January 11, 2009
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In this welcome email from Williams-Sonoma, I quickly noticed a great use of blocked images. In Gmail (and many email clients), images are blocked by default. This presents many challenges for email marketers, as our beautiful creative sometimes never gets viewed.
Here, even with images blocked, we still see the main call-outs and links. While it isn’t nearly as ‘pretty’ as the full-image version, it still enables the viewer to take action.
A few quick notes:
1. Simple welcome copy. Could be improved, but that’s not the focus of this particular post
2. Links for cookware, cutlery, electrics etc. are still visible
3. Under the ‘Explore Williams-Sonoma.com’ sections, clear copy (E.g. New & Seasonal) is visable and clickable. Even without the picture, I still know what that area of the email is and what I can do with it.
Below are screen grabs of the blocked image version, and the full image view.
And now with images…
- Forest Bronzan
January 10, 2009
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A previous post pointed out some design mistakes in Sephora’s welcome email. Taking a look at Olive Garden’s welcome email we see a much cleaner approach.
5 Things Olive Garden Did Well:
1. They kept the welcome email simple in design with a layout that would show with images disabled.
2. They established expectations by giving a preview of how often the email would be sent and what type of content would be provided.
3. They thanked the subscriber for signing up. People are picky about how they let into their inbox. It’s nice to show some appreciation.
4. They built trust by stating that they would never share personal information with anyone.
5. They kept it short and sweet.
- Forest Bronzan
January 4, 2009
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I recently saw an email from Quiznos, and while it had some flaws I won’t address in this post, it did a nice job with geo-segmentation to provide me relevant content.
Notice here we have “Visit These Quiznos Locations Near You“ – They obviously have my zip code and dynamically inserted 3 locations that were in my area. This has the obvious benefit of making this email more personalized and relevant, and at the same time making me aware of a location that I previously did not know existed.
To accompany the location targeting, they provided a clear call-out for coupons “valid at these locations”.
In Summary
1. This email segmented me by zip code to provide targeted location recommendations
2. Utilized dynamic content so they could execute this creative to a large list while providing personalized content
3. Provided a call to action that integrated with this personalization
-Forest Bronzan
January 3, 2009
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Looking back at an email that was sent by Toys R Us just before Christmas, they had a decent call to action in their subject line, with integrated copy in their creative.
The subject read: Today Only! 40% Off 2nd Day Shipping
I like the use of urgency by making the promotion available for only 1 day. Additionally, the actual promo (40% off the expedited shipping method) isn’t too bad. I’ve seen a lot of watered down promos lately, and given the fact that we all know 2-day shipping can get pricey — sometimes a deal breaker — this may make it a realistic purchase decision. Now what makes this promotion most relevant is the timing of it: 5 days before Christmas. If you’re like me, I really don’t care much for hectic store crowds when I’m shopping last minute for gifts.
- Forest Bronzan
