The Retail Email Blog

Ping Time: When to resend, opt-in form placement, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:05:00 +0000

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

>>Preethi Dumpala of Yesmail discusses when it’s appropriate to consider doing a resend of an email. >>Follow the ping

>>@LorenMcDonald: #Emailmarketing Tip: Move your email opt-in from bottom of page/below fold to top = cos. see 50%-500% lift in opt-in rate

>>Justine Jordan of Litmus talks about how to make a good first impression with your from name, subject line and preheader text. >>Follow the ping

>>Kevin Chin of eDataSource discusses how ProFlowers resuscitated their Gmail deliverability after it was near death in the wake of Valentine’s Day. >>Follow the ping

>>John Caldwell of Red Pill Email defends best practices, explaining that “Best Practices are there to keep you from getting hurt, and that includes wasting time and money; they’re not a replacement of hard work or putting in the time.” >>Follow the ping

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I discuss engagement-based emailing and share case studies from Orbitz, Epson and Philosophy. >>Follow the ping

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BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: Requests to scroll

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:47:00 +0000

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. Jill, 5/23 — We've got eyelets only for you | $10 off linen summer essentials

In a May 21 email and then again in this email, J. Jill is taking a new approach to presenting the offers in their emails. The general approach is to include a product-focused promotion plus a discount offer. The subject line mentions both of the promotions, leading with the product promo. The body of the email does the same, starting with a large hero image of the featured product and then closing with a banner with the discount offer. The strategy appears to be to get subscribers to scroll down to the discount, thereby exposing them to the featured product. To encourage subscribers to scroll, J. Jill has included a blue ribbon in the header explicitly telling subscribers to scroll. The offer banner at the bottom of the email is the same color as the ribbon, visually connecting them. This email reminds me an email from Coldwater Creek earlier this year (see Jan. 19 AM Inbox), but in this execution the request to scroll is more forceful.

View this email full-sized.

That said, I wonder if the request to scroll couldn’t be punched up a little by turning the ribbon into more of an arrow, like so:

View this mock-up full-sized.

Lane Bryant, 5/23 — 50% Off All Day Online Only = Best Apology Ever

While the reaction time was far too slow, this apology email really great. Apologetic, but not too serious, and the offer demonstrates that they do indeed want to make it right. I see way more emails apologizing for site outages than for email malfunctions of any sort.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

JC Whitney, 5/22 — Discount Code Alert: JCW1030 expires in 24 hours

OfficeMax, 5/23 — It’s Halfway to Black Friday

Lowe’s, 5/23 — We'll Take It From Here -- FREE Delivery on Memorial Day Offers

Eddie Bauer, 5/23 — Over 250 Styles. Up To 50% Off. Memorial Day Sale

Cooking.com, 5/23 — The Great Outdoors: Picnics and Block Parties + Free Shipping

Victoria’s Secret, 5/22 — 5 Ways to Have the Hottest Summer Ever

J. Crew, 5/22 — Cheat sheet: summer style

Crate & Barrel, 5/22 — Now up to 30% off our Arbor collection + more than 350 new summer items.

Sears, 5/23 — No gas guzzlers! All power lawn & garden on sale + FREE tractor delivery

Williams-Sonoma, 5/23 — Under $40: Our New Exclusive Grill Tool

Bluefly, 5/22 — Psst... Can You Keep a Secret?

Staples, 5/22 — 23 coupons! Plus come celebrate small business week.

American Eagle Outfitters, 5/23 — AE's Online Outlet Is Now Open!

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AM Inbox: ISP-specific whitelisting

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:16:00 +0000

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

Staples, 5/21 — Save on the essentials for a successful BBQ.

In addition to adding senders to the address book, ISPs provide their users with different ways to indicate that emails from a sender are important to them. For instance, Gmail let’s Priority Inbox users mark emails as important (see NFLshop example in Sept. 9, 2011 AM Inbox). Since you can have great deliverability at one ISP and not so great deliverability at another, it can be necessary to address users of a particular mailbox provider, as Staples does in the preheader text of this email. While circumstances like Gmail tightening their filtering in February can force you to act, the best time to ask subscribers to add your address to their address book and take other actions as at the beginning of the relationship on your sign-up confirmation page and in your welcome email. Segmenting your welcome email by ISP lets you provide ISP-specific instructions to subscribers in a concise manner.

View this email full-sized.

Bluefly, 5/21 — Suit Sale Ending Soon! Up to 60% Off Joseph Abboud, Brioni, Hickey...

Bluefly also includes ISP-specific instructions, asking Gmail users to star the email.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Musician’s Friend, 5/21 — Our Memorial Day Sale Starts Now

Crutchfield, 5/21 — Memorial Day sale: Save big with Crutchfield

Sports Authority, 5/21 — Memorial Day Sale! Save Big & Get Ready For Your Long Weekend

TigerDirect, 5/21 — 24" LCD Monitor just $129, plus Tablets, GPS, Laptops and more Gifts for Grads

NFLshop, 5/21 — Perfect Giants Gifts for Dad - Shop Now for Best Selection!

Wayfair, 5/21 — Hail to your chief. Father's Day Gift Guide inside

Orvis, 5/21 — Get FREE Shipping on great gifts for Dad.

Ralph Lauren, 5/21 — Summer Polos + Father’s Day Gifts

Macy’s, 5/21 — Ralph Lauren: 2012 Team USA Olympic Collection

J&R, 5/21 — Britax Special Event: "What To Expect When You're Expecting". . . Save 30% on Britax (in-store only)!‏

CB2, 5/21 — outdoor space solutions S to XL

Williams-Sonoma, 5/21 — All New Viking Grills Are Here!

J. Jill, 5/21 — Keep your summer style simple with linen | 30% off select styles

Kmart, 5/21 — It's heating up, stay indoors: Save on an RCA HDTV + enter the TLC Extreme Sweepstakes

Fingerhut, 5/21 — Fingerhut: Our NEW Mobile Site is Coming Soon - Learn More!

OfficeMax, 5/21 — We’re Celebrating Small Business Week with Big Savings

1-800-Flowers.com, 5/21 — They'll ♥ our 100 Bloom Spray Roses, you'll ♥ our price: just $29.99

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AM Inbox: eBag's A/B subject line test

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:24:00 +0000

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

eBags, 5/20 — Oh, the bags they'll need to get there...‏

eBags, 5/20 — Send grads off in style - 20% OFF travel gear, laptop bags, iPad cases & more!

EBags was doing some A/B subject line testing on this graduation-focused email, putting a creative subject line that plays off the popular graduation book by Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” up again a straightforward benefits-based subject line. I’m not sure which subject line was the winner, if indeed there was a clear winner, but I personally appreciate the Seuss-inspired one. The primary message block of the email combines both the Seussian message and the discount, with the rest of email highlighting several different kinds of bags, plus a banner on college team bags.

UPDATE 5/22: EBags told me that “Oh, the bags they'll need to get there...‏” beat out the other subject line, edging it out with a 0.2% higher unique send-to-clickthrough rate. However, the difference in performance was so small that it wasn’t statistically significant, so it was essentially a tie.

View this email full-sized.

Coldwater Creek, 5/18 — 3 DAYS ONLINE: Pick your day. Pick your savings.‏

Coldwater Creek, 5/19 — TODAY ONLY! 30% off EVERYTHING (40% off tomorrow)

Coldwater Creek, 5/20 — ENDS TODAY: 40% off EVERYTHING!

Last week I talked about updating image files (see May 16 AM Inbox and May 14 AM Inbox). Well, here’s another instance where this tactic might have paid off. In this series of email, the body of the email is same except for the progression of the offer. Instead of using a different source file for each email, Coldwater Creek could have used the same file, updating it with the latest image (or doing a redirect) each night. That way, no matter when any of the emails is opened, subscribers are always exposed to the current offer.

View this email full-sized.

Target, 5/18 — GiftFinder: your new shopping assistant.

Target is promoting a Facebook tool that allows folks to pool money with friends and family to buy Target gift cards. I saw another retailer promote a similar Facebook tool a long while back, but haven’t seen any group buying efforts lately besides this.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Omaha Steaks, 5/19 — Thank You for your service!‏ [promoting Armed Services Day]

Sportsman’s Guide, 5/18 — Flat Rate Shipping, Father's Day Gifts and More from the Guide!‏

Buy.com, 5/20 — GIFTS FOR GRADS | Logitech Keyboard & Mouse $14.99, Bean Bag Chair $29.99*, Desk Lamp $39.99,...

Victoria’s Secret, 5/19 — Your search for the perfect Summer top ends here. (And, free shipping.)

Kmart, 5/18 — Give your legs some fresh air: Up to 40% OFF shorts for the family

Sports Authority, 5/18 — Save a Boatload! Find Great Deals on Kayaks, Towables & More

Cooking.com, 5/18 — Get Your Chill On! Quick & Easy Frozen Treats

Costco, 5/18 — Update Your Backyard With Our Santa Fe Seating Set

Blair, 5/20 — Life's better on island time. So are the styles!

Ann Taylor, 5/19 — Spotted In Ann Taylor: Actress Rashida Jones!

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Week-End Trends: Post-Mother's Day dip

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:02:00 +0000

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.6 promotional emails on average during the week ending May 18, 2012. That’s down 8% week-over-week, down 4% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 12% year-over-year.

This year and last year there was a dip in email volume after Mother’s Day that didn’t occur in previous years. Last year there was simply a slump post-Mother’s Day, whereas this year there was a spike followed by a return to trend. Retailers were pressing harder for last-minute gifts this year, which accounts for the spike.

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

The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Last week we saw our first reference to the back-to-school season, which often gets intermingled with graduation messaging early on. With Mother’s Day behind us, retailers are turning their attention to graduation and Father’s Day messaging, with Memorial Day messaging set to spike this week.

Selling Seasons on the Horizon:

Graduation (May/June): 2011 Season Finale

Memorial Day (May 28): 2011 Season Finale

Father’s Day (June 17): 2011 Season Finale

Back-to-school (June-September): 2011 Season Finale

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Ping Time: Windows Phone rendering, Google and email, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:04:00 +0000

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

>>StyleCampaign looks at email rendering on the Windows Phone OS. >>Follow the ping

>>Stephanie Colleton of Return Path discusses two ways in which Google is integrating email into search and social. >>Follow the ping

>>@ryanpphelan: Outlook 2015 is still going to block animated gif's in #emailmarketing campaigns @Liveclicker #LMC12 #globalocity

>>Econsultancy shares an infographic that details how the top 150 internet retailers use social networks. >>Follow the ping

>>DJ Waldow of Waldow Social announces the upcoming release of The Rebel’s Guide to Email Guide to Email Marketing, which he has co-written with Jason Falls. >>Follow the ping

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AM Inbox: LNT email redesign + first reference to back to school

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:04:00 +0000

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

Linens-N-Things, 5/17 — Brand New Site: Savings Up to 75% Off

Linens-N-Things has redesigned their email template to match a website relaunch, although it’s unclear if there were anything more than cosmetic changes made. The email doesn’t name any improvements. The email redesign includes several changes. In addition to changing their fonts and moving to a color palette that appears to jettison the pastels they have sometimes used, the biggest change is that they increased the email width to 720 pixels from 605 pixels. The move may help their desktop readers but will likely cramp their mobile readers. Another interesting change is that they dropped the links to their Facebook page and Twitter stream, which makes the uniquely right-justified footer appear unanchored. This Linens-N-Things email also gives us our first reference to the back-to-school season.

Here’s the new design (left) and the previous design from a May 15 email:

View new design full-sized. View previous design full-sized.

TigerDirect, 5/17 — Won't Last: 2TB HD $99...Quad 8GB PC Kit $299...Diablo 3 Deals are here!

In the same way that some retailers use the Super Bowl and March Madness as hooks to promote TVs, TigerDirect uses the release of the much anticipated Diablo 3 as a hook to get subscribers to upgrade their computers. Essentially this is an upsell play, where new gear allows them to enjoy their game more. Be on the lookout for items and events that present these kinds of opportunities.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

1-800-Flowers.com, 5/17 — Top of the Class Savings ★ $10 OFF Sitewide Graduation Sale!

J&R, 5/17 — Gifts That Grads Love -- Tablets, Smartphones, Camcorders, Roku and More!‏

Tiffany & Co., 5/17 — Distinctive Gifts for Graduates

Wayfair, 5/17 — The Memorial Day party they'll always remember? Yours

Omaha Steaks, 5/16 — FREE Shipping + 66% Savings...stock up now for Memorial Day!

Bass Pro Shops, 5/17 — Perfect Gifts for Guys + Free Shipping

Bloomingdale’s, 5/16 — Polo Ralph Lauren Polo Shirts + Father's Day Gifts

Brookstone, 5/17 — Read at the beach...without getting a neck ache

Kmart, 5/16 — Roast marshmallows in style: Up to 20% OFF all camping & hiking

Lowe’s, 5/17 — Hot for Grills? You Pick It, We'll Put It Together

Cooking.com, 5/16 — Grills Gone Wild - This Summer's Must-Have Grilling Accessories

J&R, 5/16 — Get Ready for the Long, Hot Summer!

Wayfair, 5/16 — May is National Pet Month. Celebrate with up to 30% off pet products.

Sam’s Club, 5/17 — Photo Month means great savings

Williams-Sonoma, 5/17 — Explore Over 250 Ideas for Healthy Living

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AM Inbox: Updated image file tactics

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:39:00 +0000

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

TigerDirect, 5/15 — Hundreds Off SONY 3D Internet TV, plus Diablo 3 and Max Payne 3 are here!

The dynamic image in 1-800-Flowers.com’s email earlier this week (see May 14 AM Inbox) seemed to capture the imagination of many marketers out there. While rapidly changing images like time-counters require server-side attention, changing image files once or infrequently can be done in-house will a bit of manual effort. For instance, in this TigerDirect email, when the featured product sold out, they updated the image file so that new openers would see that they missed out. This teaches subscribers to open their TigerDirect emails promptly and avoids annoying them by having them click through only to find out then that the deal is sold out. Home Depot has used this same tactic for sale expirations (see Dec. 6, 2011 AM Inbox). And retailers have also updated image files to keep an accurate count until the days until Christmas, using the same image URL in all of their email headers to ensure an up-to-date count regardless of when the email is opened. It’s a little extra effort, but it can pay off.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Newegg, 5/15 — Gifts for Dads & Grads + Techie Time! $388.99 Toshiba 40” TV, $84.99 Seagate 1TB HDD

SmartBargains, 5/15 — Get a Head Start for Dad - Great Gifts up to 90% Off!

Ralph Lauren, 5/15 — Men’s Summer Style + Father’s Day Gifts

Brookstone, 5/15 — We've got just the thing this Memorial Day

Home Depot, 5/15 — Memorial Day Savings Start Today – Shop Now!

Backcountry.com, 5/15 — Up to 40% Off Clothing, Footwear, Gear | Early Memorial Day Steals

L.L. Bean, 5/15 — Spend Summer Outside: Comfortable Furniture, Cool Clothes

Neiman Marcus, 5/15 — Swim Sale: Take 25% off

Nordstrom, 5/15 — Swimsuits for Every Shape

Lands’ End, 5/15 — New summer dresses + Take an extra 20% off Sale & Clearance

Yoox, 5/15 — The Perfect Flat Sandal

Orvis, 5/15 — Our Hopsack Travel Blazer will not wrinkle!

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AM Inbox: Testing for preview pane optimization

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:21:00 +0000

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

Yoox, 5/14 — New Collection Preview

We’re always saying, “test, test, test.” But sometimes marketers are not sure what to test. Here’s a creative that’s shouting out for a challenger. The body copy in this Yoox email is going to be below the fold for most subscribers, so how about creating a challenger that has the model moved a little to the right to make room for the body copy to be moved to the upper left-hand corner of the primary message block? Optimizing the email for preview panes like that should boost performance, but running an A/B test will tell us for sure and inform future designs.

View this email full-sized.

Williams-Sonoma, 5/14 — Exclusive Recipes from the Chefs behind the Chefs

Williams-Sonoma returns with their Sous Chef Series of emails that profiles sous chefs around the country and shares their recipes. As in the past (see Jan. 20, 2011 AM Inbox), Williams-Sonoma is asking for a separate opt-in for these emails. But this time they also highlight recent profiles and recipes to give would-be subscribers a better idea of the content that would be coming their way. Long-time readers know that I’m a big fan of the “show, don’t tell” approach that Williams-Sonoma takes here.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Tiffany & Co., 5/14 — Graduation Gifts of Lasting Style

TigerDirect, 5/14 — NEW Gifts for Grads: Samsung Laptop $349...8MP Camera $27...Earbuds $7.99...50" 3D TV $799

Kmart, 5/14 — Your day is about to get a lot sunnier: 5-20% OFF patio furniture & outdoor décor

Toys “R” Us, 5/14 — Backyard Blitz Cyber Sale! One Day Only! Save Up to 25% on Step2, Gorilla Gym Sets & More!

DisneyStore, 5/14 — Swim Sale Now in Stores & Online - Up to 40% Off

Walmart, 5/14 — Express yourself! Electronics in every hue - laptops, TVs, cameras & more

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AM Inbox: Real-time email content

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:29:00 +0000

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, 5/11 — The Clock Is Ticking! Save 20% Sitewide - 24 HOURS ONLY

It appears that 1-800-Flowers used real-time image rendering in this email so that when this email is opened it accurately displays the number of hours, minutes and seconds until the end of the sale. I opened it after the sale had expired, which is why the clock reads 00:00:00, but displaying an accurate reading of how much time was left on the sale surely increased the urgency of the call-to-action. I’ve seen just a few of these real-time counters over the past year.

View this email full-sized.

J. Jill, 5/12 — Our top TOP styles for mom + $10 off!‏

J. Jill has been using an interesting Mother’s Day header where they’ve added a bow and tag to all their emails for the past few weeks. Typically holiday headers like this keep elements just to the header section, but this one really stands out by dipping down into the primary message block.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

J. Jill, 5/13 — She's compassion personified. She's mom.

TigerDirect, 5/13 — Mom's life could change forever

Sports Authority, 5/11 — Yoga Gifts for Mom! Don't Forget to Show Your Appreciation

Kmart, 5/11 — Help mom go high def: Magnavox 32" HDTV, only $299.99

Lane Bryant, 5/11 — Mom's Day Is Sunday - Give Her The Gift Of Fashion

Tiffany & Co., 5/11 — There’s Still Time to Send a Tiffany Mother’s Day Gift

Williams-Sonoma, 5/13 — Send an eGift Card to Mom

Lowe’s, 5/12 — You're Not Too Late: Gifts Cards for Mom

Overstock.com, 5/13 — Happy Mother's Day! $1 Shipping on Your Purchase

Ann Taylor, 5/13 — Happy Mother's Day | Treat Yourself: 30% Off EVERYTHING!

Kohl’s, 5/13 — Happy Mother's Day! Take an Extra 30%, 20% or 15% Off Everything!

Ralph Lauren, 5/13 — Happy Mother's Day From Ralph Lauren

CB2, 5/12 — small outdoor space? no problem.

Ann Taylor, 5/11 — ANN'S EDIT: Kate Hudson's Must-Haves & Our Summer Favorites!

Urban Outfitters, 5/11 — Shorts + Shirts = Summer

Nordstrom, 5/11 — 7 Summer Looks at Prices You'll Love‏

Victoria’s Secret, 5/12 — Fun-In-The-Sun Beach Dresses. Plus, Free Shipping on $50 Ends Tomorrow.

RitzCamera, 5/12 — Ship To Store and get Free Shipping plus Expert Help

SmartBargains, 5/11 — OPEN NOW! New Clearance Section - Up To 90% Off + Free Shipping!

Omaha Steaks, 5/11 — If Free Shipping & 70% Savings make you happy then open this!

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Week-End Trends: Email volume jumps, up 30% YOY

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:49:00 +0000

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.7 promotional emails on average during the week ending May 11, 2012. That’s up 6% week-over-week, up 11% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 30% year-over-year.

Deviating from volume patterns last year, retail email volume rose instead of fell last week. That pushed the year-over-year volume increase to 30%, in line with levels that we saw in January and February of this year.

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

The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Mother’s Day messaging stayed strong last week, with plenty of retailers making last-minute appeals. While messaging was on par with the comparable week last year, the week before last was much stronger than its comparable week, which would indicate a much stronger push around the end of guaranteed Mother’s Day delivery with standard shipping. Cinco de Mayo messaging last week was on par with last year.

Selling Seasons on the Horizon:

Graduation (May/June): 2011 Season Finale

Memorial Day (May 28): 2011 Season Finale

Father’s Day (June 17): 2011 Season Finale

Back-to-school (June-September): 2011 Season Finale

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Ping Time: Mobile trends, engagement targeting, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:23:00 +0000

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

>>Return Path research looks at several mobile email trends and shows that by the end of 2012 that more than half of all emails will be read on a mobile device. >>Follow the ping

>>MarketingSherpa shares a case study where Artbeads.com targeted just their best customers with an exclusive email offer and generated a conversion rate that was 208% higher than even the high-end of their typical batch-and-blast emails. >>Follow the ping

>>Guy Hanson of Return Path did some subject line testing and examines some commonly held beliefs. >>Follow the ping

>>EMarketer found that while marketers are using more tools to spur website engagement, email is by far the most prevalent one. >>Follow the ping

>>Laura Atkins of Word to the Wise reminds us of why email marketers’ messaging is held to a higher standard that advertising in other more traditional channels. >>Follow the ping

>>In Responsys’ latest Email Insider column, Wacarra Yeomans lays out three simple, yet effective ways to evaluate email creatives. >>Follow the ping

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AM Inbox: Elevating SWYN links

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:01:00 +0000

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, 5/10 — 20% OFF Friends & Family Mother's Day Sale - Ends TODAY!

As we reported in our Viral & Community Links in Email report, there appears to be a strong trend toward letting share-with-your-network (SWYN) links on landing pages drive sharing rather than SWYN links in emails. But that’s doesn’t mean that SWYN links can’t be really effective in emails. It’s all about recognizing the right time to use them and about making them a prominent call-to-action. “Friends and Family” campaigns are a favorite email type for SWYN usage. For instance, in this 1-800-Flowers.com email, they place a Facebook share link in the preheader and then follow up the primary “Shop Now” call-to-action with a “Share or Forward this offer today” CTA.

View this email full-sized.

Compare that to their usual design, as seen in this May 9 email (below), and you can see how 1-800-Flowers cranked up the volume on the SWYN call-to-action:

View this email full-sized.

Walmart, 5/10 — New! Order online & pay with cash in stores – only at Walmart!

Looking to attract consumers with poor credit or who prefer to pay cash, Walmart has added a cash option to their “buy online, pick up in store” program. I’m not aware of any other retailer offering this option.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Hallmark, 5/9 — Unlimited e-cards mean unlimited Mother's Day smiles.

Blue Nile, 5/10 — Final Chance to Shop Mother’s Day Gifts with Free Saturday Delivery

J. Jill, 5/9 — Mom deserves a gold "medal" + 30% off select spring styles.

Sports Authority, 5/9 — Save 20% on a Single Item! Get Mom Something Special This Year

Tiffany & Co., 5/9 — Mark Mom’s Sweetest Moments

Lowe’s, 5/9 — Lowe's Knows What Moms Like

Barnes & Noble, 5/10 — Mother's Day is Sunday! 20% Off In Store on Last Minute Gifts

Ross-Simons, 5/9 — Super Deal: Tahitian Pearl Necklace, Get it in Time

DisneyStore, 5/10 — Exclusive Online Preview: Swim Sale Starts Now!

Lands’ End, 5/10 — Email exclusive! 30% off all Beach Living Swimwear.‏

Lane Bryant, 5/9 — Sea-Inspired Summer Fashions + New Gift Cheque

Yoox, 5/10 — Your Summer Dress Guide

Nordstrom, 5/9 — Get Our Free Apps for Your Phone & iPad

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AM Inbox: Solely optimized for preview panes

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:40:00 +0000

>>I’m back from the Responsys Interact conference and will be bringing us up to date on tracking over the course of the week. Check out my Takeaways from Interact.

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

Ann Taylor, 5/9 — Summer Staple: Colored Denim | 30% Off Select Sale Styles!

One thing that B2B email marketers do really well that B2C marketers could learn from is that they’re not afraid to repeat a key call-to-action many times in a single email. You never know at what point in the copy the subscriber will tip and want to click through, so placing several CTAs throughout the email makes it convenient for them to take action when they reach that tipping point. For instance, this Ann Taylor email is really well optimized for preview panes, with both the 30% sale banner and colored denim calls-to-action appearing in the first 400 pixels of the email. But for those subscribers who scroll down, following the vertical lines of the models’ bodies, they’re met with a dead end since they would have scrolled well past the “Shop Summer Denim” CTA. Although the image of the models is clickable, there’s no text, button or other clear call-to-action to move forward. Some subscribers will scroll back up, but you’d be better off repeating the primary call-to-action in a new way down near the model’s feet. In designs like this with long images, it’s also worth considering adding a secondary CTA or a recovery module.

View this email full-sized.

Spiegel, 5/9 — Top of the Line! Tops & Sweaters from Just $19

I’m not sure if this is good or bad, but after seeing this image treatment a few times from Spiegel it finally hit me what it reminded me of—paper doll clothes. Now I’m not that old, but my mother, who loves all things ancient, has shown me old paper dolls that she played with in her youth. I dare say my mom is in Spiegel’s demographic. Perhaps the nostalgic connection to younger years is just what Spiegel is going for, or perhaps the treatment could make the clothes seem paper cheap and bygone. I suppose my point here is that image treatments and styles can have a big effect on how products and models are perceived.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Brookstone, 5/8 — LAST CHANCE: Free Ground Shipping for Mother's Day ENDS TODAY

Barnes & Noble, 5/7 — There's Still Time! Save 20% & Get Mom Something Special

TigerDirect, 5/7 — 6 Days to Mother's Day: $49 Blu-ray Player...Free iPad Case...$1.99 Bluetooth, plus Core i7 PC Special

1-800-Flowers.com, 5/7 — Sweet! Roses, Free Vase & Free Cookies for Mom ♥ Only $29.99

Sam’s Club, 5/7 — Celebrate mom with shipping included on flowers

Ross-Simons, 5/7 — 30% Off To Honor Mom +Free Shipping Upgrades

Dell, 5/7 — What Mom really wants

Sony, 5/8 — MOTHER'S DAY SAVINGS | Up to $324 Off VAIO PCs, $50 Off a Tablet + FREE Harry Potter eBook and more

Coach, 5/7 — Shop Our Favorite Picks for Mother's Day

Tiffany & Co. 5/7 — Tiffany Has a Way with Words

The Children’s Place, 5/7 — Final Hours - Free Shipping on Every Order + Americana Collection is Here!

Frederick’s of Hollywood, 5/7 — What's summer's hottest trend? It's a ssssssurprise.

Nordstrom, 5/8 —Our Favorite Summer Essentials

Wayfair, 5/7 — Free shipping on grills! Kabobs, kielbasa, and compliments await.

Cooking.com, 5/8 — Celebrate National Burger Month

Neiman Marcus, 5/8 — Lookbook: Our Poolside Guide

J. Crew, 5/8 — Warmer weather, shorter sleeves

JC Whitney, 5/8 — Get Ready for Summer Road Trips!

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AM Inbox: Instantly recognizable email templates

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:55:00 +0000

>>I’m back from the Responsys Interact conference and will be bringing us up to date on tracking over the course of the week. Check out my Takeaways from Interact.

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

JCPenney, 5/6 — Wow Mom

At Responsys Interact I was speaking with the wonderful folks from Art.com and one of them asked me what I thought of JCPenney’s re-branding effort. While changing consumers’ perception of the company from a sale-focused retailer to an everyday-low-price retailer will be tough, I really love their email redesigns. The calendar squares, big splashes of color and sans-serif font are totally distinctive. When I open a JCPenney email, I know it immediately—and that’s exactly the kind of branding umph that you want from your email design. In this email, they create product clusters around M-O-M, an arrangement that encourages subscribers to scroll.

View this email full-sized.

Sephora, 5/5 — Sample Spree

Providing more evidence of the changing landscape around free shipping offers, Sephora now offers free 3-day shipping with a very reasonable $50 minimum. This holiday season I expect free shipping to be the norm, with some retailers offering no minimums and a few offering free returns. The Sephora email is also predominantly about an offer for their Beauty Insiders loyalty program members. Rather than pitching non-members on the benefits of the program, Sephora takes a “show, don’t tell” approach and instead simply promotes member-only deals to their full list periodically. It’s a very tangible, explicit approach to explaining program benefits.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

J&R, 5/5 — Great Gifts for New and Expectant Mothers

SmartBargains, 5/4 — Gifts Wrapped For Mom Starting At $10! Plus Free Shipping

Victoria’s Secret, 5/4 — Give One. Get One. Best Beauty Gifts from Victoria’s Secret.

Lands’ End, 5/4 — Save 30% on 1 item | Mom's Day is May 13

Sony, 5/4 — ACT NOW For Incredible Mother's Day Savings | Special Deals On Cameras, PCs, Tablets and More

eBags, 5/4 — 4 Perfect Gifts for Mom! Order by this Sunday

B&H Photo Video, 5/6 — Mother’s Day Specials + Buying Guides for Choosing that Perfect Gift

Cabela’s, 5/6 — Get $5 Shipping and don't forget Mother's Day May 13!

Overstock, 5/6 — Last day to order for delivery by Mother's Day

TigerDirect, 5/5 — Cinco Deals for Cinco de Mayo

Buy.com, 5/5 — Earn 5% Back* for Cinco de Mayo + 20% OFF Dyson Machines

Spiegel, 5/5 — Festive & Fashionable: Save 50% for Cinco De Mayo

The Children’s Place, 5/5 — $5 Hot Deals - Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Bass Pro Shops, 5/4 — NEW Father's Day Sale Catalog + Final Days for Free Shipping on $75

Lands’ End, 5/5 — Look one size smaller (really!) + save 30% on 1 item

Sam’s Club, 5/6 — iPad® 2. Still amazing. More affordable.

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AM Inbox: First reference to Memorial Day

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:20:00 +0000

>>I’m back from the Responsys Interact conference and will be bringing us up to date on tracking over the course of the week. Check out my Takeaways from Interact.

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

Oriental Trading, 5/4 — Red, white, blue and free shipping too!‏

Oriental Trading gives us our first reference to Memorial Day, although they don’t mention it by name. A May 4 Avon email included a similar patriotic reference. For insights and inspiration for your campaigns, check out the Memorial Day 2011 Season Finale.

View this email full-sized.

Ann Taylor, 5/4 — Kate Hudson's Mother's Day Picks!

Having celebrities and other experts share their top product picks are not uncommon promotions. They’re also a great format to test on Pinterest. Because channels are different strengths and weaknesses, I’m not a fan of channel synchronization that’s too exact, but this is a format that should work over multiple channels.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Kmart, 5/4 — "Heavens, the picture's so clear!" - mom, 5/13/12: Ario or Coby HDTV, $229.99

Kmart, 5/2 — Maintain your status as mom's favorite: 25-30% OFF women's clothing

SmartBargains, 5/2 — Head To Toe Gifts For Mom - Save 90% Off Or More! + Free Shipping

Target, 5/2 — Save on patio & garden--a breath of fresh air for Mom.

Coldwater, 5/2 — Special Savings + Mom's Favorites Inside (hint, hint)

Sam’s Club, 5/3 — Gifts for Every Mom - Jewelry, Flowers, Fragrances and more

Fingerhut, 5/3 — Fingerhut: Use the Gift Finder to Find the PERFECT Gift for Mom!

Hallmark, 5/3 — Enter our "THANK YOU, MOM" book contest!

Barnes & Noble, 5/3 — Spoil Mom with Surprises! Plus 15% Savings for You

J. Crew, 5/2 — Mom's the word

J&R, 5/2 — Great Gift Ideas for Mother's Day

OfficeMax, 5/4 — Preview Our May 6 Ad + Gifts for the Modern Mom

Bloomingdale’s, 5/5 — Mother's Day Gifts

Musician’s Friend, 5/4 — Musician, Save $150 Instantly This Cinco de Mayo

Wayfair, 5/2 — Curb appeal SALE ends 5/7. Watch neighbors' faces turn green.

Backcountry.com, 5/2 — 2012 Camp Showcase & Free 2-Day Shipping Is Back

Sports Authority, 5/4 — Save on Summer Fun! Get up to 50% off Your Outdoor Essentials

Blair, 5/5 — TGIF! Thank goodness it's free shipping.

Crutchfield, 5/2 — Less noise, more music: Polk Audio's UltraFocus headphones

Wayfair, 5/3 — Meet Justin Timberlake and Estee Stanley | New HomeMint launch

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AM Inbox: First reference to Father’s Day

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Mon, 07 May 2012 20:04:00 +0000

>>I’m back from the Responsys Interact conference and will be bringing us up to date on tracking over the course of the week. Check out my Takeaways from Interact.

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

Orvis, 5/1 — Find the perfect gifts for dads, grads, and groomsmen.

Orvis gives us our first reference to Father’s Day in this email that takes a broad swipe at that holiday, graduation season and wedding season. For insights and inspiration for your campaigns, check out the Father’s Day 2011Season Finale.

View this email full-sized.

L.L. Bean, 5/1 — Our Popular Swimwear, from $34.95 + Free Shipping

At the Responsys Interact conference we heard how charity: water stands out from other charities by closing the loop and telling donors exactly which well project(s) their donation helped funded—all the way down to the exact GPS coordinates of the well. Charity: water’s founder, Scott Harrison, described most charities as “black holes”—Who knows what your donation is spent on? Sweepstakes and contests are similar in that the loop is rarely closed. There’s an opportunity to validate the involvement of your customers by letting subscribers and social followers know who won and why. For instance, in this L.L. Bean email, they include a link to one of the winning entries. It lets would-be entrants know where the bar is, but also shares a nice story and shows how L.L. Bean helped the customer.

View this email full-sized.

Musician’s Friend, 5/1 — Musician, You Interview Slash in Our May Catalog

All channels are becoming more social in nature. This Musician’s Friend email is a great example of this by highlighting an interview with Slash using crowdsourced questions. Not only is this a way to demonstrate that you want to have a dialogue with your customers, but it gives them a vested interest in sharing your content.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Ross-Simons, 5/1 — Moms, let them know what you really want. Please forward to your families!

eBags, 4/30 — Your Mom Rocks! Tell us why & win...

Lane Bryant, 4/30 — Great Gifts To Remind Mom Why She Likes You Best

Kmart, 4/30 — Put a sparkle in mom's eye: 75% OFF all diamond and gold fine jewelry

Sam’s Club, 4/30 — Mother's Day gifts to cherish forever

Saks Fifth Avenue, 4/30 — Mother's Day Gifts: Give her something she'll cherish

Barnes & Noble, 5/1 — Up to 50% Off Books, DVDs & Chocolates to Make Mom's Day!

Brookstone, 5/1 — Great ideas for Mom at any price

eBags, 4/30 — Mom's Day Shopping Guide | Insider Exclusive: 20% Off + Free Shipping on all orders!

Ralph Lauren, 5/1 — The Perfect Gifts For Mother's Day

Yoox, 5/1 — Shop Mothers Day Gifts + Enjoy Free Express Shipping

Crate & Barrel, 5/1 — Just arrived and ready to hit the summer table.

Nordstrom, 5/1 — New from TOMS: Exclusive Nordstrom Prints

Staples, 5/1 — 12 exclusive coupons! Plus register for a free Webinar.

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Takeaways from Responsys Interact 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:48:00 +0000

Responsys Interact just concluded this week in San Francisco. Here are just a few of the great insights and learnings from the event:

Relationship Marketing:
>>“New School Marketers put relationships first and acquisition second,” said Scott Olrich of Responsys. “Acquisition-first marketers are focused on the first purchase by marketing the product and price. Relationship-first marketers are focused on the second, third and fourth purchase by marketing the experience.”
>>A brand relationship is emotion plus behavior, said Matt Walsh of Crispin Porter + Bogusky.
>>“It’s not about doing more digital marketing,” said Dan Springer, CEO of Responsys. “It’s about doing it better.”
>>“A relationship-focused company is one that lets the customer do their marketing,” said Shar VanBoskirk of Forrester.
>>Charity: water’s success is due in part to using email to follow up with donors and let me know exactly how their donation was used, including the name of village where the well was built, it’s GPS coordinates, how many people there are in the village, the names of other donors who contributed to the building of the particular well, and much more. Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water, said that giving to charity shouldn’t be a “black hole.”
>>“Advertising is the cost of being boring,” said Andy Sernovitz, author of Word of Mouth Marketing. “Making people happy is the single best marketing you can do.”

Relationship Retargeting Display Ads:
>>Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group sends reservation reminder emails 2 days before the pickup date to help ensure that customers show up to get their cars. They started using individually targeted display ad reminders 7 days before pickup and saw a 22% increase in pickups, generating an ROI of 47x.
>>In addition to supplementing email touches, targeted display ads can be used to reach email non-responders as well as customers who haven’t opted in for email.

Inactives:
>>80% of Epson’s email list was unengaged—that is, they hadn’t opened or clicked a single email in more than 36 months, according to Chris Nichel of Epson. He removed the inactives from the main list in four batches over time to prove to management that removing them wouldn’t affect revenue. They later tried to re-permission those inactives, offering them an opportunity to opt-down. Their overall email volume decreased 80% and their revenue per email increased 140%, although they did experience a slight decrease in overall email revenue.
>>Orbitz used a 3-email re-permission series to clean out subscribers who hadn’t opened or clicked in more than 6 months. 3% said they wanted to continue receiving emails, 2% said they didn’t, and 95% didn’t respond. “We removed that 2% plus 95% and all of our deliverability problems magically disappeared,” said Ted Wham of Orbitz.
>>NutriSystem was able to reduce email volume by 46% but increase orders by 14%, according to Meg Parzych of NutriSystem.
>>If you are getting blocked or bulked at an ISP, then suppress anyone who hasn’t opened or clicked in the past 2 months, said Dan Deneweth of Responsys.
>>When analyzing their inactive subscribers, Philosophy looked at the acquisition source of their subscribers and found that those that were acquired through Facebook converted at 90% lower rate than other subscribers, according to Tiffany Berry of Philosophy. They cut off that acquisition channel and also stopped using sample campaigns because of the low-quality subscribers they attracted. Philosophy was able to decrease full-file emails by 40%, but increase email revenue by 50% by sending more email to engaged subscribers. That increase to engaged subscribers did not increase their unsubscribe rate.

Deliverability:
>>Your deliverability is likely in danger if your hard bounce rate is greater than 3%, if your overall bounce rate is greater than 5%, or if your spam complaint rate is greater than 0.2%.

Email Design:
>>REI tested a 50/50 split of a desktop version of their email vs. a fluid/responsive template that changes based on the screen width of the device it’s being viewed on. The responsive template generated twice the click rate for iOS users.
>>Hawaiian Airlines, Realtor.com and Verizon Wireless are also using responsive templates for some of their emails.
>>“You have to ruthlessly prioritize what’s most important to include in a mobile-optimized email,” said John Edwards of Verizon Wireless.
>>“A more muted color palette for your email template allows images to shine,” said Wacarra Yeomans of Responsys.

Landing Pages:
>>“An email is only as good as the landing page I’m driving them to,” said Jason Jennings of Verizon Wireless.

Social Media:
>>“It’s not important where people are talking about you. It’s important what they are saying about you,” said Sernovitz.
>>“Love and money don’t mix,” said Sernovitz. Paying people for word of mouth is creepy and dampens enthusiasm.
>>Facebook is the largest traffic-generating social media site for brands, but the second largest differs by vertical, according to Christopher Parkin of Adobe Systems. Pinterest is No. 2 for retailers. Yelp is No. 2 for travel companies. And Twitter and StumbleUpon are tied for No. 2 for media companies.

Triggered Emails:
>>Philosophy’s triggered birthday email is their second highest performing email based on revenue per email.
>>FreshPair’s shopping cart abandonment email generates 16 times the revenue per email vs. their average promotional email. Their welcome email generates 6x; review request emails 5x; and win-back emails 2x.
>>FreshPair’s welcome email series included progressive profiling. Their first welcome emails asks if they’d prefer to shop their Men’s Store or Women’s Store. Those that respond are shown gender-appropriate imagery in the second welcome email that touts the benefits of the email program and shopping with FreshPair.
>>During the first five weeks of tenure, new Orbitz subscribers see a welcome module in their Weekly Deals email that addresses five different value propositions.
>>Hawaiian Airlines sends a series of three triggered emails between the time of ticket purchase and the day of the flight. These emails don’t try to see anything to subscribers, but rather suggests places to eat and go when they get to Hawaii, trying to get them focused on the vacation experience.

Remarketing Emails:
>>When subscribers don’t respond to certain emails, Sammar Faraj of Quicken Loans follows this plan of action: If the email wasn’t opened, they change the subject line but not the creative. If the email content wasn’t clicked, they modify or test the subject line and change the creative. And if the email didn’t convert, they modify of test the subject line and modify and test the creative.

Mobile:
>>Whole Foods Market sees 29% engagement with their mobile app 6 months after download.
>>Hawaiian Airlines uses in-flight videos and signage to promote their Hawaii Here mobile app.
For more insights, impressions and happenings from the conference, check out my Twitter stream or see what all Twitterers said about #Interact12.
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The Most Popular Posts during April 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

The posts that were visited the most during the past month:

10. AM Inbox: First reference to Mother's Day

9. AM Inbox: Shop worst-rated products

8. AM Inbox: Symbols getting ☼ in subject lines

7. AM Inbox: First Pinterest contest promoted

6. AM Inbox: Sephora redesigns email with website relaunch

5. AM Inbox: Frameless email designs

4. Design Hall of Fame: 2011 Inductees

3. AM Inbox: The next evolution of the animated gif

2. Season Finale: Mother's Day 2011

1. Alert: Hotmail converting some symbol characters into images

>>View the most popular posts from previous months.

Looking to get a jump on ideas for this month? Then check out the May 2011 archive for inspiration and trends from last year.

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AM Inbox: All sports are local

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0000

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

NikeStore, 4/27 — Nike NFL Jerseys In Stock Now: Rookie Jerseys Coming Soon

NFLshop does a fantastic job of segmenting their email messages based on subscribers’ favorite teams and it looks like Nike is preparing to do the same.

View this email full-sized.

The favorite team and player information collected on the landing page (below) allows for much more pointed subject lines and tailored messaging, which will boost opens, clicks and conversions. That said, the system Nike has set up is a little rigid, forcing you to pick a favorite player from your favorite team. Favorite players can transcend team allegiances—growing up I idolized Joe Montana despite being an Oilers fan. Also, some people may to loyal to more than one team, so having the flexibility to pick more than one favorite team may also result in more sales.

View this email full-sized.

Brookstone, 4/29 — What comes after the graduation speech...

A solid graduation email anchored by a subject line that’s mysterious, but not too mysterious.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Kmart, 4/27 — Catch up with the sun ☼: Check out the 2012 Outdoor Living Catalog

Sam’s Club, 4/27 — Enter to win a Sam's Club Backyard Makeover!

Home Depot, 4/29 — Shop Hot Grills that Won't Burn Your Budget

Wayfair, 4/29 — Ice cream maker: Giddy little ones at the push of a button

Cooking.com, 4/27 — Mother's Day is May 13th - Shop Our Top Gift Ideas

Coach, 4/27 — Get something Mom will love from our Gift Guide

Sony, 4/29 — CHAD, Save Big This Mother's Day | Special Deals On Cameras, PCs, Tablets and More

Dell, 4/28 — Say thank you this Mother's Day

Overstock.com, 4/29 — Mother's Day Gifts Made Easier

Bed Bath & Beyond, 4/27 — Hurry! Your 20% OFF online offer will expire soon. Plus FREE SHIPPING on select Mother's Day Gifts!

HP, 4/29 — Celebrate this Milestone with Something Special

Hallmark, 4/29 — FREE stamps on Mother's Day, Grad and Birthday cards.

Lands’ End, 4/27 — New! Dress Diaries, the movie.

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Week-End Trends: Mother's Day messaging to hit 30% of volume

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:14:00 +0000

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: The top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 3.7 promotional emails on average during the week ending Apr. 27, 2012. That’s down 1% week-over-week, up 6% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 11% year-over-year.

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

The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Earth Day messaging was a little stronger than last year thanks to the early Easter this year. This week we’ll see a small pop in Cinco de Mayo messaging, with Mother’s Day messaging dominating for the next couple of weeks. Roughly 30% of retail emails will mention Mother’s Day over the next two weeks.

Selling Seasons on the Horizon:

Mother’s Day (May 13): 2011 Season Finale

Graduation (May/June): 2011 Season Finale

Memorial Day (May 28): 2011 Season Finale

Father’s Day (June 17): 2011 Season Finale

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Ping Time: Triggered email benchmarks, online coupons, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:37:00 +0000

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

>>The Email Experience Council and Epsilon provide benchmarks for triggered emails. >>Follow the ping

>>EMarketer discusses the growing popularity of online coupons and how email is the preferred channel for their delivery. >>Follow the ping

>>@EmailKarma: @jacaldwell When CASL starts the request for opt-in via an eappend would be considered in violation/illegal #mpeis

>>MarketingSherpa discusses research results than show that while email has the lowest amplification rate, because sharing is one-to-one, it also has the highest conversion rate by a wide margin when compared to Facebook, Twitter and personal URLs. >>Follow the ping

>>@ryanpphelan: Smart marketing is "Show me that you know me" #FMF12

>>Trisha Smith of Responsys provides updates on how to handle Hotmail replacing copyright, registration, trademark and some other special characters with 19x19 pixel images. >>Follow the ping

>>@aliverson: where can i get this "deliverbilly" everybody keeps talking about?

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I talk about how retailers have brought Pinterest into their email campaigns faster than Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and iPhone app content. >>Follow the ping

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AM Inbox: 1-800-Flowers email redesign

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:19:00 +0000

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, 4/25 — LIMITED-TIME: Buy 12, Get 12 Roses Free - just $29.99!

1-800-Flowers has made a number of significant changes to their email template. The biggest change is that they’ve narrowed their template to a mobile-friendly 580 pixels wide down from a hefty 720 pixels. They also made several changes to their preheader and header: They’ve reduced their preheader text to one line; cut their sister-brand tabs; added community links to Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest; and converted their navigation bar links to HTML text. Toward the bottom of the email, they’ve changed their Deal of the Week to a banner and made their Upcoming Occasions messaging block more prominent. Here’s the new design (left) and the previous design from an Apr. 24 email:

View new design full-sized. View previous design full-sized.

RitzCamera, 4/26 — Do you know a Mom-Arazzi?

I really like RitzCamera’s “Mom-Arazzi” Mother’s Day campaign. It’s a fresh, fun idea that everyone can identify with. And on the landing page you can see that they’ve coupled this campaign with a Facebook photo contest as well.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Fingerhut, 4/25 — Fingerhut: Shop for Mom and get a FREE WATCH. Hurry - limited quantities available!

Hallmark, 4/25 — BOGO coupon inside (just in time for Mother's Day).

Brookstone, 4/26 — Help Save the Children this Mother's Day

J&R, 4/26 — The Perfect Cup, The Perfect Gift

Nordstrom, 4/25 — Are You Ready to Play in the Sand?

Cooking.com, 4/25 — Get Ready to Grill + Recipes for Easy BBQ Chicken

Home Depot, 4/26 — Join the Garden Club and Save $5 Off Your Next Spring Purchase

Lands’ End, 4/25 — Big ideas for the Little Black Suit

Eddie Bauer, 4/25 — Last Day-Free Shipping! See Our Simple, Easy, Stylish Travex Collection.

Sony, 4/25 — Experience a New Innovation in Crystal-Clear Sound

Eddie Bauer, 4/25 — Alchemist 40 Wins Gear of The Year

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AM Inbox: Customer images of customizable products

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:06:00 +0000

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, 4/23 — A Workbench For Any Space - See What Others Have Built‏

Customizable products are a great opportunity to get customers to share their designs—whether it’s through photos uploaded with product reviews, posted to Flickr, or pinned on Pinterest. In this Northern Tool email, they’ve included three photos submitted by customers as part of product reviews. These photos show the versatility of the product and support the messaging point that it’s “easy to assemble.” Pinterest is a great new way to aggregate these kinds of customer product images all in one place.

View this email full-sized.

Urban Outfitters, 4/24 — The Sale's Still On - Now With Free Shipping!

Apology emails are thankfully very rare—only 0.12% of the retail emails sent this year to date have been apology emails—and most, but not all, apologize for website issues rather than email issues. Even though few mistakes rise to the level of sending an apology, it’s good to have an apology email ready to go in case it’s needed. While humor is not the best tactic for most brands, for the quirky and youthful Urban Outfitters it was a good approach in this apology email. The apologetic messaging, and extension and sweetening of the sale, are front and center, but then they follow with cute kittens to lighten the mood. The eyes of the kittens also direct your attention back up to the sale offer, so they serve two purposes.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Wayfair, 4/23 — Love is blind. Your mother isn't. Handpicked, top rated Mother's Day gift ideas inside.

Barnes & Noble, 4/24 — Send More Than Flowers -- Up to 50% Off Mother's Day Gifts She'll Love

Saks Fifth Avenue, 4/24 — Mother's Day Gift Guide: Stunning jewelry & watches she'll adore

RitzCamera, 4/24 — Mother's Day Gifts, 50% Off Canvas Prints plus the new Nikon D3200

Williams-Sonoma, 4/23 — Le Creuset Gift for Mom – Save $110 + Free Shipping!‏

Fingerhut, 4/23 — Fingerhut: FREE Shipping on Gift Finder – Find Something GREAT in Time for Mother’s Day!

TigerDirect, 4/24 — Laptops from $379.99 for You and Mom

Frederick’s of Hollywood, 4/23 — Got a case of the Mondays? Treat yourself to 30% off lingerie. Ends tonight.‏

Backcountry.com, 4/24 — 2012 Camp Gear Showcase + Free Shipping on $50

J. Crew, 4/23 — A piece of surf culture

SmartBargains, 4/23 — Save Up To 82% Off Chloe Sunglasses! - Limited Quantities - Plus Free Shipping

Neiman Marcus, 4/24 — Spring's most flattering shape

Montgomery Ward, 4/24 — Capture Summer Memories, As Little As $20 a Month

Walgreens, 4/23 — Everyday FREE Shipping at $25, plus Free In-store Returns & More | 20% OFF All Contact Lenses

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BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked

AM Inbox: First reference to 2012 Olympics

noreply@blogger.com (Chad White) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:29:00 +0000

>>I was on vacation for the past few days, so I’ll be catching us up on tracking over the next couple of days.

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

Ralph Lauren, 4/19 — Official U.S. Olympic Uniforms Revealed On The TODAY Show

Ralph Lauren gives us our first reference to the Olympics. They’ve been a longtime supporter and outfitter of the games (see Jan. 12, 2010 AM Inbox). Retailers will promote their sponsorship of the games, as Home Depot did (see July 28, 2008 AM Inbox); raise funds for Team USA, as Home Depot also did (see Aug. 1, 2008 AM Inbox); leverage Olympic achievements, as Road Runner Sports did (see Aug. 25, 2008 AM Inbox); tout patriotic and Olympic items; and even highlight any staffers that are Olympic hopefuls.

View this email full-sized.

NFLshop, 4/20 — New York Giants 2012 Schedule - New Season, New Look, Get Ready!

This email is a great merger of promotional and informational content. It engages with information and then leverages that engagement into buying interest.

View this email full-sized.

Neiman Marcus, 4/20 — The Beauty Cue: Free gift each month!

Neiman Marcus provides more evidence that educational content is powerful in deepening retail relationships with their launch of the Beauty Cue.

View this email full-sized.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines

Tiffany & Co., 4/19 — Heartfelt Tiffany Gifts for Mom

Saks Fifth Avenue, 4/19 — Mother's Day Gift Guide: Bags & Accessories for the world's best mom

Bass Pro Shops, 4/19 — Mother's Day Gift Ideas + Free Shipping

JC Whitney, 4/22 — Earth Day Sale: 15% Off Fuel Saving Products

Sony, 4/22 — Save Up to 50% At Our Outlet Sale | Celebrate Earth Day With $150 Trade-In Credit

Cooking.com, 4/22 — Make Everyday Earth Day - Save Money and the Environment

Sears, 4/22 — Go green & save green: 5-15% off lawn & garden, tools, grills & more

Home Depot, 4/22 — Go Green AND Save Green. That’s a Happy Earth Day!

Sephora, 4/20 — Celebrate Earth Day with free Origins

Dell, 4/21 — Happy Earth Day

Spiegel, 4/21 — Heaven on Earth

Yoox, 4/22 — Earth Day with YOOXYGEN

Lowe’s, 4/22 — Enjoy Earth Day Savings From Lowe's

Oriental Trading, 4/20 — Celebrate your grad's success, spend less! $0 shipping

J&R, 4/19 — RECORD STORE DAY Is This Saturday. . . Exclusive Vinyl and Free Performances!

J. Crew, 4/22 — The pocket square, decoded

ShopNBC, 4/21 — Team dog or team cat? Tell Us

Wayfair, 4/19 — Over 29,000 ways to bedroom bliss. What's yours?

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BROWSE... Archive / Post Categories / Selling Seasons / Topics Covered / Retailers Tracked