Our latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:
>>Tom Sather and J.D. Falk at Return Path break down the news that several of the big ISPs are moving toward domain-based reputations. >>Follow the ping
>>Alex Williams at eROI shares a clever sign-up form from ASOS that allows you to express a preference for clothing for men or women. >>Follow the ping to the men’s department
>>Julie Waite at Bronto Software takes Microsoft’s B2B division to task for contacting subscribers who have unsubscribed. >>Follow the ping
>>Bob Frady, formerly in charge of email marketing at Live Nation, provides some tips on deliverability on his new blog. >>Follow the ping
>>In my latest Email Insider column, I talk about the need to break away from your email template on occasion and wake subscribers up with a change in email design. >>Follow the ping
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Friday, July 31, 2009
AM Inbox: More on sister brands
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Company Kids, 7/30 — White Sale - New Markdowns on Bedding & More
In yesterday’s AM Inbox I talked about how the Company Store used a tabbed design to raise awareness of sister brand Company Kids. Well, here’s what their emails look like when they send an email from Company Kids. The Company Store branding is pushed to the secondary tab, and while they change the “from” name to Company Kids, they keep the same sender address. That’s important because otherwise you’re asking subscribers to whitelist two addresses instead of one. It’s daunting enough to get whitelisted once. Again, I would emphasize that it’s better to get a separate explicit opt-in for a sister brand via a preference center or other mechanism, but there are definitely some takeaways from how the Company Store handles their sister brand.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sam’s Club, 7/30 — You're Invited! Back to School, Back to Savings Event August 1-2
Sports Authority, 7/30 — Back to Sports Sale - Free Shipping on Footwear + Select Backpacks!
NikeStore, 7/30 — Get Your Fall Gear, From Dunks to Duffels
Linens ’n Things, 7/30 — Look Your Best for Back to School: 10% Coupon Enclosed
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/30 — New styles for Back to School
Bed Bath & Beyond, 7/30 — Enter for a chance to win $55,000 for college when you use your MasterCard® card at Bed Bath & Beyond
Bluefly, 7/30 — NEW! Black Halo Dresses - A Celebrity Favorite!
Victoria’s Secret, 7/30 — We Heart Push-Ups...And Free Shipping! Details Inside.
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Company Kids, 7/30 — White Sale - New Markdowns on Bedding & More
In yesterday’s AM Inbox I talked about how the Company Store used a tabbed design to raise awareness of sister brand Company Kids. Well, here’s what their emails look like when they send an email from Company Kids. The Company Store branding is pushed to the secondary tab, and while they change the “from” name to Company Kids, they keep the same sender address. That’s important because otherwise you’re asking subscribers to whitelist two addresses instead of one. It’s daunting enough to get whitelisted once. Again, I would emphasize that it’s better to get a separate explicit opt-in for a sister brand via a preference center or other mechanism, but there are definitely some takeaways from how the Company Store handles their sister brand.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sam’s Club, 7/30 — You're Invited! Back to School, Back to Savings Event August 1-2
Sports Authority, 7/30 — Back to Sports Sale - Free Shipping on Footwear + Select Backpacks!
NikeStore, 7/30 — Get Your Fall Gear, From Dunks to Duffels
Linens ’n Things, 7/30 — Look Your Best for Back to School: 10% Coupon Enclosed
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/30 — New styles for Back to School
Bed Bath & Beyond, 7/30 — Enter for a chance to win $55,000 for college when you use your MasterCard® card at Bed Bath & Beyond
Bluefly, 7/30 — NEW! Black Halo Dresses - A Celebrity Favorite!
Victoria’s Secret, 7/30 — We Heart Push-Ups...And Free Shipping! Details Inside.
_____________________
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Thursday, July 30, 2009
AM Inbox: The presence of sister brands
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
The Company Store, 7/29 — Last Day to Save! White Sale & Outdoor Sale End Today
Many retailers have sister brands and are looking to cross-promote their brands via email. The Company Store gets their sister brand, Company Kids, in front of their subscribers with a tabbed header design. It’s similar to how Toys “R” Us presents sister brand Babies “R” Us (see July 7 AM Inbox). Both the Company Store and Toys “R” Us occasionally send emails from their sister brands, so giving their sister brands a presence in all of their emails makes it clear what the relationship is—and in doing so probably helps them avoid some spam complaints. Long-time readers know that I am not a fan of sending emails from sister brands without an explicit opt-in to that brand as well, but this tactic is probably wise if you’re going to play fast and loose with permission.
Baby Universe, 7/29 — 4 Days Only, The More You Buy, The More You Save
Baby Universe typically promotes sister brand eToys.com at the bottom of their emails as an additional resource for children’s toys. In this email, they draw extra attention to the relationship and ask their subscribers to sign up for deals from eToys. Ultimately this should be the goal for all retailers with sister brands. While you can certainly raise awareness of sister brands in your emails, the safest strategy is to get recruit subscribers for your sister brands via messaging like Baby Universe uses in this email and through your preference center. If you consider an opt-in to one of your brands as permission to send that person emails from your sister brands, you’re likely to find that your abuse of permission will degrade the relevancy of your program and likely lead to higher unsubscribes and spam complaints.
SmartBargains, 7/29 — Up to extra 25% off your entire order ROLL TO SAVE!
Reminiscent of their “shake the present” animation last December (see Christmas 2008 Season Finale), SmartBargains again uses some subtle animation to great effect with this “roll to save”-themed email.
And here’s the animated portion of this email:
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Office Depot, 7/29 — Your Back to School Offer Is Here
Fingerhut, 7/29 — Fingerhut: 'Tis the Season for Christmas Deals
Costco, 7/29 — Offers Ending Sunday, See What You Can Find!
Orvis, 7/29 — Best of the best! See our newly top-rated customer favorites.
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The Company Store, 7/29 — Last Day to Save! White Sale & Outdoor Sale End Today
Many retailers have sister brands and are looking to cross-promote their brands via email. The Company Store gets their sister brand, Company Kids, in front of their subscribers with a tabbed header design. It’s similar to how Toys “R” Us presents sister brand Babies “R” Us (see July 7 AM Inbox). Both the Company Store and Toys “R” Us occasionally send emails from their sister brands, so giving their sister brands a presence in all of their emails makes it clear what the relationship is—and in doing so probably helps them avoid some spam complaints. Long-time readers know that I am not a fan of sending emails from sister brands without an explicit opt-in to that brand as well, but this tactic is probably wise if you’re going to play fast and loose with permission.
Baby Universe, 7/29 — 4 Days Only, The More You Buy, The More You Save
Baby Universe typically promotes sister brand eToys.com at the bottom of their emails as an additional resource for children’s toys. In this email, they draw extra attention to the relationship and ask their subscribers to sign up for deals from eToys. Ultimately this should be the goal for all retailers with sister brands. While you can certainly raise awareness of sister brands in your emails, the safest strategy is to get recruit subscribers for your sister brands via messaging like Baby Universe uses in this email and through your preference center. If you consider an opt-in to one of your brands as permission to send that person emails from your sister brands, you’re likely to find that your abuse of permission will degrade the relevancy of your program and likely lead to higher unsubscribes and spam complaints.
SmartBargains, 7/29 — Up to extra 25% off your entire order ROLL TO SAVE!
Reminiscent of their “shake the present” animation last December (see Christmas 2008 Season Finale), SmartBargains again uses some subtle animation to great effect with this “roll to save”-themed email.
And here’s the animated portion of this email:
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Office Depot, 7/29 — Your Back to School Offer Is Here
Fingerhut, 7/29 — Fingerhut: 'Tis the Season for Christmas Deals
Costco, 7/29 — Offers Ending Sunday, See What You Can Find!
Orvis, 7/29 — Best of the best! See our newly top-rated customer favorites.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
AM Inbox: New ownership announcement
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Eddie Bauer, 7/28 — New ownership for Eddie Bauer
In this email, Eddie Bauer announces that they’ve been acquired by private equity firm Golden Gate Capital and explains what it means for their customers. It’s a little longwinded and could benefit from more bulleted items. Breaking out the fact that gift cards will still be honored might have been wise considering all the rumors this past holiday season swirling around retailers in or headed for Ch. 11 or undergoing change. I couldn’t but smile a little when I saw how they buried the part about how customers had the right to opt out of the data transfer and didn’t hyperlink the opt-out link in order not to draw attention to it. I’m not a legal expert, so I’m not sure if they’re trying to get out ahead of this news or if they’re legally required to send a notice like this. Does anyone know if that’s the case?
Barnes & Noble, 7/28 — Free B&N eReader -- Plus 6 eBooks on Us!
Looking to take on Amazon and their Kindle, B&N has announced a free eReader that can currently be used on iPhones, iPods, PCs and Macs.
Bed Bath & Beyond, 7/28 — Activate your FREE SHIPPING offer now!
At the bottom of this back-to-school email, Bed Bath gives us a link to their annual back-to-school checklist. While I think it’s a great cross-channel tactic, I wonder why they buried it at the bottom, where it’s easy to miss. I also wonder why they designed the checklist in reverse type so that printing it takes a lot of ink. Ink’s not cheap. The design of the checklist may actually discourage folks from printing it out.
Saks Fifth Avenue, 7/28 — Guys, Fall arrivals are in
Saks gives us a good example of a very sizable animated gif. They keep it simple with only three frames, with each frame featuring one of three product categories with a product shot and brand name. I also like how they bold the name of the product category as they flip through. If the animation is blocked then it helps the email make more sense.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
L.L. Bean, 7/28 — Take a Vacation from Ironing + New Jeans in Two Flattering Fits
Buy.com, 7/28 — Hurry - Buy.com's Tweet n Seek III is On Now
OfficeMax, 7/28 — 3 Hot Items for $99 Each + Back to School Specials
Wal-Mart, 7/28 — What's New in Entertainment: New! Wii Sports Resort
Victoria’s Secret, 7/28 — Have You Tried Our NEW Comfortable Cotton Bra?
Avon, 7/28 — Look Up To 5 Years Younger in Just 14 Days + FREE Shipping
_____________________
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Eddie Bauer, 7/28 — New ownership for Eddie Bauer
In this email, Eddie Bauer announces that they’ve been acquired by private equity firm Golden Gate Capital and explains what it means for their customers. It’s a little longwinded and could benefit from more bulleted items. Breaking out the fact that gift cards will still be honored might have been wise considering all the rumors this past holiday season swirling around retailers in or headed for Ch. 11 or undergoing change. I couldn’t but smile a little when I saw how they buried the part about how customers had the right to opt out of the data transfer and didn’t hyperlink the opt-out link in order not to draw attention to it. I’m not a legal expert, so I’m not sure if they’re trying to get out ahead of this news or if they’re legally required to send a notice like this. Does anyone know if that’s the case?
Barnes & Noble, 7/28 — Free B&N eReader -- Plus 6 eBooks on Us!
Looking to take on Amazon and their Kindle, B&N has announced a free eReader that can currently be used on iPhones, iPods, PCs and Macs.
Bed Bath & Beyond, 7/28 — Activate your FREE SHIPPING offer now!
At the bottom of this back-to-school email, Bed Bath gives us a link to their annual back-to-school checklist. While I think it’s a great cross-channel tactic, I wonder why they buried it at the bottom, where it’s easy to miss. I also wonder why they designed the checklist in reverse type so that printing it takes a lot of ink. Ink’s not cheap. The design of the checklist may actually discourage folks from printing it out.
Saks Fifth Avenue, 7/28 — Guys, Fall arrivals are in
Saks gives us a good example of a very sizable animated gif. They keep it simple with only three frames, with each frame featuring one of three product categories with a product shot and brand name. I also like how they bold the name of the product category as they flip through. If the animation is blocked then it helps the email make more sense.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
L.L. Bean, 7/28 — Take a Vacation from Ironing + New Jeans in Two Flattering Fits
Buy.com, 7/28 — Hurry - Buy.com's Tweet n Seek III is On Now
OfficeMax, 7/28 — 3 Hot Items for $99 Each + Back to School Specials
Wal-Mart, 7/28 — What's New in Entertainment: New! Wii Sports Resort
Victoria’s Secret, 7/28 — Have You Tried Our NEW Comfortable Cotton Bra?
Avon, 7/28 — Look Up To 5 Years Younger in Just 14 Days + FREE Shipping
_____________________
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
AM Inbox: Lane Bryant launches social network
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Lane Bryant, 7/27 — Extra 50% Off Clearance Ends Soon + Flirty Dresses You'll Love
Bucking the trend of setting up shop on Facebook, Lane Bryant has decided to set up their own social network, Inside Curve, soft launching it in this email as a secondary message. I’ll be very curious to see how Lane Bryant pulls content from Inside Curve back into their email program and other marketing efforts. Just like product reviews are extremely handy in providing testimonials for email promotions, there are opportunities for Lane Bryant to pull responses from Inside Curve. I also wonder if they’ll add a banner to their emails highlighting conversations on their social network similar to how Crutchfield highlights discussions in their forum. Lots of content opportunities here.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hanna Andersson, 7/27 — New School Deals For Boys, Starting At $20 For A Limited Time!
NFLshop, 7/27 — Training Camp Special - Free Shipping With Any $75 Order
SmartBargains, 7/27 — First Time Ever! Extra 20% Off Luxury Handbags.
Williams-Sonoma, 7/27 — Healthy Cooking for Baby + Top Rated Cookware
Spiegel, 7/27 — TURN SOME HEADS! Up to 65% OFF Stunning Summer Event Looks!
_____________________
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Lane Bryant, 7/27 — Extra 50% Off Clearance Ends Soon + Flirty Dresses You'll Love
Bucking the trend of setting up shop on Facebook, Lane Bryant has decided to set up their own social network, Inside Curve, soft launching it in this email as a secondary message. I’ll be very curious to see how Lane Bryant pulls content from Inside Curve back into their email program and other marketing efforts. Just like product reviews are extremely handy in providing testimonials for email promotions, there are opportunities for Lane Bryant to pull responses from Inside Curve. I also wonder if they’ll add a banner to their emails highlighting conversations on their social network similar to how Crutchfield highlights discussions in their forum. Lots of content opportunities here.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hanna Andersson, 7/27 — New School Deals For Boys, Starting At $20 For A Limited Time!
NFLshop, 7/27 — Training Camp Special - Free Shipping With Any $75 Order
SmartBargains, 7/27 — First Time Ever! Extra 20% Off Luxury Handbags.
Williams-Sonoma, 7/27 — Healthy Cooking for Baby + Top Rated Cookware
Spiegel, 7/27 — TURN SOME HEADS! Up to 65% OFF Stunning Summer Event Looks!
_____________________
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Monday, July 27, 2009
Season Finale: 4th of July 2009
A look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:
Start to finish: The first reference to the 4th of July was on June 2 by Oriental Trading. The final reference was on July 12.
The distribution curve: The biggest day for 4th of July emails was July 4 itself, followed by July 5. Retailers sent the majority of their Independence Day-themed emails after July 1.
Most interesting emails: The 4th of July screams for animated gifs and HPshopping delivers a fun one in this June 28 email. Fingerhut and Lands' End also used animated fireworks in their 4th of July emails.
Lillian Vernon applied a “12 Deals of Christmas” spin to their 4th of July campaign, sending 4 days of deals.
Similar to the progressive coupon that they used for their St. Patrick’s Day promotion (see Mar. 17 AM Inbox), Overstock sent in this July 3 email a coupon that earns you an even better coupon when you use it and potential third even better coupon after that. Overstock uses a pretty tight calendar during which these coupons can be used. I wonder if this kind of coupon scheme could work over a longer timeframe stretching over several holidays—for instance, a Halloween coupon that, if used, gets you a better Thanksgiving coupon that, if used, gets us an even better Christmas coupon.
Interesting landing pages: As part of their 4th of July campaign, Overstock included some trivia questions in a July 4 email. The interesting thing is how the landing page displayed the answers, interspersing them with products.
Noteworthy trend: Some of the focus that we saw on military families and charities during Memorial Day promotions reappeared during this year’s Independence Day campaigns (see Memorial Day 2009 Season Finale). In a July 3 email, Sears promoted their Heroes at Home charity
And in a July 3 email, Home Depot once again promoted a 10% military discount.
Standout subject lines:
Orvis, 6/22 — 25 patriotic styles to show your colors this 4th of July.
Cooking.com, 6/30 — Made in the USA - We pay Uncle Sam!
Oriental Trading, 7/2 — Independence Weekend Special - 17.76% off ANY order
Urban Outfitters, 7/2 — Liberty, justice & long weekends for all...
Bloomingdale’s, 7/5 — Fireworks Are Over But 40% Off Continues!
Read previous 4th of July Season Finales: 2008, 2007
Explore 4th of July tag.
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Start to finish: The first reference to the 4th of July was on June 2 by Oriental Trading. The final reference was on July 12.
The distribution curve: The biggest day for 4th of July emails was July 4 itself, followed by July 5. Retailers sent the majority of their Independence Day-themed emails after July 1.
Most interesting emails: The 4th of July screams for animated gifs and HPshopping delivers a fun one in this June 28 email. Fingerhut and Lands' End also used animated fireworks in their 4th of July emails.
Lillian Vernon applied a “12 Deals of Christmas” spin to their 4th of July campaign, sending 4 days of deals.
Similar to the progressive coupon that they used for their St. Patrick’s Day promotion (see Mar. 17 AM Inbox), Overstock sent in this July 3 email a coupon that earns you an even better coupon when you use it and potential third even better coupon after that. Overstock uses a pretty tight calendar during which these coupons can be used. I wonder if this kind of coupon scheme could work over a longer timeframe stretching over several holidays—for instance, a Halloween coupon that, if used, gets you a better Thanksgiving coupon that, if used, gets us an even better Christmas coupon.
Interesting landing pages: As part of their 4th of July campaign, Overstock included some trivia questions in a July 4 email. The interesting thing is how the landing page displayed the answers, interspersing them with products.
Noteworthy trend: Some of the focus that we saw on military families and charities during Memorial Day promotions reappeared during this year’s Independence Day campaigns (see Memorial Day 2009 Season Finale). In a July 3 email, Sears promoted their Heroes at Home charity
And in a July 3 email, Home Depot once again promoted a 10% military discount.
Standout subject lines:
Orvis, 6/22 — 25 patriotic styles to show your colors this 4th of July.
Cooking.com, 6/30 — Made in the USA - We pay Uncle Sam!
Oriental Trading, 7/2 — Independence Weekend Special - 17.76% off ANY order
Urban Outfitters, 7/2 — Liberty, justice & long weekends for all...
Bloomingdale’s, 7/5 — Fireworks Are Over But 40% Off Continues!
Read previous 4th of July Season Finales: 2008, 2007
Explore 4th of July tag.
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SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
AM Inbox: Cross-channel photo review contest
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
PC Connection, 7/24 — Submit A Photo Review - Win A Nikon D40 Camera!
Here’s a great example of using email, Facebook and Twitter together to create engagement and collect photo reviews ahead of the holiday season. In addition to announcing the winners on Facebook and Twitter, PC Connection will pick the five best photos submitted and allow their Facebook fans to vote to determine the winner of the contest. To cap it off, they have a social media bar right below the primary message that encourages subscribers to share this message with their friends and to follow me on Twitter.
Wal-Mart, 7/24 — Save on Small-Space Solutions: Laptops, Desks, Storage and More
In this email about back to college, Wal-Mart announces that they’ve changed their privacy policy and launched a new preference center. I see many preference centers launched around this time of the year. It’s a great time to try to get better intelligence about your subscribers ahead of the holidays.
Overstock.com, 7/25 — WEEKEND CLEARANCE
Overstock explains the possible origin of Christmas in July, and in doing so makes their own pitch for early holiday shopping. The sand snowman image is great.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Lillian Vernon, 7/26 — Back to School Plus 15% Off Equals an A+
Lands’ End, 7/24 — Back-to-School Blast: up to 25% off Kids' Polos, Tees & more + Free Shipping.
Dell, 7/24 — Back-to-School Deals- Up to 25% off Select Dell Monitors.
Sam’s Club, 7/26 — Save and Gear up for School with Sam's Club
Sports Authority, 7/26 — $10 Off $50 Orders + Back to Sports Shoe Sale
Lillian Vernon, 7/24 — There's Still Time to Enjoy Summer and Free Shipping!
Sportsman’s Guide, 7/24 — Mid-Summer Camping Sale! Shipping Coupon from The Guide...
Kmart, 7/24 — Kmart Bluelight Specials: Online Friends & Family + MORE!
Sony, 7/24 — The New BRAVIA VE5 HDTV - high performance, smarter energy use
_____________________
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PC Connection, 7/24 — Submit A Photo Review - Win A Nikon D40 Camera!
Here’s a great example of using email, Facebook and Twitter together to create engagement and collect photo reviews ahead of the holiday season. In addition to announcing the winners on Facebook and Twitter, PC Connection will pick the five best photos submitted and allow their Facebook fans to vote to determine the winner of the contest. To cap it off, they have a social media bar right below the primary message that encourages subscribers to share this message with their friends and to follow me on Twitter.
Wal-Mart, 7/24 — Save on Small-Space Solutions: Laptops, Desks, Storage and More
In this email about back to college, Wal-Mart announces that they’ve changed their privacy policy and launched a new preference center. I see many preference centers launched around this time of the year. It’s a great time to try to get better intelligence about your subscribers ahead of the holidays.
Overstock.com, 7/25 — WEEKEND CLEARANCE
Overstock explains the possible origin of Christmas in July, and in doing so makes their own pitch for early holiday shopping. The sand snowman image is great.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Lillian Vernon, 7/26 — Back to School Plus 15% Off Equals an A+
Lands’ End, 7/24 — Back-to-School Blast: up to 25% off Kids' Polos, Tees & more + Free Shipping.
Dell, 7/24 — Back-to-School Deals- Up to 25% off Select Dell Monitors.
Sam’s Club, 7/26 — Save and Gear up for School with Sam's Club
Sports Authority, 7/26 — $10 Off $50 Orders + Back to Sports Shoe Sale
Lillian Vernon, 7/24 — There's Still Time to Enjoy Summer and Free Shipping!
Sportsman’s Guide, 7/24 — Mid-Summer Camping Sale! Shipping Coupon from The Guide...
Kmart, 7/24 — Kmart Bluelight Specials: Online Friends & Family + MORE!
Sony, 7/24 — The New BRAVIA VE5 HDTV - high performance, smarter energy use
_____________________
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Saturday, July 25, 2009
Week-End Trends: Holiday references off to early start
Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:
The Retail Email Index rose 4% to 248 during the week ending July 24, 2009, and is up 2% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent about 2.5 promotional emails each on average last week.
Year-over-year, the Retail Email Index is up 19% (moving 4-week average versus comparable 4-week moving average last year).
The Retail Email Participation Rate: Monday and Friday were the most popular day to send retail emails last week.
The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: It’s really early, but the holiday season is off to a little bit of a quick start. Already 7% of retailers have referenced the holidays/Christmas in at least one email. Last year at this time only 3% had. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. We’ll see if the activity holds up once we get beyond the “Christmas in July” campaigns. If you want to stay on top of the latest percentage of retailers that have made their first reference to the holiday season, follow me on Twitter, where I’ll be tweeting updates.
Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Back to school (Jul-Sep): Back to School 2008 Season Finale
Labor Day (9/7): Labor Day 2008 Season Finale
Columbus Day (10/12): Columbus Day 2008 Season Finale
Christmas (12/25): Christmas 2008 Season Finale
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
The Retail Email Index rose 4% to 248 during the week ending July 24, 2009, and is up 2% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent about 2.5 promotional emails each on average last week.
Year-over-year, the Retail Email Index is up 19% (moving 4-week average versus comparable 4-week moving average last year).
The Retail Email Participation Rate: Monday and Friday were the most popular day to send retail emails last week.
The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: It’s really early, but the holiday season is off to a little bit of a quick start. Already 7% of retailers have referenced the holidays/Christmas in at least one email. Last year at this time only 3% had. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. We’ll see if the activity holds up once we get beyond the “Christmas in July” campaigns. If you want to stay on top of the latest percentage of retailers that have made their first reference to the holiday season, follow me on Twitter, where I’ll be tweeting updates.
Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Back to school (Jul-Sep): Back to School 2008 Season Finale
Labor Day (9/7): Labor Day 2008 Season Finale
Columbus Day (10/12): Columbus Day 2008 Season Finale
Christmas (12/25): Christmas 2008 Season Finale
_____________________
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Friday, July 24, 2009
Ping Time: Changes at Gmail, A&F's sidescrollers, etc.
Our latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:
>>Greg Oldring of Mailout Interactive comments on the news that Gmail is now using the “list-unsubscribe” header when its users mark email as spam. >>Follow the ping
>>Matt Vernhout of EmailKarma talks about another change at Gmail that automatically turns on images for contacts to whom users send two or more emails. >>Follow the Gping
>>Dylan Boyd of eROI has some great additional comments on the horizontal-scrolling Abercrombie & Fitch emails that I’ve been talking about this week. >>Follow the ping
>>Return Path releases its latest Deliverability Benchmark Report. The headline number: On average, commercial email is still being blocked at a rate of about 20%. >>Follow the ping
>>In my latest Email Insider column, I share some advice for the upcoming holiday season. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
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>>Greg Oldring of Mailout Interactive comments on the news that Gmail is now using the “list-unsubscribe” header when its users mark email as spam. >>Follow the ping
>>Matt Vernhout of EmailKarma talks about another change at Gmail that automatically turns on images for contacts to whom users send two or more emails. >>Follow the Gping
>>Dylan Boyd of eROI has some great additional comments on the horizontal-scrolling Abercrombie & Fitch emails that I’ve been talking about this week. >>Follow the ping
>>Return Path releases its latest Deliverability Benchmark Report. The headline number: On average, commercial email is still being blocked at a rate of about 20%. >>Follow the ping
>>In my latest Email Insider column, I share some advice for the upcoming holiday season. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
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AM Inbox: Non-promotional content to hook subscribers
>>Executive Series on Email Marketing: Now you can download all five installments of this educational series with one click.
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, 7/23 — Polo Golf Salutes Tom Watson's Historic Run
Emails that play off current events in a non-promotional way can really add some much needed variety to your email program. This Ralph Lauren email is a good example of that. As they say in journalism, the hook for this email is Tom Watson’s victory in the British Open. It highlights their 16-year sponsorship of Watson and involvement in golf, which strengthens their brand messaging. While there’s a link to their Polo golf apparel, it’s a secondary banner, so the “buy now” message isn’t in your face. They’ve captured subscribers’ interest with the non-promotional message, which should make them more willing to explore the promotional message.
My only question about this creative is: Since the text is on the right, would the call-to-action have received more eyeballs had Ralph Lauren flipped the image so that Watson was looking at it, like so:
UPDATE: I didn't take the time to flip the Polo logo to the other side of his shirt, but a little artful Photoshopping could fix that. The other option to test, of course, is moving the text box to the left-hand side of the design, like so:
OfficeMax, 7/23 — $30 Coupon - Save Through Friday
OfficeMax, 7/23 — 2 Days Left to Save - $30 Coupon
OfficeMax was running an A/B subject line test with this email, but apparently didn’t keep its groups separate because I got both them. In this test, they varied the placement of the time and promotional elements, plus the wording of the time element (specific day vs. number of days left).
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
J&R, 7/23 — Back To School Savings: Apple Macbook 13.3" Now $999.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Toys “R” Us, 7/23 — Friday & Saturday Buy More, Save More 2-Day Sale – It’s Christmas in July!
NikeStore, 7/23 — Track Your Runs With the Nike+ SportBand
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
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, 7/23 — Polo Golf Salutes Tom Watson's Historic Run
Emails that play off current events in a non-promotional way can really add some much needed variety to your email program. This Ralph Lauren email is a good example of that. As they say in journalism, the hook for this email is Tom Watson’s victory in the British Open. It highlights their 16-year sponsorship of Watson and involvement in golf, which strengthens their brand messaging. While there’s a link to their Polo golf apparel, it’s a secondary banner, so the “buy now” message isn’t in your face. They’ve captured subscribers’ interest with the non-promotional message, which should make them more willing to explore the promotional message.
My only question about this creative is: Since the text is on the right, would the call-to-action have received more eyeballs had Ralph Lauren flipped the image so that Watson was looking at it, like so:
UPDATE: I didn't take the time to flip the Polo logo to the other side of his shirt, but a little artful Photoshopping could fix that. The other option to test, of course, is moving the text box to the left-hand side of the design, like so:
OfficeMax, 7/23 — $30 Coupon - Save Through Friday
OfficeMax, 7/23 — 2 Days Left to Save - $30 Coupon
OfficeMax was running an A/B subject line test with this email, but apparently didn’t keep its groups separate because I got both them. In this test, they varied the placement of the time and promotional elements, plus the wording of the time element (specific day vs. number of days left).
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
J&R, 7/23 — Back To School Savings: Apple Macbook 13.3" Now $999.99 + FREE SHIPPING
Toys “R” Us, 7/23 — Friday & Saturday Buy More, Save More 2-Day Sale – It’s Christmas in July!
NikeStore, 7/23 — Track Your Runs With the Nike+ SportBand
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Season Finale: Graduation 2009
A look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:
Start to finish: The first reference to graduation was on Apr. 16 by Bluefly. The final reference was on June 20.
The distribution curve: The biggest day for graduation emails was June 3, followed by Wednesday, May 20. Retailers sent the majority of their graduation-themed emails after May 26.
As in past years, we see graduation messaging falling into two baskets: The first is focused on college grads in the first three weeks of May, while the second is focused on high school grads from late May to mid June.
Most interesting email: Graduation messaging is almost always pair with Father’s Day messaging. This June 3 Walgreens email does a great job of addressing both dad and grads with the hero image.
Standout subject lines:
Blue Nile, 5/20 — Free Engraving on Graduation Gifts, Wedding Rings, Charms & More
FTD, 5/20 — Honor Your Graduate and Save 15% Sitewide
Walgreens, 6/3 — Great Gifts for Grads and Dads at Walgreens
Read previous graduation Season Finales: 2008
Explore Graduation tag.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Start to finish: The first reference to graduation was on Apr. 16 by Bluefly. The final reference was on June 20.
The distribution curve: The biggest day for graduation emails was June 3, followed by Wednesday, May 20. Retailers sent the majority of their graduation-themed emails after May 26.
As in past years, we see graduation messaging falling into two baskets: The first is focused on college grads in the first three weeks of May, while the second is focused on high school grads from late May to mid June.
Most interesting email: Graduation messaging is almost always pair with Father’s Day messaging. This June 3 Walgreens email does a great job of addressing both dad and grads with the hero image.
Standout subject lines:
Blue Nile, 5/20 — Free Engraving on Graduation Gifts, Wedding Rings, Charms & More
FTD, 5/20 — Honor Your Graduate and Save 15% Sitewide
Walgreens, 6/3 — Great Gifts for Grads and Dads at Walgreens
Read previous graduation Season Finales: 2008
Explore Graduation tag.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
AM Inbox: Coach rethinking vertical email nav
>>Executive Series on Email Marketing: Now you can download all five installments of this educational series with one click.
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Coach, 7/22 — New Collection: Preview now, in stores Friday
When Coach redesigned their email template in April along with a website redesign (see Apr. 7 AM Inbox), they implemented a vertical nav bar, instead of the traditional horizontal nav. It now looks like they’re reconsidering that move. Yesterday they ran an A/B test to see if a horizontal nav would outperform their vertical nav. My money’s on the horizontal nav because it appears completely in the preview pane and is less of a pain to design around, but perhaps the novelty of the vertical nav will win out. Here’s their control:
And here’s the test version with the horizontal nav bar treatment:
For more on email navigation, check out Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation.
Staples, 7/22 — $20 for you and 5% to the charity of your choice
Staples hasn’t integrated share with you network (SWYN) functionality into their email template yet, but they’re clearly toying with the idea. This email includes a SWYN call-to-action to help spread the word about this charity-infused promotion. Even if they had SWYN in every email as part of their header or a share bar, it still would have been a smart idea to repeat the SWYN request alongside the primary call-to-action.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/22 — Plaid Perfection
Side-scrolling emails are strange animals to be sure. But if there was any doubt that the one that Abercrombie & Fitch sent last Friday was successful (see July 20 AM Inbox), they’ve now followed it up with another one on the same subject.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Linens ’n Things, 7/22 — Back to School: Get Organized. 10% Coupon Enclosed
Fingerhut, 7/22 — Fingerhut: It's Almost Time: Shop Back to School
EB Games, 7/22 — Gain prestige, fame and more control!
J. Jill, 7/22 — A modern take on the twinset & 25% off markdowns!
NFLshop, 7/22 — [Pre-Release] Run for the Championship DVD - 2008 Season in Review
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Coach, 7/22 — New Collection: Preview now, in stores Friday
When Coach redesigned their email template in April along with a website redesign (see Apr. 7 AM Inbox), they implemented a vertical nav bar, instead of the traditional horizontal nav. It now looks like they’re reconsidering that move. Yesterday they ran an A/B test to see if a horizontal nav would outperform their vertical nav. My money’s on the horizontal nav because it appears completely in the preview pane and is less of a pain to design around, but perhaps the novelty of the vertical nav will win out. Here’s their control:
And here’s the test version with the horizontal nav bar treatment:
For more on email navigation, check out Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation.
Staples, 7/22 — $20 for you and 5% to the charity of your choice
Staples hasn’t integrated share with you network (SWYN) functionality into their email template yet, but they’re clearly toying with the idea. This email includes a SWYN call-to-action to help spread the word about this charity-infused promotion. Even if they had SWYN in every email as part of their header or a share bar, it still would have been a smart idea to repeat the SWYN request alongside the primary call-to-action.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/22 — Plaid Perfection
Side-scrolling emails are strange animals to be sure. But if there was any doubt that the one that Abercrombie & Fitch sent last Friday was successful (see July 20 AM Inbox), they’ve now followed it up with another one on the same subject.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Linens ’n Things, 7/22 — Back to School: Get Organized. 10% Coupon Enclosed
Fingerhut, 7/22 — Fingerhut: It's Almost Time: Shop Back to School
EB Games, 7/22 — Gain prestige, fame and more control!
J. Jill, 7/22 — A modern take on the twinset & 25% off markdowns!
NFLshop, 7/22 — [Pre-Release] Run for the Championship DVD - 2008 Season in Review
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
AM Inbox: Does your email program have a soundtrack?
>>Executive Series on Email Marketing: Now you can download all five installments of this educational series with one click.
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/21 — Rock-out to your favorite A&F Tunes
For some retailers, music is an integral part of their store brand. With this email, Abercrombie & Fitch looks to bring some of their music to their email subscribers. While the design is boring and far from optimized, it’s goal is a good one—emotional engagement through music. Sephora, Urban Outfitters and Wal-Mart have also offered free music downloads in recent months.
Neiman Marcus, 7/21 — Invitation-Only Two-Hour EVENT STARTS 11:30 AM CT! + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE
If you send several different kinds of email as part of our program, don’t force your subscribers who dislike one of them to have to decide between continuing to receive that email and dumping you all together. Neiman Marcus has been sending these 2-hour lunchtime deal emails—which they call NM Dash—since the spring. While it would have perhaps been nice to announce the new emails and give folks a chance to opt-in, at least they give subscribers the ability in the footer to opt out of these NM Dash emails while continuing to receive their other emails. However, they could take the extra step of adding these emails to their selection of options in their preference center, which also allows subscribers to opt-down, reducing the number of emails they receive each week.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Blair, 7/21 — Merry Christmas in July! Shop with Free shipping.
Toys “R” Us, 7/21 — Save 20% or More with Christmas in July Coupons! One Day Only, July 22nd
eBags, 7/21 — Back to School savings: up to 70% off
Kmart, 7/21 — Rockin' Back to School Deals - Up to 30% Off
Dell, 7/21 — For a Limited Time: Get Great Back-to-School Deals from Dell
Sony, 7/21 — Save up to $250 on Back To School Bundles
Sports Authority, 7/21 — New Season, New Gear - Football Equipment on Sale!
Spiegel, 7/21 — Featured on the TODAY SHOW! Our Most Flattering Dress in YOUR Signature Style, Now from ONLY $39!
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/21 — Rock-out to your favorite A&F Tunes
For some retailers, music is an integral part of their store brand. With this email, Abercrombie & Fitch looks to bring some of their music to their email subscribers. While the design is boring and far from optimized, it’s goal is a good one—emotional engagement through music. Sephora, Urban Outfitters and Wal-Mart have also offered free music downloads in recent months.
Neiman Marcus, 7/21 — Invitation-Only Two-Hour EVENT STARTS 11:30 AM CT! + Free online shipping at ANY PRICE
If you send several different kinds of email as part of our program, don’t force your subscribers who dislike one of them to have to decide between continuing to receive that email and dumping you all together. Neiman Marcus has been sending these 2-hour lunchtime deal emails—which they call NM Dash—since the spring. While it would have perhaps been nice to announce the new emails and give folks a chance to opt-in, at least they give subscribers the ability in the footer to opt out of these NM Dash emails while continuing to receive their other emails. However, they could take the extra step of adding these emails to their selection of options in their preference center, which also allows subscribers to opt-down, reducing the number of emails they receive each week.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Blair, 7/21 — Merry Christmas in July! Shop with Free shipping.
Toys “R” Us, 7/21 — Save 20% or More with Christmas in July Coupons! One Day Only, July 22nd
eBags, 7/21 — Back to School savings: up to 70% off
Kmart, 7/21 — Rockin' Back to School Deals - Up to 30% Off
Dell, 7/21 — For a Limited Time: Get Great Back-to-School Deals from Dell
Sony, 7/21 — Save up to $250 on Back To School Bundles
Sports Authority, 7/21 — New Season, New Gear - Football Equipment on Sale!
Spiegel, 7/21 — Featured on the TODAY SHOW! Our Most Flattering Dress in YOUR Signature Style, Now from ONLY $39!
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
AM Inbox: Securing product reviews critical going into holidays
>>Executive Series on Email Marketing: Now you can download all five installments of this educational series with one click.
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Northern Tool, 7/20 — Chad, Your Opinion Could Be Worth A $499 Dewalt Combo Kit
Industry chatter about integrating email with social networks has pushed talk of product reviews off the stage, but there’s still a sizable opportunity here for email marketers, especially as we enter the holidays. Northern Tool gives us an excellent example of a broadcast email asking subscribers to review products. The email details the sweepstakes incentive; explains that adding an image to your review or reviewing a product with no reviews earns you an extra entry; provides instructions on how to submit a review; lists previews sweeps winners; and includes a list of top categories and searches. While that last item is in all of their emails, it should deliver extra value here by directing folks to the most popular products to look for opportunities to submit reviews.
Newegg, 7/20 — Get friendly with Newegg-and get a chance to win a Wii!
This “join our community” email from Newegg is similar to the dedicated email sent by ShopNBC last month (see June 15 AM Inbox), except that Newegg has chosen to add a sweepstake to spur action. While it’s not clear how the experience on each of the social networks is different, Newegg does a good job of listing out the benefits of connecting.
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 7/20 — We're taking even more off. Up to 70%.
Coming from Frederick’s, this subject line made me smile.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Kohl’s, 7/20 — Did you know? Crickets hear with ears on their knees! [promoting children’s charity]
Hanna Andersson, 7/20 — New School Dresses Just $28 For A Limited Time!
Bloomingdale’s, 7/20 — Reach New Heights In Platforms
Ann Taylor, 7/20 — Dress Up Your Wardrobe With Our Perfect Summer Dresses
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Northern Tool, 7/20 — Chad, Your Opinion Could Be Worth A $499 Dewalt Combo Kit
Industry chatter about integrating email with social networks has pushed talk of product reviews off the stage, but there’s still a sizable opportunity here for email marketers, especially as we enter the holidays. Northern Tool gives us an excellent example of a broadcast email asking subscribers to review products. The email details the sweepstakes incentive; explains that adding an image to your review or reviewing a product with no reviews earns you an extra entry; provides instructions on how to submit a review; lists previews sweeps winners; and includes a list of top categories and searches. While that last item is in all of their emails, it should deliver extra value here by directing folks to the most popular products to look for opportunities to submit reviews.
Newegg, 7/20 — Get friendly with Newegg-and get a chance to win a Wii!
This “join our community” email from Newegg is similar to the dedicated email sent by ShopNBC last month (see June 15 AM Inbox), except that Newegg has chosen to add a sweepstake to spur action. While it’s not clear how the experience on each of the social networks is different, Newegg does a good job of listing out the benefits of connecting.
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 7/20 — We're taking even more off. Up to 70%.
Coming from Frederick’s, this subject line made me smile
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Kohl’s, 7/20 — Did you know? Crickets hear with ears on their knees! [promoting children’s charity]
Hanna Andersson, 7/20 — New School Dresses Just $28 For A Limited Time!
Bloomingdale’s, 7/20 — Reach New Heights In Platforms
Ann Taylor, 7/20 — Dress Up Your Wardrobe With Our Perfect Summer Dresses
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Monday, July 20, 2009
AM Inbox: The rare and elusive side-scroller
>>Executive Series on Email Marketing: Now you can download all five installments of this educational series with one click.
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/17 — Check out our preppy plaid
Abercrombie & Fitch sent out this horizontally scrolling email that clocked in at a bit more than 2,100 pixels wide. Side-scrollers are very rare in the U.S., but I hear are a bit more popular in Europe. The last side-scroller sent by a major retailer was last October when Urban Outfitter sent one (see Oct. 7 AM Inbox). When I commented on this email on Twitter on Friday, @RaynaNyc replied, “Curious on comparative metrics on how horizontal scrolls convert. Consumer testing in past has shown them not to be a fav.” I haven't seen any stats on side-scrollers, but I’d bet that they do throw some subscribers off. While perhaps not very user-friendly, I like the novelty of them, especially considering how difficult it is to stand out in the inbox today.
A&F did four things right with this side-scroller that others could learn from: (1) They kept the primary messaging on the left so readers don’t have to scroll to see it. (2) They used a single wide image. One of the weaknesses of the Urban Outfitters side-scroller is that side-by-side images may not be a strong enough signal to readers that they need to scroll. A single image does that better. (3) They picked a subject that benefits from the wide format. In this case, the format stresses their wide assortment of plaid shirts. And (4) by centering their footer, I could only see about half of in my viewing pane. That provided another signal that there was more content to the right.
NFLshop, 7/17 — NEW 2009 New York Giants Player Hat - Order Now!
NFLshop gives us a good example of segmentation by sending alert emails to subscribers promoting the 2009 hat for their favorite team, as indicated in their preference center. Because I’m a Giants fan, I got this email. While the segmentation is a great idea that boosts relevancy, the design of this email doesn’t take full advantage of this opportunity. At only about 500 pixels wide, the email has room to promote some secondary items, like the Giant jerseys and other products. They put all their eggs in one basket by only promoting the team hat.
Staples, 7/17 — Can you say FREE?
In this email banner, Staples promotes a Facebook app that allows you to virtually shred photos of you that you don’t like posted by other people. Retailers have been very slow to promote such apps via their email programs.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sports Authority, 7/19 — Back 2 Sports Pre-Season Sale - $25 Off $100 Orders!
Linens ’n Things, 7/18 — Back to School Savings: Free Shipping Over $99
Macy’s, 7/17 — Campus cool: $5 SHIPPING on back-to-school must-haves!
Dell, 7/17 — Don't Miss Back-to-School Deals- Up to 50% Savings on Electronics & Accessories at Dell!
Toys “R” Us, 7/19 — Shop Our Christmas in July Sale!
J&R, 7/17 — Black Friday in July: 3 DAYS ONLY!
Neiman Marcus, 7/17 — GREAT SUITS take your look to the next level
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/18 — The EPIC Hollister store is now open
Dell, 7/18 — Chad, Shop New Offers from Microsoft at Dell!
J. Jill, 7/18 — Meet our new boyfriend jacket. Plus, take 40% off!
Target, 7/19 — Stuff people love: Items top-rated by guests, plus coupons.
Alibris, 7/17 — Expiry notice: Your $15 coupon ends soon
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/17 — Check out our preppy plaid
Abercrombie & Fitch sent out this horizontally scrolling email that clocked in at a bit more than 2,100 pixels wide. Side-scrollers are very rare in the U.S., but I hear are a bit more popular in Europe. The last side-scroller sent by a major retailer was last October when Urban Outfitter sent one (see Oct. 7 AM Inbox). When I commented on this email on Twitter on Friday, @RaynaNyc replied, “Curious on comparative metrics on how horizontal scrolls convert. Consumer testing in past has shown them not to be a fav.” I haven't seen any stats on side-scrollers, but I’d bet that they do throw some subscribers off. While perhaps not very user-friendly, I like the novelty of them, especially considering how difficult it is to stand out in the inbox today.
A&F did four things right with this side-scroller that others could learn from: (1) They kept the primary messaging on the left so readers don’t have to scroll to see it. (2) They used a single wide image. One of the weaknesses of the Urban Outfitters side-scroller is that side-by-side images may not be a strong enough signal to readers that they need to scroll. A single image does that better. (3) They picked a subject that benefits from the wide format. In this case, the format stresses their wide assortment of plaid shirts. And (4) by centering their footer, I could only see about half of in my viewing pane. That provided another signal that there was more content to the right.
NFLshop, 7/17 — NEW 2009 New York Giants Player Hat - Order Now!
NFLshop gives us a good example of segmentation by sending alert emails to subscribers promoting the 2009 hat for their favorite team, as indicated in their preference center. Because I’m a Giants fan, I got this email. While the segmentation is a great idea that boosts relevancy, the design of this email doesn’t take full advantage of this opportunity. At only about 500 pixels wide, the email has room to promote some secondary items, like the Giant jerseys and other products. They put all their eggs in one basket by only promoting the team hat.
Staples, 7/17 — Can you say FREE?
In this email banner, Staples promotes a Facebook app that allows you to virtually shred photos of you that you don’t like posted by other people. Retailers have been very slow to promote such apps via their email programs.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sports Authority, 7/19 — Back 2 Sports Pre-Season Sale - $25 Off $100 Orders!
Linens ’n Things, 7/18 — Back to School Savings: Free Shipping Over $99
Macy’s, 7/17 — Campus cool: $5 SHIPPING on back-to-school must-haves!
Dell, 7/17 — Don't Miss Back-to-School Deals- Up to 50% Savings on Electronics & Accessories at Dell!
Toys “R” Us, 7/19 — Shop Our Christmas in July Sale!
J&R, 7/17 — Black Friday in July: 3 DAYS ONLY!
Neiman Marcus, 7/17 — GREAT SUITS take your look to the next level
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/18 — The EPIC Hollister store is now open
Dell, 7/18 — Chad, Shop New Offers from Microsoft at Dell!
J. Jill, 7/18 — Meet our new boyfriend jacket. Plus, take 40% off!
Target, 7/19 — Stuff people love: Items top-rated by guests, plus coupons.
Alibris, 7/17 — Expiry notice: Your $15 coupon ends soon
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Week-End Trends: Back-to-school references continue climb
Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:
The Retail Email Index fell 2% to 240 during the week ending July 17, 2009, and is down 7% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent about 2.4 promotional emails each on average last week.
Year-over-year, the Retail Email Index is up 19% (moving 4-week average versus comparable 4-week moving average last year).
The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday was once again the most popular day to send retail emails last week.
The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Back-to-school references continue their slow climb, right in-line with last year’s trajectory. They’ll peak in August at around 20%.
Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Back to school (Jul-Sep): Back to School 2008 Season Finale
Labor Day (9/7): Labor Day 2008 Season Finale
Columbus Day (10/12): Columbus Day 2008 Season Finale
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
The Retail Email Index fell 2% to 240 during the week ending July 17, 2009, and is down 7% from where it was four weeks ago. The Index score indicates that the top 100 online retailers sent about 2.4 promotional emails each on average last week.
Year-over-year, the Retail Email Index is up 19% (moving 4-week average versus comparable 4-week moving average last year).
The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday was once again the most popular day to send retail emails last week.
The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Back-to-school references continue their slow climb, right in-line with last year’s trajectory. They’ll peak in August at around 20%.
Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Back to school (Jul-Sep): Back to School 2008 Season Finale
Labor Day (9/7): Labor Day 2008 Season Finale
Columbus Day (10/12): Columbus Day 2008 Season Finale
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Friday, July 17, 2009
Ping Time: FixOutlook concludes, subject line tactics, etc.
Our latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:
>>The Email Standards Project wraps up their FixOutlook campaign by sending a special message to Microsoft. >>Follow the ping to Redmond
>>Linda Bustos of Elastic Path runs through some different subject line tactics. >>Follow the ping
>>Tim Siukola of ExactTarget alerts us that Gmail recently added support for the CSS background-repeat property and the HTML cellpadding and cellspacing attributes. >>Follow the ping
>>Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports posts his email marketing holiday tips repository. Be sure to check this page through the holiday season for updates. >>Follow the ping
>>In my latest Email Insider column, I assert that email marketing ROI is probably closer to $130 than to $43 once you take into consideration actions that can’t be easily tracked. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
>>The Email Standards Project wraps up their FixOutlook campaign by sending a special message to Microsoft. >>Follow the ping to Redmond
>>Linda Bustos of Elastic Path runs through some different subject line tactics. >>Follow the ping
>>Tim Siukola of ExactTarget alerts us that Gmail recently added support for the CSS background-repeat property and the HTML cellpadding and cellspacing attributes. >>Follow the ping
>>Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports posts his email marketing holiday tips repository. Be sure to check this page through the holiday season for updates. >>Follow the ping
>>In my latest Email Insider column, I assert that email marketing ROI is probably closer to $130 than to $43 once you take into consideration actions that can’t be easily tracked. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
AM Inbox: Checklists + Black Friday in July?
Executive Series on Email Marketing: How to Keep Recessionary Pressures from Ruining Your Email Program. Download this free report now.
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
J&R, 7/16 — Summer Weekend Getaway Checklist!
Promising help and reminders, checklists can be a less promotional way to suggest products. In this email, J&R gives us a long-form checklist with a casual voice that suggests a product category and highlight a single product. Other checklist examples: CompUSA has also used a long-form checklist before (see Nov. 24 AM Inbox), while Lands’ End has used a short-form (see June 10 AM Inbox). And Bed Bath & Beyond has produced checklists that are designed to actually be printed out and brought to their stores (see July 24 AM Inbox).
Also, at the end of the email J&R promises “Black Friday in July.” If this becomes a trend we can blame the Black Friday-enthusiasts at TigerDirect (see July 13 AM Inbox).
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hanna Andersson, 7/16 — Be Right Backpacks In Pretty New Prints & Matching Lunch Bags, Too!
Wal-Mart, 7/16 — Save on Back-to-School Apparel + Get 97-Cent Shipping
Home Depot, 7/16 — Stay Cool With Up to 25% Off Select Ceiling Fans + More
Furniture, 7/16 — Tropical Vacation: Our New Pine Harbor Bedroom
Norm Thompson, 7/16 — Discover our friends at Solutions - and get 99¢ shipping!
Neiman Marcus, 7/16 — Now See This: The New Issue of the book
RedEnvelope, 7/16 — RedEnvelope Introduces Red Thursdays - 50% off - Today Only
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
J&R, 7/16 — Summer Weekend Getaway Checklist!
Promising help and reminders, checklists can be a less promotional way to suggest products. In this email, J&R gives us a long-form checklist with a casual voice that suggests a product category and highlight a single product. Other checklist examples: CompUSA has also used a long-form checklist before (see Nov. 24 AM Inbox), while Lands’ End has used a short-form (see June 10 AM Inbox). And Bed Bath & Beyond has produced checklists that are designed to actually be printed out and brought to their stores (see July 24 AM Inbox).
Also, at the end of the email J&R promises “Black Friday in July.” If this becomes a trend we can blame the Black Friday-enthusiasts at TigerDirect (see July 13 AM Inbox).
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hanna Andersson, 7/16 — Be Right Backpacks In Pretty New Prints & Matching Lunch Bags, Too!
Wal-Mart, 7/16 — Save on Back-to-School Apparel + Get 97-Cent Shipping
Home Depot, 7/16 — Stay Cool With Up to 25% Off Select Ceiling Fans + More
Furniture, 7/16 — Tropical Vacation: Our New Pine Harbor Bedroom
Norm Thompson, 7/16 — Discover our friends at Solutions - and get 99¢ shipping!
Neiman Marcus, 7/16 — Now See This: The New Issue of the book
RedEnvelope, 7/16 — RedEnvelope Introduces Red Thursdays - 50% off - Today Only
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Thursday, July 16, 2009
AM Inbox: Using email to improve catalogs
Executive Series on Email Marketing: How to Keep Recessionary Pressures from Ruining Your Email Program. Download this free report now.
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
L.L. Bean, 7/14 — NEW Baysides--Updated with Two Flattering Fits + Save on Tropic-Weight Pants
I’m kind of surprised that more retailers haven't done this. Following in the footsteps of Norm Thompson, which polled subscribers on their favorite catalog cover last year (see Aug. 18 AM Inbox), L.L. Bean asks their subscribers to help them choose a cover as well. Not only does it provide an engagement opportunity that isn’t asking subscribers to buy anything, it gives you a chance to ask those that click through if they’d like to receive the catalog or to update their mailing address. If your catalog features a product, then the winning cover may tell you something about future sales of that product.
Kmart, 7/14 — Go Back to School with Free Shipping + In-store Coupons
The “Attention In-Store Shoppers” submessage header is excellent. It’s punchy and on-brand because it echoes their famous “Attention, Kmart Shoppers” line. They just needed to add a comma after “Attention” because it’s an address. Do you have opportunity to incorporate store language into your emails?
SmartBargains, 7/15 — The 10 Second Sheet Sale!
This seems like a pretty risky email. While some people may be intrigued by the subject line, others will think it’s a mistake (“They must mean 10-day sale.”) or worse, that they’ve missed the sale. Even if the subject line succeeds in getting people to open the email, you’ve hurt the believability of future subject lines. Not sure it’s worth the risk. The other odd thing that SmartBargains does in this email is that they’ve dropped the header and navigation bar. The lack of branding reduces subscribers’ ability to recognize the sender of the email and the lack of navigation may have reduced overall clicks from the email. Considering the atypical messaging in this email, it probably wasn’t the best email to text removing the header and nav from.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
AbeBooks, 7/14 — 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing
Bluefly, 7/14 — EXTRA 10% OFF Everything - Happy Bastille Day ("Best Deal" Day!)
Neiman Marcus, 7/15 — But Fido really did eat my homework! + FREE Back-to-School gift with purchase
Dell, 7/14 — Two Days Only! Get Back-to-School Savings from Dell
Linens ’n Things, 7/15 — Style Your Dorm Room with Free Shipping Over $99
Barnes & Noble, 7/14 — This Week -- Coupons, Harry Potter 7 in Paperback, 50% Off Select DVDs, More
EB Games, 7/15 — Do you have what it takes to be a game developer?
JC Whitney, 7/14 — Keys For A Satisfied Car Owner Tremendous Offer and Parts!
Chadwick’s, 7/15 — The FINAL Sale is Here! Plus, your FREE Tote inside...
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
L.L. Bean, 7/14 — NEW Baysides--Updated with Two Flattering Fits + Save on Tropic-Weight Pants
I’m kind of surprised that more retailers haven't done this. Following in the footsteps of Norm Thompson, which polled subscribers on their favorite catalog cover last year (see Aug. 18 AM Inbox), L.L. Bean asks their subscribers to help them choose a cover as well. Not only does it provide an engagement opportunity that isn’t asking subscribers to buy anything, it gives you a chance to ask those that click through if they’d like to receive the catalog or to update their mailing address. If your catalog features a product, then the winning cover may tell you something about future sales of that product.
Kmart, 7/14 — Go Back to School with Free Shipping + In-store Coupons
The “Attention In-Store Shoppers” submessage header is excellent. It’s punchy and on-brand because it echoes their famous “Attention, Kmart Shoppers” line. They just needed to add a comma after “Attention” because it’s an address. Do you have opportunity to incorporate store language into your emails?
SmartBargains, 7/15 — The 10 Second Sheet Sale!
This seems like a pretty risky email. While some people may be intrigued by the subject line, others will think it’s a mistake (“They must mean 10-day sale.”) or worse, that they’ve missed the sale. Even if the subject line succeeds in getting people to open the email, you’ve hurt the believability of future subject lines. Not sure it’s worth the risk. The other odd thing that SmartBargains does in this email is that they’ve dropped the header and navigation bar. The lack of branding reduces subscribers’ ability to recognize the sender of the email and the lack of navigation may have reduced overall clicks from the email. Considering the atypical messaging in this email, it probably wasn’t the best email to text removing the header and nav from.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
AbeBooks, 7/14 — 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing
Bluefly, 7/14 — EXTRA 10% OFF Everything - Happy Bastille Day ("Best Deal" Day!)
Neiman Marcus, 7/15 — But Fido really did eat my homework! + FREE Back-to-School gift with purchase
Dell, 7/14 — Two Days Only! Get Back-to-School Savings from Dell
Linens ’n Things, 7/15 — Style Your Dorm Room with Free Shipping Over $99
Barnes & Noble, 7/14 — This Week -- Coupons, Harry Potter 7 in Paperback, 50% Off Select DVDs, More
EB Games, 7/15 — Do you have what it takes to be a game developer?
JC Whitney, 7/14 — Keys For A Satisfied Car Owner Tremendous Offer and Parts!
Chadwick’s, 7/15 — The FINAL Sale is Here! Plus, your FREE Tote inside...
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Executive Series on Email Marketing: How to Keep Recessionary Pressures from Ruining Your Email Program
Under pressure from the weak economy, companies are being tempted to trade the long-term health of their email program for a quick boost in short-term sales by ditching industry best practices. In addition to over-mailing—which is cited by 73% of consumers as a main reason that they unsubscribe—there are several other risky behaviors with serious consequences that may seem alluring in these hard times.
The fifth and final installment in our Executive Series on Email Marketing, “How to Keep Recessionary Pressures from Ruining Your Email Program,” helps you make the case to avoid these practices to executives who may not fully understand the email channel. The one-page issue explores four risky behaviors and the consequences of them. It’s also accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation that includes supporting charts and graphs to make sharing the information easier.
>>Download “How to Keep Recessionary Pressures From Ruining Your Email Program” for free. (This is a direct download of the zip file. There are no forms to complete.)
Other reports available from Smith-Harmon (which is now part of Responsys):
Email Drives Traffic to Other Channels
How Email Marketing Is Different from Direct Mail
Email Design Look Book 2009
Why the Marginal Cost of Sending 1 More Email is Higher than You Think
Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation
Why Now Is a Critical Time to Be Investing in Email Marketing
Soon Even More Emails Won't Be Optimized for Width
Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study
…and you can find even more reports on Responsys' Downloads page.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
The fifth and final installment in our Executive Series on Email Marketing, “How to Keep Recessionary Pressures from Ruining Your Email Program,” helps you make the case to avoid these practices to executives who may not fully understand the email channel. The one-page issue explores four risky behaviors and the consequences of them. It’s also accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation that includes supporting charts and graphs to make sharing the information easier.
>>Download “How to Keep Recessionary Pressures From Ruining Your Email Program” for free. (This is a direct download of the zip file. There are no forms to complete.)
Other reports available from Smith-Harmon (which is now part of Responsys):
Email Drives Traffic to Other Channels
How Email Marketing Is Different from Direct Mail
Email Design Look Book 2009
Why the Marginal Cost of Sending 1 More Email is Higher than You Think
Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation
Why Now Is a Critical Time to Be Investing in Email Marketing
Soon Even More Emails Won't Be Optimized for Width
Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study
…and you can find even more reports on Responsys' Downloads page.
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
AM Inbox: Safeguarding against image alignment issues
The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:
Wal-Mart, 7/13 — Save on Summer Essentials: Grills, Patio Furniture and More
I’ve been letting a lot of oopsies pass by without comment lately, but when I received two emails with image alignment issues in one day, it was a bit much to let slide. This Wal-Mart email has a break between the two sections of this image. I’m not a coding expert, but it’s likely the results of not using in-line CSS coding. If you’re not using a rendering tool, it’s a good idea to set up test accounts at the major ISP and send test versions of your emails to those accounts before sending them to your list. That way you can see any rendering issues that you may have missed.
Cooking.com, 7/13 — Quick Recipes for Shrimp, Crab Cakes + Sustainable Seafood
And this Cooking.com email had image alignment issues in two spots.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hanna Andersson, 7/13 — School Deals Savings On Livable Leggings And More!
Finish Line, 7/13 — GO! Lance GO!
Ralph Lauren, 7/13 — Discover Ralph Lauren's Official 2009 US Open Attire
Neiman Marcus, 7/13 — Fall Preview: The color of the season
Ann Taylor, 7/13 — The Trench Dress: An Instant Best-Seller (Get Yours Before It's Gone)
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Wal-Mart, 7/13 — Save on Summer Essentials: Grills, Patio Furniture and More
I’ve been letting a lot of oopsies pass by without comment lately, but when I received two emails with image alignment issues in one day, it was a bit much to let slide. This Wal-Mart email has a break between the two sections of this image. I’m not a coding expert, but it’s likely the results of not using in-line CSS coding. If you’re not using a rendering tool, it’s a good idea to set up test accounts at the major ISP and send test versions of your emails to those accounts before sending them to your list. That way you can see any rendering issues that you may have missed.
Cooking.com, 7/13 — Quick Recipes for Shrimp, Crab Cakes + Sustainable Seafood
And this Cooking.com email had image alignment issues in two spots.
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hanna Andersson, 7/13 — School Deals Savings On Livable Leggings And More!
Finish Line, 7/13 — GO! Lance GO!
Ralph Lauren, 7/13 — Discover Ralph Lauren's Official 2009 US Open Attire
Neiman Marcus, 7/13 — Fall Preview: The color of the season
Ann Taylor, 7/13 — The Trench Dress: An Instant Best-Seller (Get Yours Before It's Gone)
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Monday, July 13, 2009
AM Inbox: Brookstone's 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:
Brookstone, 7/10 — FREE SHIPPING on Brookstone.com--limited time offer!
Brookstone has redesigned their emails. The pluses: (1) The header and navigation bar are better integrated to save space, reducing their pixel height by about 15 pixels. (2) They’ve added a slogan to strengthen the branding. (3) The navigation bar links are rendered in HTML text, so they appear even when images are blocked. (4) The nav bar doesn’t try to squeeze in every link from their website nav bar anymore. Instead they focus on just 7 links. And (5) the new email design matches that of their website. The minuses: The main weakness is that the reverse type is a bit hard on the eyes, especially the blue on black in the nav bar. Older subscribers may have a lot of trouble reading that. More contrast and a bold or larger font would make those easier to read. The body creative suffers a similar problem; the blue on red is really difficult to focus on without hurting your eyes.
Here’s the new design:
And here’s the old design from a June 12 email:
Orvis, 7/11 — 70+ styles in our Hat Shop. Something for everyone. Plus, FREE hat leash.
I really like how the messaging in this Orvis email tries to anticipate subscribers’ issues and questions—which, left unaddressed, would cause them not to convert. “On a budget? No problem. Don’t know your size? No problem. Don’t know what hat is best for you? No problem. We can help you with all of that.” Are you anticipating your subscribers’ barriers to conversion and how are you address those in your email messaging?
TigerDirect, 7/10 — Black Friday Deals: 28" LCD $279...40" 1080p HDTV $649...Christmas In July Special
TigerDirect loves Black Friday so much that they couldn’t help but make that the hook for their first holiday email. Last holiday season they ran a series of Black Friday emails that dropped every Friday from Black Friday through Christmas. They also—somewhat bizarrely—used Black Friday as the theme for an email in March as well (see Mar. 30 AM Inbox).
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Dell, 7/10 — Back-to-School Bargains at Dell! Save Big on Select Monitors, Printers, and More!
Linens ’n Things, 7/10 — Save an Extra 10% on Back to School
AbeBooks, 7/10 — Size Does Matter. The Longest Novels.
Ralph Lauren, 7/10 — Celebrate The Sporting Life With RL Magazine
Saks Fifth Avenue, 7/10 — Now serving dinner and more
The Company Store, 7/10 — Relax, It's Wrinkle-Free & ON SALE
J. Jill, 7/12 — Multiply your options by 3. Plus, 40% off select shoes & jewelry.
Alibris, 7/12 — Loyalty has its perks--here's a $15 coupon just for you!
Ann Taylor, 7/10 — White Denim $29.50: Get It While It's White Hot, In Stores & Online
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
Brookstone, 7/10 — FREE SHIPPING on Brookstone.com--limited time offer!
Brookstone has redesigned their emails. The pluses: (1) The header and navigation bar are better integrated to save space, reducing their pixel height by about 15 pixels. (2) They’ve added a slogan to strengthen the branding. (3) The navigation bar links are rendered in HTML text, so they appear even when images are blocked. (4) The nav bar doesn’t try to squeeze in every link from their website nav bar anymore. Instead they focus on just 7 links. And (5) the new email design matches that of their website. The minuses: The main weakness is that the reverse type is a bit hard on the eyes, especially the blue on black in the nav bar. Older subscribers may have a lot of trouble reading that. More contrast and a bold or larger font would make those easier to read. The body creative suffers a similar problem; the blue on red is really difficult to focus on without hurting your eyes.
Here’s the new design:
And here’s the old design from a June 12 email:
Orvis, 7/11 — 70+ styles in our Hat Shop. Something for everyone. Plus, FREE hat leash.
I really like how the messaging in this Orvis email tries to anticipate subscribers’ issues and questions—which, left unaddressed, would cause them not to convert. “On a budget? No problem. Don’t know your size? No problem. Don’t know what hat is best for you? No problem. We can help you with all of that.” Are you anticipating your subscribers’ barriers to conversion and how are you address those in your email messaging?
TigerDirect, 7/10 — Black Friday Deals: 28" LCD $279...40" 1080p HDTV $649...Christmas In July Special
TigerDirect loves Black Friday so much that they couldn’t help but make that the hook for their first holiday email. Last holiday season they ran a series of Black Friday emails that dropped every Friday from Black Friday through Christmas. They also—somewhat bizarrely—used Black Friday as the theme for an email in March as well (see Mar. 30 AM Inbox).
SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Dell, 7/10 — Back-to-School Bargains at Dell! Save Big on Select Monitors, Printers, and More!
Linens ’n Things, 7/10 — Save an Extra 10% on Back to School
AbeBooks, 7/10 — Size Does Matter. The Longest Novels.
Ralph Lauren, 7/10 — Celebrate The Sporting Life With RL Magazine
Saks Fifth Avenue, 7/10 — Now serving dinner and more
The Company Store, 7/10 — Relax, It's Wrinkle-Free & ON SALE
J. Jill, 7/12 — Multiply your options by 3. Plus, 40% off select shoes & jewelry.
Alibris, 7/12 — Loyalty has its perks--here's a $15 coupon just for you!
Ann Taylor, 7/10 — White Denim $29.50: Get It While It's White Hot, In Stores & Online
_____________________
SEARCH... By Post Category / By Selling Season / By Retailer / By Topic / Monthly Archive
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