AM Inbox: Alibris' book-themed email redesign

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

Alibris, 4/29 — Search Alibris for books you thought you'd never find!‏
Alibris has redesigned their emails, giving them a more polished look. I love the bookmark-inspired sidebar and injection of personality provided by the founder’s new collectible column—which nicely ends with an invitation to email him. I also like that they shrunk the Alibris logo a bit and really like the library-esque wallpaper background. The weak points of the new design are that it still includes a big empty space at the end of the main body and, more importantly, is overly wide. While the old design measured 620 pixels wide, the new design comes in at 770 pixels—which puts it well beyond the recommended width range (see Soon Even More Emails Won’t Be Optimized for Width). Here’s the new design:



And here’s the old design from an Apr. 26 email:



Sephora, 4/29 — Try this before it launches - free!‏
Instead of simply mentioning your loyalty program from time to time, how about flaunting members-only deals and freebies in the faces of your non-members? Sephora does that in this email, and REI does it as well (see Season Finale: Earth Day 2009).



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Ann Taylor, 4/29 — 4 ways to say Happy Mother's Day‏
Buy.com, 4/29 — Mother's Day Gifts, 10MP Pink Digital Camera $89.99, Jewelry & Watches,..
Harry & David, 4/29 — Memorable Mother's Day Gifts with Free Delivery - starting at $19.95!‏
Bloomingdale’s, 4/29 — $25 Off Perfect Gifts For Mom‏
Barnes & Noble, 4/29 — This Week -- Coupons, Great Gifts for Mother's Day, James Patterson, More‏
Banana Republic, 4/29 — Meet the pant of the season, just $69‏
Avon, 4/29 — AVON'S Got a NEW Look + Up To 66% SAVINGS & FREE Shipping
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Season Finale: Earth Day 2009

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

Start to finish: The first reference to Earth Day/Week/Month was on Apr. 12 by Kohl’s. The final reference was on Apr. 23 by Office Depot.

The distribution curve: The biggest day for Earth Day emails was Earth Day itself, Apr. 22. Retailers sent the majority of their Earth Day -themed emails after Apr. 20.

Just like last year, there were many references to eco-friendly products and initiatives without a definitive reference to Earth Day. I’ve included those references in the chart below to give you a better impression of overall Earth Day messaging trends.

It’s also worth noting that this year Earth Day references began about two weeks later than last year and ended a few days earlier as well. Overall there were considerably fewer references to Earth Day this year. It’s not immediately clear why that is.



Most interesting emails: Retailers took a variety of approaches to Earth Day messaging. For example, Kohl’s had one of the best emails that was dedicated to branding themselves green. In an Apr. 12 email, they list out some of the things they’re doing to reduce waste and energy consumption and the call-to-action sends subscribers to their Kohl’s Green Scene website where they can learn more about what Kohl’s is doing.



Bed Bath & Beyond had the best email dedicated to a single product. In an Apr. 15 email with the subject line “A pure earth begins with PUR water,” they make a strong case for using Pur water filtering products instead of buying bottled water.‏



In an Apr. 16 email, REI focuses on their eco-conscious products, featuring a sleeping bag that’s made from 100% recycled material, but also linking to three other product categories. Like several other retailers, REI promotes a reusable tote; however, they’re unique spin is that they’re offering it as an incentive for co-op members to redeem their dividends. That messaging goes perfectly with a secondary call-to-action to join the co-op.



Just as they did in their Earth Day email last year (see Apr. 22, 2008 AM Inbox), Home Depot attacks Earth Day from several different fronts. The primary message is a 10% discount on Energy Star appliances, but it also includes a teaser for 25 ways to go green, information about a workshop‏ on Eco Options, and a giveaway of CFL light bulbs and water aerators. While this email covers a lot of ground, it’s more streamlined than last year’s.



Standout subject lines:
Home Depot, 4/16 — 25 Ways To Go Green + 10% Off Energy Star Appliances‏
REI, 4/16 — Eco-Conscious Gear and Clothing from REI, The North Face and more‏
Bed Bath & Beyond, 4/15 — A pure earth begins with PUR water.
Wal-Mart, 4/18 — Save on Earth-Friendly Products and Go Green‏
Office Depot, 4/21 — Save The Earth - Go Green‏
Petco, 4/22 — PETCO Celebrate Earth Day with 10% Off and Eco-Friendly Products!‏

Read previous Earth Day Season Finales: 2008

Explore Earth Day tag.
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AM Inbox: How to integrate an ad into an 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:

NFLshop, 4/28 — 2009 #1 Draft Pick Jerseys Are Now Available!
I’m not a big fan of ads in retail emails, but if you’re going to do it, integrate it into the design. Don’t have it tacked on to the right side of your email or in other awkward positions. The NFLshop shows you how to do it in this email, which has a GNC ad integrated right into the flow of the design. The use their standard font set in tandem with the GNC logo and a link to GNC.com. Smith-Harmon client General Mills does an excellent job of integrating ads into their Betty Crocker emails.



L.L. Bean, 4/28 — Summer Comfort: The Long & Short of It‏
L.L. Bean gives us another excellent example of how to use animated gifs to produce a subtle, yet striking effect. Delightfully illustrative.



Office Depot, 4/28 — Check out our new site. Redesigned just for you.
Office Depot dedicates their subject line to announcing that they’ve redesigned their website, but in the email itself there’s only a preview pane banner to back up the subject line. It’s likely that this is a soft launch announcement and that we’ll see a more expansive email outlining the changes and benefits for customers. If not, Office Depot will have missed an opportunity to sell the redesign. For examples of how other retailers announced website redesigns, explore the Website Relaunch tag.



Walgreens, 4/28 — Don't Forget Mom! Save $10 thru May 2‏
The idea is cliché but this super-mom creative is still fun. Plus, I like how the “WONDERMOM” discount code supports the creative.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Cabela’s, 4/28 — Gifts for Mom @ Cabelas.com‏
Saks Fifth Avenue, 4/28 — Mother's Day Best Sellers‏
SonyStyle, 4/28 — Save big on VAIO notebooks for Mother's Day‏
RedEnvelope, 4/28 — 20% off a special gift for Mom - expires this Friday
Oriental Trading, 4/28 — Free shipping plus save 15% on patriotic values‏
Bluefly, 4/28 — Laps of Luxury‏ [promoting swimwear]
Crutchfield, 4/28 — Free Blu-ray, free sub, free TV wall mount, free Bluetooth...
Newegg, 4/28 — Early Adopter Edition: $239.99 EVGA GeForce GTX 275 Graphics Card...
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Alert: Gmail defaulting to images off for whitelisted senders

There’s growing evidence that Gmail is disabling images for senders that users had previously whitelisted and enabled images for. Near-term this means that your open rate may dip, especially if a considerable percentage of your subscribers use Gmail, which is very likely if you’re a B2C marketer. Depending on your exposure to Gmail, you may consider adding whitelisting instructions to the top of your emails for a few weeks or emphasizing it if you already have it.

Under normal circumstances I don’t recommend running a whitelist request at the top of your emails. The real estate at the top of your emails is precious and if subscribers haven’t whitelisted you after a few requests (including the requests on your sign-up confirmation page and in your welcome email) then they’re not likely to ever whitelist you.

(Tip of the hat to Darren Schott at Blair for helping me realize that this was a widespread problem.)

4/29 UPDATE: It appears that even when users re-enable images for a sender that images are being turned off for future emails from that sender. Gmail is aware of this issue and reportedly working on it. In the meantime, your open stats will continue to be affected.
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AM Inbox: Today's emails are brought to you by the color pink

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

Lands’ End, 4/27 — Last Day: Free Shipping, up to 40% off favorites.
Retailers don’t use many serialized emails, emails that tells a story over several emails. One recent example is that HPshopping did a series of emails featuring different characters from the Monsters vs. Aliens movie (see Mar. 31 AM Inbox). This Lands’ End email is part of a color-themed series where each email features summer apparel in a particular color. It’s an interesting approach to serialized emails.



Ralph Lauren, 4/27 — May 10: Celebrate Mom By Supporting In Style‏
Ralph Lauren gives their Mother’s Day promotion a charity angle by repurposing messaging from their Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign from last year. The charity element really stood out for me among the straight-forward Mother’s Day gift promotions that I’ve seen so far.



Norm Thompson, 4/27 — SAVE on all spring sweaters, 2 days only!‏
Norm Thompson is the latest major retailer to adopt a share-with-your-network (SWYN) link. Unlike most retailers, who generally put their SWYN links at the bottom of the emails, Norm Thompson has placed theirs at the top, right next to their forward-to-a-friend link. Explore the Share with Your Network (SWYN) tag.



Harry & David, 4/27 — FREE Delivery on select Mother's Day gifts!‏
Harry & David has added product reviews to their site. In addition to asking subscribers to review products, you can use quotes from reviews as testimonials and promote top-rated products. For more product review email strategies, explore the Product Reviews tag.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Art.com, 4/27 — Celebrate Mom with Art + Free Shipping‏
Williams-Sonoma, 4/27 — Delight Mom with Fresh-Baked Croissants‏
FTD, 4/27 — Send Mom a Gift of Elegance for Just $29.99‏
Neiman Marcus, 4/27 — DAVID YURMAN Mother's Day gifts + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE‏
Cooking.com, 4/27 — Easy Mexican-Style Recipes: Cinco de Mayo Mains, Sides & Enchiladas‏
Home Depot, 4/27 — Grilling Season is Here!‏
CB2 (Crate & Barrel), 4/27 — Eco outdoor modern priced to save you green‏
J. Jill, 4/27 — Meet your new crush... Plus, take 25% off select spring styles.‏
Bluefly, 4/27 — Dresses Under $100! Need We Say More?‏
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AM Inbox: Actually, no, I didn't forget anything

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

Ross-Simons, 4/25 — Just a Courtesy Reminder - Did you forget something?
Over the weekend I received this shopping cart abandonment email from Ross-Simons. The design is pretty good, but the problem is that I never added the item listed or anything else to my shopping cart. I did clickthrough and browse the site, but I never got to the point of adding anything to my cart. I’m not sure if someone else’s cart got attributed to me or something else went astray, but this should be a reminder to audit your triggered emails periodically and make sure that the triggers and deployments are functioning properly. In Ross-Simons’ case, they are not.



Oriental Trading, 4/24 — Save $10 & get your ducks in a row‏
I couldn’t help but see flashes of Spiegel’s Style Quiz (see Mar. 17, 2008 AM Inbox) when I got this email from Oriental Trading with the “discover your duck personality” call-to-action. A scientific exploration of your personality it is not, but it is definitely fun.



Sports Authority, 4/26 —Spring Golf Event This Week at SportsAuthority.com!‏
When Sports Authority redesigned their email template (see Apr. 21 AM Inbox), they added a space toward the bottom of the email for calling out product categories. The template has HTML text links over background images that fade from top to bottom. The problem is that some of the links toward the top of those backgrounds images are difficult to impossible to read. They might have been better off starting their links a little further down, fading the image from right to left, or placing the image at the bottom of the box with the links above it. Subscribers spend very little time scanning an email so make it easy for them to read your text, especially your calls-to-action.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Bed Bath & Beyond, 4/25 — Great Mother's Day Gift Ideas!
Cooking.com, 4/24 — Mother's Day Special Offers and Rebates + Strawberry Desserts Recipes‏
eBags, 4/25 — Mom's Day Markdowns Up to 50% Off + Bonus Savings‏
Walgreens, 4/26 — Just 4 Mom: 25% Off Gift Orders + 50 Prints for $5‏
JCPenney, 4/26 — Pretty Ideas For Mom + Free Shower Gel For You!‏
Spiegel, 4/26 — EXTRA 25% OFF Perfect Mother's Day Looks to Give or Wear + FREE Fragrance!
Lillian Vernon, 4/26 — Only 2 More Days to Get Free Shipping in Time for Mother's Day!
Macy’s, 4/26 — Free Shipping & savings on great gifts-Mother's Day Sale & Event!‏
Office Depot, 4/24 — Savings You'll Love In An Economy You Don't‏
Alibris, 4/26 — AHHH. Life is better with $2 books‏
Barnes & Noble, 4/24 — Save 50% in Our New Audiobook MP3 Store‏
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Week-End Trends: Mother's Day retail email surge expected

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index rose 4% to 235 during the week ending Apr. 24, 2009, and is up 1% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent just over 2.3 promotional emails each on average last week.

Year-over-year, the Retail Email Index is up 5% (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: Mother’s Day references are running considerably behind trend so far this year, so I expect retailers to make a hard push this week. I wouldn’t be surprised if the percentage of Mother’s Day references doubled.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Mother’s Day (5/10): Mother’s Day 2008 Season Finale
Memorial Day (5/25): Memorial Day 2008 Season Finale
Father’s Day (6/21): Father’s Day 2008 Season Finale
Graduation (May-Jun): Graduation 2008 Season Finale
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Ping Time: Transactional emails, authentication gap, alt text, etc.

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

>>Loren McDonald of Silverpop has some great advice for making the most out of the transactional email opportunity. >>Follow the ping

>>Matt Vernhout of EmailKarma spreads the news that the Online Trust Alliance says that 45% of top online retailers still aren’t authenticating their email. >>Follow the authenticated ping

>>Dela Quist of AlchemyWorx reveals that for some marketers not including alt text for important images may be more effective at generating clicks than including them. >>Follow the ping

>>Chip House of ExactTarget gives us three ways to handle what you put on the left-hand side of the @ in your sender address. >>Follow the ping

>>MarketingSherpa releases their 2009 Email Awards Gallery. >>Follow the ping

>>Linda Bustos of Elastic Path suggests deliberately putting clearly marked “sold out” products in your emails to drive interest and urgency. >>Follow the ping

>>In Smith-Harmon’s latest Email Insider column, Aaron Smith discusses how increased C-suite interest in email marketing is a double-edged sword. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: With Athleta launch, will Gap Inc. learn from Piperlime missteps?

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, 4/22 — Introducing Athleta, the newest member of the Gap Inc. family.
Gap Inc. formally introduces their new brand, Athleta, to their Banana Republic subscribers. It will be interesting to see if they apply the lessons learned from their Piperlime launch. For instance, they don’t incentivize email sign-ups for the new brand—or even mention that you can sign-up for Athleta emails—like they recently did for Piperlime (see Apr. 20 AM Inbox). However, they did add a separate opt-out for Athleta to this email, which is something they eventually did for Piperlime after months of sending Piperlime emails to their other brand subscribers (see Apr. 4, 2008 AM Inbox). I’ll be curious to see if they cross-promote merchandise in an integrated fashion, pairing Athleta products with products from other Gap Inc. brands, as they did in a Banana Republic email back in 2007 (see Mar. 7, 2007 AM Inbox).



Spiegel, 4/23 — Celebrate "Bring Our Daughters to Work Day" with 25% OFF ALL Washed Linen!‏
This is one of the most delightful creatives I’ve seen all year—plus Spiegel deftly ties this dress-up session into their Style Quiz segmentation program. Simple and brilliant.



TigerDirect, 4/22 — Earth Day Deals: LG 50" HDTV $999...22" LCD $149...4gb Dell Laptop $649...Go Green, Save Green‏
TigerDirect’s Earth Day email is a nice mix of Energy Star-certified products, refurbished and recertified products, RoHS-compliant products, and reduced power consumption products. They even have a list of 5 things to do to be green…however, many subscribers will probably never see the list because it’s out past the 680-pixel mark, pushing the design out to more than 900 pixels wide. As we mention in the Soon Even More Emails Won’t Be Optimized for Width reportlet, a width of 600 to 700 pixels is recommended.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sports Authority, 4/22 — Celebrate Earth Day - 15% Off Your Order - Today Only!‏
Petco, 4/22 — PETCO Celebrate Earth Day with 10% Off and Eco-Friendly Products!‏
Bluefly, 4/22 — Extra 10% Off Everything - Celebrate Earth Day!‏
Norm Thompson, 4/22 — $10 off Earth and Ecco shoes + ALL SHOES SHIP FREE!
SmartBargains, 4/22 — Extra 22% Off & Free Shipping for Earth Day
Ralph Lauren, 4/22 — Celebrate Mom On May 10 With The Gift Of Style‏
Cabela’s 4/22 — Mother's Day Favorites @ Cabelas.com‏
Wal-Mart, 4/23 — Mom Will Love the Gift. You’ll Love the Price.
Tiffany & Co., 4/22 — Make It a Brilliant Mother's Day‏
Barnes & Noble, 4/22 — 40% Off One Book in Our Mother's Day Gift Guide‏
RedEnvelope, 4/23 — Valued Customer, It's time to celebrate Mom - 25% Off
FTD, 4/23 — Gifts Starting at $19.99 -- Mother's Day Preview Sale!‏
Lane Bryant, 4/22 — Today's Shopping Report: Heavy Traffic In Graphics‏
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Bird Watching: Top or bottom placement of unsubscribe link?

If you’re not on Twitter yet, here are the kinds of conversations that you’re missing:

@banane >> ok email people- what is really new in the email industry? I'm suffering from no-new-news-fatigue

@LorenMcDonald >> @banane Not "news" - but at email event last night, 65/65 emailers agreed that putting unsub link at top of email was a FAIL

@covati >> @LorenMcDonald That's very interesting, unsub at top is FAIL because they are afraid they are doing a bad job? Be proud of prominent unsub!

@MarkatEMR >> @LorenMcDonald I'm surprised. Was that their subjective opinion or based on tests they'd done?

@jacaldwell >> RT @MarkatEMR: @LorenMcDonald Was subjective opinion or based on tests they'd done? (jac: i'm leaning 2 @covati re: afraid - or bosses)

@stylecampaign >> @LorenMcDonald What about the decrease in Spam complaints with a more prominent unsub?

@RetailEmailBlog >> @covati My opinion on unsub links at top is changing. Better to use it selectively. A top-mounted preference update link is a better idea.

@RetailEmailBlog >> To @MarkatEMR 's point, a top-mounted unsub link is worthy of testing for many marketers, esp. for subscribers from certain sources.

@jacaldwell >> RT @RetailEmailBlog: @covati unsub links @ top is changing. use selectively. top-mounted preference update link a better idea. (jac: agree!)

@4Stefan >> @LorenMcDonald I'm stunned. I would guess this is because they have no faith in delivering relevant content

@MarkatEMR >> Agree that top unsub is not a black/white issue. Thought Loren's article covered the nuances very well: http://idek.net/8QK

@stylecampaign >> @campaignmonitor place their unsub at the top, see post http://tinyurl.com/d27dmq (worth testing)

@LorenMcDonald >> @stylecampaign well one exception that most agreed on, was if U have spam cmplaint issue with specific ISP, segment - then 1 time/limited

@LorenMcDonald >> @MarkatEMR Was mostly opinion, but 1 sentiment was that subscribers hit spam button before they open the email; so pointless anyway

@LorenMcDonald >> @covati @MarkatEMR @stylecampaign @jacaldwell we've trained peeps 2 look in footer; better 2 put change prefs link near top, not unsub

@RetailEmailBlog >> @LorenMcDonald We've definitely trained folks to look to footer for unsub link. If you use 1 at top, it should be in addition to 1 in footer

@jacaldwell >> @LorenMcDonald @MarkatEMR @stylecampaign my previous testing led me 2 use top 2 direct 2 footer for prefs/unsub

@LorenMcDonald >> @covati @MarkatEMR @stylecampaign @jacaldwell my personal advice on unsub link was in a recent Email Insider post - http://ow.ly/3IFY

@LorenMcDonald >> @4Stefan Well maybe some folks held back, but all cited the reasons in my previous Tweets; but 2 put unsub at top when spam complaint issues

@stylecampaign >> @RetailEmailBlog Agree that you need to keep unsub on bottom also. I've one on bot and a more prominent one on side in my newsletter...

@covati >> @LorenMcDonald re: unsub at top of email - I wouldn't replace the footer unsub, just augment it. I agree a prefs center link at top is good.

@BenchmarkEmail >> RT @MarkatEMR: Agree that top unsub is not a black/white issue. Thought Loren's article covered the nuances very well: http://idek.net/8QK

@DylanMailz >> @RetailEmailBlog I think that as with whitelisitng instr. u should only give top placement on initial mailings, special circumstances etc.
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AM Inbox: Expandable backgrounds vs. fixed-margin backgrounds

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

Bed Bath & Beyond, 4/20 — Check out our e-circular now.‏
Preview pane space is precious. In this email Bed Bath & Beyond has a fixed 100-pixel left-hand margin that for some subscribers will push some of the content on the right-hand side out of view. Rather than using such fixed-margin backgrounds, they should consider using an expandable background that expands and collapses based on the width of the viewing pane. The coding for an expandable background is included in the Soon Even More Emails Won’t Be Optimized for Width reportlet.



Harry & David, 4/20 — 10 Delicious Ways to Say "I Love You, Mom!" + FREE Delivery on select gifts!
In this email Harry & David has added a “Shop by Occasion” navigation bar in what was previously an empty space in the design. For a gift retailer like Harry & David, having a nav bar that you update with upcoming holiday and gift-giving occasions is very smart.



Drs. Foster & Smith, 4/21 — Your Immediate Action is Needed: Important Legislation that May Affect Your Pets‏
Retailers tend not to be very political—at least in the open view of consumers. So this email rallying subscribers to help defeat a House bill that aims to more strictly regulate the importation of nonnative species really caught my attention.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Williams-Sonoma, 4/20 — Great Gift Ideas for Mom‏
Costco, 4/21 — Celebrate Mom. Order Your Mother's Day Bouquet and Gifts Today!
Neiman Marcus, 4/21 — Mother's Day is May 10 + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE‏
RedEnvelope, 4/21 — Unique Birthstone Gifts for Mother's Day and 20% Off
MLB, 4/21 — Celebrate Mother's Day with Free Shipping on all orders over $99.
Ross-Simons, 4/21 — Today's Super Deal - Diamond Favorites for Mother's Day - 48 Hrs Only!
Diamond.com, 4/20 — Free Gift with Purchase - Mother's Day Gift Guide - Save 20% Plus Free Shipping‏
Buy.com, 4/20 — Samsung Netbook $399.95, Zune for Mom $74.99, Save $25 w/ eBillme, Roxio Creator 09 $59.99 AR, McAfee Internet Security = $16.99,..‏
Office Depot, 4/21 — Save The Earth - Go Green‏
Dell, 4/21 — Go Green for Earth Day: Select Dell Systems, Only $479 After Instant Savings!
OfficeMax, 4/21 — Celebrate Earth Day - Save All Week‏
Staples, 4/20 — Staples supports Earth Day 2009 - Save up to 35%
Crutchfield, 4/21 — Save on satellite radio & more, plus get Earth Day tips‏
Barnes & Noble, 4/21 — This Week -- Coupons, Celebrate Earth Day, David Baldacci, Alexander McCall Smith, More‏
AbeBooks, 4/20 — Outsider Wins Pulitzer Prize for Fiction‏
Urban Outfitters, 4/20 — The best things in life are FREE! [promoting free shipping offer]
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Bird Watching: Reaction to Jigsaw COO's comments about prospecting with non-permission email

If you’re not on Twitter yet, here are the kinds of conversations that you’re missing:

@LorenMcDonald >> Kevin Akeroyd, COO Jigsaw discussing using non opt-in emails for prospecting at #EMSF - making the it isn't illegal argument - not buying it

@EmailKarma >> RT @LorenMcDonald: COO Jigsaw discussing using non opt-in emails for prospecting at #EMSF - making the it isn't illegal argument - ME: FAIL!

@kirstiscott >> Kevin Akeroyd COO Jigsaw: Keys to e-mail success: Compliance, good data, multichannel integration, frequency, content, testing #emsf

@stefaneyram >> RT @LorenMcDonald: COO Jigsaw discussing using non opt-in emails for prospecting at #EMSF - making the it isn't illegal argument - ME: FAIL!

@jacaldwell >> RT @LorenMcDonald: Kevin Akeroyd, COO Jigsaw discussing using non opt-in emails for prospecting at #EMSF - (jac: http://idek.net/8HU)

@RetailEmailBlog >> RT @LorenMcDonald: Jigsaw COO discussing using non opt-in emails for prospecting at #EMSF - arguing that "it isn't illegal" - not buying it

@email_queen >> RT @jacaldwell: RT @LorenMcDonald: COO of Jigsaw discussing using non opt-in emails for prospecting at #EMSF - (jac: http://idek.net/8HU)

@a_sinclair >> Just wrong! - COO Jigsaw: using non opt-in emails for prospecting at #EMSF - using isn't illegal argument (via @stefaneyram, @LorenMcDonald)

@RobOwen >> RT @LorenMcDonald COO Jigsaw discussing using non opt-in emails for prospecting at #EMSF - arguing it isn't illegal (Put him in time-out)

@Lukes_Tweets >> RT @jacaldwell, @LorenMcDonald: Jigsaw using non opt-in emails (jac: http://idek.net/8HU) - Sadly Jon's story mirrors many's experience

@Lukes_Tweets >> @LorenMcDonald I think every marketer reading this should send a prospecting email to Kevin Akeroyd at Jigsaw in return! Just kidding

@jacaldwell >> RT @Lukes_Tweets: @LorenMcDonald every marketer reading should send prospecting email to Kevin Akeroyd at Jigsaw in return! (jac: roflmao)

@gscheiman >> @RetailEmailBlog Acc to CAN-SPAM, you can email anyone until they opt-out. Issue is customer respect, not legal right.

@RetailEmailBlog >> @gscheiman It's not illegal to email customers without permission. But "report spam" button holds companies to higher standard.

@gscheiman >> @RetailEmailBlog Not until/unless they get caught. And there are all sorts of tricks to run away. I don't like it, but it's reality. You ...

@gscheiman >> @RetailEmailBlog You are right though.

@RetailEmailBlog >> @gscheiman Honestly, I think changing consumer expectations and ISPs have rendered CAN-SPAM's "prior business relationship" clause moot.

@Steve_Hamilton >> RT @RetailEmailBlog It's not illegal to email customers without permission. But "report spam" button holds companies to higher standard.

@EmailKarma >> @gscheiman @RetailEmailBlog - sure opt-out is allowed under CAN-SPAM - Harvesting email however is not. Its the Low Bar - Aim higher

@wise_laura >> @EmailKarma PHP is wrong in their reading of the law. Harvesting is not in and of itself a violation of can spam.
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AM Inbox: Using charity in-store event to lure subscribers in

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

Coldwater Creek, 4/17 — SAVE $25 + Our summer-cool wrap (at a fabulous value!)
Coldwater Creek gives a cool example of how you can use email campaigns to drive subscribers to stores. In this case, they’re offering to donate $1 to charity if you come to one of their stores and try on something. The banner links to their store locator, allowing them to take action. Macy’s has done a good job of coming up with similar schemes to draw people to their stores, using their email program to promote them. For instance, they drew subscribers to their stores for National Wear Red Day, promising coupons to shoppers who wear red clothing (see Feb. 1, 2008 AM Inbox), as well as for their Believe campaign that allowed kids to drop off letters to Santa (see Nov. 17 AM Inbox).



JCPenney, 4/17 — April 19th Only! Save an Extra 20% with Our Friends & Family Discount‏
JCPenney is the latest retailer to add a link to their Facebook profile. And they decided to put it in a very prominent place, right under their navigation bar. Many retailers put these links at the bottom of their emails near their recovery module and administrative links.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Saks Fifth Avenue, 4/17 — Monogram Your Gift for Mom‏
Costco, 4/17 — Mother's Day Gift Ideas PLUS Exclusive Online Savings!
Lillian Vernon, 4/19 — Mother's Day Gift Ideas to Show You Care! Plus Save 20%
Wal-Mart, 4/18 — Save on Earth-Friendly Products and Go Green‏
J. Jill, 4/17 — New summer sandals & 25% off select spring styles!‏
ShopNBC, 4/18 — Trend Alert: Spring Florals‏
Toys “R” Us, 4/19 — Shop This Week's Ad for Backyard Fun!
The Company Store, 4/17 — Pre-Season Outdoor SALE, Now - 4/29‏
Eddie Bauer, 4/17 — Built-In UV Protection - NEW! Eddie Bauer Sport‏
Ralph Lauren, 4/17 — New Polos: Save 15%, We Donate 15%
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AM Inbox: Sports Authority redesigns emails for image blocking

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

Sports Authority, 4/16 — Join Us - Take 25% off a Single Item - 4 Days Only
Sports Authority has redesigned their emails so that they hold up much better when images are blocked. They make heavy use of HTML text for their subheads and navigation, including their navigation bar, and make better, although not great, use of alt text for their images. Here’s the new design with images turned off:



And here’s the old design from an Apr. 6 email:



Norm Thompson, 4/15 — Tax Day Double rebate - get it today!
Norm Thompson was among the online retailers that sent Tax Day-themed emails on Apr. 15, when about 14% of retail emails referenced Tax Day.



Eddie Bauer, 4/15 — Eddie Bauer Returns to Everest with New First Ascent Line‏
Eddie Bauer has launched a new brand, First Ascent, which focuses on mountaineering gear and the brand’s heritage in that space. This email, which didn’t carry the typical Eddie Bauer email header, also seeks to engage subscribers by presenting daily video digests from a team of climbers who are taking on Mount Everest. Considering how some retailers have introduced new brands and handled email permission, I’ll be curious to see what Eddie Bauer does in this instance, especially since there was no call-to-action to sign up for First Ascent emails.



Bluefly, 4/16 — Turn Every Head...‏
Bluefly gives us our first reference to graduation. To get ideas and plan your graduation email messaging, check out last year’s Graduation Season Finale.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
The Company Store, 4/15 — No Tax Refund? 20% Off Your Entire Order!
Spiegel, 4/15 — TAX DAY SAVINGS PASS: TAKE AN EXTRA 25% OFF ANY OUTFIT!
TigerDirect, 4/15 — Tax Relief: Acer 22" LCD $149...Penny Upgrades...48Hr CPU Deals...Hurry‏
Bluefly, 4/15 — Final Hours! Extra 10% Off Everything - Tax Relief Sale‏
Home Depot, 4/16 — 25 Ways To Go Green + 10% Off Energy Star Appliances‏
REI, 4/16 — Eco-Conscious Gear and Clothing from REI, The North Face and more‏
Dell, 4/16 — Earth Day Savings: Save up to $204 on Select Dell Systems.
Bed Bath & Beyond, 4/15 — A pure earth begins with PUR water.
Williams-Sonoma, 4/16 — Perfect for Mother's Day: Our Filled Pancake Pan‏
Fingerhut, 4/15 — Fingerhut: Free Shipping in Time for Mother's Day‏
AbeBooks, 4/15 — The Pulitzer Prizes: 10 Forgotten Winning Novels‏
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AM Inbox: The feds say we have to respect your preferences

>>I’m back from my paternity leave and will be catching us up over the next few days.

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

American Eagle Outfitters, 4/13 — AEO Affiliate Marketing Communications Notice
Several people were so horrified by this AE email that they forwarded it to me last week. It’s an email that AE has sent before, unfortunately. I have no idea what this federal law that they’re talking about—no other retailers have sent out notices about it—but more importantly I’m sure that subscribers don’t care. Last I checked AE’s email sign-up process gave folks the ability to sign up for emails from only the brands they’re interested in, so I’m not sure where this messaging is coming from. Even if this law is affecting their email operations, this is completely the wrong way to couch it. Instead of saying essentially that they’d like to continue sending you emails from sister brands you don’t care about but that the feds are forcing them to respect your preferences, they could have asked you if you were receiving emails from the AE brands that you were interested in and linked to their preference center. The current messaging is pretty hostile.



Banana Republic, 4/14 — Want 20% off at Piperlime?‏
I’ve not been a fan of how Gap Inc. is always sending Piperlime emails to their Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy subscribers—mainly because they did it too often and with little to no message integration—but I do like how they’re trying incent Banana Republic subscribers to sign up for Piperlime emails with this preview pane banner. The incentive also gets subject line treatment, making the email sign-up call-to-action even stronger. However, they probably should have made the copy a little more clear, spelling out that they want you to “sign up for Piperlime emails.”



Urban Outfitters, 4/13 — Over 150 Items - Back In Stock!
Urban Outfitters is the latest major retailer to add SWYN links to the bottom of their email. There seems to be growing trend toward using buttons for individual social networks rather than having a single share button. Explore Share with your Network (SWYN) tag.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Walgreens, 4/14 — Tax Relief: 15% Off Online + Contact Lens Orders‏
Bluefly, 4/14 — Extra 10% Off Everything: Tax Relief Sale - Today Only!
Dell, 4/14 — Two Days Only! Don't Miss the Incredible Dell Tax Season Savings!
Crutchfield, 4/13 — Do it yourself and save - now's the time to upgrade‏
Kmart, 4/14 — New Fashion-Able Spring Dresses - Save $10 on a $50 Order‏
JCPenney, 4/13 — Introducing Daily Deals‏
Newegg, 4/14 — Deals Spotlight: Eco-Friendly and Affordable! $89.99 WD Caviar Green 1TB HDD OEM‏
Eddie Bauer, 4/13 — The NEW! Summer Collection Has Arrived‏
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Reportlet: Soon Even More Emails Won't Be Optimized for Width

Many email marketers are paying more attention to optimizing their creatives for preview panes, ensuring that emails include meaningful content in the first 300 pixels or so of height. However, some marketers are not paying enough attention to the other important inbox dimension: width.

This 7-page reportlet includes benchmarks on email width, discusses best practices, and talks about the changing inbox environment and the effect it will have on email width recommendations.

>>Download “Soon Even More Emails Won’t Be Optimized for Width” from Smith-Harmon’s Research Library for free.

Other reports available from Smith-Harmon:
Best Practices for Apology Emails
Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study
Holiday Retail Email Volume Sets Record
Retail Email Year-End Trends for 2008
Cyber Monday Sees Record Retail Email Volume
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The Retail Email Blog hires intern: Zachary Parker White

At 12:53 pm yesterday, the Retail Email Blog hired Zachary Parker White as its intern. At 7 lbs., 12 oz. and 19.75 inches, he can barely reach the keyboard—which is of little consequence because his typing accuracy and speed are pretty lousy at the moment. (His personal hygiene could use some work as well.) He fell asleep halfway through our interview, but we have high hopes for little Zachary. I’ll spend the rest of the week bringing Zachary up to speed on the fundamentals of the business, but I should be back in action on Monday.



(This picture was taken right before we explained that it was an unpaid internship. His mood changed dramatically. We’ll have to work on that temper.)
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AM Inbox: First reference to Earth Day

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

Kohl’s, 4/12 — Have you heard? Green goes with everything.
While we’ve had lot of emails mention eco-friendly products and initiatives, this is the first to reference Earth Day/Week/Month. Kohl’s dedicates this entire email to branding themselves green and listing out the things they’re doing to reduce waste and energy consumption. The call-to-action sends subscribers to their Kohl’s Green Scene website.



PC Connection, 4/10 — Email Subscriber Exclusive - Deal of the Day Advanced Preview!‏
PC Connection joins Blair (see Apr. 8 AM Inbox) in running an Easter egg hunt similar to the one DisneyShopping did last year (see Mar. 24, 2008 AM Inbox), but didn’t repeat this year.



Here’s the landing page for PC Connection’s egg hunt:



Sierra Trading Post, 4/10 — Extra 20% Off Footwear! TODAY ONLY‏
Sierra Trading Post has started promoting their Twitter stream, which they started in early December, in their emails alongside a new MyUpdates product alerts and their blog. Several major retailers are now running social engagement banners like this at the bottom of every one of their emails now.



Staples, 4/10 — 50/30/25
This subject line from Staples is highly reminiscent of the cryptic ones used by Urban Outfitters. Staples customer base is very different and I wonder if they’ll find this level of cutesiness disrespectful. Just remember when A/B testing subject lines to look at conversions, not opens, when measuring performance. The goal of a subject line is not just to get folks to open the email. It’s to set expectations for the content inside and set recipients on the path to conversion.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Macy’s, 4/12 — Happy Easter! 99 Cent Shipping & spectacular savings end tonight.‏
JCPenney, 4/12 — Happy Easter! Take $15 or $10 Off Your Next Purchase‏
Furniture.com, 4/12 — Egg-Citing Offer: 30% off site wide today only!‏
Blair, 4/11 — Hop to it! Save $10 on your order now.
Norm Thompson, 4/10 — Easter Weekend HALF-OFF SALE!
TigerDirect, 4/10 — 72 Hour Easter Deals: 25" LCD $199...3GB Dual Core PC $329...Ends 4/12‏
Sportsman’s Guide, 4/10 — Easter Sale! Shipping Coupon from The Guide...
FTD, 4/10 — Last Chance to Order Easter Flowers - Save $10 on Any Product‏
Tiffany & Co., 4/10 — Striking Designs from Tiffany & Co., Plus Complimentary Shipping Offer‏
Neiman Marcus, 4/11 — When is a DRESS more than a dress? + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE‏
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Week-End Trends: Easter references up considerably year-over-year

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index fell 4% to 215 during the week ending Apr. 10, 2009, and is down 4% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent a little more than 2.1 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: Easter retail email references were up considerably during this week before Easter. This past week 12% of retail emails referenced Easter, compared to just 8% during the week before Easter last year. We’re still awaiting the first reference to Earth Day/Week, but in the meantime there’s been a clear increase in the number of retail emails that are mentioning eco-friendly products and initiatives.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Earth Day (4/22): Earth Day 2008 Season Finale
Mother’s Day (5/10): Mother’s Day 2008 Season Finale
Memorial Day (5/25): Memorial Day 2008 Season Finale
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Ping Time: Unsub links, opt-in practices, retention marketing, etc.

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

>>Loren McDonald of Silverpop discusses where to put the unsubscribe link: bottom, top or both? >>Follow the ping

>>Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports has some great suggestions for taking learnings from blogging and other social media and applying them to email opt-in practices. >>Follow the opt-in

>>Dave Hendricks of Datran Media discusses the value of retention marketing in times like these. >>Follow the ping

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I share some tips on sending an effective apology email. >>Follow the ping
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AM Inbox: More on navigation

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

JCPenney, 4/9 — Save an Extra $15 or $10!
JCPenney is one of a handful of retailers that include logos and stylized icons as part of their navigation. Avon (see Nov. 27 AM Inbox) and Ralph Lauren (see Feb. 17 AM Inbox) are also among the retailers that do this. In this email, JCPenney adds a “daily deal” icon, which links to their homepage where the Daily Deal is featured. More and more retailers have been featuring links to one-day deals in their emails.



The Company Store, 4/9 — Triple Points Event - Earn Triple InCompany Rewards‏
The Company Store puts an informative, helpful spin on their selection of deals with this banner, rather than calling it their top 5 deals or something along those lines.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Macy’s, 4/9 — Get 99 Cent Shipping & sunny savings at the Easter Sale!
Toys “R” Us, 4/9 — Shop Our 2-Day Sale for 50% Off Easter Deals and more!
Harry & David, 4/9 — THIS SUNDAY is Easter! We can STILL Guarantee they'll get your gift.
Orvis, 4/9 — 120+ best-selling gifts sure to please every mom - and every budget.‏
Sam’s Club, 4/9 — Wednesday, April 15th is fast approaching‏
Northern Tool, 4/9 — Chad, Make The Switch. Save 10% On All Solar Products‏
Ralph Lauren, 4/9 — SPRING SALE: New Seasonal Styles For The Whole Family‏
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AM Inbox: Highlighting different nav bar tabs

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

HSN, 4/8 — 3-Day PRESALE! Today's Special Acer Netbook in 4 colors Only $479.90‏
Fairly regularly, HSN will add a department name to their sender name when the email is focused on that department. For instance, the sender name of this email is “HSN Electronics.” In addition to the lengthened sender name, they also highlight the “Electronics” tab in the navigation bar, emphasizing the call-to-action to visit that department. Old Navy does something similar (see Mar. 17 AM Inbox). If your nav bar never changes and all the tabs have the same treatment, you might consider mixing things up and doing some experiments. For instance, one thing that our clients find is effective is rendering their “Sale” or “Clearance” tab in red.



Fingerhut, 4/8 — Fingerhut: Take 15% OFF Your Order of $100 or More‏
Expect to see many more tax season-themed emails, like this one from Fingerhut, over the next week or two. Explore Tax Season tag, which also includes messaging around tax rebates/stimulus checks.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Williams-Sonoma, 4/8 — Easter Sale: New Items Added, Save up to 75%
Harry & David, 4/8 — LAST DAY for FREE Eggs-press Delivery Upgrade‏
Bed Bath & Beyond, 4/8 — See it on TV? Get it at Bed Bath & Beyond‏
Bluefly, 4/8 — The Perfect Going-Out Tops!
Sephora, 4/8 — Steal this $18.50 Clinique power set (a $49 value!)
Furniture.com, 4/8 — Bright Idea: 25% off site wide during our Easter Celebration!‏
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