AM Inbox: HP email exposed to quantonium

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

HPshopping, 3/30 — Shop the HP Monster Sale: Up to 50% OFF and Storewide FREE SHIPPING‏
Kudos to HP for recognizing this Monsters vs. Aliens movie tie-in email as an opportunity to flex their creativity and design an email that really stands out. Playing off the size of Susan/Ginormica, the 50-ft star of the movie, they have her poking out the top of the email frame. In fact, many subscribers probably will only see her head and shoulders in their preview pane, which should entice them to scroll down and see what’s going on in this email. It’s a bold, fun creative design. Also, starting with this email, HP has added ShareThis for “share with your network” (SWYN) functionality.



Harry & David, 3/30 — FREE Delivery on select gifts for Easter and Mother's Day!‏
We recently worked with a client exploring product grid options, particularly less traditional, less boxy options. This email from Harry & David gives us a nice example of a non-traditional grid with strong diagonal balance. The background fading from green to pink is also a great touch and helps mesh the two calls-to-action.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Fingerhut, 3/30 — Fingerhut: Shop Backyard Living and Spring Big Book‏
J. Crew, 3/30 — Spring is here. See what's new. In-stores and online.‏
J. Jill, 3/30 — 4 days & 4 ways to love linen. Day 2: shimmer linen.‏
Drs. Foster & Smith, 3/30 — Pet Care Today: Articles for Your Pet's Health‏
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AM Inbox: Musician's Friend's Price Cut Alert emails

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Musician’s Friend, 3/29 — Musician's Friend: New Price Cut Alert!‏
Responding to customers’ hunger for deals, Musician’s Friend has launched a weekly Price Cut Alert email. To keep from over-mailing subscribers, this new email requires an additional opt-in. They also use this opportunity to drive subscribers back to their preference center, where they can sign up for the alerts and possibly make other changes to their selections.



TigerDirect, 3/27 — Black Friday Deals: HP Core 2 Duo XP Laptop $499...Lenovo Blu-ray PC $499 & Toshiba HDTVs from $389‏
Black Friday? In March? Well, it certainly stands out in the inbox and gets your attention.



Bluefly, 3/27 — Beirn Bags: The Celebrity Obsession is on Bluefly Starting at 40% Off!‏
Bluefly gives us our first reference to prom in this email.



Lane Bryant, 3/27 — 25% Off Sitewide + $50 Instant Savings‏
Lane Bryant is the latest to implement “share with your network” (SWYN) functionality. Explore Share with Your Network (SWYN) tag.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Oriental Trading, 3/27 — Hop to it: Discounted shipping plus a free gift on any order‏
Toys “R” Us, 3/27 — Only 2 Days Left for Super Deals on Easter, Outdoor Play and more!‏
J. Jill, 3/27 — 4 days & 4 ways to love linen. Day 1: seaside linen.
REI, 3/27 — Award-winners - the Best Gear of 2009 + Member Coupon Ends Sunday‏
Neiman Marcus, 3/29 — Our runway pick: The color to own this season + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE‏
Bloomingdale’s, 3/28 — Show Them Who's Boss + 30% Off‏
Old Navy, 3/27 — Spring Sale: Up to 40% Off Styles for the Family‏
Sam’s Club, 3/27 — Swing into savings with play sets as low as $899 from Sam's Club.
DisneyShopping, 3/29 — Explore Our New Spring Collection on Sale Now‏
Norm Thompson, 3/27 — OUTLET DEALS on spring fashions, bags & sandals!
Dell, 3/27 — 9 Great Systems under $499 from Dell
OfficeMax, 3/29 — Your March 29 Preprint is Now Online‏
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Week-End Trends: Easter references build toward peak

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index rose 3% to 233 during the week ending March 27, 2009, and is up 8% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent a little more than 2.3 promotional emails each on average last week.

Year-over-year the Retail Email Index is up 11% (moving 4-week average compared to comparable 4-week moving average last year).



The Retail Email Participation Rate: Tuesday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: This week we had our first reference to Mother’s Day from Harry & David. Easter references will peak over the next week and a half and then it will get quiet again in terms of seasonal references. However, over the next week there will continue to be references to the NCAA tournament and over the next two weeks to tax season (Explore Tax Season tag).



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Easter (4/12): Easter 2008 Season Finale
Earth Day (4/22): Earth Day 2008 Season Finale
Mother’s Day (5/10): Mother’s Day 2008 Season Finale
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Ping Time: Opt-down, Email Program Review Checklist, etc.

Our latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:

>>Stefan Pollard of Responsys talks about the benefits of “opt-down” versus “opt-out” mechanisms. >>Follow the ping

>>The Email Experience Council’s Email Design Roundtable (of which I’m a member) has released their latest checklist, the Email Program Review Checklist. >>Follow the ping

>>Linda Bustos of GetElastic shares a screencast of her “5 Email Testing Tips & Tricks” presentation from the Vancouver Email Roundtable this week. >>Follow the ping

>>Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports does a great job of tackling video and email, including click-to-view, “animated video” and true embedded video. >>Follow the ping

>>ClickMail releases a whitepaper on how to choose the right ESP for your needs. >>Follow the ping

>>John Harrison of Yesmail shares a Timberland email with an eye-catching “drawing board” design. >>Follow the lines

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I share 7 recession-messaging ideas. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: Retailers promoting iPhone apps

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Ralph Lauren, 3/26 — Change Of A Dress: The Season's Best Feminine Styles + Accessories‏
After promoting their Runway Collection iPhone Application last month (see Mar. 2 AM Inbox), Ralph Lauren returns with a bigger banner touting their updated app with both spring and fall 2009 collections. A reasonable percentage of Ralph Lauren’s customer base probably have iPhones (or aspire to have one), but iPhone penetration is likely even higher among their email subscribers, making their emails a rather ideal vehicle to promote their iPhone apps.



Musician’s Friend, 3/26 — Musician's Friend: Mad Markdowns on Best Sellers + Bonus Bucks Last Chance‏
After creating an RSS feed for their Stupid Deal of the Day at the beginning of the year (see Jan. 7 AM Inbox), earlier this month Musician’s Friend began promoting an iPhone app for it as well.



Gap, 3/26 — Up to 40% Off. The Spring Sale is Here.‏
At the bottom of this email, Gap is promoting their Facebook profile and newly launched Twitter stream.



Buy.com, 3/26 — PhotoPhone = $49.99, Netbook = $179.99, MP5 Player = $49.99, iRobot w/ Self Charging Base, 4GB Notebook,..‏
After commenting in yesterday’s AM Inbox about Buy.com’s redesigned Deals email not having a banner of any kind, their next one has one—a very large one. It will be interesting to see if this evolves into a more traditional header with a navigation bar. Many marketers find that their nav bar consistently outperforms other links in their emails.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Williams-Sonoma, 3/26 — Delightful Additions to the Easter Table‏
Walgreens, 3/26 — Print Madness: Buy 25 4x6 Prints, Get 25 Free‏
Sports Authority, 3/26 — Get Out and Play - Free Shipping Offers on Spring Sports‏
Furniture.com, 3/26 — Freshly Picked: Our New Aria living room‏
NikeStore, 3/26 — The Ultimate Graphic T-Shirt Destination.
FTD, 3/26 — Send a Splash of FTD Spring Color‏
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AM Inbox: Finding B2B customers among consumer subscribers

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Crate & Barrel, 3/25 — Fresh affordable ways to extend hospitality‏
I had a great conversation with Kathryn Heilbrunn at the Allied Trade Group yesterday about this Crate & Barrel promoting corporate sales. She thought it was a missed opportunity for segmentation, but I suggested that they were probably trying to ferret out their potential business customers (and business influencers) from among their consumer subscriber base by noting who clicks. But Crate & Barrel could have followed the approach that L.L. Bean took in this March 24 email, which promotes related corporate sales in a secondary banner. Kathryn smartly suggested appealing to consumers with a line like “give your houseguests a real 4-star experience in your home with our signature hotel designs,” adding that “the hotel-chic trend is really popular right now in home design—they definitely missed an opportunity to engage homeowners and trade customers alike with that one.”



Buy.com, 3/25 — HP Mini Notebook = $279.99, 8GB MP3 = $58.99, Microsoft Mouse = $7.99, Noise Reduction Headphones = $27.99,..
Buy.com sends a few different kinds of emails, signaling which is which will an add-on to the sender name. For instance, its email focused on product deals has the sender name “Buy.com Deals.” These deal emails have traditionally been text-only, but with this email they’ve added product images. However, despite adding images, they haven’t added a header with their logo or any other navigation. Perhaps we’ll see them test that in the future. Here’s the new design:



And here’s the old design from a March 24 email:



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sephora, 3/25 — 9 picks that ship free‏
Chadwicks, 3/25 — FREE SHIPPING! The best things in life are free‏
Alibris, 3/25 — OOOH! Feast your eyes on rare books (and great prices)‏
Orvis, 3/25 — Where to go next: save up to 50% on unforgettable summer vacations.
Ann Taylor, 3/25 — Irresistible New Markdowns: Shop Now‏
Urban Outfitters, 3/25 — Picture This‏ [promoting wall hangings]
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AM Inbox: Barnes & Noble's streaker email

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Barnes & Noble, 3/24 — This Week -- Coupons, Exclusive Twilight DVD Offer, Jonathan Kellerman, Walter Mosley, More‏
Every year there seems to be an email misfire that results in raw code or unformatted text being sent to subscribers instead of lovely rendered HTML. It happened to Sharper Image last year (see Mar. 5, 2008 AM Inbox) and to Apple in 2007 (see Feb. 2, 2007 AM Inbox). This year it’s Barnes & Noble.



Barnes & Noble, 3/24 — Correction: This Week -- Coupons, Exclusive Twilight DVD Offer, Jonathan Kellerman, Walter Mosley, More‏
Later B&N followed up with the correctly coded version of the email and an apology in red in the preheader section so subscribers would be sure to see it. The preheader is becoming a favorite location for quick apologies.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Backcountry, 3/24 — Newsletter: Camping, Sticks & the Green Movement‏
L.L. Bean, 3/24 — Free Gift Card + How Tough Is Your Tote?
Kohl’s, 3/24 — $30, $20, $10 and under … Come in under budget at Kohl's!‏
Abercrombie & Fitch, 3/24 — Spring Clearance in stores March 24th.
Banana Republic, 3/24 — The 7 key pieces you need this season + sale continues‏
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AM Inbox: First Mother’s Day reference

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Harry & David, 3/23 — FREE Delivery on gorgeous gourmet gifts for spring!‏
Harry & David gives us our first Mother’s Day (May 10) reference. For insights and inspiration to help you plan your Mother’s Day campaign, check out the Mother’s Day 2008 Season Finale.



JCPenney, 3/23 — A Special Message to You from the CEO of JCPenney‏
This email, which professes to be listening to customers during the these hard times, is a nice gesture—but it’s also an empty one. There was a big opportunity to follow up the words “You’ve told us what you want. And we’re listening.” with something substantial, to tell subscribers what exactly they’ve done. Based on this email, one would have to assume that they haven’t done anything concrete because we get not one specific, just a platitude. Had they listed new brands that they’ve added or price cuts in certain lines that would have substantiated their claims—and provided a call-to-action for subscribers.

As an aside, with this email, they’ve added a link to their Facebook profile.



Staples, 3/23 — 3 savings events that mean business
In this email, Staples promotes their Easy Button widget. Explore Widget tag.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
eBags, 3/23 — March Madness Double Deal: 10% Off + Free Shipping‏
Kmart, 3/23 — Easter is Coming - Save on Clothing, Jewelry and More‏
The Company Store, 3/23 — Organic Sale - Up to 65% Off Natural Living‏
RedEnvelope, 3/23 — You say it's their Birthday - 20% off all orders
Ann Taylor, 3/23 — Beautiful & Smart? Shop New Arrivals...
J. Jill, 3/23 — The J. Jill Wearever Collection. Plus, buy now, pay later!
Saks Fifth Avenue, 3/23 — Shop our new Spring Video Catalog‏
Bluefly, 3/23 — Bluefly on Gossip Girl Tonight + Just In! NEW Denim‏
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AM Inbox: Email branding schizophrenia

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

GameStop, 3/20 — GameStop Weekend Specials 3.20.09‏
Ever since acquiring EB Games, GameStop Inc. has been a little schizophrenic about its two brands, waffling between keeping the brands separate and intermingling. Their branding inconsistency has at times caused confusion. For instance, in the Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study, we point out that when we signed up for emails from EB Games that we received a welcome email from GameStop that didn’t contain any EB Games branding. That’s sure to confuse some people, leading to higher spam complaints, unsubscribes and ignore rates. Imagine if you signed up to for email from Gap and the welcome email came from Old Navy.

GameStop Inc. suffered identity problems again with this email. Not only was it apparently accidently sent to EB Games subscribers, but the sender name, “GameStop Newsw,” was misspelled. This email was also sent from a GameStop sender address, so the content was blocked because the address wasn’t whitelisted.



EB Games, 3/20 — EB Games Weekend Specials 3.20.09‏
Realizing their mistake, they quickly followed up with an email with the correct sender name and subject line. However, they bizarrely chose this moment to change their sender address from “ebnews@email.ebgames.com” to “ebnews@news.gamestop.com,” resulting in their email content being blocked once again. Plus, when you unblocked the content you were presented with a GameStop email rather than one from EB Games. If they’re phasing out the EB Games brand, they should inform subscribers of that ahead of time, tell them to expect emails from GameStop going forward, and ask them to whitelist the new sender address.



Bloomingdale’s, 3/21 — Take 25% Off Denim For All!‏
In what has so far been a one-time experiment, Bloomingdale’s added a share via Facebook link to the top of their email. Their emails over the weekend didn’t include the link (at least not in the segments I received).



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Alibris, 3/20 — NOTE TO SELF: Use my $10 coupon before it expires, Book lover‏
JCPenney, 3/20 — Save Now With Coupons - Save Later With Your VIP Pass!
Staples, 3/20 — We bet you'll like what's inside. (Hint: COUPONS)
Norm Thompson, 3/22 — Save 20% - no minimum purchase required.‏
Spiegel, 3/21 — Chad, Don't Miss 200 Exclusive NEW MARKDOWNS up to 70% OFF at Our PRIVATE WEEKEND SALE!‏
The Company Store, 3/22 — Charisma Closout at The Company Store‏
Wal-Mart, 3/21 — Just Released: Twilight Single-Disc DVD, Only at Walmart‏
Dell, 3/21 — Adamo is Here - Be the First to Fall in Love
J. Jill, 3/20 — Want this look? It's a cinch! Plus, 25% off silk-linen!
Tiffany & Co., 3/20 — Cosmopolitan Designs: Discover Tiffany Metro‏
Coach, 3/20 — shine with new metallic op art.‏
Lillian Vernon, 3/22 — Get Your Easter Treats, and Treat Yourself to 15% Off‏
Ann Taylor, 3/20 — Our New Spring Collection Is In: Shop Our Spring Style Event Now‏
Saks Fifth Avenue, 3/21 — Beauty Notes: A Monthly Update‏
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Week-End Trends: Easter messaging set to pick up

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index fell 1% to 220 during the week ending March 20, 2009, and is down 1% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent 2.2 promotional emails each on average last week.

Year-over-year the Retail Email Index is up 8% (moving 4-week average compared to comparable 4-week moving average last year).



The Retail Email Participation Rate: Tuesday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: I’ve updated the 2008 Easter Season Finale with a trend chart that’s seasonally adjusted for the shift in the date of Easter this year. According to that data, Easter messaging should pick up significantly this week.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Easter (4/12): Easter 2008 Season Finale
Earth Day (4/22): Earth Day 2008 Season Finale
Mother’s Day (5/10): Mother’s Day 2008 Season Finale
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Ping Time: Reducing complaints, emailing store receipts, etc.

Our latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:

>>Neil Anuskiewicz of StreamSend says that you can reduced spam complaints by 75% by moving your unsubscribe link to the top of your emails. >>Follow the ping

>>Whit Lanier of Silverpop praises Apple’s ability to email store receipts to customers. >>Follow the ping

>>Tamara Gielen of BeRelevant provided Twitter coverage aggregation for all of us that missed MarketingSherpa’s Email Summit. >>Follow the tweets

>>Campaign Monitor has launched an Email Stats and Reports center, with their first piece of research looking at email client popularity. >>Follow the ping

>>Ryan Deutsch of StrongMail shares advice on how to mitigate the very, very significant risks of doing an opt-out email append. >>Follow the ping

>>Silverpop releases “Engagement Marketing: Partnering with your Customers for Success,” which discusses tactics for having a two-way dialogue with your subscribers. >>Follow the ping

>>John Harrison of Yesmail shares an example of Timberland soliciting subscriber feedback on a new product line. >>Follow the ping

>>Anne Mitchell of ISIPP lets us know that RoadRunner has launched a new feedback loop and is phasing out their existing on April 30. >>Follow the ping

>>In Smith-Harmon’s latest Email Insider column, Lisa Harmon and Alex Madison share examples of brands following the rules and breaking them (in a good way). >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: Promoting Facebook profiles with email

>>Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study released. Read the Executive Summary and download the study for free.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Banana Republic, 3/19 — Spring sale! Save up to 50% off!‏
Banana Republic plugs their Facebook page in a banner at the bottom of this page, but in contrast to what many other retailers have done, Banana Republic dedicates two sentences to explaining why subscribers should “Become a fan.” Other retailers have simply announced “We’re on Facebook.” There’s a definite parallel with how some marketers approach promoting their email programs. While some simply say, “Sign up for email,” others wisely explain the benefits of signing up. While there’s much more transparency with social networks, marketers should consider following Banana Republic’s lead and explaining the benefits of becoming fan.

Banana Republic joins J&R, Overstock, REI, RitzCamera, Sephora and Sony in using their email program to drive subscribers to their Facebook profiles. Explore Social Networks tag.



Saks Fifth Avenue, 3/19 — Spring Sale New Styles Added Today!‏
Most people will probably read right over it, but Saks probably intended to have some punctuation separating “Spring Sale” from “New Styles Added Today!”

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Bluefly, 3/19 — ROCK ON! Concert-Ready Tees Starting at 40% Off‏
NikeStore, 3/19 — Get Set For The Season With Nike Team Sports‏
FTD, 3/19 — The Perfect Blooming Basket to Welcome in Spring‏
Urban Outfitters, 3/19 — The Latest Issue‏
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AM Inbox: According to theLastUnicorn

>>Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study released. Read the Executive Summary and download the study for free.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Sephora, 3/18 — Salon tools - at home‏
The problem with testimonials pulled from product reviews is that you routinely have to attribute quotes to usernames, which are often nonsensical, whimsical or worse. In this email Sephora finds an artful way of mitigating that: They render the usernames in graphical script. This has two effects: (1) the signature-styling makes it seem more authentic and credible, and (2) it makes it more difficult to recognize that the testimonial is from theLastUnicorn, for instance.



Kohl’s, 3/18 — 50% Off Summer Living, Swim, Sandals & More!‏
Since last Friday there’s been an uptick in eco-friendly messaging, like this one from Kohl’s. With Earth Day a little more than a month away, it’s likely that this is the front end of a rise in eco-messaging in the run-up to Earth Day. For trends and insights to help you plan your Earth Day/Week campaign for this year, read the Earth Day 2008 Season Finale.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Bed Bath & Beyond, 3/18 — Formal enough for Easter. Fabulous enough for every day.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 3/18 — The highest quality, casual, All-American lifestyle.
NFLshop, 3/18 — [Sale Extended] Take 30% Off NFLShop Orders - Last Day‏
Old Navy, 3/18 — Swim 2009: Head-to-Toe Looks You'll Love, Starting at $15‏
Bluefly, 3/18 — PINK! This Season’s Happiest Shade Starting at 20% Off‏
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AM Inbox: Hunt in vain for Easter collectibles

>>Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study released. Read the Executive Summary and download the study for free.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Neiman Marcus, 3/17 — Uplifting color from Carlos Falchi & more + FINAL DAY! Free online shipping at any price‏
I’m not sure how to say this without sounding condescending, but if you’re going to promote products and brands in your emails, make sure that you actually sell those items. The Easter collectibles promoted by Neiman Marcus in this email are nowhere to be found on the landing page. Worse, a site search for “Patricia Breen,” the designer mentioned, turned up no search results. ZERO. At its roots, this is a landing page process problem, because if Neiman Marcus had even attempted to optimize their landing pages then they would have discovered that they weren’t actually selling these products.



Tip of the hat to Becs Rivett at Becs' Cookery & Photo Blog for pointing this out to me.

Blair, 3/17 — Your pot o' gold. Specials starting at $7.49.‏
Thinking about the user experience of their older and more vision-challenged customers, Blair has introduced a site feature that allows visitors to adjust the font size of the text on their site. This should be a reminder to email marketers to not use font sizes that are overly small or in situations where there’s poor contrast of the lettering on the background. Particularly if your customer base skews older, examine whether your font sizes are large enough and consider testing email versions with large fonts for better scannability.



J. Jill, 3/17 — Open your closet, open your heart.
Looking for a way to use email to drive store traffic? Consider an in-store charity event where people donate goods in return for discounts, as J. Jill does here. Finish Line ran a similar campaign last year (see June 3, 2008 AM Inbox).



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Petco, 3/17 — PETCO / Get Lucky With 17 Hours of St. Patty’s Day Savings!‏
Lands’ End, 3/17 — Lucky day - and last day! A St. Patrick's surprise‏
NFLshop, 3/17 — St. Patrick's Day Special - Take 30% Off Orders - Today Only‏
Bluefly, 3/17 — Extra 10% Off Everything - Happy St. Paddy's Day! - Now up to 65% off‏
Harry & David, 3/17 — Savin' o' the Green: FREE Delivery* on select spring gifts!
SmartBargains, 3/17 — It's your lucky day: Free Shipping + Extra 17% Off!
Newegg, 3/17 — St. Patrick's Day 24-hour Sale! $99.99 19" LCD Monitor, $79.99 320GB Laptop HDD...
L.L. Bean, 3/17 — Free $10 Gift Card + The Secret's Out of the Bottle‏ [promoting UPF-rated clothing]
Musician’s Friend, 3/17 — Musician's Friend: Get up to $200 Back with Taxman Bonus Bucks‏
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Season Finale: Valentine's Day 2009

A look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:

Start to finish: The first reference to Valentine’s Day was on Jan. 5 by Orvis. The final reference was on Feb. 16 by FTD.

The distribution curve: The biggest day for Valentine’s Day emails was Feb. 4. Retailers sent the majority of their Valentine’s Day-themed emails after Feb. 2.



Most interesting email: Trying to better target those subscribers who are in the market for a Valentine’s Day gift, in a Feb. 2 email, Blue Nile introduced a special “Valentine’s Day Treasures” email series that required an additional opt-in. Special email series like this are fairly popular during the holiday season (explore Special Email Series tag), but are pretty rare outside of November and December, so it really got my attention. While early February may seem a little on the late side to be promoting a Valentine’s Day series, Blue Nile is known for quick turnarounds on orders, with 2-day shipping their standard. And they often offer free overnight shipping when crunch time arrives.



JCPenney, which has done countdowns to Christmas, ties the same urgency tactic with their Valentine’s Day emails. As in the past, they update the image file daily so that the email correctly states the number of days left until Valentine’s Day regardless of when it’s opened. They also use some animation to draw attention to the countdown.



And here is the animated portion:



Standout call-to-action: In a Jan. 30 email with the subject line “Love The Mini. Adore the Price.”, Dell backs up a nice Mini-heart design with a “Get What Everyone’s Talking About” call-to-action. They also replaced their usual “Send to a Friend” CTA with the more seasonal “Share the Love”.



Standout subject lines:
Finish Line, 2/13 — XOXO--Free Shipping--XOXO
J. Crew, 2/9 — Free shipping + J.Crew = Love.‏
Oriental Trading, 1/31 — Cupid's coming: get reduced shipping + a free gift‏
Tiffany, 1/16 — Cupid's Secret Weapon‏
Frederick’s, 1/21 — Set hearts aflame + free shipping.‏
Tiffany, 1/23 — Love at First Sight, Plus Complimentary Shipping‏
Harry & David, 1/26 — Perfect match: Gifts as extraordinary as your Valentine.‏
Harry & David, 2/9 — Express Your Love (just in time) … with a FREE Express Delivery Upgrade!‏
Tiffany, 1/31 — Make a Date with Tiffany for Valentine's Day‏
Costco, 2/6 — Only 3 Days Left! Have You Ordered Her Flowers Yet?

Subject lines that stand out for the wrong reasons:
TigerDirect, 1/27 — 100 Deals Under $100: 1tb Ext HD $99...New GPS w/ Case $99...19" LCD $99...V-Day Deals from $22.99‏
I suppose the approach to Valentine’s Day is an appropriate time to promote V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls. But having a V-Day sale is a bit tacky. Perhaps TigerDirect would have been better off just promoting “Valentine’s Day” deals.

Harry & David, 2/5 — Ladies: Here's the Way to Your Man's Heart! FREE delivery on select gifts for Valentine's Day!‏
Harry & David didn’t gender segment this campaign so all the men on their email list also got this email addressing them as “ladies.”

Read previous Valentine’s Day Season Finales: 2008, 2007

Explore Valentine’s Day tag.
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AM Inbox: Overstock's progressive couponing scheme

>>Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study released. Read the Executive Summary and download the study for free.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Overstock, 3/16 — LUCKY 7% OFF COUPON‏
For their St. Patrick’s Day promotion, Overstock uses a unique, one-use coupon that when used earn the subscriber another coupon that gives them a bigger discount. When that coupon is used, the subscriber earns another even larger discount. I don’t know when the last time was that I saw such an elaborate progressive couponing program to encourage incremental sales. Very innovative. I also like how they stress that this coupon is a subscriber exclusive. Subscribers should definitely be treated to special discounts, items, etc. not available to website visitors.



After quietly adding social elements to the bottom of their emails (see March 16 AM Inbox), Overstock makes a bigger deal of them at the bottom of this email. In addition to increasing the size of the buttons, they make it the subject of their CEO’s column.



Old Navy, 3/16 — California-Cool Looks for Guys, Starting at $15‏
Old Navy updates their email design with their new logo, but in doing so opens up opportunities to optimize their design for preview panes and snippets. The new design opens up a lot of white space to the right of the logo that would be ideal for the preheader text (or at least something else). Here’s the new design:



And here’s what their email could look like if the preheader text was moved into that white space. Notice that more information makes it into the first 300 pixels, which is what I’m showing in both cases. But inverting the order of the preheader message and “Click to view online” link, they get the preheader message into the snippet text in Outlook and Gmail. Since their logo is alt tagged with “Old Navy,” that text would appear ahead of the preheader message, which is fine because it adds extra branding. However, because of that I’d add a period and space at the end of that alt text so it doesn’t run into the preheader message in the snippet text.



Here’s the old design from a March 6 email:



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hallmark, 3/16 — Send paper cards online + NEW! St. Pat's Day E-Cards‏
Cooking.com, 3/16 — Lucky Comfort: Recipes for One-Dish Potatoes, Irish Beef and Tea Cakes‏
Walgreens, 3/16 — No Blarney: 17% Off Store + Contact Orders‏
Spiegel, 3/16 — NEW! What To Wear To Spring’s Special Events!
Orvis, 3/16 — Gear up for summer travel. Preview our new catalog - 70+ new items.‏
Diamond.com, 3/16 — Fresh Spring Styles - Save an Extra 20% Plus Free Shipping‏
Saks Fifth Avenue, 3/16 — Rag & Bone: A Must-See Video‏
Norm Thompson, 3/16 — Never before: $10 off all Dream Jeans! 3 days only.‏
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Alert: Crutchfield welcome email redesign reduces unsubscribes

In our newly released Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study I singled out Crutchfield as having one of the worst welcome emails among major online retailers. I criticized it for being text-only and failing to highlight their particular brand strengths. And I recommended that they do three things: (1) promote their forums and blogs or other expert content, (2) make it easier to get in contact with their service reps, and (3) give their brand a human face with pictures of staff members, like the do in their promotional emails.

I’m happy to report that this week Crutchfield is going live with a totally redesigned welcome email that corrects these shortcomings and actively engages new subscribers. According to Juan Esteves, who runs the day-to-day email operations at Crutchfield, the new design reduced unsubscribes by 7% during a month-long testing period when compared to the old welcome email. That’s a huge lift—and represents the kind of improvements that can be had for those brands that are most in need of a welcome email overhaul.

Here’s the old design of Crutchfield’s welcome email:



And here’s the new design:



If your welcome email needs improving and you’re in need of ideas and inspiration, download the free Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study today.
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AM Inbox: A picture is worth one word (in this case)

>>Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study released. Read the Executive Summary and download the study for free.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Tiffany & Co., 3/13 — A Charming Tiffany Tale‏
One of Smith-Harmon’s 5 guiding principles is Delight—delighting our clients and delighting their subscribers. This Tiffany email is totally delightful with its engaging pictogram story about the arrival of spring. It’s clever, whimsical and highlights products in a non-traditional way. A very standout email.



Saks Fifth Avenue, 3/13 — Spring Sale New Arrivals‏
Saks gives us a playful twist on the text-heavy “sale” email using some animation.



Here’s the animated portion of this email:



Overstock, 3/13 — $1 SHIPPING STARTS TODAY‏
After adding mobile messaging subscriptions recently (see Feb. 26 AM Inbox), Overstock has added links to their Twitter and Facebook pages—although not directly. The icons in this email link to a Social Scene landing page.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Norm Thompson, 3/13 — What luck! Friday the 13th means $13 off!
Omaha Steaks, 3/13 — Lucky Friday the 13th Sale . . . Save up to 74%
Lands’ End, 3/14 — Luck of the stylish: a St. Patrick's Day surprise for you‏
eBags, 3/15 — 3 days only: St. Patrick's Day savings start now‏
Sports Authority, 3/15 — Save Green This St. Patty's Day - Take $25 Off $100 Orders‏
Cooking.com, 3/13 — Easter Essentials + Easter Dessert Recipes‏
Toys “R” Us, 3/15 — Shop This Week's Super Deals on Easter Baskets, Barbie and More!
Sephora, 3/14 — Portable boyfriends + free tote‏
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 3/13 — Attract attention, and save up to $75.
JC Whitney, 3/13 — We Have It, You Do It - Save Big!
Saks, 3/13 — Lightweight jackets you'll just love!
Ann Taylor, 3/13 — Must-Have: March's Key Three...
Alloy, 3/13 — Jeans: Inseams Up to 37 in + Free Shipping‏
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Ping Time: Buyer vs. non-buyer messaging, permission regulation changes, etc.

Our latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:

>>Return Path’s new report, “The Increasing Revenues By Optimizing Emailing Practices with Online Buyers,” looks at whether retailers message buyers and non-buyers differently, among other things. >>Follow the ping

>>Dennis Dayman of Eloqua warns that federal regulations regarding permission practices may change when Jon Leibowitz becomes chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. >>Follow the ping

>>Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports talks about how to identify and define your best subscribers. >>Follow the best ping

>>Chip House of ExactTarget discusses five ways that you can kill your email deliverability. Are you doing any of them? >>Follow the ping

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I share some of the results from the Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: Neiman Marcus dedicates email to blog promotion again

>>Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study released. Read the Executive Summary and download the study for free.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Neiman Marcus, 3/12 — How do you see style? Get an insider's view at NM InSite‏
Neiman Marcus made it into the 2008 Design Hall of Fame for an email promoting their blog, NM InSite, using a design similar to a fashion magazine. A sign that they’re seeing value from their blog, Neiman Marcus has created a new version of that email with an updated image that’s in sync with the hero image on the blog. It’s also worth noting that this time their model is facing the text. Heatmapping confirms that this is a smart way of directing readers’ eyes to copy and, more importantly, calls-to-action.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
J&R, 3/12 — March Madness TV Sale - Sony 32 Bravia XBR $799.99 + Free Shipping!‏
Finish Line, 3/12 — Get Free Shipping If You Are Lucky!
Northern Tool, 3/12 — Save Up To 50 Percent With Email Exclusive Prices‏
Crutchfield, 3/12 — Closeout pricing on Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung HDTVs‏
Home Depot, 3/12 — Create a New Kitchen and Don't Pay Until 2010!‏
Furniture.com, 3/12 — Redesign on a Dime: Fit style into your budget!
Neiman Marcus, 3/12 — Big plans? Make it a night to remember + Free gift with purchase‏‏
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