AM Inbox: Browse-based triggered email series

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

Williams-Sonoma — 1 Week Only - Free Shipping on all Cutlery‏
A few days after receiving a triggered email from Williams-Sonoma after I clicked through an email and browsed some cutlery (see Mar. 28 AM Inbox), they sent me this follow-up email which included an incentive. So while the first triggered email sought to educate me about the other cutlery and cutlery-related products they sell, this second email tried to address any price concerns I might have to get me to convert. Among the very few retailers I’ve seen send browse-based emails, this is the first I’ve seen use a series of emails.



Sephora, 3/30 — Sample Spree. One Week Only.‏
The “Select this sample” radio buttons in this email beg to be clicked on—even though they don’t work. Clicking anywhere takes you to the landing page, which has a similar (but oddly, not identical) product arrangement. This email does a smart job of exploiting behaviors that we’ve learned online, such as clicking radio buttons, pull-down menus and the like. Visual cues such as those can help generate clicks, which can lead to conversions when there is a smooth transition from the email to the landing page as there is in this instance.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Chadwicks, 3/30 — Shop Over 40 Dresses for Easter & More!
Lane Bryant, 3/30 — Update Your Bra Wardrobe For Spring + Bra Fit Event Weekend‏
Diamond.com, 3/30 — Rock the Runway with Fashion Collections‏
GameStop, 3/30 — Great Deals - We're knocking them out of the park this week…
Fingerhut, 3/30 — Fingerhut: It’s HERE! Shop the NEWEST Spring BIG Book!
J. Jill, 3/30 — 20% off your entire purchase. Hello, how do you hue?
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: Barnes & Noble 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:

Barnes & Noble, 3/29 — Save 30% on Great New Releases & Sandra Lee's Latest Cookbook‏
The new newsletter that Barnes & Noble unveiled this week (see yesterday’s AM Inbox) indeed signaled a change in their overall email design. B&N has reworked their “This Week” email so that it’s a single column, which allowed them to narrow their email width to a much more mobile-friendly 665 pixels from 775. As with that new newsletter, the design here is cleaner, with fewer images and more white space. Here’s the new design (left) and the previous design from a Mar. 22 email:



ShopNBC, 3/29 — Bring us with you, wherever you go. Here's how‏
This ShopNBC email does a good job of not only listing mobile capabilities, but also highlighting what’s new—including social sharing and the ability to update email preferences. That’s something I haven’t seen anyone else tout.



Banana Republic, 3/29 — Last chance to save up to 40% + Our Improved Chino Suit‏
I’m not a fan of two-column email layouts, but this Banana Republic email looks like a traditional layout turned on its side so that the submessage banner is on the side.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Backcountry.com, 3/29 — Choose Your Camp Adventure‏
J&R, 3/29 — Here Comes the Taxman -- Be Prepared!‏
Ann Taylor, 3/29 — THE SPRING SUIT GETS A PROMOTION: 30% Off Your Purchase Of A Full-Price Jacket & Matching Bottom!‏
Williams-Sonoma, 3/29 — New Honeycomb Cake Pan: See What the Buzz is About‏
Sports Authority, 3/29 — Under Armour Charged Cotton – Now Available at Sports Authority‏
L.L. Bean, 3/29 — Big News: Free Shipping Is Here to Stay + Maine Isle Flip-Flops‏
Oriental Trading, 3/29 — Save $10 + get free shipping on sweet Easter treats‏
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: Viral votes for charity

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

Crate & Barrel, 3/28 — Your votes decide where we donate $100,000.
Similar to Kohl’s Care’s campaign last summer (see Back to School 2010 Season Finale), Crate & Barrel is letting Facebook voting decide which projects get funded by their $100,000 donation to DonorsChoose.org. Campaign like this (1) build your Facebook fan base, (2) encourage brand engagement, and (3) spur viral sharing as people try to recruit others to their cause.



Barnes & Noble, 3/28 — Our Booksellers' Guide to Good Reading‏
Barnes & Noble has launched a new newsletter, “Our Booksellers’ Guide to This Month’s Reading.” This monthly newsletter is cleaner and less busy than their usual promotional emails, in part because it has one column instead of two. While it’s more mobile-friendly, it could still benefit from a narrower width and larger type.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Williams-Sonoma, 3/28 — Cookware for the Perfect Easter Brunch‏
Brookstone, 3/28 — Live to Grill!
Sam’s Club, 3/28 — Patio upgrades: Relax outdoors like never before‏
Kmart, 3/28 — ALL patio furniture on sale + all gas & charcoal grills‏
Ann Taylor, 3/28 — SAY I DO! Enjoy 30% Off & Free Shipping When You Purchase A Wedding Or Events Dress!
Macy’s, 3/28 — Free Shipping on new Haiti & Rwanda crafts‏
Staples, 3/28 — Your tablet is waiting.
Walgreens, 3/28 — Need a Little Privacy? 15% OFF Feminine Care Online + 20% OFF Contact Lenses‏
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: Williams-Sonoma browse-based 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:

Williams-Sonoma — Shop Top-Rated Cutlery‏
Received this browse-based email after clicking on some cutlery in a Williams-Sonoma promo email over the weekend. The email is straight-forward, with a slightly ambiguous reason for the email (“…as someone who’s shown interest in our Cutlery…) followed by a category call-to-action followed by a three-by-three product grid. The simple design allows for products to be fed in dynamically and for easy replication of the design across other product categories.



Kmart, 3/25 — Suit up with our swimwear sale + buy one, get one 50% off on shoes.‏
Kmart has been experimenting with the contents of their preheader in recent weeks. This version includes a whitelisting request with an icon that really caught my eye—although at first glance I thought it was an appeal to donate to the Red Cross to support Japan. Sears did the same thing with their preheader, except the plus-sign is blue on theirs.



L.L. Bean, 3/25 — Announcing FREE SHIPPING--no end date, no minimum order‏
More proof that free shipping is becoming the norm, L.L. Bean announces to subscribers that they are offering free shipping with no minimum as a standing offer. I’ll be curious to see if or how they reiterate that change in upcoming emails. After Macy’s made a similar announcement late last year, they repeated the free shipping offer in many of the emails that followed (see Jan. 27 AM Inbox).



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Orvis, 3/26 — Earth Hour is tonight! Join us in leading the way toward a sustainable future.‏
Sports Authority, 3/27 — Are You Ready for Opening Day? Get Your Gear Today!‏
Bluefly, 3/25 — Will You Carry Me? NEW Bags from Rebecca Minkoff, Kooba, Elie Tahari, Vince Camuto…
Neiman Marcus, 3/27 — If life gives you lemons, STELLA makes them tasty...‏
Oriental Trading, 3/25 — Celebrate your grad's bright future + get FREE shipping‏
Neiman Marcus, 3/25 — The Spring Face & more must-know TRENDS‏
Spiegel, 3/26 — Stylist Tips: 3 Ways to Wear Animal Prints!‏
Drs. Foster & Smith, 3/26 — Read Our Newest Kids Story "Aubrey's New Neighbor"‏
Staples, 3/25 — The Motorola Xoom tablet has arrived at Staples!
Costco, 3/25 — Introducing the Motorola XOOM Android 3.0 Tablet - Pre-order Yours Today!
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

Week-End Trends: Springtime lull continues

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.2 promotional emails on average during the week ending Mar. 25, 2011. That’s up 3% week-over-week, up 11% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 17% year-over-year.



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



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: It will likely be another week before Easter messaging start to pick up noticeably. In the meantime, messaging will continue to be focused on spring. Last week, we saw the first reference to Father’s Day, which is June 19 this year.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Earth Day (4/22): 2010 Season Finale
Easter (4/24): 2010 Season Finale
Mother’s Day (5/8): 2010 Season Finale
Father’s Day (6/19): 2010 Season Finale
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

Ping Time: Email's changing role, X-Expires, wimpy CTAs, etc.

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

>>Tweet of the Week: @justinpremick: Actually handwritten? That poor intern. RT @deliverability: Imagine getting Nigerian spam in a physical envelope: http://cot.ag/hrI7DL

>>Loren McDonald of Silverpop discusses how social media is better suited for broadcast messages, which frees email marketing to focus on more targeted, personalized messages. >>Follow the ping

>>Joshua Baer of Other Inbox talks about the discussion around the adoption of the X-Expires header, which signals the expiration of an email. >>Follow the ping

>>Marco Marini of ClickMail Marketing advises us to avoid wimpy calls-to-action. >>Follow this ping to increase your clickthroughs

>>Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports takes a deep dive into triggered emails. >>Follow the ping

>>Amanda Green of Hunch Blog shares demographic information on users of Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: First reference to Father's 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:

Harry & David, 3/24 — Friends & Family Starts Today - SAVE 25%
Harry & David give us our first reference to Father’s Day, which is June 19 this year. For insights and inspiration for your Father’s Day campaigns, check out the Father’s Day 2010 Season Finale.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Spiegel, 3/24 — NEW Swimwear! Tropical Prints, Bright Colors & More!‏
Williams-Sonoma, 3/24 — Make Easter Eggstraordinary with Exclusive Decor‏
NikeStore, 3/24 — Outrun the Weather: the Nike Spring Running Collection‏
Banana Republic, 3/24 — Lighten up with new coats + FREE Shipping Every Day
Ann Taylor, 3/24 — The New Jacket & How To Work It + Take An Extra 40% Off Sale Styles!
Kohl’s, 3/24 — Dana Buchman Breast Cancer Merchandise: Support the Fight.
Linen ’n Things, 3/24 — $79.99 11-PC 400TC Duvet Cover Set!‏
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: CB2 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:

CB2, 3/22 — Introducing our new vintage-inspired modern city bikes.‏
Crate & Barrel's sister brand, CB2, has redesigned their email template. They cut their preheader text down to one line, jettisoned their navigation bar, and sunk their logo down into the primary message block—all of which pulls up the primary message significantly so more of it appears in preview panes above the fold. They added product review information to the product grid of the secondary message, which is a new element for CB2. They also use larger text for their primary message and for their section heads, making their emails easier to scan, especially when viewed on small-screened mobile devices. While some of the change appear to be an effort to make their emails more mobile-friendly, one change that wasn’t mobile-friendly is that they increased their email width to 710 pixels from 690. We recommend an ideal email width of 640 pixels. Here’s the new design (left) and the previous design from a Mar. 3 email:



Bed Bath & Beyond, 3/22 — PUR-ify your tap water.
Bed Bath & Beyond continues to be one of the most innovative and effective users of animated gifs in email campaigns. In this email, they use animation for a product demonstration, showing just how easy it is to install a Pur water filter. This creative is very reminiscent of one they sent exactly a year earlier promoting the same product ahead of Earth Day (see Mar. 23, 2010 AM Inbox). Do you have opportunities to go back and refreshing up old messaging?



Here’s the animated portion of the email (refresh your browser to see it from the beginning):




SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Lillian Vernon, 3/22 — Save $5 on Easter decor - Limited Time Offer‏
NikeStore, 3/22 — Gear Up for Madness: Classic Styles in Your School Colors‏
Sony, 3/22 — Score BIG Savings on HDTVs, PCs, Cameras + More‏
Crate & Barrel, 3/22 — Welcome spring into your home with these bright, warm yellows.
Abercrombie & Fitch, 3/22 — Springtime gets pretty in the Vintage Florals Collection!‏
JC Whitney, 3/22 — Get Your Garage Organized & Save $40!‏
Montgomery Ward, 3/22 — Clean sweep: spring cleaning essentials‏
Fingerhut, 3/23 — Fingerhut: Shop Our Backyard Living Products - Spring Fever Reliever!
Sports Authority, 3/22 — Get Your Kicks - A Colorful Crop Of New Arrivals Now At Sports Authority‏
L.L. Bean, 3/22 — NEW: Flattering Easy Stretch Pants + Rainwear with Fresh Details‏
REI, 3/22 — Like Barefoot only Better‏
Orvis, 3/23 — Equip yourself for summer - more than 50 NEW accessories.
Norm Thompson, 3/23 — You asked. Dream Jeans now in Crops & Shorts! SHIP FREE‏
Bluefly, 3/23 — Cubicle Chic: NEW Dresses (for less than you think!)
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: Retailers supporting Japan

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

Sam’s Club, 3/21 — Spring on the Savings!
Sam’s Club is helping raise money for the relief effort in Japan. GameStop and Overstock.com have also used their promotional emails to raise money. Who else have you seen supporting Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami?



Northern Tool, 3/21 — Write A Review & Win A $500 Milwaukee Cordless Kit!
The integration of email and social is the topic du jour that everyone’s focused on. But I remember when everyone was abuzz with talk about SWYN, video in email, and product reviews. There is still lots of improvements that can be made in these no-longer-hot topics. In terms of mass appeals for product reviews, no one does it better than Northern Tool. In this email, they (1) explain how to review a product, (2) provide an incentive to do it, (3) provide an additional incentive to review a product with no reviews or to include a video with a review, and (4) end the messaging with a nod to past winners to build a little credibility.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Williams-Sonoma, 3/21 — Surprises Inside: Our Candy-Filled Egg Makes A Great Gift‏
Ann Taylor, 3/21 — The New Hue: Tulip + Buy ANY Item, Get ANY Item 50% Off!
Hanna Andersson, 3/21 — Instant summer: the $29 dress!
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: Diagonal text trend grows

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

Bluefly, 3/18 — Works Like A Charm: Office-Ready Dresses (Up To 40% Off!)
Last year I started seeing a significant uptick in the number of emails that used diagonal text (see May 24 AM Inbox). That trend has definitely gained more steam. In this email, Bluefly uses diagonal text that’s perpendicular to the line of the model’s body, using her like a left-hand margin for the text.



Neiman Marcus, 3/18 — Eye catching & vibrant? It's Oscar's Spring Collection‏
This is another example of diagonal text usage, except that Neiman Marcus has the text running parallel to the ground, which they’ve tilted. In both this example and the Bluefly one above, the diagonal text provides some visual interest that a perfectly level text field wouldn’t. It adds what is referred to as texture, which can also be creative by using script font that appear handwritten, overlapping elements, and photo boxes that are tilted.



Kmart, 3/18 — St. Patrick's Day Sale Extended + Save $150 off Samsung TVs‏
Kmart has redesigned their header and footer. In the header, they moved the navigation bar up so that it’s to the right of their logo and made the nav links smaller so they could increase the number of links to 14 from 7. The changes shorten the header by about 25 pixels, which means that more of the primary message shows up in preview panes and above the fold. In the footer, they’ve organized links into five buckets, which makes links easier to find.



And here’s the previous design from a Mar. 11 email:



REI, 3/18 — REI Members Save 20%‏
Trying to indirectly promote co-op memberships, REI tries to spark conversation about how members are going to spend their dividends. It’s a tactic that has been used by others including Overstock (see Earth Day 2010 Season Finale). REI’s campaign differs in that it doesn’t provide an incentive and it doesn’t provide a hashtag so that you can follow the conversation. The former isn’t a flaw, but the latter limits the reach of the conversation.



REI uses some animation to display several sample tweets and wall postings. Here’s the animated portion of the email:



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
ShopNBC, 3/18 — What makes watch host Tim Temple tick?
Sephora, 3/18 — What do cucumbers and red wine have to do with beauty?
Ross-Simons, 3/18 — Extra 25% Off Closeouts - 3-Day Advance Notice. Use code SAVEMORE‏
Cabela’s, 3/18 — Cabela's Recon Hunt App now available!‏
Harry & David, 3/20 — Get an early hop on Easter + Free Delivery.
Ross-Simons, 3/18 — Selling your gold for cash has never been easier‏
Toys “R” Us, 3/20 — The Great Bike Trade-in, Plus 25% Off ANY Helmet when you TRADE In ANY Old Helmet!
Blair, 3/19 — Spring arrives with $5 savings‏
Coldwater Creek, 3/20 — 20% off + 6 Summer Looks We Love!‏
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

Week-End Trends: Late Easter creates lull in seasonal messaging

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.2 promotional emails on average during the week ending Mar. 18, 2011. That’s up 4% week-over-week, up 6% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 13% year-over-year.



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



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: St. Patrick’s Day peaked last week. Plus, we got our first (and very early) reference to Independence Day. Normally Easter references pick up after St. Patrick’s Day, but because Easter falls about three weeks later this year than last year, there will likely be a significant lull this year.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Earth Day (4/22): 2010 Season Finale
Easter (4/24): 2010 Season Finale
Mother’s Day (5/8): 2010 Season Finale
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

Ping Time: New Yahoo Mail, new Outlook for Mac, etc.

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

>>Tweet of the Week: @LorenMcDonald: Heck w/ college bracket predictions - I'm predicting that Apple will sell 28M iPads in 2011 & Twitter surpasses 300M users

>>Len Shneyder of IBM runs down what’s new in the latest Yahoo Mail Beta version. >>Follow the ping

>>Ros Hodgekiss of Campaign Monitor breaks down what’s new in the latest version of Microsoft Outlook 2011 for Mac. >>Follow the ping

>>Dennis Dayman of Eloqua discusses Canada’s new anti-spam law. >>Follow the Canadian ping

>>Mashable reports that the AP Stylebook is finally recommending “email” rather than “e-mail.” (Only about four years late, but we’ll take it.) >>Follow the ping

>>Kathryn Alva of Responsys finds an example of a St. Patrick’s Day email that stands out from the rest by using restraint. >>Follow the ping

>>In Responsys’ latest Email Insider column, Alex Madison and Lisa Harmon explore sending individual messages to some subscribers to spark word of mouth. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: Product demonstrations with video gif

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

Dell, 3/17 — Pop. Click. Switch. Introducing the new Inspiron R laptop‏
Long-time readers know that I’m a big fan of animated gifs. Over the past year, around 10% of all retail emails have included an animated gif, so it’s an often-used tactic. While they’re great for whimsy or for extending a message, my favorite use is to demonstrate a product. This Dell email—which appears to use a video gif, a rarely used compressed, streaming animated gif—demonstrates this use perfectly, showing how the laptop lids for their Inspiron R can be swapped out quickly—as well as showing off several of the lid designs.



To see the video gif in action, check out the hosted version of the email.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
ShopNBC, 3/17 — It's your lucky day!‏
Linens ’n Things, 3/17 — It's Your Lucky Day!
Avon, 3/17 — It's Your LUCKY Day‏
Lane Bryant, 3/17 — It's Your Lucky Day - Get $20 Off $40 Today Only‏
Omaha Steaks, 3/17 — It's your lucky day! Get $0.00 Shipping PLUS save an EXTRA 15% on your entire order - TODAY ONLY‏
Petco, 3/17 — It’s Your Lucky Day! 17% OFF Sitewide + FREE Shipping!
Kmart, 3/17 — Today only: 5-20% off + free shipping (it's your lucky day)
SmartBargains, 3/17 — Smart Shoppers, it's your lucky day
Finish Line, 3/17 — Lucky Day! Double Points on Everything!
DisneyStore, 3/17 — Lucky You! Free Shipping Today Only‏
JCPenney, 3/17 — Luck Of The Stylish: Up To 40% Off‏
Chadwicks, 3/17 — Save Green! It's the Luck of the Stylish‏
Sears, 3/17 — Exclusive One Day Shamrock Savings Event - Save an extra 5-15% off with coupon‏
Newegg, 3/17 — St. Patrick's Day SALE! $54.99 WD 640GB HDD, $129.99 Acer 21.5" LED-LCD Monitor...
Cooking.com, 3/17 — It's Your Lucky Day! It's Back...Rachael's Best-Selling Garbage Bowl‏
Blair, 3/17 — No blarney! The shipping's free with 4 items.
TigerDirect, 3/17 — St. Paddy's 24 Hour SALE: Exclusive Coupons & Deals Today Only!‏
The Company Store, 3/17 — St. Patrick's Day 30% Off 1 Item - 4 Hours Today!
J&R, 3/17 — St. Patrick's Day Sale: Save Some Extra Green!‏
1-800-Flowers.com, 3/17 — Happy St. Patrick's Day! Save 20% TODAY ONLY‏
Eddie Bauer, 3/17 — Free Shipping When You Like Us On Facebook - Happy St. Patrick's Day!‏
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: SWYN incentive + SWYN preview

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, 3/16 — Are You Magically Dealicious? A Very Special Facebook Offer‏
Other retailers have incentivized subscriber to share messages with their friends and family members on social networks before. What’s new with this J&R execution is (1) there’s a baseline reward, in addition to a bigger sweepstakes reward, and (2) they show subscribers in the email what the Facebook post will look like. Plus, they do all of this in a nice, tidy package.



Overstock, 3/16 — LUCKY 7% OFF COUPON + FREE SHIPPING‏
Overstock returns with their unique progressive couponing scheme, which they first introduced for St. Patrick’s Day in 2009 (see Mar. 17, 2009 AM Inbox). The retailer used this same scheme for promotions around the 4th of July and the fall season going into the holiday season.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
HSN, 3/16 — We Have What You’re Looking For! HSN Top Searches
Cooking.com, 3/16 — Top 10 Corned Beef Recipes for St. Patty's Day‏
Sony, 3/16 — Buzzer Beating TV Deals from Sony‏
J. Jill, 3/16 — Up to 30% off spring styles! Wish for warmer weather.‏
Orvis, 3/16 — Get ready for April showers with these great rainy-day Problem Solvers.
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

Season Finale: New Year's 2011

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

Start to finish: The first reference to New Year’s was on Sept. 30. The final reference was on Feb. 8. The biggest day for New Year’s emails was New Year’s Day, Jan. 1. Retailers sent the majority of their New Year’s-themed emails after Dec. 31.



Most interesting emails: Bluefly’s Jan. 1 email—which had the subject line “What's your New Year tradition? Fashionistas buy SHOES!‏”—was a simple message with an interesting, educational set up. It shares a little trivia about how people in other countries ring in the new year as context for its “Fashionistas buy shoes” punch line.



Spiegel also stood out with a series of five “New Year’s Resolution” emails:
Spiegel, 1/1 — Happy New Year! New Year's Resolution #1...
Spiegel, 1/2 — Your New Year's Resolution #2...
Spiegel, 1/3 — Your New Year's Resolution #3...
Spiegel, 1/4 — Your New Year's Resolution #4...
Spiegel, 1/5 — Your New Year's Resolution #5...

New Year’s is a great opportunity to do an email series, although occasions are easily created throughout the year. Series can add some continuity to your email program and can drive subscribers who opened late in the series to go back and read earlier ones.











Standout subject lines:
Spiegel, 12/30 — What Will Your Signature Style Be in 2011?
Costco, 12/31 — Need help with a health and fitness resolution? See what Costco buyers recommend!
Target, 1/1 — New Year's resolutions? Save on ways to fulfill 'em.‏
Neiman Marcus, 12/30 — 10 ways to make 2011 your most fashionable year yet‏
Cooking.com, 12/30 — Top 10 Recipes + Best Sellers of 2010‏
Norm Thompson, 1/1 — Best Resolution: SAVE MORE! 15% extra off all Sale.
Crate & Barrel, 12/30 — Everything you need to toast the New Year‏
Sears, 12/31 — We're open tomorrow till 9pm! Get up to 30% off appliances. + TVs to stay warm inside.‏
The Company Store, 1/1 — May your New Year be Happy & your Shipping 1¢
Wal-Mart, 1/3 — Start Your Resolutions & Save: Storage, Treadmills, Diet & More‏
Walgreens, 1/3 — New Year Savings to Renew You! Diet, Fitness & Vitamins Sale + 20% OFF Contact Lenses‏

Read previous New Year’s Season Finales: 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007

Explore New Year’s tag.
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: First reference to 4th of July

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, 3/15 — Shirts That Won't Shrink, Fade, Stain or Wrinkle--from $14.95‏
L.L. Bean gives our first reference to the 4th of July. This is the earliest reference I’ve ever seen, but it because of the lead time needed to organize the event. In general, references to Independence Day don’t begin to hit inboxes until early to mid June. For insights and inspiration for your 4th of July campaigns, check out the 4th of July 2010 Season Finale.



J. Crew, 3/15 — Jenna's pant pick: the new cafe capri‏
Cheaper and more authentic too, staffers offer some advantages over models. In this email, J. Crew brings forward several of their staffers to demonstrate different ways to wear their new café capri. The landing page brings out even more of their personalities. Other retailers that routinely bring their staffers into their email creatives include Crutchfield (see July 16 AM Inbox) Urban Outfitters (see Apr. 20 AM Inbox) and Backcountry.com (see Jan. 22, 2010 AM Inbox).



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Newegg, 3/15 — It's ON! March Deal Madness: $349.99 Toshiba 32" 1080p TV, $399.99 4GB RAM Notebook...
JC Whitney, 3/15 — Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with 15% Off!‏
Williams-Sonoma, 3/15 — Under $20: Top-Rated Easter Cookie Cutter Set‏
Cooking.com, 3/15 — Go Green with Innovative, Earth-Friendly Products‏
Neiman Marcus, 3/15 — Our top stylist how-to: The Maxi Dress‏
Ann Taylor, 3/15 — ON TREND: Black And White... And Chic All Over!
Hallmark, 3/15 — Meet Watson the Raccoon, our newest Story Buddy‏
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: Bringing Facebook discussions into the inbox

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

Art.com, 3/14 — 30% Off All Framed Items + Meet Our Facebook Favorites!‏
This email from Art.com is a great example of what we’re referring to when we talk about the synergies between email and social media. The email taps into the great conversations that are happening on their Facebook page and shares it with subscribers, including real comments from their fans. Instead of telling subscribers to join your Facebook community, why not demonstrate the value of the conversations happening there? Why not leverage your Facebook discussions to generate relevant email content?



Sears, 3/14 — Hot deals on Tools and TVs, plus an exclusive fashion insider savings pass‏
In this email, Sears adds a “rate this email” module to the bottom of their template. Chadwicks is the only other retailer that I track that includes this feature. This can potentially provide valuable feedback on which emails are hitting home, but it’s more valuable at the individual level as another metric by which to trigger re-engagement messaging.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sam’s Club, 3/14 — Up your Game: 51" Samsung Plasma $674‏
TigerDirect, 3/14 — Lucky Deals: Save up to 40% Off‏
Drs. Foster & Smith, 3/14 — SAVE Your GREEN! 4 Days Only - St. Patty's Pet Supply SALE‏
DisneyStore, 3/14 — Get Ready for Vacation: Spring Break Essentials‏
Toys “R” Us, 3/14 — Limited Time Only! Free Shipping on Everything at Toysrus.com AND Babiesrus.com!
Norm Thompson, 3/14 — Bad wrinkles, meet good wrinkles. $1 ships any $49 order.
Brookstone, 3/14 — Feel Better. . . No Prescription Needed!‏
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: The votes are 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:

Spiegel, 3/11 — Which one do you love?
Asking your email subscribers which catalog cover they like is a nice cross-channel tactic that’s been used by retailers like Lands’ End in the past. It can not only give you valuable feedback on the cover but give you a data point on what a particular subscriber is attracted to.



Where this email really underperforms is on the landing page, which I’ve included below. There’s a complete disconnect between the email content and the landing page. It simply dumps respondents on the homepage, where they get a pop-up that doesn’t recognize that they’re already subscribers. A landing page experience with more continuity might have included: (1) the current results of the voting, (2) product information about what the model selected is wearing, and (3) a sneak peak of or early access to products from the upcoming catalog.



Spiegel, 3/12 — What's Your Favorite Way to Shop? VOTE NOW!‏
A day later, Spiegel gives subscribers another opportunity to vote for something. This email might have benefited from being sent at least a few days after the cover catalog voting email, but it’s a nice progressive profiling opportunity that allows Spiegel to using segmentation and dynamic content to message respondents differently.



Spiegel, 3/13 — The Votes Have Been Counted! And the Winner Is...
While Spiegel sends at least one email a day and has therefore trained subscribers to look routinely for their messages, keeping this poll open for only a day probably cut off about half of the response that they would have received had they waited two or three days longer. In general, only half of your would-be openers do so within 24 hours of receiving an email.



Ann Taylor, 3/11 — LAST DAY: Up To 40% Off + FREE SHIPPING ON EVERYTHING!‏
Ann Taylor has made some tweaks to their email template, including (1) dropping the dark gray background around the body of the email, (2) reducing the number of links in their navigation bar to 7 from 8, and (3) changing the styling of their Facebook community link and forward-to-a-friend call to action. But the biggest change was that they increased their email width to 700 pixels from 670, making their emails considerably less mobile-friendly. Here’s the new design:



And here’s the previous design from a Mar. 9 email:



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Ross-Simons, 3/12 — Spring Forward - 30% Off Orders over $100‏
Petco, 3/13 — Spring Forward Sale! Save up to 40% + FREE Shipping!
Blair, 3/11 — Spring ahead with 25% off everything!
Lillian Vernon, 3/13 — Save 10% - Spring into Daylight Savings‏
The Company Store, 3/13 — Longer days make us smile, 25% OFF will make you‏
Chadwicks, 3/13 — More Daylight, More Shopping, More Discount!‏
Cooking.com, 3/11 — Celebrate Daylight Savings with 4 Day Markdowns: Up to 75% Off!
JC Whitney, 3/11 — Spring Break Travel Essentials Plus Free Shipping!
ShopNBC, 3/12 — Brand new for spring - hot watches, sunglasses & shoes‏
Sears, 3/11 — Save on all Craftsman power lawn & garden + all Kenmore grills‏
Office Depot, 3/11 — You're In LUCK: Save Green Today + Preview Next's Weeks Deals!‏
Brookstone, 3/11 — Want to get lucky?
Oriental Trading, 3/11 — Craft some Easter fun + get free shipping‏
Neiman Marcus, 3/11 — Your Big Night Out + FREE CLUTCH with purchase‏
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 3/11 — What's Your Favorite Baseball Memory?
Lane Bryant, 3/11 — Tighten Your Tummy Instantly + Get Free Shipping‏
Dell, 3/11 — The new Dell Streak 7 - Gather around the family tablet‏
_____________________
BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked