AM Inbox: Staying whitelisted
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
EB Games, 9/16 — EB Games News: Sci-Fi thrillers, relaxing puzzlers, and STOP…Warhammer time!
EB Games will be changing their sender address over to a GameStop address soon and gives subscribers a heads up at the top of this email that they should whitelist the new address. Using red text for their preheader rather than their usual black text helps it stand out. Several other retailers have given their subscribers a similar heads up, including Bed Bath & Beyond (see Feb. 11 AM Inbox), Williams-Sonoma (see Oct. 4 AM Inbox) and Blair (see Sept. 7, 2007 AM Inbox)
Circuit City, 9/14 — They're here! New iPods & Wii gaming consoles in stock. Plus, hot HDTV deals.
Circuit City has Dan Marino as a guest on their forum answering questions from shoppers. Read Dan Marino’s answers. This is a good example of what I call advermedia, the merger of advertising and media. If your marketing plan doesn’t include some form of content creation, you may be at a disadvantage. That said, it doesn’t look like they got great mileage out of this arrangement based on the number of folks asking questions.
Sports Authority, 9/14 — Over 14 Great Deals This Week - Online Only
In this email Sports Authority lays out several deals in a single email, a format that few retailers use. This is interesting for at least two reasons: (1) For people that open this email a day or two after it arrives, they can still take advantage of a deal. (2) It allows Sports Authority to run a deal-a-day program without sending an email each day. Nascar used this tactic with their “12 Days of Christmas” campaign last year (see Dec. 3 AM Inbox) and Sports Authority used a similar calendar setup to explain their shipping deals last year (see Christmas Season Finale).
Road Runner Sports, 9/15 — Runner, we are truly sorry. Please accept this...
Road Runner Sports experienced website performance issues last week and apologizes for them in this email. They do several things right—they apologized, explained what happened and what they’re doing to fix it, and give subscribers a reason to re-engage (the extended offer). They also used a text-only email to ensure that everyone who opened the email would see the apology and explanation. Strangely though, they include a “Click to view online” link at the top of this text-only email.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Bloomingdale’s, 9/14 — Shop For The Cause: Help The Fight Against Breast Cancer
Macy’s, 9/15 — FREE SHIPPING kicks off fall fashion week
Ralph Lauren, 9/14 — Shop Green With Our Eco-Friendly Tote
Orvis, 9/15 — Win $500 and get your dog on the Orvis cover.
Sam’s Club, 9/15 — Take your tailgating to the next level.
Sephora, 9/16 — What's baked makeup?
Tiffany, 9/16 — Legendary Glamour
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
EB Games, 9/16 — EB Games News: Sci-Fi thrillers, relaxing puzzlers, and STOP…Warhammer time!
EB Games will be changing their sender address over to a GameStop address soon and gives subscribers a heads up at the top of this email that they should whitelist the new address. Using red text for their preheader rather than their usual black text helps it stand out. Several other retailers have given their subscribers a similar heads up, including Bed Bath & Beyond (see Feb. 11 AM Inbox), Williams-Sonoma (see Oct. 4 AM Inbox) and Blair (see Sept. 7, 2007 AM Inbox)
Circuit City, 9/14 — They're here! New iPods & Wii gaming consoles in stock. Plus, hot HDTV deals.
Circuit City has Dan Marino as a guest on their forum answering questions from shoppers. Read Dan Marino’s answers. This is a good example of what I call advermedia, the merger of advertising and media. If your marketing plan doesn’t include some form of content creation, you may be at a disadvantage. That said, it doesn’t look like they got great mileage out of this arrangement based on the number of folks asking questions.
Sports Authority, 9/14 — Over 14 Great Deals This Week - Online Only
In this email Sports Authority lays out several deals in a single email, a format that few retailers use. This is interesting for at least two reasons: (1) For people that open this email a day or two after it arrives, they can still take advantage of a deal. (2) It allows Sports Authority to run a deal-a-day program without sending an email each day. Nascar used this tactic with their “12 Days of Christmas” campaign last year (see Dec. 3 AM Inbox) and Sports Authority used a similar calendar setup to explain their shipping deals last year (see Christmas Season Finale).
Road Runner Sports, 9/15 — Runner, we are truly sorry. Please accept this...
Road Runner Sports experienced website performance issues last week and apologizes for them in this email. They do several things right—they apologized, explained what happened and what they’re doing to fix it, and give subscribers a reason to re-engage (the extended offer). They also used a text-only email to ensure that everyone who opened the email would see the apology and explanation. Strangely though, they include a “Click to view online” link at the top of this text-only email.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Bloomingdale’s, 9/14 — Shop For The Cause: Help The Fight Against Breast Cancer
Macy’s, 9/15 — FREE SHIPPING kicks off fall fashion week
Ralph Lauren, 9/14 — Shop Green With Our Eco-Friendly Tote
Orvis, 9/15 — Win $500 and get your dog on the Orvis cover.
Sam’s Club, 9/15 — Take your tailgating to the next level.
Sephora, 9/16 — What's baked makeup?
Tiffany, 9/16 — Legendary Glamour
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Labels: AM Inbox, Apologies, Circuit City, EB Games, Forums, Road Runner Sports, Sports Authority, Whitelisting
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posted at 4:10 PM by Chad White
I love Smith-Harmon's enthusiasm. It's so great to have a connection with people who really "get" and get excited by email marketing. (Truly, there are not that many of us out there!) I count myself very lucky to have found such accomplished enthusiasts to collaborate with on the REI program. They are helping to bring amazing opportunities to fruition with panache.
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