73,000 for men).
In order to compare apples to apples, we examine the factors that shrink and exacerbate the gender pay gap, including:
- Employee age
- Employee experience
- Company industry (e.g., B2C, B2B, etc.)
- Company size
- Company location
For the full results of our research,…
>> Read the full post on the Litmus blog
CAN-SPAM: How to Fix It So It Stops Hurting US Businesses
Posted on September 12, 2017
CAN-SPAM is woefully out of step with subscribers’ current behaviors, email service providers’ current capabilities, inbox providers’ current demands, and the laws of other countries. In truth, if a brand only clears the low bar set by CAN-SPAM, they are pretty much guaranteed to be blacklisted and blocked by inbox providers. While on the surface, lax regulations look like an advantage to American brands, it’s really setting them up for failure.
The Federal Trade Commission is currently reviewing CAN-SPAM. Here are seven improvements to CAN-SPAM that are most urgently needed to put U.S. businesses on the path to email marketing success and make all inboxes safer…
- Make it clear that opt-outs should be honored “as soon as possible” and narrow the deadline for honoring opt-out requests to 3 business days.
- Dictate unsubscribe practices more clearly.
- Expand the definition of transactional emails to include non-promotional post-purchase emails.
- Require CAPTCHA on all open email signup forms.
- Mandate authentication and in-transit encryption.
- Require consent or an existing business relationship.
- Stipulate that prolonged non-response is the legal equivalent of opting out.
>> Read the entire post on the Litmus blog
The Last Word on August 2017
Posted on September 7, 2017
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, and tweets you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
2017 A-Z of Email Marketing Guide (SendGrid)
Interactive Email: The Guide to Earth-Shattering Inbox Experiences (Delivra)
3 step guide to email-friendly MEGA-GIFs (Email Design Review)
Rapportive founder’s new startup Superhuman is what Gmail would be if built today (TechCrunch)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
Why did the email marketer get off the trampoline?
He was worried about his bounce rate 📧😂#NationalTellAJokeDay pic.twitter.com/eQ7Zx2qhUB— Communicator (@CommCorp) August 16, 2017
At least we have another 7 years before the next Solar Eclipse is visible here pic.twitter.com/De2pnzOW1D
— email snarketing (@EmailSnarketing) August 21, 2017
Noteworthy subject lines
NFLshop, 8/31 — We Are All #HoustonStrong
Tiny Prints, 8/17 — 2017 Holiday Collection Sneak Peek
Pier 1 Imports, 8/17 — Great pumpkins!
Moosejaw.com, 8/31 — How do you celebrate Labor Day? With these new stickers, I guess | Fall Sale up to 40% Off
Victoria’s Secret PINK, 8/1 — Be bold: NEW Back-To-Campus Collection
ToysRUs, 8/6 — Time’s Running Out On Our BIGGEST Back-to-School Deals!
eBags, 8/13 — Raise your hand if you still need a backpack!
Michaels, 8/14 — PLANNER SALE (Just In Time for Class)
Threadless, 8/17 — Resist!
The North Face, 8/16 — Walls Are Meant For Climbing
P&G everyday, 8/17 —Always: Keep Going #LikeAGirl
MAC Cosmetics, 8/26 — M•A•C Celebrates Women’s Equality Day
ModCloth, 8/26 — To all you AMAZING ladies out there…
Neiman Marcus, 8/31 — Sneak peek: Coach x Selena Gomez
Jos. A. Bank, 8/22 — Finally, a Dress Shirt You Can Flex In
Clinique, 8/13 — Quick: Try this for tired eyes.
Clinique, 8/26 — The 2-minute glow-boosting makeup technique anyone can do.
Jetsetter, 8/13 — The Ultimate Travel Bucket List: 10 Trips You Have to Take
P&G everyday, 8/16 — Make the final checks on your summer bucket list
AutoAnything, 8/1 —5 Easy Enhancements For Your Next Road Trip
Levi’s, 8/21 — We’re all about the bandana. Here’s how we wear it.
REI, 8/11 — How Does Alaska’s Backcountry Look to a Mountain Pilot?
The North Face, 8/6 — Crush your commute, not your gear
Threadless, 8/16 — Give your ideas an online store.
Sony Electronics, 8/18 — Electrify Your Music | Listen to it with EXTRA BASS
Petco, 8/1 — Keep calm and pet-parent on.
ThinkGeek, 8/21 — Cry havoc and let loose the pranks of office warfare!
ModCloth, 8/22 — Something stylish this way comes…
UncommonGoods, 8/21 — Rocket Ships & Cats in Shoes
MAC Cosmetics, 8/3 — Get the Basic Bitch Look! Available In-Store & Online
Subway Restaurants, 8/1 — Foootloooong.
Wayfair, 8/26 — FACT: 100% of these rooms have $0 shipping over $49
Lands’ End, 8/22 — Three quarter sleeves, 100% style and 40% off
Olive Garden, 8/18 — 1 of 4: Meet our Shrimp Scampi
Nike, 8/15 — Our 5 Favorite Bags for Any Sport or Style
J.Crew, 8/6 — Our travel expert’s 12 favorite new arrivals
Saks Fifth Avenue, 8/13 — Loeffler Randall’s designer shares her fall favorites
Garnet Hill, 8/6 — “So in love with these sheets!”
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Outstanding Email Marketing Examples of Subject Lines
Burnt Hand Deliverability Practices
4 Tips on How to Avoid These 8 Embarrassing Preview Text Mistakes
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
