The focus of this post though is on a pre-trip email from Wynn’s Encore. A friend of mine will be visiting the new resort next week (I’m jealous I couldn’t make this trip!) A week before the arrival date he received an email from the concierge which got us talking about Wynn’s email strategy here.

Subject: During Your Upcoming Stay at Encore at Wynn Las Vegas.

Body of Email (Click to Enlarge)

Landing Page (Click to Enlarge)

Anyone who spots the first problem of why a user has to click through to see any content gets points.

Comments & Suggestions

1. Approach: I love it! For a resort like the Wynn/Encore, there should absolutely be a high level of personalized email communication that is consistent with the level of service they provide. They are on the right track here, but still several steps away from a solid strategy (some steps being beyond the scope of this post).

2. Improved Approach: What I would do here though is have the focuses of this email separated into two campaigns. On one end they are offering a personalized welcome message. This is great and absolutely needed. Make it personal and have it directly from the concierge. On the other end they are offering recommendations and using the email channel as a cross-sell opportunity. This is also fantastic and justified for its own send. Provide some timely recommendations for shows, dinner specials, new casino games etc. (Of course even better if they integrate data from previous customer behavior to make it more of a rifle/blow-dart approach). But at the very least, do let me know about other ways I can enjoy my stay — and provide direct links to make reservations etc.

3. Email Body: Now why would Encore not just have the main content in the body of the email? Here they have an image of an envelope to click through to a landing page with the actual content. Some might argue that since this is going to registered hotel guests, the click-through-rate should be off the charts. Yes – this is very true, however it will not be a 100% CTR. They could be attempting to build excitement and value once you do actually click — but I think much more can be accomplished with a well structured main email.

…This email got me very excited about all the opportunities a resort like the Wynn has with the email channel. They are on the right track with this transactional approach, but still miles away from a top-notch program. I do hope they put in the time to make improvements to their strategy and execution as I know it will pay big dividends.

- Forest Bronzan

Questions or inputs? Feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email.

Nice usability, focused communications, integrated landing pages, some ’small-touch’ best practices and more. There are many things going well here for RedBox.

Let’s look at a few elements from the email screen grab  below:

1. Pre-Header: You should always link to a web version, but offering a ‘mobile device’ option is a nice addition.

2. Navigation: In a previous post I commented on the benefits of navigation in your email. Here, they provide 4 primary nav links that are consistent with their site. How Redbox Works, Find A Movie, Find A Redbox, Reserve Online. Simple, to the point, and relevant. 

3. Design: Clean, consistent with their brand, and welcoming.

4. Focus: They have a clear focus here; to highlight the new release. (in this particular email it was the movie “New in Town.” They provide an image, movie description, and clear call to action to reserve it online…

5. Landing Page: You can have a great email, but if your landing pages are not integrated then you are not getting maximum benefit (and hurting your email efforts). Here, they take you to a page specifically about the movie with the option to search for availability at your local RedBox location (and of course then reserve it online). Not every company executes this well. In a previous post, I pointed out some landing page mistakes by William Sonoma.

6. Forward to a Friend: Nice option in the upper right. I may not be interested in this particular movie, but my friends may be.

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Upper fold of RedBox New Release Email (Click Image to Enlarge)

Landing Page for ‘Reserve Online’ and Movie Image (Click Image to Enlarge)

3 Good Elements from the Screen Grab Above

1. Pre-Header Options: They have two links for ‘view mobile version’ and ‘view as a web page’ . A common used practice is: “Click here if you have having trouble viewing this email” — or something similar. Here they do provide the web version but also mobile — very nice.

2. Ensure Delivery: In the upper right you will see a text link titled, “Ensure delivery” — I don’t see this too often, at least not in this form. Email marketers most often have a line of copy reading: “To ensure delivery of future emails, please add newsletter@xyzcorp.com to your address book.” Here, they provide a link to a landing page with actual instructions for different email providers (pasted below). I don’t know how effective this is, but it’s a nice addition to cover their bases.

3. Personalization: While there are more direct ways to make an email personal and targeted, they do a nice job here of providing options that are useful to me. A link to log in to my account, view my favorite restaurants, or access my account center. These dynamic URLs help integrate my user experience and make the process one step easier.

Landing page from the ‘Ensure Delivery’ link in the email

- Forest Bronzan

In a previous post I discussed how Toys R Us had a segmentation mistake when I was on the list of previous customers of a particular product that was being recalled. The same issue happened again recently, but I want to quickly point out a few of the good elements going on here with the recall email.

1. Great use of the email channel for reaching out to customers on an important issue

2. Clean design that focuses on the recall information; not trying to sell other products

3. Because of the heavy text-based content, the email displays well with images blocked by default

A big area of improvement though was with their landing page for: ‘Click Here to Receive All Safety Email Notifications.’ On this page (screen grab below), it asked to sign in to my email preference center. Why would Toys R Us not take me right to the preference center? Perhaps I don’t have a preference center as it has an option for me to sign-up, but any legitimate email platform will have a preference center already integrated. I do understand that approach they are taking here, but feel it should be much more seamless for the subscriber.

For SEO, one of the best resources on the planet is seomoz.org. (note: I’m not affiliated with or compensated by SEOmoz in any way — just a happy customer). It turns out that the crew over at SEOmoz has some email marketing know-how up their sleeves as well. For a company that isn’t overboard with email marketing (compared to retailers such as Sephora, Victoria’s Secret, and Toys R’ Us) email marketers can take some notes from a recent campaign that SEOmoz had in early February. I’ve heard now that Scott Willoughby at the Moz was the mastermind of this piece.

Below is the February 4th Email (click to enlarge)

Subject Line: Try SEOmoz PRO For Just A Dollar!

4 Elements That Were Great

1. The Subject Line: Specific and juicy. I’ve been a ‘basic’ member for a while and have been thinking of upgrading to a pro membership ($79/month). This subject definitely grabbed my attention.

2. Simple Design Layout: They could have easily pushed out a flashy creative heavy with imagery. They instead opted for plain text with a simple header and footer for branding. This has two major wins: first, it’s much more personal and pleasant to read, and second, the content is actually viewable to the recipient. In a previous post I discussed how sexy retailer Victoria’s Secret had an ugly view with their email — no one could see it with images blocked. The prettiest picture is worthless if the lights are out.

3. Going off of the plain text, the tone of the copy is very comfortable. While a bit heavy with sales, it’s not too stiff — and it’s written in the voice of Rand Fishkin (the wizard of moz).

4. P.S.: In my own tests, I’ve seen exceptional engagement with the use of a post script message to re-state the primary call to action and promo. Nice use of it here.

A Few Ideas for Improvement:

1. Personalization: the format of the email is already quite personal. In the opening line it says: Hi (username). This is better than a general greeting, but why not use the subscriber’s actual first name? a username appears more ‘batch blast’ while a first name is personal and closer to creating the impression of a one-to-one communication.

2. I’m a huge fan of plain text (at least testing it against other formats) and have seen exceptional results in my own tests. There is a decent amount of copy here and to make it easier on the eyes it probably couldn’t hurt to have an isolated summary of sorts above the fold. Something to the effect of:

Here’s the Skinny

Full Month of SEOmos’z Pro Membership

Only $1.00 for a limited time

Promo Code: SUCCESS09

Get Started Now: www.seomoz.org/trypro

With more visual creative pieces it’s easier to package up certain CTAs. With simple text, we need to do our best to quickly communicate our desired action and organize copy in a way that is easy to engage with.

3. Video: I noticed on the landing page a video of Rand discussing the benefits of Pro membership. I’ve seen great engagement from having a video screen shot within an email that links to the actual video. Helps mix up the copy and provides another juicy entry point to the site for increased CTRs.

Now back to the good stuff…

What was truly impressive was the follow-through and personalized experience after this email was sent. I was traveling when this email went out and was too busy to act. When I finally came up for air I had missed the deadline. I replied to the email thanking them for the promo but stating that I unfortunately missed the deadline. That day I received a reply from the wizard (Rand Fishkin) himself saying that while the offer had expired, they would find a way to get me on board. In a marketing environment these days where there is often a lot of disconnect between company and customer, this was a pleasant surprise. The result of a little extra time and customer service can be a new promoter and long-term customer. The crew there made me feel valued, and their customer-centric attitude stood out with shining lights.

This brings up a point I’d like to close with regarding the email channel. Too many marketers treat it as a vehicle to blast out unpersonalized messages. Some marketers ‘get it’ and start to implement segmentation strategies, advanced personalization with dynamic content, and complex behavioral retargeting programs. Even with this though, there is still often a barrier between subscriber and marketer/company. The email channel (and other social media channels) give companies a fantastic opportunity to engage with their customers, learn more, mediate problems, manage the cross-channel brand experience, and create the impression of a one-to-one interaction. The technology is there, we just need to use it properly and re-focus our program strategy.

- Forest Bronzan

Don’t go overboard here, but some core product categories can have several key benefits. Lets examine:

1. The subscriber will have another entry point away from the email and to your website (thus increasing your click-through-rate). For retail companies in particular this is key.

2. You have the opportunity to follow up with extremely relevant landing pages.

3. You can get a gauge of what your subscribers are interested in. If you have a list of 500,000 you are sending to, and 0.0005% are clicking on the ‘dog shampoo link, you can make some deductions.

4. You can segment down further based on click activity. This is a great use of email technology and something I will be discussing in greater detail in a later post. In a nutshell though, your email platform will keep track of who clicks on the ‘basketball shoes’ link, or the ’skincare’ link. From here you can send a special related communication to that group at a later time, or set up a more advanced sequential sending program where targeted content is automatically based and click activity. There are many exciting options here.

Below is a screen grab of Sephora’s simple header navigation. Clean, basic options, in a traditional location, — oh and they point out that there is free shipping for orders over $50; a nice bonus.

- Forest Bronzan

To compare a bit with some of their industry competitors, I wanted to add myself to the Shane Co. email list. Living in San Francisco for several years, I heard radio ad after radio ad from. “We’re your friend in the diamond business” — I will never forget the consistency in tone from Tom Shane, and how much frequency they had on the major radio stations.

At any rate… I went to shaneco.com and… no email sign-up. I searched around for several minutes with no luck. An image at the end of this post shows the home page above the fold (where I would want to see a simple: “Sign up for exclusive offers”). I went to several other pages with no luck.

Now in this case, I’m not just an email marketer doing research; I’m a primary persona: mid to late 20s male in a serious relationship and in the early research phases of engagement rings.

With the engagement ring product line in particular, the email channel is a great fit for a jeweler like Shane Co. Let’s examine:

1. It can be a long sales cycle: Customers of course will differ, from the spontaneous to methodical, but with a high ticket (and very personal purchase) like an engagement ring, it’s reasonable to expect a prospective customer taking a longer time to make a decision. Email can help that relationship by providing educational pieces, shopping tips, and other general guidance during the cycle. With email we can create the impression of a one-to-one communication to enhance the subscriber experience.

2. Keeping the brand top of mind: With purchases likes these, it’s natural to ’shop around’. While a prospective is out at other jewelry stores (and on other sites), it sure would be great to send some reminders of your value, and check-ins so they don’t forget about you. These check-ins can also be good for the customer that is not shopping around much but who is just taking his (or her) sweet little time to decide when and what they want to do. Helping them get into the moment can be quite rewarding for you.

3. You can see how they engage: Utilizing just some of the simple elements of email marketing technology, you can gain valuable information about how your new subscriber engages with your communications. On a basic level we will know if they open and click through. We can also monitor which links they click on and set up corresponding content to be sent based on those links. We can take it a step further and see if the subscriber hits certain goal landing pages after they click through from our email. Now where we just started with a name and email address, we may potentially discover that our subscriber opens 70%  of our emails, and spends a lot of time on the site learning about ’round shaped diamonds’ — the retargeting options here are exciting.

Frustrated with my discovery, I decided to ‘chat live’ with a sales representative. The response after asking if they had a newsletter I could sign up for was: “oh, no — we don’t really send email blasts”  — I didn’t go any further, but was thinking: “Well it’s good that you’re not sending ‘blasts’ because you should be sending highly targeted and personalized emails — but WHY are you not sending anything?”  — if someone from the marketing department at Shane Co. would be so kind to explain their reasoning, I’m all ears.

- Forest Bronzan

One of the options within the email is for “Videos – Watch our experts demonstrate new products and technique” My first thought here was one of excitement. I love seeing the use of video in email (that is – having a screen grab of a video that links to a landing page playing that video). In some of my own studies, I’ve seen some exceptionally high engagement rates with this strategy.

The mistake Williams-Sonoma made though was not following through with that targeted landing page. Here I’m expecting to have a video start, or at least be ready to start — hopefully the same video in the image. What we get though is a page that looks like a product category page. On first glance I thought they were completely off the mark with a link-mistake. But after looking a little closer, it’s clear they intended this to be the landing page! Here we have a list of products that have videos. After clicking on one of the products, the actual video is below the fold (the viewable portion of the screen before scrolling).

What I would have liked to see is the actual video of the product in the email image, with options for watching other videos. There needs to be a focus of video content on the site that integrates better with their email strategy.

- Forest Bronzan