I love the subtle call out to Easter in the attached main image from Piperlime. There really is no other reason for a rabbit with a stop watch around its neck, is there?Granted Easter is not until mid-April; however, when... More

I love the subtle call out to Easter in the attached main image from Piperlime. There really is no other reason for a rabbit with a stop watch around its neck, is there?

Granted Easter is not until mid-April; however, when you are living from major promotion to major promotion, as many retailers are... it is never too early to start.


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It is so easy, but yet marketers skimp on time and forget some of the basics - like testing how their emails will appear in different email clients and browsers. It amazes me that these types of issues even exist... More

It is so easy, but yet marketers skimp on time and forget some of the basics - like testing how their emails will appear in different email clients and browsers. It amazes me that these types of issues even exist today, as it is so simple to implement a process to routinely check for these types of issues. Further there are great tools on the market that further streamline this activity.

The latest example: Spiegel with a great image shot regarding their "Today Only" special.

Unfortunately the main image is broken in two places - see below.

Face it - brand is everything and by sending an email like the one below your brand is easily perceived as sloppy and rushed. Certainly not something Spiegel or any other brand wishes.


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Nice email today from Fandango tying last night's Oscar winners into an email driving people to their site. On the site you can buy movie tickets, view trailers, view winners, and most importantly view photos from the event. The email... More

Nice email today from Fandango tying last night's Oscar winners into an email driving people to their site. On the site you can buy movie tickets, view trailers, view winners, and most importantly view photos from the event.

The email exhibits some classic best practices:

• Utilizing offline events to drive online content and traffic
• Super timely - the email was sent within 12 hours of the Oscars ending
• Viral - not only does the email have great imagery, it also has a great sweepstakes, which subscribers love to participate in

See the email below:


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How many traditional retail stores can boast to having an integrated system that allows for customers to receive a customer survey within 8 hours of purchasing a product in store? Not many - that's for sure.This past weekend, I purchased... More

How many traditional retail stores can boast to having an integrated system that allows for customers to receive a customer survey within 8 hours of purchasing a product in store?

Not many - that's for sure.

This past weekend, I purchased a new 20 inch iMac. While despite many purchases at the Apple Store I continually find myself in appreciation of Apple's offer to print, email, or print and email my store receipt. I was equally appreciative of receiving the attached email only hours later asking me to "Share my thoughts on the Apple Store".

Face it - Apple takes their relationship with their customers incredibly seriously - more seriously than most marketers.

Truly a lesson for us all...
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We have been advocating marketers consider a multi-message strategy for key promotions, as they do an amazing job of generating incremental response and revenue. Newport News had a nice 3-message sequence tied to President's Day that I thought I'd share:Message... More

We have been advocating marketers consider a multi-message strategy for key promotions, as they do an amazing job of generating incremental response and revenue. Newport News had a nice 3-message sequence tied to President's Day that I thought I'd share:

Message #1
Subject Line: Weekend Exclusive: An Extra 25% off the ENTIRE SITE
Sent: Thursday, 2/12 @ 10:43PM
Content: Broad focus on all categories

Message #2
Subject Line: Get the Beautiful BLUES & take 25% off the ENTIRE SITE
Sent: Saturday, 2/14 @ 10:38PM
Content: Focus on products in blue and aquamarine - "Don't forget"

Message #3
Subject Line: LAST DAY for an extra 25% off the ENTIRE SITE...don't miss it!
Sent: Sunday, 2/15 @ 10:47PM
Content: Broad focus on all categories - "Last Day"


A nice simple flow that takes a good promotion (25% off the entire site) and extends the message across a series of messages.

Without seeing the results, from experience, I can almost guarantee that this strategy resulted in the following:

More exposure (impressions = opens) than a single message
More activity (click-through) than a single message
More revenue than a single message
And a marginal amount of additional unsubscribes

Additionally, the online marketing team at Newport News only had to define 1 promotion and then 3 email designs in sequence to support it. Versus 3 promotions and 3 creatives - much more time-consuming.

Overall, this is a recipe for success. And in today's economic challenges, one all marketers should be using.
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I didn't expect the Star Trek reference, but a nice overall story.A snippet:"When online retailers sit down to craft an e-mail and marketing communications strategy, it may help to consider StarTrek's Captain Kirk and the origination of his request to... More

I didn't expect the Star Trek reference, but a nice overall story.

A snippet:

"When online retailers sit down to craft an e-mail and marketing communications strategy, it may help to consider StarTrek's Captain Kirk and the origination of his request to be beamed up, says Mike Hilts president and general manager of e-mail marketing services firm Yesmail.

Yes, Captain Kirk.

"When Captain Kirk called Scotty and said 'Beam me up' it was Captain Kirk initiating the call, not Scotty," Hilts says. "Scotty didn't ask him every hour if he wanted to be beamed up."

Today's most effective e-mail campaigns, in a sense, work in a similar way, Hilts says, by filling a need or request initiated by a consumer rather than simply blasting out messages en masse, hoping a few lead to sales."

Check out the full article:

http://emailactivity.ecn5.com/engines/publicPreview.aspx?blastID=148060&emailID=24853504 Less

Aeropostale & WinterSilks - Today is the Day!Aeropostale and WinterSilks conveniently both launched "1 Day Only" sale campaigns today. Aeropostale touting: "Today Only! Shop Your Heart Out - 25% Off!" and WinterSilks touting: "Today only web exclusive: Silk PJ under... More

Aeropostale & WinterSilks - Today is the Day!

Aeropostale and WinterSilks conveniently both launched "1 Day Only" sale campaigns today.

Aeropostale touting: "Today Only! Shop Your Heart Out - 25% Off!" and WinterSilks touting: "Today only web exclusive: Silk PJ under $25". Both promotions are geared toward Valentine's Day and strive to drive incremental sales, due to the urgency of the promotion.

Many marketers have started to utilize the concept of extremely time sensitive campaigns. For example, 1 day only, 8 hours only, the first x people that respond, etc. Historically these types of campaigns can definitely add an injection of new revenue. A short story, several years back when the practice was not as common we were reviewing the sales results for the previous year with a catalog customer. The results had your normal swings up and down building higher in the fourth quarter. One particular campaign though jumped off the page. The fact that it was sent around July made it even more suspect. The campaign? A "1 day only" sale.

Take a look at the creative:



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As we enter 2009, it is a great time to reflect on successful strategies implemented in 2008 and prioritize how to spend precious budget dollars in the New Year. If I had my own email marketing budget to manage, here... More

As we enter 2009, it is a great time to reflect on successful strategies implemented in 2008 and prioritize how to spend precious budget dollars in the New Year. If I had my own email marketing budget to manage, here are some of the top new opportunities I would pursue: Predictive Modeling, Social Networking, Integrating Mobile Messaging into Email, and Triggered Messaging.

Learn more here.
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Love the new Apple email with the iPod game reflection on the back of the other iPod. Check it out:This level of visual depth adds a nice element to an email - essentially pulling the user in to 'experience' it,... More

Love the new Apple email with the iPod game reflection on the back of the other iPod. Check it out:

This level of visual depth adds a nice element to an email - essentially pulling the user in to 'experience' it, as it is more alive than a flat image.
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I like politics. I like following it. I like the personalities. Pretty much everything.While considering myself a moderate, I have no issues signing up for every possible political email campaign I can to understand how our "nations leaders" are using... More

I like politics. I like following it. I like the personalities. Pretty much everything.

While considering myself a moderate, I have no issues signing up for every possible political email campaign I can to understand how our "nations leaders" are using to drive their marketing/political objectives.

Recently (last week) I signed up for the SarahPAC, the PAC formed to help Sarah Palin. I was delighted to see SarahPac follow good best practices in collecting my information via their web site and to follow-up the collection with a nice "Welcome / Thank You for Joining" Message, which I've included below.
 
The only problem - it was sent over a week after I signed up. Certainly not the level of timing I would have preferred.

If you have a Welcome / Thank You campaign running, be sure that it is well integrated with your email program and any lag is less than 24 hours. Otherwise you lose the opportunity to successfully build the relationship in the best way.
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The election may be over; however, the use of email to drive political thinking is certainly not.Take a look at the email below from John McCain to his supporters regarding the economic stimulus package being discussed in the Senate.A few... More

The election may be over; however, the use of email to drive political thinking is certainly not.

Take a look at the email below from John McCain to his supporters regarding the economic stimulus package being discussed in the Senate.

A few nice actions:
•       Use of "Fwd" in the subject line - certainly a nice way, when used selectively, to draw in incremental opens
•       Strong call to action - though a better creative template would certainly help; including a link to a hosted page
•       Use of a signature image to further personalize the communication

CNN even commented on the email.

Does anyone yet doubt the power of email? Less