Search Email Moxie Posts

Emails and Thoughts From The Past Week - August 25th to 31st, 2009

Below are some NOTEWORTHY EMAILS from my inbox this past week. Enjoy!

Here are three subject lines that I thought were good.

Step On It! SHOE SALE - Now Up To 70% Off
this is from Blue Fly

Not Your Daughter's Jeans: Colorful Cords & Exclusive Denim this is from Nordstrom

She stole my plaid! this is from Abercrombie & Fitch

Many retailers struggle with gender specific emails when they are not certain about the gender of their subscriber. Retailers do not want to mis-market by sending a male and female specific email or vice versa. Saks Fifth Avenue and Ralph Lauren both do a good job here. The message is the same - Ugg boots and tennis gear - both genders and a children are given similar billing in the creative.

email marketing

Making sure all holidays, and not just the major ones, are a part of your email campaign is important. Eddie Bauer does a good job with this Labor Day email. It has some good offers and the creative is captivating.

Here is another Saks example. This stood out to me because it is not specifically about Saks products. It is promoting an MTV Award Nominee video. Interesting. By the way the subject line for this one is Marc & Chairlift Video Event + A Gift

email marketingI like the way Ann Taylor features the brands new designer - Perfect Pieces. This email is classy, catchy and is able to feature the designer products and offers a quote from Lisa, who is apparently the Head of Design, at Ann Taylor.

email marketing


New Maine Law Bans Sending Email Marketing Messages To Anyone Under 18 Without Parental Consent

UPDATE: Click here to view an update of this Law!

On June 2, 2009, the Governor of Maine signed into law an Act To Prevent Predatory Marketing Practices against Minors, codified at Maine Rev. Stat. Ann., tit. 10, ch. 1055, § 9551, et seq. Although its titNew Maine Law Bans Sending Email Marketing Messages To Anyone Under 18 Without Parental Consentle would seem to apply to "predatory" practices, and earlier versions focused only on health-related information, the enacted bill effectively extends COPPA protection to those younger than 18 (the age of majority in Maine) rather than just those younger than 13.

Under the new law, which is effective 90 days after the date of enactment, it is unlawful to collect individually identifiable information about "minors" without verifiable parental consent, if the information is going to be used for marketing purposes. The new law comes with a private right of action that allows for damages up to $250 per violation. (It is not clear how “per violation” will be defined, and whether a person can bring the action for violations involving only his or her own personal information. At the very least, the possibility of a class of consumers seeking recovery of up to $250 per violation is present.) The plaintiff also is entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs, and the amount of the damages can be trebled if the violation was willful.

The new law also creates a civil penalty, which appears to be available only in the case of an action brought by a state regulator, of "no less than" $10,000 per violation. The penalty goes up to $20,000 for subsequent violations of the law.

What This Means
Although regulations could be developed that temper the possible effect of this new Maine law, on its face, it essentially extends the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to cover teenagers. What is missing, however, is any reference to the exceptions in COPPA that permit marketers to offer children the ability to provide their online contact information in order to participate in a one-time request for a service, like entering a sweepstakes. Thus, a marketer is faced with the prospect of having to obtain COPPA-style verifiable parental consent from a teenager (under 18) in order to include a minor from Maine in his promotion, or voiding the promotion in Maine (at least for those under the age of majority).

Long story short you need to be extra careful when sending email or other marketing messages to folks in Maine. Various marketing organizations, including email marketing organization, are trying to fight against this law. Stay tuned...

The majority of this information is from an article that can be viewed by clicking here.

Emails and Thoughts From The Past Week - August 18th to 24th, 2009

Below are some NOTEWORTHY EMAILS from my inbox this past week. Enjoy!

- Animated Emails. This week there are a couple examples of Animated GIFs used in email. These come to us from Saks Fifth Avenue and Art.com.

An animated GIF file is a graphic image that moves. This could be a flashing or spinning icon, or letters that magically get larger, for example. Technically, an animated GIF is a single file that is created to display various images in a specific order. Animated GIFs are most frequently used in web ad banners, but there has also been a recent surge in the use of animated GIFs in email. One interesting use, beyond flashing letters or moving icons, is creating what looks like a video embedded in the email content. These “videos” present a visually unique and impressive message, and when used effectively, create visually engaging emails that deliver a “wow” factor that stagnant images cannot. To really catch the attention of email openers, be sure to place the most interesting animated GIFs above-the-fold.

The Saks example provides some eye candy of different styles on different models.

emailmoxie.com - email marketing -  email week in review
The art.com example displays various educational prints dynamically.

emailmoxie.com - email marketing -  email week in reviewHere is the art.com dynamic image in action.

emailmoxie.com - email marketing -  email week in review
Both of these dynamic examples are classy and draw attention to the email. Sweet!

- Overstock.com does something interesting in order to get the click. They have a $10 Off Coupon for a mystery product. The only way to see the product is to click the image. Also, the subject line for this email was Shhh! It's a Secret Sale. This subject line is reinforced in the email and on the landing page once the coupon is clicked.

emailmoxie.com - email marketing -  email week in review...and here is the product! This is a great way to get subscribers interested and engaged with the email.
emailmoxie.com - email marketing -  email week in review


- Walgreens has a prominent banner at the bottom of the main image asking the subscriber to update his or her preferences to receive more email. This type of overt request to signup for various types of newsletters is not something all email marketers are comfortable doing. Some marketers feel that this is overly aggressive. However, in this case Walgreens does a good job. It states that hey, if you enjoy this email you will probably enjoy some of our other emails.

emailmoxie.com - email marketing -  email week in reviewHere is a larger view of the call to action image. Walgreens also asks if the subscriber would also like to update or add a preferred store.

emailmoxie.com - email marketing -  email week in review
Here is the landing page once the image is clicked. The four email types can be selected. This landing page/preference center is simple and clear.


emailmoxie.com - email marketing -  email week in review

- Sephora.com does something cool. They give a preview to what the topic of the next email will be. This makes me want to check my in box for the next Sephora email. I am not necessarily interested in the email content, but I would like to find out if they actually deliver what they are promising in their next email. This is a great idea to boost open rates and hopefully clicks and conversions.

As an added plus, if I really cared about who the Sephora top brand founders were I am more likely to get exited about their email and might tell my friends and family about the upcoming mailing.
emailmoxie.com - email marketing -  email week in review
- Cooking.com does something that I have not seen in email for a long while. They have actual banner adds in the HTML mailing. This is a throwback idea when email marketing was in its infancy. I am curious to the reason why they are doing this. Is it to increase revenue through an affiliate program? Do they think this will help their email program? Did they run out of content and figured might as well place an advertisement? I'm not sure...

emailmoxie.com - email marketing -  email week in review

Time To Go Back-To-School...in Email

This week I am focusing on what is going on in back-to-school emails. There is still time if your organization has not yet sent a back-to-school email! But you will need to move fast. Classes start soon!

First of all, here is an interesting
article from USA Today about a Britney Spears' back-to-school campaign for the retailer Candie's.

The first sighting of Britney Spears' new back-to-school commercial for Candie's wasn't on TV. Or in theaters. Or even on the website of the hip, tween-targeting seller of footwear and clothing.
Those venues would be so 2008.
The spot that shows a sultry Spears ogling a guy at a polo match had its premiere online Thursday on social-networking sites Facebook and BritneySpears.com and promoted by Spears via social network Twitter — where she had 2,536,459 "followers" as of midweek. Candie's purposefully launched the ad this way in hopes that millions of girls will send it back and forth to each other.

Here is another article. This one is from ClickZ. The title of this article is E-Mail Back-to-School Specials.

Over the past three years, the amount of e-mail sent with back-to-school savings has increased steadily. In 2007, I tracked 963 e-mail campaigns promoting back-to-school discounts sent between July and August. In 2008, I noted a 47 percent increase in back-to-school e-mails in July and August, totaling 1,810 e-mail campaigns tracked.

So far this year, there seems to be an overall drop in the number of back-to-school campaigns being sent compared with last year. It is hard to say if this is a direct result of the economy, as retailers deal with the marketing division layoffs that have been happening throughout the industry. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues as we head into the winter holiday season.


Secondly, here are a variety of Summer/Fall 2009 back-to-school subject lines and email creative examples that have graced my in-box. Many of these were sent early August - a few weeks to a month before most schools are back in session.

You will notice that the majority of the email creatives and subject lines have an offer. Be it free shipping, a percent off, or something else to entice the recipient to convert. I like how the Sports Authority emails (there are two of them) focuses on back to sports - this keeps with the back-to-school theme but focuses on school sports teams. I hope you enjoy these examples!

Have you seen other examples?
What are some of the best ways to convert back-to-school lookers to purchasers?


Here are some Statistics and Facts about the 25 Back-To-School Emails displayed below.
  • 1 Back-To-School email used First Name personalization in the Subject Line. (4%)
  • 3 mentioned the name of the sender in the Subject Line. (12%)
  • 14 mentioned a specific offer in the Subject Line (15% Off, Free Shipping etc.) (56%)
  • 4 mentioned a non-specific offer in the Subject Line (here is a welcome gift, special offer, special gift etc.) (16%)
  • The shortest Subject Line is Best Brands for Back to Sports This is from Sports Authority.
  • The longest Subject Line is 5 New Laptops Under $500: HP, Acer, Lenovo, Gateway...Hurry, Laptop Week is Almost Over This from TigerDirect.

Subject Line: Last Chance For School Deals And Unders Savings!
Sender: Hanna Andersson
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email

Subject Line: Final 24 Hours of Laptop Week: 20 Amazing Laptop Deals Starting at $329...Hurry
Sender: TigerDirect

www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school emailSubject Line: Fast, Free Shipping + up to 40% off: back-to-school Sale
Sender: Land's End


www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school emailSubject Line: COUPON: Get $15 off for school, work, or play.
Sender: RadioShack


www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email Subject Line: Shop our best back to school merchants and get Double Cash Back
Sender: Ebates
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Sender: Subject Line: School's Back! Save Now - $10 Coupon Inside
Sender: Office Depot
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school emailSubject Line: 50-60% Off Student Lounge Bedding + Free Shipping
Sender: Kohl's


www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school emailSubject Line: 5 New Laptops Under $500: HP, Acer, Lenovo, Gateway...Hurry, Laptop Week is Almost Over
Sender: TigerDirect
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: 30-60% Off Candie's, Abbey Dawn, Mudd & SO + FREE Shipping!
Sender: Kohl's
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: Save On Office & School Supplies a $10 coupon inside
Sender: Office Depot

www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line:
FINAL DAY! Get $10 for every $50 you spend
Sender: Kohl's
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: Save 15% when you shop Back to School

Sender: Colorful Images
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: Campus & Fall Fashions: Extra 10% off + Free Shipping
Sender:
eBags
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: Hot Deal for "Back to School" from PNY

Sender: PNY
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line:Ideas to encourage kids on the first day of school

Sender: Hallmark
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: Your HP Home & Home Office Store Deals - Week of August 3, 2009
Sender:
HP
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: Back to School Bedding Send-Off: Extra 10% Coupon Inside
Sender:
Linens - N - Things
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: Get 30 4x6 Prints for $3 + 50% Off Photo Books
Sender: Walgreens
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: Calling All Teams - Back to Sports Footwear Sale!
Sender:
Sports Authority
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: Back to College Electronics and more at Sam's Club
Sender:
Sam's Club
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: Save an Extra 10% on Back to School Bedding: Coupon Inside
Sender:
Linens - N - Things
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line: First Time Backpack Savings For Girls | Hurry Before School Deals End!
Sender:
Hanna Andersson
www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email
Subject Line:
This Week -- Coupons, New Lower Textbook Prices, Pat Conroy, Complimentary Wi-Fi, More
Sender:
Barnes & Noble

www.emailmoxie.com email marketing best practices back-to-school email

Emails and Thoughts From The Past Week - August 11th to 17th, 2009

Below are some NOTEWORTHY EMAILS from my inbox this past week. Enjoy!

- Gap does something unique and cool with an animated gif. In this email they use an animated .gif to promote their Social Media sites. This draws the eye to the changing text. Nice job! www.emailmoxie.comwww.emailmoxie.com - The winner of the first Christmas Email of the year that graced my inbox is from... Walter Drake. Only four months to Santa! www.emailmoxie.com - This is a cute email from Armstrong Garden Centers. They are offering 20% off of every product that is yellow. This type of sale is not only interesting but it is FUN. www.emailmoxie.com
- The warehouse store, Sam's Club, does a classy job with this email. They are informing their subscribers about their green initiatives in a frank, non-sales format.

The subject line is also clever and fun:

Simple steps to saving green with Sam's Club


www.emailmoxie.com  email marketing
- The last topic for this week is taking a clever or interesting email creative and having a related and similar themed landing page. All too often we see cases where there is an engaging creative but an irrelevant or disappointing landing page. This is NOT the case in the three examples below. These examples come to us from Ralph Lauren, Bluefly, and Victoria's Secret.

The Ralph Lauren creative is engaging, artistic, and promises the viewer that in three simple steps he or she will be able to create an article of clothing unique to them. The subscriber can select a color, choose a monogram or pony, and make it their own. Hopefully the landing page will deliver all of this...

www.emailmoxie.com  email marketing...and it does! The landing page takes us to an easy to use, step-by-step, page that allows us to create our own garment.

www.emailmoxie.com  email marketing
The second example is from Bluefly. The Bluefly hook is less obvious in the creative but is promoted in the Subject Line. The Subject Line for the email below is New Fall Coats! Check Out The Latest Celeb Obsessions!

The engaging aspect of this is the question what does a Celeb Obsession have to do with coats? This is screaming open the email and find out! The link about celebrities is in the bottom right corner.

www.emailmoxie.com  email marketing
The landing page for the link is the Bluefly blog, Fly Paper. Before I selecting this link I did not know 1- that celebrities wear Bluefly gear 2- That Bluefly has a blog that appeals to their core clients.

Bluefly did a great job not only promoting their products but also promoting their blog. 2 for 1. Nice!
www.emailmoxie.com  email marketing
The last example of a clever email having a relevant landing page comes to us from Victoria's Secret. In a recent email from them, there was a banner below the main image. The part of the banner that caught my attention was the text "Check out the 24 new schools that made the cut for 2009." This piqued my interest to see if my school made the list and what other schools are on it.

www.emailmoxie.com  email marketing
The landing page reinforced the message located in the banner and also listed the schools (including the new ones designated by an *) that are included in the Collegiate Collection. This is especially relevant now that school is in session or starting soon.
www.emailmoxie.com  email marketing
That's it for this week! Se sure to check back for next weeks week in review. Also, later this week I will be posting 2009 back-to-school creative examples. Be sure to keep a lookout for those.

Feel free to send my any questions, comments, or creative exmaples that you have found.