From: Pottery Barn Kids
Subject Line: Summer Sale: Save up to 50% on safari bedding, outdoor furniture & more!
Date: Thursday, July 10, 2008
See the email >
This Pottery Barn Kids email is interesting for two reasons:
(1) It is a sale message, but still feels very branded. It does not "scream sale".
(2) It uses a good balance of imagery and HTML text, but again still feels slick and on-brand.
I think this mail shows great balance. Yes, there is a sale going on; yes, images are disabled and therefore we need to use more rather than less HTML text...but at the same time, yes, this is Pottery Barn Kids, an aspirational brand. Great job incorporating sale, email best practices, and branding. See that? You can have it both ways!
From: Me
Subject Line: Email Design Checklists Save the Day: Avoiding Common Pitfalls
Date: Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Check out the checklists >
BTW: Interested in joining the eec Design Roundtable? See details here >
Hitting “send” on any email campaign always leaves us with a small feeling of dread in the pit of our stomachs. “Did I forget something? Did I double-check EVERYTHING? Will my message render properly? Will I have a job in two hours?” The eec feels your pain.
Ever wish you had a buddy to rely on—someone competent, steadfast and efficient who would remember to help you double-check all the key elements of design and QA success? Well, now you have one—in the form of two email checklists from the eec’s Email Design Roundtable. Both checklists are available in the eec’s Whitepaper Room—and all this week you can download them for free. Check out the checklists >
From: Nordstrom
Subject Line: Online Exclusive: Burberry Fall Shoe Collection
Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2008
View the email >
BTW: The body frame dropshadow feels dated.
OK, so pretty much all of you who know me realize that I've practically changed my last name to "Nordstrom." I am such a fan of "The Nordstrom Way" that I have to give them a little love punch on this one. They recently launched this redesigned template and the entire preheader/header area is one big flat image-mapped JPEG. Which means that not only will the links not work in some email readers, but none of the elements - the nav items, the FREE SHIPPING promo...or the "view with images" prompt! - will render with images disabled. I've seen many a "FakeTML" emails before, but this one shocked me into blogging after a 2-month hiatus!!! So actually I have another reason to thank Nordies other than being an obvious place to spend most of my discretionary income - for inspiring me to blog once more!
I'd originally planned to use this post to scold Burberry for designing their emails again and again in a way such that the preview pane view is woefully unhelpful. (I've animated through five examples at left to give you the gist of it; please click the thumbnail to experience it at full size.) It's impossible to tell what the messages are about - and just as tough to find a point of click-through - without scrolling down.
Now, a question arises in my mind: is Burberry repeating this not-best practice because it's actually working for them!? Perhaps their data shows that, despite popular belief, the mystery actually encourages scolls and clicks. Burberry - reveal your secret to the email creative community!!!
All - please share your thoughts. Have you done any testing to support either my initial instinct or my new re-think?
From: Burberry
Subject Line: Arrive in Style with Accessories from Burberry.com
Date: Thursday, February 7, 2008
View the email >
BTW: This shoe is frickin' awesome.
From: Burberry
Subject Line: Shop our New Handbags & Accessories Online
Date: Friday, March 14, 2008
View the email >
BTW: Crazy/Beautiful?
From: Burberry
Subject Line: The Latest Selection of Outerwear plus Complimentary Shipping!
Date: Tuesday, March 25, 2008
View the email >
BTW: Am I interrupting something?
From: Burberry
Subject Line: Shop Women's & Men's Spring Styles at Burberry
Date: Friday, April 4, 2008
View the email >
BTW: How nice of those British boys to keep her standing.
From: Burberry
Subject Line: Shop Online - The NEW Burberry Spring/Summer 2008 Brochure
Date: Tuesday, April 10 2008
View the email >
BTW: How many iterations of two guys and a girl can we actually tolerate?
P.S. This blog is dedicated to Nicole Cobble :)!!!
From: west elm
Subject Line: See the chicest new sofa in town
Date: Tuesday, February 5, 2008
User-generated content and product reviews are popping up in email more and more, with reports of success, proving that we do want to hear what people like us have to say about the brands and products we shop. But what to do if you're just not there yet technically, and/or you're a more aspirational/less democratic brand?
west elm has found good ground by including quotes and images of people like us (only perhaps slightly cooler!?) in their emails and catalogs. Alex brings personality and perspective to this mail, no Web 2.0 required. I actually read her quote, spending perhaps 10 seconds more with this message than I otherwise might have.
From: Horchow
Subject Line: Want fewer Horchow e-mails?
Date: Monday, January 14, 2008
This email was brought to my attention by the fabulous Megan Regard. Thanks Megan! I say: snaps to Horchow for giving their recipients more control over the number of messages they receive. I like the idea of sending a dedicated mail totally focused on updating communications preferences, although I'm not sure I'd recommend framing it like this. I feel like the subject line "Want to receive fewer Horchow e-mails?" could potentially plant the idea into subscribers' minds that they receive too many emails, while something like "Customize your email experience!" seems more positive and open-ended, and doesn't potentially make the opt-down (or out!) decision for the recipient.
But that's just my opinion; the proof is in the pudding! It will take months to measure how this mail ultimately effects subscriber behavior, but if anyone from Nieman Marcus would be willing to share the initial results, I'm sure many of us would be grateful to benefit from your learnings.
Thanks and Happy Friday :)!
From: Me
Subject Line: WhatCounts to Publish Holiday Loyalty Marketing Practices Whitepaper
Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2007
This just in:
Visit WhatCounts.com this Friday to download their hot-off-the-press whitepaper on Holiday Loyalty Marketing Best Practices. I got a sneak peek earlier this week and was impressed by some of the innovative ideas included, particularly around RFM data and points-based email loyalty programs. There's been a good deal of talk about loyalty lately, and of course a huge emphasis on holiday, but this is the first time I've seen both topics considered simultaneously. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the paper!
Enjoy,
Lisa
From: Me
Subject Line: In the meantime :)...
Date: Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Greetings all :),
I have been woefully absent-blogged lately, as I'm sure you've noticed. It's not for lack of wanting :)! Things have been super-busy and exciting for all of us at Smith-Harmon; we've taken on a number of extremely exciting new projects, and also just moved into a new office space in Belltown, so I've had my hands full! I hope to hop back on the blog in August, but until then I thought I'd direct you to two of my other favorite email marketing blogs:
- Chad White's RetailEmail.Blogspot...also make sure to check out Chad's cutting-edge and super-useful Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study
- BeRelevant: Tamara's Email Marketing Best Practices
Enjoy!
Lisa
From: Me
Subject Line: Attend a FREE Webinar!!!
Date: Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Greetings emarketers! I wanted to let you know about an awesome webinar happening this coming Thursday!
Delivering the Goods: Deliverability & Reputation Management for the Changing Email Landscape
Thursday, July 26, 2007
10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EST
WhatCounts has assembled a panel of deliverability experts who work with some of the world's leading marketers to ensure that their email messages are successfully delivered to customer inboxes. Here's a sneak peek at some of the topics they'll be covering:
- General overview of deliverability - defining deliverability
- Common deliverabilty myths - separating fact from fiction
- Overview of sender reputation & the reputation 'ecosystem'
- Vital reputation variables - what causes reputation risk?
- How different ISPs handle reputation differently
- How marketers can manage reputation for three scenarios
- Retention mailers sending primarily to in-house customer lists
- Retention mailers dabbling in acquisition (e.g. co-reg, list rental, append)
- Marketers moving to a new ESP/in-house solution/IP address
- Email infrastructure components and how they affect/don't affect reputation
- The role of/importance of authentication in message delivery
- Which top-tier ISPs use which authentication schemes
Register at www.whatcountsevents.com. Hope to see you there :)!
From: Me
Subject Line: Come to our Webinar!!!
Date: Sunday, June 17, 2007
Greetings emailers! Why, you ask, has Lisa been so darn lazy with her blogging? It's because I've been working so hard on a free webinar! It is my pleasure to invite you to:
Designing for the New Email Landscape
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EST
Aaron and I will join expert panelists Justin Foster of WhatCounts and Michelle Eichner of Pivotal Veracity to discuss the changing email landscape and how it affects design, branding and development tools used in the creation of marketing messages. This webinar will allow you to take advantage of the professional resources used by some of the largest retailers on the web for free. Don't miss this opportunity to improve the design and increase the effectiveness of your email campaigns! Woo-hoo!
Register at www.whatcountsevents.com.
I hear it from email marketing managers all the time: email marketing delivers an amazing ROI, but their organizations don't put enough attention or resources into maximizing it. Loren McDonald reflects on this and more in his iMedia Connection article - " Find Your Email Mojo in 5 Steps". Check it out.
From: Bag Borrow or Steal
Subject Line: Love The Devil Wears Prada? Borrow the Earrings!
Date: Thursday, April 19, 2007
In a woman's world, you are your handbag, and status bags are pricey. Enter Bag Borrow or Steal. It's a brilliant concept: they basically rent you accessories you can't otherwise afford. With gals everywhere laying out weeks of salary for the right hobo, I can see this concept being huge.
I think they generally do a good job with their email creative, but I'd like to point out a few things they could do to optimize their campaigns, from top to bottom:
1) Go a little larger with the logo. Since it's such a delicate script font, it's somewhat tricky to read at this size. Granted my eyes are going from too much screentime, but I do have my glasses on.
2) Try bringing the menu items up into the brown tint bar, on the upper-right. This will help separate them out from the main message, as well as conserve vertical real estate.
3) Render body copy in HTML rather than graphical text so it's legible in email browsers with images disabled by default.
4) Cut linked graphics separately rather than using image maps. Several email browser strip image maps, thereby preventing users from clicking through!
5) Add a little humor. There's definitely a "wink-wink/nudge-nudge" element to accessories rental. "It's our little secret." I say play that up and have some fun with it!
Looking for inspiration? After closely monitoring, observing, applauding and, in some cases, trash-talking the creative efforts of over 100 leading online retailers since 2004, I'd like to take a moment to recognize a handful of shining stars. It's not just about one or two standout emails: this group consistently delivers creative, innovative and memorable campaigns.
From: Apple
Subject Line: Great gift ideas to surprise your valentine.
Date: Friday, January 27, 2006
Apple won our 2006 Q1 EDM vote with their January 27 "Love is in the ear" campaign. And looking back, it's no wonder. The copy, the imagery, the layout, the theme. They all work together in a beautiful harmony. It's clever, elegant and most importantly…effective. There's no arguing that Apple had a stellar 2006. Can't wait to get my iPhone.
From: Crate & Barrel
Subject Line: Greens that Wow
Date: Monday, April 10, 2006
Smart, fresh and simple. Nominated for an award in Q1 and Q2 of 2006, Crate and Barrel consistently delivers aesthetically pleasing creative throughout the winter, spring, summer and fall. Their campaigns are honest and hardworking, with no crazy hooks, no flashing animations and no groundbreaking, medium-altering innovations. In a nutshell, they keep it real. While basic sometimes means boring, in the case of Crate and Barrel it means consistent, on-brand and best-practices worthy. No gimmicks here.
From: UrbanOutfitters.com
Subject Line: Take an Extra 25% off. This time, we mean it.
Date: Thursday, June 22, 2006
It's always good to explore the lighter side of life, and Urban Outfitters has proven that humor always comes out a winner. They win the witty vote, for sure. They throw traditional production values out the window in favor of a few good laughs, and it really works. There is a refreshing, human element to their campaigns. As a matter of fact, it feels like you're funniest BFF wrote the copy and created the layout.
From: Barneys New York
Subject Line: Wedges, Platforms + Boots - Barneys New York
Date: Wednesday, October 18, 2006
The standing ovation goes to Barneys for their generous use of humor. Their silly imagery, casually elegant handwritten font and dashed-off calls-to-action (Shut up and shop!) project a fun, attractive, devil-may-care attitude. Their creative is clean, welcoming and aspirational. It's always good to see the upper-class crowd taking themselves a little less seriously.
From: J.Crew
Subject Line: $4.95 Shipping. Gobble, gobble.
Date: Wednesday, November 22, 2006
J.Crew really found their voice in 2006. Their copy is intelligent, sassy, direct and convincing in a non-intrusive wink-wink, nudge-nudge, buy-now sort of way. And we love it! They rely heavily on copy to float their creative, and float they do. Their messages are always timely to the holidays, the weather and any other national event that they can tie in. Their sale emails are effectively persistent, without being demanding, which conveys a sense of real urgency to shop before your co-worker, friend or neighbor gets that perfect sweater before you do.
From: Customer Service
Subject Line: Garnet Hill requests your feedback
Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Customers have come to expect something from a marketing email. Whether it's a special offer or just an aesthetically-pleasing experience, we're opening campaigns with the hope of satisfying a need.
Here, Garnet Hill asks something of us. By now, almost all retailers occasionally use email to solicit customer feedback. But to do so without including a special offer, message personalization, or even a visually-appealing creative execution just doesn't cut it these days. If you really want customers' feedback, give 'em a little something for it.
From: west elm
Subject Line: easy living with the Walton Sectional
Date: Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Here, west elm deals strategically with a high pricepoint item that's difficult to push via email: the sectional. They pulled out the double-combo: (1) free delivery (which is pratically a must-do at the moment for the furniture category) and (2) furniture diagrams, which engage the customer immediately in the process of selecting a configuration and envisioning it in their own home.
But of course, despite all the smart thinking here, when it still doesn't work, we've got the catch-all sale promo, which, for this campaign, will undoubtedly generate the most sales by a landslide.
From: shopbop.com
Subject Line: Gleaming Accents: Sunglasses, Shoes, Handbags & Jewelry
Date: Monday, April 2, 2007
What could be smarter than an email promoting four low pricepoint, high margin accessories categories? Being prepared enough to coordinate it! I want to mention shopbop again as being one of the best examples of a retailer who approaches photo intelligently. They shoot product across a span of categories and sources in the same environment, allowing them to successfully weave disparate items into tight visual stories, thereby managing to avoid the dreaded "garage sale" look of a cobbled-together campaign that has the marketing message down, but not the assets necessary to address it cohesively. I am a big proponent of shooting specifically for the email channel; it makes sense to push for it as email marketing continues to drive a larger and larger percentage of ecom sales.
From: Sephora
Subject Line: SNEAK PEEK: Fall's Biggest Beauty Trends
Date: Sunday, March 25, 2007
Sephora generally does a good job with making their emails timely and relevant. This one is a "TREND REPORT" highlighting looks that appeared on the runways. Red lips, bouncy hair and gunmetal eyes are all well-and-good in and of themselves, but framing them as recent runway trends give them much more relevance and power. What can you do to make your messages more relevant and powerful?
BTW, Sephora is also following current best practices: body text, product names and prices are all featured as HTML rather than graphical text.
What to HTML? As more and more marketers get browser-savvy (like Eddie Bauer) they start to use HTML text within their email creative. (It's not just for legal anymore!) This is because, in general, HTML text is less likely than graphics to be tagged as spam and it's visible in image-disabled environments. Here are a few guidelines to help you grapple with what to HTML.
1) DO HTML product names and prices. This not only makes product names clearer, but also cut-and-pasteable, potentially allowing customers to copy, paste and search your website for specific products more thoroughly. Additionally, it's much easier to update HTML rather than graphical creative in the event of last-minute product name changes or price markdowns.
2) DO HTML longer paragraphs. Full sentences are easier to read as HTML rather than graphical text. Compare the Blue Nile and Macy's examples and notice how much more readable the Blue Nile text is.
3) Maybe DON'T HTML super-big headline text. HTML fonts still look kind of wonky any larger than 15 unless you're on IE7 or a Mac. Blue Nile's "There's Still Time" headline would lose a lot of polish as HTML.
4) DO be consistent. In the Stride Rite example, they use HTML for only three of their four "shop now" call-to-action links. I'd recommend sticking with one or the other to avoid "junking things up" too much.
5) DO understand that HTML text requires far more rigorous email browser testing than purely graphical creative. The locations and colors (blue?) of the "shop now" links in the Stride Rite example indicate more relaxed browser testing. This is IE7 on a PC. I don't even want to know what this looks like in Outlook for Web on a Mac. Ieeee!
From: Blue Nile
Subject Line: Free FedEx 2Day Shipping at Blue Nile
Date: Thursday, December 14, 2006
From: macys.com
Subject Line: Get the best savings on our top-rated products at the Home Sale!
Date: Monday, January 29, 2007
From: Stride Rite
Subject Line: Toddler Tech - Technology for growing feet
Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2007
From: Ann Taylor
Subject Line: February's New Arrivals, and a Special Online Offer
Date: Thursday, January 25, 2007
In the past quarter-year or so, I've noticed a definite trend toward larger, more readable font sizes in email campaigns. Ann Taylor is on the extreme end - perhaps because their demographic is slightly older - but it's a good thing all around. We can't expect subscribers to strain to read our messaging. For instance, my mother subscribes to many of the emails I produce, and she socked me with a real eye-opener recently when she said, "I loved that sale campaign you sent last week." It was a pretty standard execution, so I asked what it was that she liked about it, and she replied: "The words were big. It was so easy to read."
OK then, here's the conundrum: how do you do both larger type and HTML text at the same time, tastefully?
From: Design Within Reach
Subject Line: Final Week to Lounge for Less, plus Shipping and Champagne
Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Here, Design Within Reach infuses some fun into a standard design template. Using basic rules and color blocks, it goes from generic to Mondrian-esque. Cute.
I also want to applaud the limited-time offer specificity in both the subject line and the headline.
Finally, I'd like to call attention to the footer navigation. Many multi-channel retailers include their website, telephone number and store locator information in their footer navigation, but I like how Design Within Reach umbrellas it with the phrase "3 WAYS TO SHOP." It's subtle, but it gives the information a sense of context and serviceability.
From: Eddie Bauer
Subject Line: Shop New For Spring | Spring Outerwear is here.
Date: Thursday, January 18, 2007
From: Eddie Bauer
Subject Line: One Week Only: Extra 30% Off Sale Outerwear.
Date: Monday, January 22, 2007
Eddie Bauer appears to be taking the dual "supressed images/preview pane" threat seriously: these recent campaigns use HTML for almost all text - including nav items. And you know what? I think they look pretty darn good. A lot of us have been skittish to follow the best practice - use as much HTML text as possible - because we lose a degree of creative control over how text renders. But (depending upon your brand and your audience) it might be better to have slightly-less-beautiful text read than no text at all. And with the introduction of IE7, which renders HTML text in a more appealing (read: aliased) way than it's predecessors, combined with the upsurge in Mac use, HTML text is looking better and better. Plus, as more and more B2B and B2C marketers make the switch, our eyes will adjust, and what once looked ugly might look just lovely.
From: Gymboree
Subject Line: Gymbucks Ends This Sunday - Shop Valentine's Day Styles Today!
Date: Thursday, January 18, 2007
You have one nav, but many campaigns. Make sure your nav is flexible enough to handle every situation - regardless of any single campaign's content, strucutre or color. In this example, Gymboree's green nav doesn't play nicely with the pink Valentine's day creative, and the orange logo doesn't help much either. In order to avoid this issue, I recommend either using a more neutral nav that works with any palette, or implementing a flexible nav, which retains a consistent structure, but changes color from campaign to campaign to suit the creative. (Williams-Sonoma does this well.)
From: Crate and Barrel
Subject Line: Gourmet chocolates ready to give
Date: Thursday, November 30, 2006
This is what I'd call a good old, honest, hard-working EDM. There are no crazy hooks, no flashing animations and no groundbreaking, medium-altering innovations. However, what this email does illustrate are several very basic, measured best practices, which, in combination, will match the performance of any gimmick. Crate & Barrel promotes conversion by:
1) Featuring relevant, giftable product.
2) Including "FREE SHIPPING" in red in the top nav.
3) Adding a link to their Holiday Delivery Schedule.
4) Submessaging a Gift Guide, Gift Cards and Free Shipping: three very trusty catch-alls for follks who aren't as interested in fondue.
5) Keeping the overal design clean, simple and digestable.
It's not rocket science, folks: it's good customer service. Make shopping easier for your subscribers by giving them real reasons to click through.
Some of you may be wondering why I haven't been posting as many reviews over the past two weeks. The reason is simple: I haven't seen much worth commenting on. I've received message after message, but very few of these have done much but clog my inbox. These are the email campaigns that "cried wolf": messages lacking a true message - ones that do not offer value to a subscriber - delivered just because they could be.
While I understand the allure of delivering a quick jolt to sales via email - particularly as sales are soft across many industries - we have to remember that email marketing is also about tending to long-term relationships with subscribers. Each time you "cry wolf" and send out a pointless campaign, you're eroding customers' trust, patience and interest. Think before you send, or else the big bad wolf will come and eat up all your list members!
For those of you who haven't come across the EmailSherpa Ecommerce Benchmark Guide 2006 - or were wondering whether it's worth the $297 pricetag - I recommend picking it up; it's well worth the cost. Click here to check it out.
|
 |
|
