The next page had a great  preference section that was obviously specific to this particular promotion. I was able to indicate if I wanted reminders for Laptops, Desktops, Monitors, etc. You’ll see in the screen grab below that they have large visuals for each of the options which is a nice touch. Not only is it more usable, but seeing the products makes a user more likely to want to receive updates on them — tech “eye candy” if you will.

They offer an opt-in check box to subscribe to additional offers and also allow you to subscribe to mobile reminders. On the confirmation page though, Dell had a really cool move of providing links to “Shop Now” for the categories I selected to receive updates on. Sounds like common sense, however many retailers take you to a general thank-you page and you have to navigate your way to certain products. Dell does a nice job here of making it easy for the user to get where they likely want to go and retain visitors while they are in the buying mindset.

Great opt-in process from Dell here. They stay consistent with their brand and usability of their site, offer a reason to opt-in to their list, provide user preference options so they can further segment and provide more sophisticated dynamic content, and they integrate the process with other site goals. One quick area of improvement would be on the first page where you click “Need a Reminder…” and then go to the opt-in page. I would recommend having a quick sign-up here (have a field to enter your email address) accompanied by a button reading: “Click to subscribe and select product preferences” — or something to that effect. By doing this they likely increase their opt-in conversion rate by acquiring more sign-ups from the main page and drawing additional attention to the fact that there is an email sign-up option.

The next post will focus on the reminder emails deployed during their campaign.

Cheers,

Forest

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

I seem to get some email promotions for a $9.99 Initiation Fee + $29.99/month, and then different weeks I’ll get an email for a $0 Initiation Fee + $29.99/month. All with the same subject line: “Membership Special”

But it was a bit too late as I recently signed a longer term commitment with LA Fitness (the nicer of the gyms in my particular area). The problem with the LA Fitness email program is they don’t have one — at least they didn’t ask for my email at all during my registration process for my 3 year membership. Perhaps they are thinking that the sale is already closed. If so, their email department needs a wake-up call. There are many relevant email communications such as class update/schedules, fitness tips, up-sell/cross-sell opportunities, refer-a-friend promotions and more!

Before rushing to judgment though, I will investigate further to see if there is in fact a members email list (or any email list for that matter). It could have just been a slip-up not asking me to sign up.

Stay tuned…

Forest

This doesn’t mean there is not a place for discounts — of course there is. Just don’t make it bland. 5% off doesn’t cut it. Make it exclusive for your email list and they will feel more rewarded.

The email below from Lucky Brand is a few weeks old, but it is a nice example of an attention-grabbing discount. It also gives you the option to print and bring in to the store, or use online. I would use a different promo-code though as 9SEPFRND is not the easiest to remember — could be much worse with a completely random string of letters and numbers, but could be improved to something like LUCKY30.

Cheers,

Forest  |  Follow Me on Twitter

I think the timing is good as well. This email arrived on Tuesday morning, which gives me some time to review and act before the rushed weekend of holiday travel. I would expect a follow-up email; either a trigger if  I don’t click-through, or an “In case you missed our Labor Day Sale…” type message.

Great (and improved) email execution from Blinds.com! One thing I’m curious about though is their overall content approach. On first glance, it appears that the vast majority of their emails are either seasonal-based promotions or special discounts either store-wide or brand-specific. What about educational content, design tips, product features and the like? Often times more sales come from a non-sales approach. If I get engaged, get some ideas, and start reviewing my windows more, I may be much more likely to purchase than if I get a nice promo but don’t know what I need or that there could be something I want. Blinds.com sells products that are perfect for more juicy content that can better leverage the email channel.

At any rate; nice work on the email below.

Cheers,

Forest

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.

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)

A few quick comments on this delivery

Some Nice Elements

1.Pre-Header: They have a link to an online version of the message. Good move, and something that should be present in all emails.

2. Social Media Options: Simple and clean buttons in the header to connect with the company on Facebook and Twitter

3. Navigation: As I pointed out in a previous post, this not only give the user relevant options for connecting to your site, but it provides you the ability to create meaningful segments later based on their click engagement.

4. Pricing Layout: Instead of just showing the sale price, they also have the regular priced crossed out. Nice way to help visualize the savings.

Some Areas of Improvement

1. Text to Image Ratio: In this email, the ratio is to heavy on images.  This creates problems, as many email clients will block images by default. Even with Alt-Text, it can have a negative impact on the success of your email program. You can design an email that is more text driven while not hurting the aesthetic design intentions.

2. Subject Line: The subject line used in the email was 59 characters w/spaces. In general, this is a bit long. Of course you always want to test, and A/B subject line testing can help make nice improvements to your metrics. We see high engagement though with subject lines that are below 39 characters.

3. No Order Now Button: What I would like to see next to the price is an ‘Order Now’ button (or text link). While everyone hopefully clicks on the image or title to view the product, many won’t. Additionally, in some of our own tests, we’ve seen higher engagement with a clear button or text link for ordering.

While there is some more intricate improvements that can be made, tackling some low-hanging fruit here should improve the success of Wrapables’ email program.

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(Click on image to enlarge)

With an approach that you don’t often see, they have a screen take-over on their home page with an email sign-up form.

A few cool things going on here:

1. It’s a priority: If you have a site with lots of traffic, you especially want to get new email subscribers. Here, they clearly make it a key focus that nobody can miss. I would be very curious to see what their conversion rate is here.

2. Promotion: They provide an incentive to sign-up. Many email marketers can’t understand why someone would not want to sign up for their list. Well, people already get lots of email and that probably wasn’t their goal when coming to your site anyway. Express provides 15% off your next purchase for signing up.

3. Preview: Express gives a little idea of what you are signing up for: fashion exclusives, new arrivals, special offers.

4. Data for Segmentation: They make zip code a required field. Clearly they will be doing geo-segmentation for local in-store promos. They also ask for gender, which is great for providing dynamic content and more refined personalization. Segmentation is key for a successful program.

5. 2nd Chance Sign-Up: Notice in the upper right they have another piece of home page real estate for their email sign-up. In case you don’t complete this first form, you can easily do so later.

Good stuff here. I’ll be very interested to see how well they execute their email campaigns.

- Forest Bronzan

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It read:  EMAIL-ONLY SALE

A few quick comments here:

1. On a basic level, I like the focus and promotion of a special sale for email subscribers. Too often list members get fatigued and question why they are on a mailing list in the first place. Rewarding them, and providing a little something special for letting you into their inbox is a very nice gesture.

2. ALL CAPS: On a first view, this grabbed my attention, however I wouldn’t recommend it. Some email filters may view this as spammy and it may never get to the inbox. There goes the nice promotion and simple subject. I don’t think anything is lost with just having: Email Only Sale

3. One way to make this more enticing would be to add some time sensitivity. e.g. Email Only Sale – 3 Days Left!

Not a bad effort though by Overstock.com. With subject lines in particular, it’s always good to do subject line testing to achieve higher engagement.

Z Gallerie: Celebrate Mom – 20% off gifts

GUESS.com: Gifts Mom will love

Williams-Sonoma: Perfect for Mom: Calphalon Unison Nonstick Frittata Pan

Sephora: Free gift for mom (or for you!)

Hallmark: Make Mom’s day with the perfect card

Costco: Only Two Days Left To Order For Mother’s Day!

Large retailers like these will have big lists and most definitely engage in Subject Line Testing. With this type of event and the various promotions, there are several different directions the email department can go with their subject lines. We see Costco not pushing a particular product or promotion, but emphasizing the act of ordering (and the time sensitivity). Williams-Sonoma on the other hand goes very specific with a product recommendation. I like this approach — especially for shoppers that have a hard time shopping (either due to lack of time or lack of creativity). With this, Williams-Sonoma provides a specific solution — no shopping around, no decisions. This of course has its drawbacks and isn’t perfect for all situations, but I like the simplicity of the approach.

Of the dozens of others I received, they all followed a similar theme of the above 6. Promoting a discount, specific product, time sensitivity, or a simple reminder.