May 11, 2009
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I recently signed up for the Overstock.com email list and received a message last week with a simple subject line that grabbed my attention.
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.
May 8, 2009
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… Not Just to Yourself
This should go without saying, but before you send that award winning email to your list of 100,000 subscribers, send a final test to an internal group. Get some others from around the office to agree to review, and don’t just send to yourself. When you are actively involved in a campaign it can get mushy. It can help to have a fresh set of eyes to notice extremely simple mistakes.
This may sound elementary, but you would be blown away by some of the simple and careless mistakes huge companies have made with their emails.
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Other posts you might find of interest:
Best Day to Send Email
Introduction to Email Segmentation
Email List Building Mistakes
May 7, 2009
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With great email marketing tools at our fingertips, it only makes sense to send personalized emails to our subscribers. At the end of the day, if we can get closer to creating the impression of a 1to1 communication with our subscribers we have made big leaps from many of the email campaigns out there.
Wells Fargo’s business banking has done a nice job with email personalization. Many email marketers simply insert a subscriber’s name and think they have accomplished personalization greatness. While this can of course be of benefit, there are additional pieces of data we can use to create a better experience for our valued subscribers. Remember though, it depends on your business, customers, and must make sense for your products and email strategy.
Looking at the email below from Wells Fargo, we see 4 points of personalization:
1. Total Points: Here they are dynamically inserting the reward points that this subscriber has earned. What a nice reminder!
2. Account Number: They also have the last 4 digits of the account number in reference.
3. Name: Being a b2b email, they opted to insert the business name in the Dear, field. This makes sense in this context.
4.Dynamic Rewards Suggestions: The last orange box in the main copy reads: “At ____ points you can select from…” Here, Wells Fargo is inserting a ‘next level’ point value, and using dynamic content to provide recommendations for rewards. Depending on the ‘point level’ a subscriber is at, different images and reward copy will be populated here.
A very simple design with effective email personalization. Sometimes it doesn’t take much at all to transform a generic blast email to a highly personalized communication.
- Forest Bronzan
May 6, 2009
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With mother’s day around the corner, retailers are in full swing with related email promotions. Over the last few days I’ve received many emails and have listed 6 subject lines below.
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.
