In a previous post I gave compliments to the Blinds.com email team for their subject line and promotions. From what I’ve seen so far, they appear to have nice integration (of subject/preview/promo) and well executed segments.
This morning I received the 4th of July Promo email. Consistent on some good elements, but a few things were missing for me.
Good Elements
1. Clear Subject Line: 4th Of July Savings : Get 10% off all Blinds.com Brand Products To the point and specific. I know what to expect when I open (and expectations have been established for my savings).
2. Consistency: The email is specifically about the promotion, a continuation of the subject, and focused on the event (in this case; July 4th)
3. Landing Page: Highly targeted landing page specifically for this email promo. This is a big win. If I had a dollar for every email I’ve seen that links to a not-so-well targeted landing page…
Improvements
1. Design: The majority of this email is a big image. Not good at all when images are blocked. Even with some nice things they have (some plain text in case images are blocked) there are still much better ways to balance it.
2. Architecture: The layout of this email does not help the problems with the images. Such a big piece of real estate is taken up by the flag (problem 1) but it’s also in the left portion and takes up the majority of my preview window (see screen grab). If you must have a big image, at least have your primary copy to the left so I can see it. Had I not liked reviewing emails from Blinds.com this would have been an instant delete. I also feel there is much to be improved with the layout and presentation of key buttons (Shop Now, Save 10% Today, Offer expires..).
I like what Blinds.com has been doing with the email channel and think that they are a cut above many email marketing programs. But this particular email was sub-par for me.
Screen Grab of Left Half of Image (click to enlarge)
Screen Grab of Expanded Email Image (click to enlarge)
Hi from Blinds.com.
Thanks so much for the intelligent, insightful comments! I really appreciate your feedback, Forest.
Daniel