The Retail Email Blog

Ping Time: Personalization vs. dynamic content, Yahoo Mail fix, etc.

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:08:00 +0000

My latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:

>>Dela Quist of Alchemy Worx discusses the difference between personalization and dynamic content and the benefits of the two elements. >>Follow the ping

>>Amy Hamilton of Smith-Harmon shares the fix for the change at Yahoo Mail that’s changing links blue. >>Follow the ping

>>Simms Jenkins of BrightWave Marketing digs into the hubbub around the misinformation that Ben & Jerry’s had ended their email program. >>Follow the ping with sprinkles on top

>>Mike May of Real Magnet talks about the spectre of more marketing regulations. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Bluefly launches product reviews

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:21:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Bluefly, 7/29 — Are You Ready For Sweater Weather? NEW Cashmere At 30% Off!‏
In this email, Bluefly announces the launch of a Ratings & Reviews program. Launching it now gives them some time to build up reviews ahead of the holiday season, although I was surprised that they didn’t have a sweepstakes or anything to spur reviews here at the launch. If you’re looking for great examples of product review request emails, check out Northern Tool’s (see Feb. 16 AM Inbox).

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hanna Andersson, 7/29 — Ends This Sunday - Don't Miss The Backpack & Lunch Bag Sale!‏
Nike Store, 7/29 — Hypercool: Stay Cool. Stay Dry. No Distraction.
Ann Taylor, 7/29 — LISA LOVES: Shop Our Head Designer's Favorites + Free Shipping On Everything Ends Friday!‏
J&R, 7/29 — Monster Power - Protect Your Valuable AV Equipment‏
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

Season Finale: Father's Day 2010

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:29:00 +0000

A look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:

Start to finish: The first reference to Father’s Day was on Mar. 3. The final reference was on June 25. The biggest day for Father’s Day emails was Sunday, June 13, followed by Monday, June 7. Retailers sent the majority of their Father’s Day-themed emails after June 6.

Most interesting emails: In this June 1 Bed Bath & Beyond email, a fun subject line—“Clip. Snip. Buzz. Gifts for the well-trimmed Dad.”‏—and a fun animated gif support what many would consider a not-too-exciting Father’s Day gift: an electric shaver. The right messaging and creative can definitely change someone’s impression about a gift, making the staid seem exciting.

And here’s the animated portion of this email:

With a June 20 email, Eddie Bauer makes the most emotional appeal of the season. With the subject line, “An Inspiring Tribute To Dad‏,” the email’s main call-to-action is a link to a video where mountain climber Leif Whittaker says thanks to his deceased father, Jim Whittaker, the first American to ascend Everest. Touching.

Email 2.0 angle: In a June 11 email and in subsequent ones, Kohl’s promoted their Facebook page in a banner as a destination for ideas of things to do with dad on Father’s Day. The banner is paired with a great gift services footer.

Standout subject lines:
Bed Bath & Beyond, 6/1 — Clip. Snip. Buzz. Gifts for the well-trimmed Dad.‏
Neiman Marcus, 5/31 — Cheat Sheet: The easy-does-it GIFTS FOR DAD‏
NFLshop, 5/23 — Design Your Own NFL Gear For Father’s Day‏
Walgreens, 5/30 — Oh Snap! Get 10 cent 4x6 Prints & 25% Off Photo Gifts for Dad‏

Read previous Father’s Day Season Finales: 2009, 2008, 2007

Explore Father’s Day tag.
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Image alignment continues to be problem

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:00:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

TigerDirect, 7/28 — SSD Storage Sale...Plus: 28" HD LCD $249...1TB HD $59...2GB USB $5.99...Hurry‏
Year after year, image alignment problems—like the ones in this TigerDirect email—land plenty of retailers in my Oopsy Hall of Fame. Honestly, the problem is even more pervasive than those posts indicate, as I refrain from publishing them all because of space considerations. Last year’s Unabridged Oopsy Hall of Fame, which we only share with clients, was 52 pages long and contained many more examples of image alignment mistakes. It’s especially unfortunate because this mistakes to easily caught if creatives are previewed in the major email clients and browsers, or with a rendering tool. It takes a little extra time to do this, but you can avoid poor brand impressions like the one here.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Dell, 7/28 — As seen on TV - Save big on this campus-ready laptop‏
eBags, 7/28 — Final Day: New Semester Sale - Extra 20% off + Free Shipping‏
Target, 7/28 — Major deals: Save 10% when you spend $100 on college finds.
Neiman Marcus, 7/28 — Forget business as usual! Our looks for THE NEW 9-5‏
Staples, 7/28 — 15% off coupon? $75 off coupon? Both!
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: 2nd retailer promotes Android app

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:07:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Barnes & Noble, 7/27 — Save up to 90% on Summer Reads + Our Android App is Here!‏
B&N is only the second major online retailer that I’ve seen promote an Android app, despite the rapid growth of the mobile platform. Walgreens was the first (see June 14 AM Inbox).

JC Whitney, 7/27 — Shop Everything Automotive $50 Off Your Order!
I missed it earlier this month, but JC Whitney has redesigned their preheader text, dropping their whitelisting request and shortening their “view with images” language. They also added branding on the first line of the preheader and a preheader message as the second line. It’s good to see them already experimenting with discount codes in their preheader message so soon after adding it. All together, the changes also made the preheader about 15 pixels shorter, so a little more of the body copy rises up into the preview pane. Here’s their new preheader:

And here’s the old design from a July 13 email:

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sports Authority, 7/27 — Free Shipping On All Backpacks - Gear Up For School‏
L.L. Bean, 7/27 — 20% Off School Backpacks + NEW Monogramming Styles‏
Lillian Vernon, 7/27 — A Free Gift + Free Shipping to Help Enjoy Back to School Shopping‏
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 7/27 — Save 15% on Your Back-to-School Shopping - Today Only!
Newegg, 7/27 — STARCRAFT II Available Now! Plus, Coupon: Extra 10% OFF on NVIDIA FERMI Video Cards‏
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Default text link color and legibility

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:11:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Staples, 7/26 — Our top 10 deals of the week. Up to 50% off!
When I announced the launch of the Boomer Legibility Initiative for a New Decade I neglected to discuss the dangers around links. Depending on what the background color is in your design, you may want to format your HTML text link color to aid readability. As you can see in this Staples email, using the default link colors on a red background is very difficult to read. It actually gave me headache trying to read it.

Loft, 7/26 — Get Your Color On + Free Shipping On Every Order!
I’ll skip the rant about Ann Taylor sending an email from a sister brand to me without my permission (see Cross-Promoting Sister Brands Safely) and instead point out that Loft places their logo on the right-hand side of their header. None of the retailers that I track do this—in fact, only a few buck the traditional left-hand logo placement by centering their logo. I don’t believe that we’ve ever tested this placement, but it seems counter to creating a highly scannable email as the logo draws my eye to the far right, away from the start of text on the left. Has anyone tested logo placement?

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Art.com, 7/26 — $4.98 Posters + 25% off SITEWIDE = A+ Back to School Sale!
Bed Bath & Beyond, 7/26 — Enter for a Chance to Win a $15,000 Shopping Spree in the Home Sweet Dorm Sweepstakes‏
Office Depot, 7/26 — Back-to-School Supplies + Get a 6-pack of Notebooks for only 50 cents!‏
Walgreens, 7/26 — Back to School Savings 15% OFF Contact Lenses + 33% OFF Prints‏
Dell, 7/26 — Buy today and we’ll ship it tomorrow!
Toys “R” Us, 7/26 — Save up to 20% off with our Cyber Monday Sale!‏
Finish Line, 7/26 — Try & Keep Up! Shox Turbo 11 Now with Free Shipping!
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 7/26 — Get Free Shipping on the Football Deal of the Week‏
Diamond.com, 7/26 — Elegant Peridot - August Birthstone‏
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: I've hurt my arm

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:23:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Ralph Lauren, 7/23 — Introducing Our New Team Of Fragrances‏
What stands out for you in this email? (Go ahead and take a quick look at the creative below.) For me, it was the guy in the sling. What’s up with that? Did he hurt himself during the photo shoot? Is the third fragrance for guys with fractured arms? Whatever the case, pondering the possibilities drew me in—and the Ralph Lauren belt as a sling is a nice on-brand touch. Are your images interesting enough to break through the clutter?

Sears, 7/25 — Midnight Madness -- Tonight Only! Don't Miss out!
I’m not sure why it’s under the Sears Catalog name, but Sears’ new product review–wish list hybrid is cool. With echoes of Netflix’s review system, Sears allows you to not only indicate which products you like and dislike (a kind of product review lite), but also if you already own or want it (a kind of wish list lite). Less of a time commitment compared to writing a review, the new system is likely to give them much more data to potentially use in product messaging this holiday season: “Shop the Most-Wanted Gifts.”

Buy.com, 7/23— Alert: New Buy.com 45-day Return Policy‏
Especially as we enter the holiday season, it’s important to use your email channel to community brand strengths and points of differentiation. What changes have you made that make shopping with you more appealing. In this email, Buy.com introduces a 45-day return policy, pointing out that 30 days is the industry norm. This would be a great message to reiterate in a banner in November. And if you have a more generous return policy during the holidays, then that’s worth pointing out as well.

LIVESTRONG, 7/23 — Last Chance to share your message of hope on the Nike Chalkbot‏
I very nearly marked this email from nike@official.nike.com as spam. I never signed up for emails from LiveStrong. Nike would have been wiser to send this email under their usual sender name and header as some might think that Nike sold their email address to LiveStrong.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
TigerDirect, 7/23 — Christmas in July: 3 Day Special Event‏
Kmart, 7/23 — Save 30% on Christmas Lane Items + Free Shipping Online only‏
Toys “R” Us, 7/23 — Black Friday Savings in July! Huge 2-Day Deals on Games, Action‏
Target, 7/23 — Daily Deals presents Back In Black Friday: Only Today‏
eBags, 7/23 — New Semester Sale - Extra 20% Off + Free Shipping‏
Old Navy, 7/23 — School Uniforms at Our Lowest Prices + a Gift for the Grownups!
Target, 7/25 — College savings: Major deals in College Essentials 2010.‏
Dell, 7/23 — Big back to school savings! Up to 65% off select items.‏
Sephora, 7/23 — New!‏
Avon, 7/24 — 5-STAR Customer Fave is a Great Start‏
Kohl’s, 7/25 — Meet Paprika, the Newest Fiesta Ware Color. (Which Happens to be 30-40% Off.)
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

Week-End Trends: Holiday messaging about to go on vacation

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:02:00 +0000

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 2.8 promotional emails on average during the week ending July 23, 2010. That’s up 9% week-over-week, down 3% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 17% year-over-year.

The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.

The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Back-to-school messaging should continue to climb over the next three weeks, while Christmas messaging disappears for pretty much the whole of August, returning with a trickle in September.

Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Back to School (June-September): Back-to-School 2009 Season Finale
Labor Day (9/6): Labor Day 2009 Season Finale
Columbus Day (10/11): Columbus Day 2009 Season Finale
Christmas (12/25): Christmas 2009 Season Finale and the 2009 Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

Ping Time: Product review request emails, inbox of 2012, etc.

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:05:00 +0000

My latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:

>>Gabrielle Shea Stevens of e-Dialog gives advice on post-purchase product review request emails. >>Follow the ping

>>Ed Henrich of Responsys discusses the inbox of 2012. Best advice: “Marketers need more control over themselves, and need to view consumers and the marketplace the way a surfer views a wave.” >>Follow the ping

>>Loren McDonald of Silverpop discusses triggered emails around (1) pre-transaction, (2) purchase process, (3) post-purchase and (4) relationship/loyalty/account status. >>Follow the ping

>>Mashable talks about a new Microsoft plug-in that integrates Facebook (and Windows Live Messenger) into Outlook. >>Follow status updates in Outlook (h/t Anna Yeaman of Style Campaign)

>>Michael Thom of ExactTarget talks about image maps and their limitations. >>Follow the ping

>>Mark Brownlow of Email Marketing Reports gives us another of his “Famous Inboxes”—this time it’s 007’s inbox. >>Follow the ping

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I talk about leveraging minor holidays, sharing some of my favorite retail email campaigns that do so. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Educating subscribers about how and why to SWYN

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:08:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Newegg, 7/22 — Full-System Savings! $499.99 4GB RAM Laptop, $169.99 23.6" 1080P LCD Monitor...
Newegg has added SWYN links to the top of their emails—but more interestingly, along with that change they included a banner toward the bottom of the email that seeks to educate subscribers about the links and to give them motivation to use them to share email content with their friends on Facebook and Twitter. To date, I’ve seen very little subscriber education around SWYN links.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Diamond.com, 7/22 — Christmas In July - Get 25% Off PLUS Free Shipping On select Items - 48 Hours Only‏
Sam’s Club, 7/22 — Instant Savings on Back to School Electronics‏
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/22 — Check out new Classic Looks for back to school!
TigerDirect, 7/22 — Top 10 Back to School Deals: $399 Laptops...$299 PCs...Much More...
Kohl’s, 7/22 — Got Your Summertime Blues? [promoting Levi’s]
Finish Line, 7/22 — Reserve the Hottest Shoe of the Summer--Reebok Zig!
Bluefly, 7/22 — Be The First To Shop NEW Fall Cashmere...
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Tactics for reusing images in emails

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:57:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Spiegel, 7/21 — Chad, PRE-FALL SAVINGS! Today Only, Take 25% Off Seasonless Stretch Sateen!
When I see images repeated in a creative, I assume it’s a mistake. This one from Spiegel really caught my attention because of the adjacency, but Macy’s also repeated a product image in an email yesterday. Spiegel is promoting “10 Seasonless Silhouettes” so I know they would have preferred to promote another look rather than duplicate.

On the other hand, when I see hero images used again and again, I can’t help but think that laziness is behind it. Earlier this month, Abercrombie & Fitch was again reusing hero images, a crime against creativity that they’ve committed repeatedly in the past (see Apr. 6, 2009 AM Inbox).

All that said, image reuse isn’t all bad. Reusing/updating a successful creative from past years is a good use of past learnings. If you have a particular kind of sale that you run periodically—I’m thinking of Bluefly’s “Blue Door” sales—using the same imagery can quickly communicate that the sale is. Also, turning hero images into images for secondary messages is a tried-and-true tactic that provides continuity and repeated exposure to a call-to-action. Lands’ End uses this tactic regularly, featuring a promo in one email and then using the image from that primary message in secondary messages in future emails.

Target, 7/21 — Daily Deals presents Back In Black Friday: This Friday‏
Riding the coattails of “Christmas in July” campaigns, over the past couple of years there have been a growing number of Black Friday campaigns run in July, like this one from Target.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sportsman’s Guide, 7/21 — Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube!... From The Sportsman's Guide...
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 7/21 — One Day Only - Stay Connected & Get 15% Off Your Online Order!‏
Barnes & Noble, 7/21 — Huge Kids Sale -- Books, Games & More. Happy Halfway to the Holidays!‏
Neiman Marcus, 7/21 — Don't miss our TREND REPORT: the list‏
Nordstrom, 7/21 — Anniversary Sale Alert! Coats & Other Sold-Out Items Back by Popular Demand‏
Sephora, 7/21 — Stop counting calories‏ [promoting food-flavored and -scented products]
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: 7% of retailers have begun their holiday email campaigns

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:22:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Blair, 7/20 — Merry Christmas in July! Celebrate with free shipping.
Including this email from Blair, 7% of major online retailers have now become their holiday email marketing campaigns by referencing Christmas or the holidays in at least one email. This pace is faster than it was last year, when only 5% of retailers had begun their holiday campaigns by this time. As in past years, most—but certainly not all—of the campaigns have been “Christmas in July” campaigns, like this Blair promotion.

The Company Store, 7/20 — College Lesson #1: Get covered with XL Twin bedding‏
Looking to educate their subscribers, the Company Store has begun a “College Lessons” email series to promote back-to-school products. Pitching their products under the banner of education will likely resonate more strongly with some subscribers and certainly makes the messaging stand out among all the straight-forward promos around back-to-school.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Newegg, 7/20 — Back-to-School Pre-Sale: Get your new build for the new school year ready!
Office Depot, 7/20 — Before the School Bell Rings: Save with Buy 2 Get 1 FREE School Supplies‏
HP, 7/20 — Ready Built PCs at Back to School Prices Ship for FREE in 2 Business Days‏
Finish Line, 7/20 — $10/$20 Off Your Back to School Essentials!
OfficeMax, 7/20 — Free Digital Camera with QuickBooks Pro + Shop for Back to School‏
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Segmenting preference update messaging

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:49:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Newegg, 7/19 — We haven't heard back from you yet- Tell us what kinds of e-Blast deals you prefer!
Since sending a June 29 email with a preference update call-to-action in it (see July 13 AM Inbox), Newegg has been running a banner toward the bottom of their emails reiterating that CTA. During this preference update campaign, Newegg has been keeping track of which subscribers responded and for those that didn’t, they sent them this follow-up email dedicated to this preference update message. It’s a smart segmentation tactic that spares those subscribers who have already updated their preferences from receiving another message about it.

Old Navy, 7/17 — Last Chance to Save 15% + Free Shipping‏
Old Navy has been big on experimenting with their navigation bar. In this email, they increase the number of navigation bar links to 10 from 8, exploded their “Baby” link into links for “Newborns,” “Baby Girls” and “Baby Boys.” As a consequence, the width of their email increased from their usual 610 pixels up to 835 pixel (ignoring the dot-whack that breaks the grid). While that’s much wider than we recommend, I was intrigued by how they used that extra width—they simply made their usual creative bigger. In the wake of launching the Boomer Legibility Initiative for a New Decade (BLIND), the increased readability of this email caught my attention. The words were nice and big and very easy to read. While I hope they decrease the width of their emails back down, perhaps they’ll start experimenting with bigger text next.

Cooking.com, 7/19 — Summer Cake Recipes: Banana Bread, Zucchini Cake + More‏
Cooking.com has launched a Flickr pool. They’re one of the few retailers to take advantage of this photo-sharing social network.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Drs. Foster & Smith, 7/19 — Update Your Email Subscriptions‏
Kmart, 7/18 — Christmas in July! Free Shipping on Christmas Lane orders of $39‏
Toys “R” Us, 7/18 — Christmas in July Sale! Save on LEGO, Games, Baby Gear & More!
Target, 7/18 — Great back-to-school looks + shipping offers.‏
Sam’s Club, 7/19 — Back to college savings: laptops, backpacks, microwaves and more‏
Abercrombie & Fitch, 7/17 — Check out what's new for back to school!
HP, 7/19 — 3 Day HP Sale: Get Your Students Set For School‏
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 7/18 — Get Free Shipping on Everything in Our Back-To-School Collection‏
Dell, 7/17 — Up to 75% off select school essentials. Weekend sale is here!‏
Hanna Andersson, 7/19 — Hurry, Backpack Sale Ends Soon (Lunch Bags, Too!)...
Bluefly, 7/19 — Office-Ready Looks + Tell Us How You 'Work It' For Work!
Avon, 7/19 — Whatever Your Age... Look Up To 5 YEARS Younger in Just 14 Days!
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: One instance where alt text was best avoided

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:03:00 +0000

>>I’m still bringing us back up to date after my time away. This post covers emails sent July 13-16.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Ralph Lauren, 7/15 — Iconic Summer Polos, Including Limited Editions‏
Ralph Lauren has changed their email address, which means that email clients will block the images in it by default. The retailer has cleverly designed an “add to address book” request that really stands out with images blocked, using a table cell with a light gray background and HTML text. With no alt text in the email to distract, the request really pops. Here’s the email with images blocked:

And here’s the email with images on:

eBags, 7/14 — 10023439, eBags Friends & Family Back to School Event Starts Now‏
Personalized greetings are supposed to indicate that a marketer knows you on some level—if only your name. In this eBags email, the first name personalization breaks, inserting numbers where the name should be. Ouch! I’ve been reduced to a number.

Saks Fifth Avenue, 7/14 — Saks Fifth Avenue Men's Collection: Wallets, Cases & More‏
Starting with a July 12 email, Saks has added links to their Facebook and Twitter pages to the top of their emails, simply bumping their forward-to-a-friend link to the left to make room. Interestingly, they render the icons in black and white instead of their usual colors. Not sure if that makes them stand out more or less.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Bluefly, 7/13 — It's A Haute Wave! Extra 10% Off EVERYTHING - Today Only!‏
JC Whitney, 7/13 — Keep Cool This Summer With Free Shipping!
L.L. Bean, 7/13 — Beat the Heat in Our NEW Shirts + Save 20% on Summer Favorites‏
Diamond.com, 7/14 — Stay Cool With This Hot Selection - Get 20% Off‏
Kohl’s, 7/14 — Know a school that needs $500K? Spread the word.‏
Hanna Andersson, 7/15 — School Deals Sale On New Fall Hannas - Save Early!‏
Linens ’n Things, 7/16 — 20% Off Back to School!‏
Ross-Simons, 7/13 — Special Offer for Facebook Fans – 2 Days Only!‏
Ann Taylor, 7/14 — The New Casual: Shop Our Laid Back Wear-To-Work Styles‏
Victoria’s Secret, 7/13 — Calling All Cheeky Girls!
J&R, 7/15 — Headphones for your SmartPhone!
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Leveraging side-by-side comparisons

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:00:00 +0000

>>I’m still bringing us back up to date after my time away. This post covers emails sent July 8-12.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Crutchfield, 7/8 — Think your ''premium'' factory sound system sounds good?‏
Convincing folks to upgrade a product that’s in working order is a tough sell. Crutchfield takes a smart approach to making this argument by explaining the difference between factory components and aftermarket ones. This side-by-side comparison is a familiar setup for consumers. The design could have better broken up the messaging more clearly into chunks, but the idea is great.

Kohl’s, 7/12 — SUMMER ESSENTIALS: Limited Quantities Left!‏
Kohl’s has made some cosmetic changes to their header, as well as moving their social media links up to the top of their email—which is a growing trend. They also abandoned their Kohls.com logo in favor of their retail brand, Kohl’s. Here’s their new header:

And here’s the previous design from a July 11 email:

Newegg, 7/12 — Guerrilla Deals! 5 explosive deals available for a limited time only‏
Hmm…I guess I misunderstood the messaging in Newegg’s last email that said that I wouldn’t receive anymore Guerrilla Deals emails unless I updated my email preferences (see July 15 AM Inbox). This email doesn’t contain that opt-in messaging. Not sure if they’re abandoning that idea or if that was really meant to be an opt-out campaign.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Target, 7/11 — College savings: Great offers on what they'll need for dorm life.‏
Kohl’s, 7/8 — Your school could win $500K. Dream Big. Act Now.
Dell, 7/10 — Campus essentials, up to 40% off select items‏
eBags, 7/11 — Back to School Kickoff: 4 Days Only - Extra 20% Off + Free Shipping‏
Hanna Andersson, 7/8 — New Backpacks Just $25 In Our Pre-Season Sale!‏
HP, 7/11 — HP's Top Rated PCs In Time for Back to School‏
Sam’s Club, 7/12 — Take a new netbook back to school; Dell Mini $349‏
Urban Outfitters, 7/9 — Let's Make Up!‏ [promoting Beauty Night event]
Barnes & Noble, 7/8 — Got a BN eReader? Get a Free Coffee!
Ann Taylor, 7/12 — Ann Taylor Loves FACEBOOK: Fans Enjoy A Special Offer‏
Northern Tool, 7/12 — Northern Tool Product Experts Share Their Favorites‏
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: 3 retailers redesign their email templates

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:12:00 +0000

>>I’m still bringing us back up to date after my time away. This post covers emails sent July 5-7.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Dell, 7/6 —Two days only - Bonus savings on already great deals‏
Starting with a July 1 email, Dell redesigned their email template, using a much lighter color scheme. It’s perhaps a bit too light in the header area, with not enough delineation between that and the body copy. I’ve been critical of Dell’s use of reverse type, so I was pleased to see that element dropped in the new design. Also, with this redesign, Dell is one of the few retailers to use two columns for their administrative text. It’s a configuration that opens up some nice recovery possibilities.

Here’s the new design (left) and the previous design from a June 29 email:

GameStop, 7/6 — Final Fantasy XIV announced; plus 20% off all in-stock games!
Starting with a June 30 email, GameStop redesigned their email template, making significant changes to their product grid. While the new design is slightly less scannable, it allows them to give more space to certain games, establishing a clearer hierarchy within the product grid. The redesign also clearly differentiates the various calls-to-action with different color text—as well as using a button add-on to highlight when exclusives are available.

Here’s the new design (left) and the previous design from a June 22 email:

Staples, 7/5 — 3 limited-time computer offers!
Starting with a July 1 email, Staples redesigned the preheader and header areas of their email template. In the preheader, they drop their whitelisting request and forward-to-a-friend link, and add a preheader message and “view on mobile” link. And the changes allow them to reduce their preheader text to just one line. These are great changes. Other changes include (1) strengthening the branding by increasing the size of the logo and adding their slogan; (2) dropping their search box, which likely wasn’t seeing much action; (3) moving their weekly ad link out of the navigation bar and giving it dedicated space opposite the logo; (4) moving their navigation bar under their logo, which allowed them to add another nav link, bringing their total to eight; and (5) adding carets to their nav links to strengthen those calls-to-action. Overall, the changes make the new header about 50% taller than the old design, but the changes are likely more than worth the extra space.

Here’s the new design:

And here’s the old design from a June 28 email:

Newegg, 7/7 — GUERRILLA DEAL ATTACK! 4 exclusive deals available for 48 hours only‏
Newegg is giving their subscribers more control over the emails they receive by making their Guerrilla Deal emails opt in going forward; to this point, all subscribers were receiving them whether they wanted them or not. The only problem here is that Newegg buries this opt-in message at the bottom of this email and doesn’t mention it in the subject line. This would have been a perfect opportunity to turn this banner message into a preview pane banner, getting that opt-in call-to-action into the preview pane.

Here’s the email (left) and a mock-up on what it would look like with that messaging as a preview pane banner:

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Hanna Andersson, 7/5 — Horns Please -- Our New Fall Website And School Deals Are Here!
Ann Taylor, 7/7 — Get Swept Away In Our New Sea-Inspired Styles + Free Shipping On $150 Or More‏
Neiman Marcus, 7/7 — Our handbag buyers: What caught their eye & why!‏
Toys “R” Us, 7/5 — Join us for a Thomas Playdate, July 10! PLUS Thomas Mega Bloks Coupon Inside‏
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Using a sweeps-powered quiz to launch a sister brand

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:19:00 +0000

>>I’m still bringing us back up to date after my time away. This post covers emails sent July 1-4.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

J. Crew, 7/2 — Win a Madewell shopping spree‏
In introducing their new Madewell brand to their J. Crew subscribers, the retailer uses a sweepstakes-powered quiz to encourage engagement, leaving only model shots to give readers the gist of the brand. It’s impossible for me to see this style quiz without thinking of Spiegel’s and how they did theirs (see Mar. 17, 2008 AM Inbox). It makes me wonder if this Madewell style quiz would have performed better if the email permission request had been made at the end of the quiz. Since the quiz is really exposing subscribers to the Madewell brand, putting an administrative/permission page in the way may have stifled engagement. I also wonder about the “Enter Now” call-to-action in the email and the “Submit” CTA on the landing page. That language puts the focus on the sweepstakes when a “What’s your Madewell style?” CTA would have perhaps attracted higher quality email sign-ups in the end. Here’s the email:

And here’s the landing page:

Ralph Lauren, 7/4 — Happy Fourth of July From Ralph Lauren‏
As in a June 20 email, Ralph Lauren uses a different header in this email, one that abandons their usual logo, which makes the top of the email seem unanchored, like it’s floating away. Perhaps they’re relying on the branding at the top of the body copy, but all the empty space in the header is really distracting. In this email, they also cut their “Shoes & Accessories” navigation link and add a “Search” button, a move that probably didn’t pay off. We’ve found that search boxes and buttons tend not to perform well in emails.

Here’s their usual header from a June 17 email:

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Kohl’s, 7/1 — Use Code TOPSECRET for ...
Dell, 7/1 — The most powerful 11" laptop in the universe‏
Banana Republic, 7/1 — Happy July! Take a fourth off sale items + free shipping.‏
Gap, 7/1 — Happy 4th! Enjoy 25% Off + FREE SHIPPING‏
Coldwater Creek, 7/2 — Happy 4th! 25% off EVERYTHING. Shop Spirited Summer Style‏
JCPenney, 7/4 — Happy Fourth Of July! We'll Ship Your Order For FREE‏
Oriental Trading, 7/2 — Save 20% - 4 days only! Happy Independence Day‏
Dick’s Sporting Goods, 7/2 — You're Free to Choose Your Offer This Fourth of July Weekend!
Lands’ End, 7/2 — Win a $100 Gift Card during the Red, White & You Sweepstakes‏
RitzCamera, 7/3 — Celebrate The 4th! Get 5 Cameras For The Price Of 1!‏
Old Navy, 7/4 — Patriotic Styles As Low as $5! Go Fourth & Save!
Lillian Vernon, 7/4 — A July 4th Celebration with 4 Deals Just for You‏
Old Navy, 7/1 — Star Spangled Sale! Save Up to 50%
Barnes & Noble, 7/1 — 20% Savings to Celebrate Independence Weekend‏
Cooking.com, 7/1 — Top 10 Fourth of July Dessert Recipes‏
Diamond.com, 7/1 — Incredible Savings For July 4th Sale - 50% OFF The ICE Price‏
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: First reference to Christmas

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:21:00 +0000

>>I’m back from vacation and will be bringing us back up to date over the course of the week.

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Hallmark, 6/29 — Sneak a peek at Keepsake Ornament Premiere!‏
Hallmark gives us our first reference to Christmas. For the past few years, they’ve delivered their first holiday message on July 1, so they decided to get a jump on Christmas in July messaging this year. HSN was also in early, sending their first Christmas messaging in a June 30 email. For insights and inspiration to help you with your holiday messaging, check out the Christmas 2009 Season Finale and the Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season—the 2010 edition of which will be released next month.

Newegg, 6/29 — INDEPENDENCE DAY SALE! Over 60 of our biggest deals of the summer inside-‏
Newegg works an “update your preferences” request seamlessly into this 4th of July email. This summer is a great time to start getting your subscribers to update their preferences ahead of the holiday season.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Fingerhut, 6/29 — Fingerhut: Answer this 4th of July Trivia + Get a FREE Gift!‏
JCPenney, 6/29 — The Fireworks Begin Here With Great Savings + Free Shipping!‏
Linens ’n Things, 6/29 — Star Spangled Savings with an Extra 20% Off!
Blair, 6/29 — Here's a firecracker of a free shipping deal!‏
Finish Line, 6/29 — Celebrate The 4th Of July In White! Get Free Shipping On The Newest Styles!
Chadwick’s, 6/30 — Double Your Discount! The July 4th Extravaganza is On!‏
PC Connection, 6/30 — Top 5 Notebook Deals For The 4th Of July From PC Connection Express - Starting at Only $319!‏
Crate & Barrel, 6/30 — Get ahead of the class: Back to School Outlet deals‏
Bluefly, 6/29 — Watch JOHNNY WEIR’S Closet Confession at 12pm & Receive a Special Bluefly Hook-Up!
Toys “R” Us, 6/30 — PlayStation Move & Kinetic for Xbox 360 are COMING SOON! Pre-Order Yours Today!
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

The Most Popular Posts during June 2010

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:35:00 +0000

The posts that were visited the most during the month:

10. Retail Email Unsubscribe Benchmark Study 2010
9. Oopsy Hall of Fame: 2007 Inductees
8. Boomer Legibility Initiative for a New Decade launched
7. Alert: Sears testing potential new Gmail offering
6. AM Inbox: J. Jill's preheader redesign + preview pane banner test
5. Design Hall of Fame: 2009 inductees
4. AM Inbox: Dressing up a run-of-the-mill gift
3. AM Inbox: Bed Bath & Beyond's 5th video gif of year
2. Cross-Promoting Sister Brands Safely
1. Season Finale: 4th of July 2009

>>View the most popular posts from previous months.

Looking to get a jump on ideas for this month? Then check out the July 2009 archive for inspiration and trends from last year.
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Do your emails speak in your brand voice?

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:57:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Newegg, 6/28 — Hit the ground running this week with 5 fabulous Guerrilla Deals!
Newegg sells stuff that lots of other retailers sell, so they have to differentiate themselves through their pricing, service and brand voice. Newegg has been sending these Guerrilla Deals emails for a little while now, but the language in this one really caught my attention for being fun but still expressive. “…Regenerate like zombie hydra heads.” “Zombie Price Regeneration…” This wording is sure to resonate with their core male 20-something shoppers.

Toys “R” Us, 6/28 — Free $10 Gift Card with The Last Airbender! Plus, Special Wii Edition, Only at TRU!‏
Just like Twitter’s character limit sometimes causes folks to use abbreviations that are unknown to some readers, subject lines also sometimes lead to alienating abbreviations—like TRU in this email’s subject line. When I saw that I immediately thought of TruTV, which of course made no sense. After thinking about it for a minute I figured out it’s short for Toys “R” Us, but I’ve never seen then use that shorthand before. Their corporate website is tru.com, but I don’t think there’s much awareness of that. Maybe I’m wrong here and not up on my Toys “R” Us-speak, but the point is to avoid insider-speak and use words that your average subscriber will easily understand.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sam’s Club, 6/28 — Celebrate July 4th with sweet summer savings.
Cooking.com, 6/28 — Fourth of July Recipes: Potato Salads, Cole Slaws + Bean Salads‏
Lane Bryant, 6/28 — Last Day For $1.99 Shipping + 4 Hot Looks For The 4th Of July‏
Diamond.com, 6/28 — Enchanted Rubies - July Birthstone‏
Toys “R” Us, 6/28 — Our Best Deal just got Better! Now Free Shipping on orders of only $49 or more at Toysrus.com & Babiesrus.com!
Bloomingdale’s, 6/28 — Save NOW Until 4AM: Time Is Ticking!‏
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Alibris continues template testing

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:53:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Alibris, 6/25 — AHA! Book Lover, you've finally found it at Alibris‏
Alibris continues to test new email designs (see June 10 AM Inbox). This one ditches the traditional navigation bar in favor of a smaller one that runs in the upper right-hand position in the header area. It’s less prominent there and likely to be missed by subscribers scanning down the left side of the email. This design also uses a background color to frame the entire email, which is a tactic that’s growing in popularity. Using wooden shelves in their product grid is a fun touch, although it looks like there’s space to highlight three books per row in most cases. You don’t want it to be cramped, but it seems a little airy currently.

Neiman Marcus, 6/26 — A STEP AHEAD: Stay front & center with ankle boots‏
Neiman Marcus is the master of serialized content in the retail world, but they’ve deviated from their usual formula with this “A Step Ahead” campaign but having the emails in the series too spaced out. Typically they send all or most of the emails in a series consecutively, but Neiman Marcus sent nine other emails between the first and second emails in this series. It’s a bit jarring and made me think that I’d missed something. Neiman Marcus has been running an “Art of Fashion” series for a few months now and while they only send them occasionally now, they started by sending several of them consecutively to cement the series in subscribers’ minds (see Mar. 5 AM Inbox).

J&R, 6/25 — Weekend Sale - Biggest Savings of the Week!‏
J&R has had image alignment issues in their header for a couple of weeks now. Definitely not the best brand impression. A reminder to check how your emails render across email client and browser combinations. It’s also probably a good idea not to cut your logo into multiple pieces.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Furniture.com, 6/25 — Red, White and Green: 4th of July Celebration starts today!
Orvis, 6/25 — 25 patriotic styles to demonstrate your pride this Fourth of July.
HP, 6/26 — HP's Fourth of July Sale STARTS NOW!‏
Home Depot, 6/26 — Stay Cool With a $99 Ceiling Fan: Styles to Fit Any Budget‏
eBags, 6/25 — Save $25 Off New Summer Styles - This Weekend Only‏
Barnes & Noble, 6/25 — Express Yourself! Enjoy FREE Express Shipping All Weekend‏
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

Week-End Trends: Fireworks to announce quiet summer period

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 14:21:00 +0000

Email activity and seasonal trends during the past week:

The Retail Email Index: Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 2.6 promotional emails on average during the week ending June 25, 2010. That’s down 8% week-over-week, down 4% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 9% year-over-year. With the summer months now here, we should be entering a period of relatively flat retail email volume.

The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.

The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: 4th of July messaging will dominate seasonal themes this week and next, but then back-to-school messaging will take off, peaking in mid August.

Selling Seasons on the Horizon:
Back to School (June-September): Back-to-School 2009 Season Finale
Independence Day (7/4): 4th of July 2009 Season Finale
Labor Day (9/6): Labor Day 2009 Season Finale
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

Ping Time: #emailisdeadanalogy, share link positioning, etc.

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:32:00 +0000

My latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:

>>Loren McDonald of Silverpop takes on Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s twisted logic about email dying and starts a Twitter conversation, asking folks for their best #emailisdeadanalogy based on Sandberg’s logic. >>Follow the ping

>>Kristina Schott of ExactTarget explains how repositioning the share links in Florida Power & Light’s emails increased sharing by 42%. >>Follow the ping and then share it

>>Ros Hodgekiss of Campaign Monitor explains how to add background images so that they won’t break in Outlook and Gmail. >>Follow the ping

>>Amy Hamilton of Smith-Harmon rounds up some birthday emails and critiques them. >>Follow the ping

>>Cynthia Edwards of Razorfish shares some ideas for spicing up your email sign-up forms. >>Follow the ping

>>In my latest Email Insider column, I discuss ways to cross-promote sister brands within your email program. >>Follow the ping
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Bright animation idea + sender name tests

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 15:57:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Banana Republic, 6/24 — 25% off plus free shipping! Online only!‏
I really like the minimalism in this animated gif. They do a lot with a circle, a curved line and a little color. They protect themselves from Outlook 2007 (and 2010) blocking the animation by including all of the promotional copy on the first frame. They also make the copy easy to read by only showing the animation once, so it grabs subscribers’ attention and then allows them to read it without the animation looping.

The other interesting thing in this email is that Banana Republic uses the sender name “Banana Republic Promotions” instead of their usual “BananaRepublic.com.” The Gap Inc. brands certainly have a history of experimenting with sender names so perhaps this is just another in a long line of tests.

Old Navy, 6/24 — Wholey Moley! Save 30% Off the WHOLE Site‏
And speaking of sender name tests among the Gap Inc. brands, for this email Old Navy uses the sender name “Old Navy Deal Alert.” They normally use “Old Navy,” although in late May they tried “Old Navy Email Exclusive” as the sender name for a couple of emails.

Urban Outfitters, 6/24 — You're the first to know! (Details inside)‏
Since moving to the “UO” logo a while back, Urban Outfitters has periodically experimented with using the space directly to the right of their logo. In this email, they’ve inserted what I would usually call a preheader header message—except that they already have one in this email. So in this email, Urban Outfitters has the subject line, preheader message and this, let’s call it a header message, all working to convey the subject of the email before you even get to the primary message.

Cooking.com, 6/24 — Classic Cookout: Recipes for Easy Baked Beans & BBQ Faves‏
I’m a big proponent of polls in emails, especially when they’re used for progressive profiling. So I was excited to see this “Yum/Yuck” poll in this email. But the experience quickly let me down. First, you have to click through to the landing page to indicate your choice. That really could have been handled in the email itself, saving Cooking.com some drop-off in respondents. And second, when you vote on the landing page, a window pops up with the results, but it’s almost instantly replaced with an ad. So you click through the email, cast your vote, and you don’t even get to see the results. It’s a frustrating experience that’s like to depress the response to future “Yum/Yuck” polls, which deprives Cooking.com of important affinity information that could be used to decide which recipes and products to pitch to individual subscribers.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Sports Authority, 6/24 — Stock Up for the 4th Sale - Save 20% on Thursday & Friday!‏
Coldwater Creek, 6/24 — Save $20...Summer's here! Jackets required. Sleeves optional.
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive

AM Inbox: Virtuous circle between social and email

cwhite@smith-harmon.com (Chad White) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:31:00 +0000

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:

Crutchfield, 6/23 — Save up to 40% at the Crutchfield Outlet Store‏
The promotion was clearly a last-minute addition, but in this email Crutchfield promotes in the preheader an opportunity to “pick the next deal.” That message is fairly cryptic and it appears that the deal is chosen on Facebook and announced on Facebook. A few months ago, Fairytale Brownies took this same concept and put a more channel-integrated spin on it, sending an email offer for free shipping, telling subscribers that they made that offer based on feedback from their Facebook community, and then asking subscribers to join them on Facebook to help chose future email offers. It helped that the messaging in Fairytale’s email was much clearer than in the Crutchfield email, but the cross-channel messaging is also more innovative.

Overstock.com, 6/23 — 70% OFF SALE‏
Overstock tells subscribers about their new Visual Search functionality on their website.

SUBJECTIVITY SCANNER: Select noteworthy subject lines
Bass Pro Shops, 6/23 — 4th of July Savings at BassPro.com‏
Fingerhut, 6/23 — Fingerhut: Stay COOL + Take 10% OFF Home Cooling! Email ONLY!
Toys “R” Us, 6/23 — Check out the Top 10 Hottest Toys of the Summer!
Linens ’n Things, 6/23 — Top Secret Sale Email Exclusive!‏
Diamond.com, 6/23 — Get a Free Gift For Shopping With us!‏
Sephora, 6/23 — The gadget we all want‏
Dell, 6/23 — Introducing the Inspiron R Family‏
_____________________
SEARCH... Recent Posts / By Selling Season / By Topic / By Retailer / Monthly Archive