September Review & October Preview for the 2014 Email Marketing Holiday Calendar
Posted on October 6, 2014
Every month through January, we’ll be reviewing our predictions from the 2014 Email Marketing Holiday Calendar for the previous month and discussing what to expect this month in terms of holiday messaging trends.
For September, we predicted that major retailers would send their active subscribers 18 promotional emails. That prediction was very close to the actual, as our panel of more than 100 retailers sent their subscribers 17.7 emails on average last month.
In October, we’re expecting retailers to again send their active subscribers around 19 promotional emails each. The amount of holiday messaging will rise, reaching a moderate level before ramping up significantly during November.
>> Read the entire post on the ExactTarget Blog
The Last Word on September 2014
Posted on October 3, 2014
A roundup of email marketing articles, posts, tweets and examples you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & whitepapers
How Gmail’s unsubscribe button really affects email marketers (Campaign Monitor)
Email marketing innovations – what’s new? (SmartInsights.com)
Stop Losing Subscribers: Slash Unsub Rates With Opt-Down Options (MediaPost)
Energize Holiday Emails with Site Search Data (Only Influencers)
Consumers: Emails With Discounts Heavily Influence Purchase Decisions (MarketingCharts.com)
Email Trust – OTA Unsub Best Practices Audit (Privacology)
Insightful & entertaining tweets
@chadmumm: Obligatory smartwatch notifications http://t.co/KAT95CbJ6Q
@rem: HTML emails ftw http://t.co/CEFd5vO4O1
@akingkiwi: Yaaarrrr there be an Easter Egg in this @ActionRocket email! Happy talk like a pirate day me hearties http://t.co/sYdIMtA8Qc
@LorenMcDonald: Email marketers: Try to change preferences, email address & unsubscribe from your own emails yep, you didn’t realize it was that bad
Great additions to the Swipe File pinboards
Nike acknowledges runner’s milestone to spur purchase >> View the pin
American Apparel celebrates subscribers’ half-birthdays >> View the pin
Starbucks announces new app with clean, S-curve email design >> View the pin
CrashPlan’s email plans for image blocking >> View the pin
Noteworthy subject lines
Ikea, 9/30 — Explore our guide for a guest-ready home
Sony, 9/28 — Sony Holiday Catalog: Reserve by 10/4 | Holidays Are Just Around the Corner
Hanna Andersson, 9/22 — Ready? NEW arrivals + first look at holiday!
Tiny Prints, 9/14 — Introducing Our 2014 Holiday Collection
Toys “R” Us, 9/14 — It’s Here! Our 2014 Hot Toy List
The Shopping Channel, 9/25 — Christmas in September
Sephora, 9/17 — These will go long before the holidays
Michaels, 9/30 — Trick Out Your Pumpkin
Zulily, 9/6 — Because everybody needs a cape. Superhero costumes, Kidorable Ninja, COCO Jumbo & more
Hanna Andersson, 9/5 — Halloween hannas + NEW sleepwear markdowns!
Babies “R” Us, 9/6 — We’re Your Disney Baby Costume Destination for Halloween
Petco, 9/29 — Shop spooky savings with 20% off our Halloween BOOtique!
Home Depot, 9/25 — ☾ BOO! We Dare You to Open! ☾
Lego, 9/25 — Spooky fun is here with these Halloween builds.
MAC Cosmetics, 9/30 — M•A•C Rocky Horror – It’s a Scream! Plus Free Overnight Shipping.
Clinique, 9/26 — Chad, help Clinique fight breast cancer.
SkyMall, 9/7 — Happy Grandparents’ Day from SkyMall!
FansEdge, 9/4 — It’s Week Shop NFL & NCAA Gear
SkyMall, 9/4 — Are You Ready for Football Season?
Barneys New York, 9/26 — Sports Center: Shop Athletic Style for Men
Walgreens, 9/21 — Are you ready for flu season? Take the pledge and get the shot.
Banana Republic, 9/26 — 5 things you need for fall.
Sears, 9/27 — Before it’s too late! Give your lawn some lovin’ …
Dunkin’ Donuts, 9/4 — Almond Milk is now available in your favorite DD beverages
Gucci, 9/30 — Introducing Gucci Cosmetics
West Elm, 9/20 — Wake up. Grab coffee. Shop 10 sales…
Pier 1 Imports, 9/7 — Yes, you deserve this bedroom.
Wayfair, 9/4 — Say hello to your new roommates: Monet and van Gogh
Lululemon, 9/30 — made with frickin’ laser beams
Ann Taylor, 9/13 — The Daily Edit. Deal #3 is ____________
Urban Outfitters, 9/5 — ^ Side Zip Hoodies Now ^
Anthropologie, 9/4 — Our top-drawer bottoms.
Neiman Marcus, 9/20 — NEW Stuart Weitzman BYOB #OnlyatNM
Express, 9/27 — It’s all happening on Instagram…
The Container Store, 9/12 — What products do our employees love?
Banana Republic, 9/2 — You’re still wearing white, right?
Kate Spade, 9/23 — coat? check!
SkyMall, 9/28 — Jeter’s Final Farewell
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Tweetables from Connections 2014
Email Subscriber Lifecycle Strategies from the Swipe File
Getting Email Out of the Friend Zone
Acknowledgments & Quotes: Who to Follow and What to Read
Crowd Favorites from the Swipe File: August 2014
The Email Marketing Rules for Measuring Success
August Review & September Preview for the 2014 Email Marketing Holiday Calendar
Q&A with Internet Retailer: My New Book, the Holiday Season, Mobile, and More
Fall Edition of the Email Marketer’s Holiday Planning Checklist
Posted on October 1, 2014
Hopefully you spent your summer doing some big picture strategic planning for the holiday season. Now that we’re into October, it’s time to get more serious and more focused to the execution of holiday campaigns.
In the second of my 3-part Holiday Planning Checklist for Internet Retailer Magazine, I advise retailers to:
- Meet with your web and data teams
- Plan on wrapping up all website and other infrastructure improvements
- Perfect cross-channel insight sharing
- Launch or improve your wish list functionality
- Clean up your email list
- Develop a response plan should you get blacklisted
- Create a landing page template
- Draft an apology email
- Start planning and designing your holiday email template
- Re-skin your welcome emails for the holiday season
- Prepare your gift guides
- Optimize your transactional emails, including e-receipts
- Plan a progressive profiling campaign for mid-November
For the full details on each of these recommendations, which include a lot of tips and stats just for retailers…
>> Read the full article on InternetRetailer.com.
And for even more holiday planning advice, check out our 2014 Email Marketing Holiday Calendar.
Email Subscriber Lifecycle Strategies from the Swipe File
Posted on September 23, 2014
To maximize the value of an email relationship, you need to cater to your subscribers’ needs and wants throughout their entire subscriber lifecycle. My presentation at Connections today talked about the six stages of the subscriber lifestyle and shared research, advice, and examples pertaining to each stage.
Here’s my slide deck, followed by links to the resources that I refer to in it.
Email Marketing Rules (2nd Ed.)
>> Get details about the book on Amazon.com
The Swipe File
>> View the pinboards on Pinterest
Retail Touchpoints Optimized
>> Download the report via ExactTarget.com
Zillow acquisition example: mobile app
>> View in the Audience Growth Swipe File
Krispy Kreme acquisition example: Product packaging
>> View in the Audience Growth Swipe File
Olive Garden acquisition examples: Signup opportunities in restaurants
>> View example #1 in the Audience Growth Swipe File
>> View example #2 in the Audience Growth Swipe File
Home Depot acquisition example: Opt-in via e-receipt
>> View in the Audience Growth Swipe File
Noun Project acquisition example: Opt-in confirmation email
>> View in the Email Swipe File
State of Marketing 2014
>> Download the report via ExactTarget.com
Pinterest onboarding example: Welcome series
>> View in the Email Swipe File
Walmart onboarding example: Holiday-themed welcome email
>> View in the Email Swipe File
At the Tipping Point for Mobile-Friendly Email Design
>> Read on the ExactTarget blog
The Growing Adoption of Mobile-Friendly Email Design #Infographic
>> Read on the ExactTarget blog
Reliant engagement example: Personalized weekly summary email
>> View in the Email Swipe File
Hipmunk engagement example: Infographic email
>> View in the Email Swipe File
2014 Email Marketing Holiday Calendar
>> Download the guide via ExactTarget.com
American Apparel reengagement example: Reengagement email
>> View in the Email Swipe File
Pinkberry reengagement example: Mobile app reengagement email
>> View in the Email Swipe File
Lowe’s super-engagement example: Progressive profiling email
>> View in the Email Swipe File
ModCloth super-engagement example: Signup anniversary email
>> View in the Email Swipe File
Crate & Barrel super-engagement example: Post-purchase care instructions email
>> View in the Email Swipe File
Starbucks super-engagement example: Loyalty program milestone email
>> View in the Email Swipe File
Staples transition example: Unsubscribe page
>> View in the Email Swipe File
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee transition example: Opt-out confirmation page
>> View in the Audience Growth Swipe File
Mini USA transition example: Re-permission email
Getting Email Out of the Friend Zone
Posted on September 17, 2014
Email may be a fairly mature channel, but it still outshines other newer, sexier channels like mobile and social. In the fact, the emergence of those channels has only strengthened email, cementing it as the power retention marketing channel.
In this interview with Elyse Dupre of DM News, I make the case that email marketing has lost none of its luster and share some advice on how to get the most out of your program.
>> Read the interview on DMNews.com
5 New Email Marketing Terms
Posted on September 16, 2014
As a former journalist, I love how email marketing is always changing. As an English major, I love language. At the intersection of those is the creation of new terms to describe emerging and existing practices, tactics, and tools in email marketing.
Over the past decade, I was in the right place at the right time to coin the terms share with your network (SWYN) and video gif, among others. Giving things a name is extremely powerful, as it facilitates conversations and raises awareness. For instance, the explosion of activity around content marketing is due in large part to it being giving the name content marketing, as this practice has certainly been around for a very long time.
In my first guest post for the Convince & Convert blog, I introduce five new email marketing terms you should know…
- Granted Media
- Super-Engagement
- Opt Up
- Real List Growth
- Confirmed Opt-In Lite (COIL)
>> Read the full article on the Convince & Convert blog
Acknowledgments & Quotes: Who to Follow and What to Read
Posted on September 15, 2014
On the Acknowledgments page of my book, I tip my hat to some of the folks that have influenced me most. And throughout my book, I quote people—many of them authors—who are great sources of additional information.
I highly recommend that you follow these people and learn from them. To make it easier, I’ve created a richer Acknowledgments page on my website that includes links to Twitter accounts, LinkedIn profiles, books published, and articles and posts written.
There’s also a slide deck on that page that highlights the epigraphs throughout Email Marketing Rules. These are profound and poignant quotes that provide additional perspective on various email marketing topics. I hope you find them as inspiring as I do.
Thanks again to everyone who has shaped, confirmed, and challenged my views over the years.
>> Visit the Acknowledgements & Quotes page
The Email Marketing Rules for Measuring Success
Posted on September 9, 2014
In my latest Email Insider column for MediaPost, I discuss three poor email marketing success metrics and explain what a better alternative metric is in each case.
Instead of unqualified list growth, where every new subscriber is viewed as equally valuable, I recommend using “real list growth.” This metric adjusts for subscriber productivity, just like real GDP adjusts for inflation.
Instead of optimizing campaign metrics, I recommend optimizing subscriber lifetime value. If we do our jobs well, subscribers buy often and stay subscribed for a long time because we’ve engaged them in between purchases. If we do our jobs poorly, subscribers’ purchases and engagement fall off quickly.
Instead of writing subject lines that maximize open rates, I recommend writing them so that they maximize conversions. That’s because a good, descriptive subject line pre-selects openers who are likely to convert.