AM Inbox: Outrageous shareworthy tactic

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

Petco, 3/13 — PETCO | Last 3 Days To Save + FREE Shipping!
Great discounts and great content are two ways to elevate the shareworthiness of your emails, but Amy Evenson, one of our designers, has another suggestion: include one of your most outrageous, weirdest or most expensive products. People love to share novelties and the unattainable. While it might not boost sales of that item, it should you get you more brand impressions from the sharing and may spur the FTAF and SWYN recipients to explore your other products. Guess which product in this Petco email reminded me of this advice? Petco increases the viralness of this product by including sharing options on all its product pages.



Saks Fifth Avenue, 3/12 — Girls love Splendid Girl, J Brand, Kiddo & more
I like the corner peel on this email. It promotes an upcoming email that’s also about kids products, so it’s a helpful and relevant heads up to all the subscribers that found this email interesting.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

1-800-Flowers.com, 3/13 — More Daylight, More Time to Save! 15% OFF Sitewide Sale Ends Sunday
Blair, 3/12 — Spring ahead and save 25% off everything
Avon, 3/12 — AVON'S Daylight SAVINGS Free Ship Spree
Linens ’n Things, 3/14 — Email Exclusive! Today Only Spring Ahead with an Extra 20% Off Coupon
Sports Authority, 3/14 — Get $25 Off Your Next Purchase + 50% Off Shipping on NCAA Apparel
eBags, 3/14 — Insiders Only: St. Patrick's Day savings start NOW
Apple, 3/12 — iPad is coming. April 3. Pre-order or reserve yours today.
Finish Line, 3/12 — An Energy Drink For Your Feet! Get Free Shipping On The Hot, New ZIGTECH!
Walgreens, 3/14 — They're Your Memories: 33% OFF Prints, Books, Keepsakes, Collages & More
Bluefly, 3/12 — Rainbow Brights! NEW Candy-Colored Shoes & Handbags
Ann Taylor, 3/12 — Greetings From The Riviera (Our New Collection Has Arrived)
Crate & Barrel, 3/12 — Spring island destination at Best Buys prices. New for kitchen...
Spiegel, 3/13 — Chad, What Will YOUR NEW SIGNATURE BAG Be This Spring?‏
Frederick’s of Hollywood, 3/12 — Bride-to-be? Need a gift? Being a guest? Take up to $75 off.‏
Victoria’s Secret, 3/12 — We Love Hiphuggers! And at 5 For $25, You'll Love Them Too
Lane Bryant, 3/12 — 3 Ways To Save: $20 Off Pants, BOGO Free Tunic + Gift Cheque
Orvis, 3/12 — Discover why our NEW women's khakis are the Ultimate.
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Week-End Trends: Retail email volume flat for third straight week

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: For the third week in a row, top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 2.5 promotional emails on average during the week ending Mar. 12, 2010. Beyond being flat week-over-week, that’s down 6% from where it was four weeks ago and up 9% 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: There will be a significant focus on St. Patrick’s Day this week, but also Easter messaging will pick up as well.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Easter (4/4): Easter 2009 Season Finale
Mother’s Day (5/9): Mother’s Day 2009 Season Finale
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AM Inbox: Another reason to care about Hotmail-Firefox rendering

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

Ross-Simons, 3/11 — Hurry, 25% Off Sitewide Ends Sunday
Need another reason to be concerned about how your emails render in Hotmail using Firefox and other email client-browser combinations? Okay, here you go. In this Ross-Simons email you’ll notice “Shop Now” text in the upper left-hand corner. That text—which appears to be the alt text for a 1x1 pixel used to slip in some invisible snippet text—appears in Hotmail when using Firefox but not when using Internet Explorer. Of course, that rendering issue is on top of the border issues that are causing all the spacing in the email. For more on that issue, plus the fix, check out Majority of Retailers Fail Hotmail-Firefox Rendering Test. Here’s this email rendered in Hotmail using Firefox:



And here’s the same email rendered in Hotmail using Internet Explorer:



Cooking.com, 3/11 — New Celebrity Chef Recipes: Martha Stewart's Easy Pasta + More
Cooking.com has launched a new celebrity chef newsletter. At 800 pixels and four columns wide, the newsletter’s design is really scattered and difficult to read. However, I really appreciate how they’ve sent a sample newsletter than then asked for an explicit opt-in to continue to receive it.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Eddie Bauer, 3/11 — NEW! Layering Tees - Buy 2 and Save
Banana Republic, 3/11 — The Polo: One Easy Piece
Nike Store, 3/11 — Get Your Limited-Edition Pacquiao Gear
eBags, 3/11 — Gear Up For Spring Travel
Sports Authority, 3/11 — Spring Shoe Blowout + 3 Days Left to Save $25 Off Your Purchase!
Ralph Lauren, 3/11 — Picture Perfect: Spring Dress Up For Kid's
Crate & Barrel, 3/11 — 6 Quick Picks: Spring into blue and green
Sony, 3/11 — Now Available: INTRODUCING The NEW 2010 BRAVIA HDTVs
J&R, 3/11 — BUY REFURBISHED AND SAVE
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AM Inbox: 1-800-Flowers.com using preheader unsubscribe link

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

1-800-Flowers.com, 3/10 — $25 OFF - 30 Roses + Free Vase, just $29.99. Hurry, Last Chance!‏
Placing unsubscribe links at the top of an email is a tactic that most marketers are viscerally against, but it’s a tactic that has its place. Four situations that might be worthy of the tactic include: (1) in win-back/reactivation emails, (2) in the first few emails to subscribers from lower quality acquisition sources such as sweepstakes and co-registration, (3) to less engaged subscribers when spam complaints overall are too high, and (4) when a brand changes hands, as was the case with CompUSA a couple of years ago (see Jan. 28, 2008 AM Inbox. It’s not clear why 1-800-Flowers.com has been providing an unsubscribe link in their preheader recently, but it might be part of a list hygiene effort in the wake of a high-volume Valentine’s season.



Saks Fifth Avenue, 3/10 — DETAILS Magazine: Essentials for Spring
Trying to inject more newsiness and more of an editorial feel into their messaging, Saks has partnered with Details magazine, getting product picks from their editor. It’s not clear at this point whether the magazine will be providing picks on an ongoing basis in the way that Real Simple magazine provides monthly content to Bed Bath & Beyond (see Dec. 29 AM Inbox). Rather than partnering with media outlets, other retailers like Coach (see Dec. 31 AM Inbox) and Crutchfield Jan. 28 AM Inbox have launched their own “news”-oriented newsletters.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Saks Fifth Avenue, 3/10 — DETAILS Magazine: Essentials for Spring
HP, 3/10 — NEW HP Quick-Ship Store: Limited Time Savings & FREE 2-Day Shipping!
Orvis, 3/10 — Save an extra 20% with NEW Weekly Specials.
Lillian Vernon, 3/10 — Where are You Headed? Shop Great Travel Items & Ship for Free!‏
Cabela’s, 3/10 — New Items for 2010 - From Clothing to Camping, We Have You Covered
Coach, 3/10 — Time for new shoes
J&R, 3/10 — Our Top 5 Notebooks. . . For Less!
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AM Inbox: Taking risks with your sender name

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

This Week at Barnes & Noble, 3/9 — Coupons, Oscar Winning DVDs, Top New Releases, Kids' Pop-Ups, and More
Barnes & Noble, 3/3 — This Week -- Coupons, Discover Great New Writers Award Winners, Alice in Wonderland
I don’t recommend changing your sender name lightly, but this test by Barnes & Noble is worth mentioning. In order to shorten their very long subject lines, they’ve moved the name of the newsletter, “This Week,” into the sender name, as you can see in these Mar. 9 and 3 subject lines. This move is perhaps extra risky because they’re pushing the Barnes & Noble branding to the end of the sender name. Other retailers—HSN most notably—have augmented their sender names by adding words after their branding (i.e., “HSN Clearance”), but I haven’t seen any retailer put words in front of their branding in the sender name. I’ll be watching to see if B&N sticks with this new sender name, reverts to just “Barnes & Noble,” or experiments with another wording arrangement like “Barnes & Noble’s This Week.”

Macy’s, 3/9 — AK Anne Klein: save 15% + Free Shipping!‏
Macy’s and Neiman Marcus are on the same wavelength this week. After NM launched a prom contest that allows shoppers to build their ideal prom outfit (see Mar. 8 AM Inbox), Macy’s launches their Fashion Director interactive outfit maker. I think this is a smart way to get customers involved with your assortment and to get crowdsource ideas of outfits for mannequins, catalog models, etc. While Macy’s is offering daily prizes, they could even blow it out with a big prize like a trip to New York to consult on outfits for the next Macy’s catalog.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
J&R, 3/9 — Academy Award Winners Past and Present - On Sale Now!
Diamond.com, 3/9 — St Patrick's Day Special - Save 20%
Oriental Trading, 3/9 — Time-saving Easter treats. Up to $10 off + shipping is free
Hallmark, 3/9 — Hallmark + Facebook: Organize Your Social Life‏
Toys “R” Us, 3/9 — You're Invited! Saturday is our Barbie Mermaid Party! Special Coupon Inside
Eddie Bauer, 3/9 — NEW! Spring Tunics & Denim Washes
Lands’ End, 3/9 — Think big! Take 25% off the item of your choice + Free Shipping
L.L. Bean, 3/9 — Tail-Wagging Comfort for Your Dog + Men's New Spring Styles
Victoria’s Secret, 3/9 — Your Bra Has Met Its Match!‏ [promoting panties]
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AM Inbox: Interesting preview pane banner tactic

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

Bloomingdale’s, 3/8 — HOT Savings + Casual Comfort for Him
Preview pane banners (PPBs)—banners that sit right below (or above) the header—are a great tactic for getting a secondary message into the preview pane. However, to avoid pushing the primary message too much out of the preview pane, these banners should be relatively narrow. Bloomingdale’s uses a nice tactic in this email when they had a secondary message that was too large for a PPB—they used it to promote the full secondary message further down in the email, complete with a “See Below” message and arrow. That’s a novel use of a PPB.

I also like how they’re promoting a benefit that’s only available to Bloomingdale’s cardholders. Sephora does this a lot as well. While this messaging isn’t necessarily relevant to non-cardholders, it shows them what they’re missing and over time should encourage folks to apply.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Spiegel, 3/8 — Our Incredible, Machine-Washable SEASONLESS SUITING! NOW 20% OFF!
NFLshop, 3/8 — Wear The Official Gear - NEW NFL Authentic Performance Apparel
Hanna Andersson, 3/8 — Starting at $14 - New Sun-Protective Swimwear!
Ann Taylor, 3/8 — New Wear-To-Work Styles. Plus, Shop Our Spring Style Event!
Norm Thompson, 3/8 — Soft as silk. Cool as cotton. What is it? $1 ships all.‏
Lane Bryant, 3/8 — Check Out Our New Spring Colors + Save $25 On Your Order
Sam’s Club, 3/8 — Outfit the outdoors. Great savings on swings, slides and grills.‏
Cooking.com, 3/8 — Comforting Irish-Style Recipes: Cakes, Corned Beef, and Potato Soups
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AM Inbox: Header-to-footer engagement tactics

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

REI, 3/5 — REI-OUTLET: Save an Extra 20%
REI is experimenting with a sub-navigation bar that provides more targeted navigation for the topic featured in the email. As explained in our Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation report, we’re big fans of nav bars, having found with our clients that they contribute mightily to clicks. So it’s definitely worth testing the size of your nav links, the order of the links, the number of links, etc. Here’s REI’s new nav bar arrangement:



And here’s their old nav from a Feb. 26 email:



Crutchfield, 3/7 — Free 19'' TV with select closeout Samsung LED & Plasma TVs
Not nearly as productive as the header area, the footer can still provide incremental clicks. For those that do scroll down to the bottom of your emails, reward them with something extra to interact with. For instance, in this Crutchfield email, they present a testimonial quote about how knowledgeable their service reps are and provide their telephone number. It’s a nice bit of brand-building. In the past, Crutchfield has used their footer to promote that they’re in BizRate’s Circle of Excellence and that they’re McAfee Secure.



Neiman Marcus, 3/5 — TOP THAT? We'd be happy to!‏
I really like Neiman Marcus’ Rock the Prom Contest, which allows shoppers to assemble a prom outfit. If the community votes your outfit as the best, then you win it. It’s viral, aspirational and gets young customers interacting with their product assortment.



SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Harry & David, 3/5 — 1st Peep: NEW Easter Gifts!
Oriental Trading, 3/5 — Make your party a slam dunk, we'll pay shipping
Disney Store, 3/5 — Free Shipping on Our Curious Collection! Alice in Theaters Today
Kohl’s, 3/6 — As Seen on Entertainment Tonight: Get the Celebrity Look for Less
Old Navy, 3/5 — SuperMold Yourself! You Could Win $100,000!
Brookstone, 3/5 — Feeling stressed? Save on soothing massagers - limited time only + FREE Shipping
Cooking.com, 3/5 — Best Brewing Equipment + Bonus Torrefazione Coffee Offer
Finish Line, 3/6 — Up To 65% Off The Hottest Styles--Spring Break Blowout Going On Now!
Victoria’s Secret, 3/5 — Swim Fever: Spring's Stand-out Suits.‏
Spiegel, 3/6 — INTRODUCING, NEW Travel-Perfect Mini-Wardrobes, up to 40% OFF!
Ralph Lauren, 3/6 — From Inspiration To Runway: Fashion Show Behind The Scenes
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Week-End Trends: St. Patrick's Day messaging to bubble up

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 2.2 promotional emails on average during the week ending Mar. 5, 2010. That’s flat week-over-week, on par from where it was four weeks ago, and up 11% year-over-year.



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



The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: St. Patrick’s Day references will pick up this week and peak the next. Then retailers will focus their attention on Easter.



Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
St. Patrick’s Day (3/17): St. Patrick’s Day 2009 Season Finale
Easter (4/4): Easter 2009 Season Finale
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Ping Time: Outside-the-box testing, ProFlowers' Valentine's campaign, etc.

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

>>Jeanniey Mullen of Zinio shares some outside the box ideas for email testing, including the results she achieved with them. >>Follow the ping

>>Bill McCloskey of Email Data Source examines ProFlowers Valentine’s Day email marketing strategy. >>Follow the ping

>>Dela Quist of Alchemy Worx discusses subject line testing methodology and what the results mean. >>Follow the ping

>>David Greiner of Campaign Monitor looks at which email clients support @font-face. >>Follow the ping

>>Alison Belanger of e-Dialog shares three reactivation tactics. >>Follow the ping

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I discuss the growing challenges around rendering. >>Follow the ping
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