Email we love: The Gift Library

Whereas this February’s Catalogue Log bemoaned the lack of mailers’ springtime originality, email marketers are wooing us with a little more creativity. Our favourite email of the spring so far is from the Gift Library.


Titled “Love your Dog, Love your Garden: New Arrivals to put a Spring in your Step”, we were instantly won over by the subject line. We were then greeted by an adorable pooch and his training whistle and a selection of just seven items to peruse, meaning we weren’t overwhelmed by too much choice. We also love the way the email lays out its top picks, the greys and browns contrasting with the red rose and shiny watering can.

Finally, by using the teaser “Introducing Maslin & Co… find out more”, we were intrigued enough to click through and explore. All proving that the Gift Library has done its homework when it comes to email marketing best practice.--MT

Three cheers for mum

Mother’s Day used to mean flowers, a card and breakfast in bed, but more and more retailers are starting to use Mothering Sunday as a hook to promote other products. Here’s a quick look at the early bird emails we received before 1st March celebrating mums in 2013.

Whittard of Chelsea
 I love tea. A lot. So when Whittard of Chelsea suggests I buy mum a tea hamper, it feels as though the email has been personalised based on my penchant for traditional tea varieties, rather than what she’d like. If I bought this for my mum, I’d definitely have to go round more often to help her drink it all. Curiously, the email doesn’t mention how much these hampers cost, which makes a change from the usual price-driven emails received at this time of year.



Oh So Cherished 
I like that the email from gifts and personalised stationery marketer Oh So Cherished comes with a reminder of the date with the title “My Beautiful Mum Gifts - 10th March 2013”. But I’m not quite sure who the audience for the email is. Oh So Cherished’s customers are women aged 22 to 45 years old, would they buy a “My Beautiful Mummy Handbag Mirror” or an “I Love My Mummy Book”? I can definitely see dads buying this on behalf of the little ones, but are enough dads going to receive this message? Perhaps Oh So Cherished should have prompted the recipient to share the email with her loved ones with a big “hint, hint” call to action. Or picked more “grown up” suggestions like necklaces, memory books, personalised compacts, leather albums or pen gift sets like the ones we found on the carefully curated Mother’s Day landing page on the Oh So Cherished website.



Occa Home

My favourite Mother’s Day email of 2013 so far, for a couple of reasons, is from Occa-Home. The first reason: it’s the first I’ve seen for the often-forgotten mother-in-law. Second, the subject line raised an unintentional smile: “Don’t Forget your Mother in Law - Buy 1 Get 1 Half Price”.--MT

Always take the weather

Getting weather-related emails right is trickier than it first appears. While a cold spell can work well as an anchor for a promotional email, marketers need to be careful they’re not too flippant as to offend people badly affected by the stormy weather. Here are a few examples of recent snow-related emails that hit the mark for us:

We like to consider ourselves practical shoppers, which is why this email from Presents for Men has a particular appeal. Titled “Ready for the big freeze? Best cold weather gadgets”, the email features a main image of a duck with the accompanying copy: “Are you ready for the first big freeze of 2013? Essential gadgets to duck the cold weather”. Below that is a selection of handy cold-weather goods like windscreen covers, hand warmers and ice grips. We also thought that its plug for sister brand Travel Paraphernalia & Outdoor Leisure showing a sunny, waterside scene was a nice touch—nothing like daydreaming about our next holiday to help beat the January blues.

Speaking of which, “Beat the January blues with our outstanding offers!!” is the subject line of an email from cookware retailer Procook.  Packed with ideas like what to do with the kids because school is closed, to tastier ways to keep our healthy eating resolutions, there’s even a competition to “really brighten up your day!”

We also didn’t fail to notice how the colour scheme shifts from bleak to sunny as we scrolled down the email—a  neat trick.

Another subject line that caught our eye was “Snowed in? Warm up with our fabulous Winter Offers…” from Feather & Black. Sadly, this was the only reference to the snow in the email, which could have been titled “Up To 50% Off + Further Savings With This Week’s Special Offers!”, as per the first line of text in the email. Still, the message is loud and clear: don’t bother getting out of bed. Stay in and shop online to make your home even cosier.--MT

Christmas early birds

One of our friends told us she’s already completed her Christmas shopping for 2012. We don’t know for sure, but we like to think it’s because canny email marketers are already sending their Christmas offers. Here are some of the early birds we’ve spotted nesting in our inbox:

Firebox
You never know quite what you’ll get in a Firebox email, but we can all imagine the monstrosity that is a collection of “The World’s Best Christmas Jumpers, Ever”, which also happens to be the email’s subject line. The copy reads: “The festive season is fast approaching, and we’ve got the World’s Best Christmas Jumpers, Ever. Plus, some nice new additions to the Big Face T-Shirt range, customised coasters and cufflinks and some really Cynical Tea Bags.” Firebox knows novelty—and wears it so very well.

Notonthehighstreet
We want to get all “handmade” this Christmas, but we’ll probably end up getting all our presents gift-wrapped at checkout. Still, Notonthehighstreet does a stellar job in inspiring us to try a little bit harder this year.

Donald Russell
If, like us, you’re already thinking about your Christmas Day dinner, you’ll appreciate this email from Donald Russell. Pure carnivore heaven. But the best bit is clicking through to savour Donald Russell’s full Christmas menu. Yum.--MT

Spooktacular opportunities at Halloween

If you are a seller of sweets and treats, fancy dress costumes, food and drink, pumpkins and gifts you can expect an obvious BOOst in consumer spend this Halloween and Bonfire Night, but retailers who think that they will not benefit from the events should think again.

A recent YouGov Sixth Sense study has revealed that people in the UK are expected to spend in excess of £650 million celebrating Bonfire Night and Halloween this year.  But it also found that only 23 percent of UK adults are set to participate in the festivities, spending an estimated £268 million on Halloween alone. A slightly greater percentage of adults (29 percent) expect to participate in activities to celebrate Bonfire Night, held on Monday 5th November, spending an estimated £386 million—mostly on fireworks (12 percent) and food and drink for parties (12 percent).

The results from the YouGov research show that while a significant amount of money is expected to be spent on Halloween and Bonfire Night this year, currently only a small percent of the population is actively spending. What this means for retailers is that there’s scope to convert more consumers into shoppers at this time of year. And you don’t have to sell scary costumes to make a killing either.

An obvious example is a pet store, which could promote products to calm pets who may be distressed by fireworks. Petmeds, for instance, currently has a Bonfire Night landing page promoting its dog-appeasing pheromone products and herbal remedies for relief of anxiety and nervousness in pets.

Another, perhaps not so obvious example is a camera retailer, which could encourage customer engagement by running a competition for the best fireworks photo. The competition could be promoted via email and social media to generate brand awareness—and potentially sales.

For apparel retailers, how about an email to promote winter coats to keep revellers warm at a Bonfire Night party? Even kitchenware retailers could get in on the act by promoting social media campaigns such as vote for the best pumpkin pie recipes. Marie Chantal, an upscale retailer of childrenswear, has joined in with the spirit of things by inviting customers to send in their children’s drawings. All pictures will be featured on the brand’s Facebook and Pinterest pages. The best one wins a prize.

These examples are just the tip of the iceberg and show that retailers have a big opportunity to get more people spending and make the most of these two new key dates in the calendar.--JD

Dart’s data: the email marketing issue

Email marketing is a vital component in your marketing arsenal, which can be used to build loyalty, trust and brand awareness. Yet despite this, a recent study has found that 40 percent of marketers do not have analytics in place to determine inbox placement rates, while another report says only 17 percent of online retailers implement a basket abandonment email.

Email intelligence provider Return Path, in conjunction with The Relevancy Group, surveyed more than 300 senior marketing executives and found that more than 40 percent of them do not have analytics in place to determine inbox placement rates for their email campaigns. This means that two-fifths of marketers have no idea what happens to their email after they hit send. The report also found that less than a quarter of marketers (23 percent) analyse competitors’ email marketing campaign performance, despite research indicating that doing so increases overall revenue from a campaign by 25 percent or more.

Of the marketers surveyed, 65 percent said that access to the right data is a challenge for their organisations with nearly a third stating that they do not know how to access data when it’s time to evaluate a campaign.

Further, although it’s widely acknowledged that relevancy rules, more than half of those surveyed (55 percent) are unable to perform any audience segmentation meaning they blast the same message to every subscriber, regardless of their previous purchases.

Staying with the email marketing trend, behavioural email provider RedEye in its fifth Behavioural Email Benchmark Study shows marketers are missing an opportunity to engage with users to improve conversion. The study researched the pre-purchase email communication used by of the likes of Amazon.co.uk, Play.com, Miss Selfridge, H&M and Homebase. It found that 19 percent of the top online retailers in the UK don’t allow precheckout registration, of which 9 percent don’t allow any type of prepurchase email communication. From those retailers allowing prepurchase registration, 78 percent sent a specific welcome email with 13 percent of these firms implementing a full welcome programme consisting of more than one trigger.

RedEye also discovered that among its clients that implement a basket abandonment programme, emails achieve an average conversion rate of 17 percent. Those marketers using a basket abandonment follow-up email convert, on average, an additional 14 percent of users. Surprisingly though, the survey found that only 17 percent of online retailers currently made use of a basket abandonment email.--JD

Email idea to steal: user-generated copy

Nearly every online shop now collects user reviews from satisfied, and sometimes not so satisfied, customers. Once the reviews are published on the site, what then?

Cashmere apparel cataloguer Brora has great idea for using online reviews to keep in touch with its customers by email. The “Brora Customer Favourites” email featured 10 items from the Brora collection that have attracted glowing references from customers. And it’s an easy idea to steal. Simply select a few of your best-selling items, or the ones with the best reviews—the copy has been written for you. --MT

The winner takes it all

The winner takes it all, the loser standing small. Or so the Abba song goes. And it’s true when it comes to online competitions.

Think about it, as an online retailer, how often have you emailed entrants to tell them they haven’t won? It’s a missed opportunity if you ask me—and Topshop agrees.

Here’s an email idea to steal: email everyone who entered your most recent prize draw but didn’t win a brief commiseration note. What’s in it for you? It’s a great excuse to communicate with customers who are clearly engaged with your brand and try to tempt them to spend some money with you.--MT

Dart’s data: the data security issue

This week’s edition takes a look at a study that highlights how half of companies could be open to data security breaches as well as a report that shows IT bosses in the retail sector are worried about the increase in consumerisation of information technology and how it will lead to greater business risks.

• The latest Adestra/Econsultancy’s Email Marketing Industry Census 2012 report highlights that only 56 percent of client-side respondents and 47 percent of supplier-side respondents say they (or their clients) have policies and processes in place to guard against data security breaches. This is the first time the report included responses to questions on data and worryingly found that 16 percent of companies didn’t even know whether data security measures were in place.  Only a quarter of companies are using authenticated login and/or IP restrictions to prevent breaches.

The research, conducted between January and February 2012 among 846 individuals, also reveals that 44 percent of respondents either had no data security policies and processes in place, or were not aware of any, while only 2 percent of respondents ranked data security as one of the three areas they need to focus on most in 2012.

• Results from a study by technology performance firm Compuware Corporation shows that 78 percent of retail sector chief information officers worry that, as consumerisation of IT gathers pace, it will lead to greater business risks. The study of 520 CIOs shows that models such as cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), as well as trends like social media and m-commerce,  are driving unrealistic expectations around the role of IT in 74 percent of businesses across the retail sector.--JD

Mother’s Day emails we love

The other day I happened across the Xbox Live dashboard and noticed its Mother’s Day gift ideas. For the uninitiated, Xbox Live is the Microsoft console’s online service. It is accessible via the console itself or through the Xbox.com website. The service enables subscribers to access and download demos of the latest games, rent or buy HD movies, and interact with the various apps Microsoft has partnered with.

Curious to find out what Xbox recommends we buy mum this Sunday, I found its selection rather uninspired—dominated by cheesy romcoms and casual puzzle games. Clearly, Xbox doesn’t think mums would enjoy a spot of Modern Warfare.

It’s easy to fall into the stereotyping trap at Mother’s Day, so here are a few offers from retailers that thought a little out of the box this year, and made my list of favourite emails.

1. Astley Clarke
Subject line: 12 ways to get Mother's Day right plus Free Delivery
Why we love it: Have you ever bought your mum—or wife—something practical and really regretted it? We’ve all been there. New jewellery trumps a kitchen gadget every time and online jeweller Astley Clarke has done well to capitalise on this. The subject line is attention-grabbing and “plus free delivery” is always a winner. I also like the personal touch. When I clicked through from the email I discovered that the 12 items were handpicked by founder Bec Astley Clarke, who just had her second child and is in “full Mother’s Day swing this year”. Bec Astley Clarke has also, rather helpfully, picked items to suit all budgets, from a sterling silver small locket at £85 to the 18-carat yellow gold amethyst ring for £895.

2. Firebox
Subject line: Thanks Mum
Why we love it: Firebox just seems to get me. References to Terminator and Alien, Yes! A pen valued at €1,000,000. WANT! Oh wait, I’m shopping for mum… The Firebox email has topped many of my “favourites” lists for having its finger on the pulse. This Mother’s Day email is no exception. While I’m not that keen on all of the gifts—a campervan birdhouse, pink gin and a “social-media shower curtain”, you can’t help but smile at a photo of a bear sitting at a picnic table. Or for that matter, be won over by Firebox’s jovial copy.

3. Frugi
Subject line: Get something lovely this Mother's day! Free postage, free card and gift wrap!
Why we love it: I am a big fan of wish lists; primarily because I hate surprises. This is why I love Frugi’s email detailing a step-by-step process of actually getting what you want with tips on how to fill in a wish list and how to get it noticed by your loved ones. Not only that but Frugi will also deliver the parcel gift-wrapped and with free shipping—and include a card too. My only criticism is that the wish list is limited to Frugi’s breast-feeding wear. Perhaps, if successful, Frugi will repeat the offer and extend it to other lines. -- MT

 

Leap to it

A friend of mine, who I’ve known for more than 20 years, is convinced my birthday is 29th February. It doesn’t matter how many times I tell him my birthday is in January, the notion has taken on a tradition status, that I now look forward to the leap year to receive birthday greetings from him.

Email marketers have also cottoned on to the fact that an extra day is sort of special and have been sending me offers to ensure I spent my “spare” day shopping with them. I tallied a dozen emails in the past few days promoting leap year deals. And some were executed much better than others.

Lingerie etailer Figleaves.com sent me an email with a 29 percent off discount code, making it the most generous marketer of the bunch. Similarly, Presents for Men also offered 29 percent off, but customers had to shop from a special “leap year” range. Other offers included “up to” 29 percent off, with an additional 10 percent discount code from Asos, while apparel and maternitywear specialist Isabella Oliver included a free mystery gift to leap year shoppers. 

As well as the best offers, Isabella Oliver and Figleaves also stood out in my selection of 12 as having the most enticing subject lines. Isabella Oliver went for “Fashion for free, TODAY ONLY! Receive a special gift with every order” while Figleaves went straight for my wallet with “Because it only happens every 4 years! 29% off - Email Exclusive!”

Beauty and cosmetics etailer CheapSmells, seemed, well, cheap in comparison. The subject line was punchy enough: “One Day Only Leap Year Saver - 5 Percent Off Everything Voucher Code”. But upon opening the email, the code only applied on orders of £50 or more. As it only happens every four years, perhaps CheapSmells could have pushed the boat out a little more.

Clearly keen to capitalise on the leap year concept, QVC also sent a themed email. But I felt it missed the mark: “Miri, spread the cost of your favourite brands with QVC this Leap Day”. My first thought was “what, no special offer?” The email copy went on to say: “Leap Year only happens once every four years so to help you celebrate in style we are offering all on-air items and selected online items in 4 Easy Pay instalments. Enjoy a full day of your favourite shows and brands, including beauty from Laura Geller, home electronics from Bose and much more”. Is it just me, or does this email leave you feel a bit deflated?  Have we all become “too trained” to expect money off?

Another marketer I wanted to see more from was The Last Detail, which sells wedding favours and table decorations. Its email was definitely on the right tracks—with plenty of calls to action for subscribers to get involved in its debate as to whether women should propose to men (well, it is a leap year tradition). There were links to The Last Detail’s Facebook page, where subscribers could take the quiz to see if they’d found Mr Right (I have, it says), videos including “Our top 5 Wedding Proposals” and a blog post on the “Top 10 places to pop the question to your man...” Plenty going on in the email, but it wasn’t selling me anything. I would have liked to see at least a couple of product offers—after all, we have a whole four years to wait until the next leap year.--MT

What we learned from 48 Valentine’s Day emails

It’s the most romantic day of the year and for marketers, Valentine’s Day is certainly about seduction. Now one of the most important sales periods of the retail calendar, Valentine’s Day has become the perfect opportunity for email marketers to try and tempt consumers into treating themselves and their loved ones. I took a sample of 48 Valentine’s Day-themed emails that landed in my inbox between 1st and 14th February to see if I could see any trends, similarities or stark differences among the messages.

The most obvious finding was that free delivery was the most popular “chat-up line” in Valentine’s emails.  Of the sample of 48, free delivery was featured in 20, or almost 42 percent of emails. With some retailers, the offer of free delivery was unrelated to Valentine’s. That is, the retailer already offered free shipping as standard—as in the case of homewares marketer Bodie & Fou, which promotes free p&p on orders of £80 or more, or ethical apparel etailer People Tree, where customers spending £70 or more are rewarded with free shipping.

Others, like apparel retailers Toast and White Stuff and homewares etailer Mydeco, offered free delivery on every order but for a very limited period. Some emails, especially those sent out near delivery cut-off times, promoted “free upgrades” to express shipping. Capitalising on the last-minute shopper, gifts cataloguer/etailer The Handpicked Collection sent an email on Saturday, 11th February offering next-day delivery (worth £8.50) for the same price as standard delivery (£4.95). The Handpicked Collection was really feeling the love this Valentine’s as not only did it offer premium shipping at almost half the price, it also took 15 percent off Valentine’s gifts for the last two remaining shopping days.

Speaking of discounts, The Handpicked Collection was one of 18, or 38 percent, of emails that promoted a sale or discount. On Valentine’s Day itself, kitchenware brand Emma Bridgewater sent its customer database the offer of 14 percent off an order if placed by midnight. Debenhams was one of the early birds, sending an email on 1st February that promoted 10 percent off all fragrances and gift sets for two weeks.  Themed as a countdown to Valentine’s Day, I rather liked Debenhams’ new take on the 12 days of Christmas: it ran a daily deal programme with a different promotion on offer every day in the run-up to 14th February. The final offer was for 20 percent off women’s dresses. I don’t know about you, but I got bored of the 12 days of Christmas promotion very quickly last year and while I like what Debenhams has done, if adopted by everyone else, it will soon lose its novelty.  And while we’re on the subject of novel, we all know a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Seems that The Fish Society, a mail order and online fishmonger, believes it too; it was offering 10 percent off caviar.

The next most popular promotion was a competition or prize draw. Perfume etailer Escentual.com went for a Valentine’s themed competition asking subscribers to describe what love means to them to be in with a chance of winning £300 worth of goodies. The Hut.com ran a competition centred around the film One Day, with the prize of a trip to Paris. Cookware retailer Procook went for a more modest prize of a silicon bakeware set worth £36.

What surprised me most was that a quarter of the emails I analysed featured no special offer at all. With each one of the emails in my sample mentioning the word Valentine somewhere in the body copy, what were these emails saying if it wasn’t an urgent message to order now?  At environmentally aware brand Love Eco, the Valentine theme meant promoting the company’s new bird boxes—for lovebirds. Cath Kidston had the suitably quaint subject line of “It's all roses and romance with our new kitchen accessories”, and while it was supposedly a “Valentine’s special”, there were no “special” offers. The best no-offer email came from Net-a-Porter’s sister (brother?) site Mr Porter. With the subject line: “Valentine’s Day covered: what to buy, wear and do”, this email won me over straight away. Going on a date? Here’s what you need to wear. Got to get her something? Choose from this range. Wondering what drink to order at the bar? Mr Porter has it all under control.

At the other end of the satisfaction scale was was sporting goods website Kitbag, whose email I met with a resounding “huh?” I’m not sure what list Kitbag has me on but I am definitely not based in Asia. To receive an email in a foreign language in the UK is, as the kids say, an “epic fail”. For the landing page to also direct me to the company’s Asian site is wrong too.

But let’s not end this date on a sour note. All the retailers in the sample directed email subscribers to particular sections of their websites. Some had dedicated Valentine’s gift centres, others a particular range or seasonal theme. Among my favourites was Velvet Brown’s “Because we love you...” email. Written in a warm and friendly tone, the email promoted new stock arrival for spring and Valentine’s Day gift ideas. A nice touch (aside from the typo in the copy) was directing recipients to the “homely hearts” range on the website. Although it seemed like it was just for Valentine’s, I later realised “homely hearts” is a staple product line of heart-shaped and love-themed items for the home. What a simple but effective way to draw attention to an existing range and make it seasonal and topical. --MT

Love is in the air, so here are five of my favourite Valentine’s subject lines of 2012:
Cath Kidston: It's all roses and romance with our new kitchen accessories
Escentual.com: Valentine’s Date Night Essentials from Escentual.com
The Linen Works: Breakfast in Bed - 15% Off our Bedlinen until Valentine's Day
Mr Porter: Valentine’s Day covered: what to buy, wear and do
River Island: Look hot this Valentine’s, gifts of love + great savings

Four lessons to learn from mobile email

Although our Direct Commerce Buzz newsletter, covering appointment news, client wins and the latest stats, has only been in existence for a couple of months, in that time we’ve been inundated with research into mobile commerce. From the findings that 87 percent of retailers believe mobile commerce will impact shopping in the next two years, but only 16 percent have a mobile strategy in place, to another study that says 11 percent of smartphone owners now shop online via a mobile device on a weekly basis, to the news that 16 percent of emails are viewed on a mobile.

With that in mind, I decided to carry out my own bit of research. I looked several emails I'd received to see how well they render on an iPhone and what lessons could be learned.

Lesson 1: The alternative view
Homeware and apparel cataloguer Orvis realised its email was best viewed on a webmail or desktop device, rather than on a mobile (see below). To help the smartphone user get the most from the email, Orvis included a link to view a mobile version of the email. Unfortunately, the theory was better than the practice.

When I clicked on the “view mobile version” link within the Orvis email I was presented with a text-based page inviting me to add Orvis to my address book, but there was no mention of the other offers. By all means strip down the email so that it loads more quickly, but don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater (below).

Lesson 2: The landing page
The Holding Company, a marketer of home storage solutions, did much better. The email fit within my iPhone’s screen and was simple to navigate. I had just three choices: “up to 50% off sale”, “interdesign 50% off” and “multibuy savings”. The buttons were big enough that I could click on them without having to magnify the screen. So far so good.

Where The Holding Company let me down was in the landing page. While its email was clutter-free, the same couldn’t be said for the page I was directed to after clicking “multibuy savings”. A lot of pinching and scrolling was involved to see everything on the page. You know the adage, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”, that’s true for the landing page, so think about it from all angles.

Lesson 3: The fiddly discount code
Entertainment products etailer The Hut did nearly everything right. Although the email was not optimised for mobile, it was still easy to navigate and work out the gist—I haven’t shopped for a while, here’s 10 percent off. The landing page was optimised for mobiles and getting to my desired item was easy.

Armed with my code I was ready to shop. Locating the discount box was stress-free and entering the code would have been easy too, were it not for the fact it is a 14-digit code (12 numbers, 2 dashes). Thank heavens for copy and paste. If possible, think about using more mobile-friendly codes.

Lesson 4: Beware the partial download
If there’s an email in my inbox that doesn’t get read, it’s the email which has only partially downloaded. Take this email from Tesco, for example, it has an enticing subject line: “15% off when you pre-order Harry Potter + £20 off any TomTom sat nav!”, but I’m guessing too many images in this email made my iPhone give up trying to download it all in one go.

When I clicked to download the rest of the message it took nine “flicks” to finally get to the bottom of the email. Perhaps Tesco should consider a “view this on your mobile” option? In any case, if I received this email and I wasn’t connected to Wi-Fi, there’s no way I would spend my 3G allowance on it. You’d have to have a very special bond with a customer to persuade them to spend their money just to open your emails.--MT

Idea to steal: managing unsubscribes

I accidentally unsubscribed from Argos’s email list earlier this week. Luckily though, the retailer was on the case to rectify that error. With the subject line “Are you sure?”, Argos’s email immediately caught my attention in a crowded inbox. It continued: “We are sorry to see you have recently chosen not to hear from us. Argos emails are a great way to be the first to know about our best deals, exclusive competitions and much, much more. If you have changed your mind or didn’t mean to unsubscribe, please let us know by clicking here.” This simple, no-fuss email ensured that I quickly added myself back to the list.
Do you know how many of your email recipients have inadvertently unsubscribed? An email like this is a neat way to win them back. What have you got to lose?--MT

What we learned from 58 bank holiday weekend emails

If, like me, you spent the bank holiday weekend fighting off a nasty bout of flu, you will have had time to read your emails instead of having fun and enjoying the, erm, “Great British Summer”. You will have also noticed several marketers using the bank holiday as a hook for their special offers last week. Like any event or special date in the calendar, the bank holiday weekend makes for excellent email fodder, so in my paracetamol-induced haze I had the idea of saving all my emails for analysis.

I took a random sample of 58 emails I received between Friday, 27th May and Monday, 30th May. Of the 58 emails I tallied, at least four merchants sent me more than one email during the course of the long weekend. So what did they have to tell me that was so important they needed to contact me twice? Pet Supermarket sent me a food-storage themed email on Sunday with no mention of the bank holiday. The following day it emailed to let me know that I had just 48 hours to get 10 percent off my order. The subject line worked to instil a sense of urgency, but I was much less excited when I learned I needed to spend £79 to qualify for the discount.

Another retailer, equestrian supplies specialist Derby House, emailed me on Friday announcing “75% OFF Bank Holiday Outlet Clearance*”. Asterisks in subject lines are never a good thing and should be avoided in my opinion. I looked up the footnote, which referred to 183 words of terms and conditions. Sure, they needed to be there, but perhaps the subject line wasn’t the ideal place to point them out. On Monday, the email from Derby House was titled “Hurry, these offers end midnight tomorrow!”—thankfully no asterisk this time.

Something for the weekend
Although Derby House mentioned the bank holiday in the subject line of one of its emails, it was in the minority of merchants that did so. Unexpectedly, more than four out of five emails (81 percent) did not include a reference to the bank holiday in the subject line. Those that did included apparel cataloguer Tulchan: “Bank Holiday Bonanza from Tulchan” and homewares cataloguer/retailer Cologne & Cotton: “A Great Bank Holiday Offer From Cologne and Cotton”. I was also impressed by Cologne & Cotton’s efforts to link email with its other channels. It featured a printable coupon that customers can use in-store to redeem 15 percent off selected lines.

Eight of the 58 emails, or 14 percent, did not mention the bank holiday in the subject line but did include it in the body of the email. Hush and Frugi definitely missed a trick here. Let’s start with apparel retailer Hush’s subject line: “Miri - The Grocer's Son, last chance to win Lazy Linen bundles from The Sleep Room, harem trousers update etc”. Okay, it gets a thumbs up for its attempt at personalisation, but “etc”? And where’s Hush’s product in this email, third in line with a “harem trousers update”—not even a special offer, but a stock update. I know Hush is known for its soft-sell approach, but burying a free delivery promotion at the bottom of the email just doesn’t make sense to me. Especially considering customers have to spend £75 to qualify for the offer.

Childrenswear brand Frugi sent an email titled “Something special to celebrate our 7th birthday”. The email then went on to offer free delivery and a 3-for-2 deal, as well as a Facebook competition to win a “Frugi birthday present”. I can’t help but think that open rates would have improved if Frugi had simply added “Free UK delivery” or “Win Frugi goodies” to the subject line.

Speaking of Facebook, my sample showed that 78 percent of emails featured some sort of social-bookmarking link. When we ran a similar study in 2009, only 17 percent included a link to the company’s Facebook page, Twitter feed, or other third-party social-media site. While this is a huge improvement, there’s still more to be done. One in every five emails is missing out on the opportunity social networking presents to get closer to its audience.

Another missed opportunity is personalisation, with 90 percent of the merchants in my sample failing to personalise any element of the email. Just six emails featured any sort of personalisation: Hush, Yours Clothing and Chemist Direct opted for including my name in the subject line. Gifts marketer Cox & Cox and apparel etailer Curvissa chose to address me by name in the body of the email. Fashion retailer New Look’s personalisation was evident in the preheader text: “Miri, if you can't view our e-mail, click here”.

My favourite use of preheader text came courtesy of cosmetics marketer Feelunique. The preheader, also known “snippet text” appears in the inbox of some email clients along with the subject line. Often only used to remind readers they can view the email in their web browsers, preheaders have the potential to work much harder for the brand, something Feelunique clearly appreciates. Here’s how it maximised the chances of having its email opened: “It’s last of the long weekends & we’re giving you just the ticket to satisfy your beauty needs all weekend. Get a whopping £5 off any order when you spend only £45 or more – get summer sorted!” That’s everything a reader would need to help make the decision of whether to open the email or not. So much more effective than saying “Not displaying correctly, click here to view it in your browser”, don’t you agree?

The big deal
If 80 percent of emails were not promoting a bank holiday-related offer, they had to be promoting something else, right? Forty-five percent of subject lines made mention of a price-related offer, for example “25% off all clothing including online exclusives” at Tesco, and “This week’s top offers - up to 50% off!” at Debenhams. Twelve percent of emails chose to promote free delivery, or in apparel retailer Wallis’s case, a lower delivery charge of £1. A scant 5 percent offered a free gift, including cosmetics brand Clinique and mail order butcher Donald Russell: “New Butchers Specials - Get FREE burgers with orders over £80!”.

And finally, here’s one for the “Huh?” file. Toys and games etailer Smyths sent me an email tiled “Save €'s..Get Top Rated Games For Less”. The Galway-based retailer sent me its euro-priced email instead of the sterling email. Smyths needs to be more stringent with its segmentation. It knows I live in the UK—it even sent me a catalogue at Christmas—so why am I on the list for an Eire-only promotion?--MT

Royal wedding emails we love

The old adage is true, be careful what you wish for. I had initially lamented the lack of royal wedding merchandise.But that was back in November. Since then we've been subject to a deluge of royal wedding-related memorabilia, including this £10 plastic tray spotted in a souvenir shop outside the London Eye.

There have also been plenty of royal wedding emails from marketers keen to boost sales ahead of the big day. Here are three that caught my attention. Feel free to send me your favourite Wills & Kate emails--and why you love them. We'll do another roundup in an upcoming blog post, email miri@catalog-biz.com.

Firebox
Why we love it: Think Channel 4’s alternative to the Queen’s Speech at Christmas and you’ll get the gist of the Firebox email. Titled “Wills & Kate: 100% Unofficial Merchandise with FREE UK Delivery!”, the Firebox email has everything for those who like their royal weddings with a pinch of salt. Presented against a backdrop of cheerful bunting, there are “Thanks for the day off” commemorative plates and Royal Wedding Top Trumps that rate guests on their age, style icon-ness and VIP status. If you want something less cheeky, there are Union Jack sky lanterns and a royal wedding heart mug.

Cosyfeet
Why we love it: Did you know that if Prince William were to get married before his 25th birthday he would have needed the Queen’s consent? No, neither did we, but thanks to Cosyfeet’s themed email we do now. Cosyfeet, a seller of extra roomy footwear, sent an email to its customer base with details on occasionwear to celebrate the royal wedding. The email, with the subject line “Cosyfeet magazine - Issue 8 - 10% off selected footwear” included a number of other factoids about the royals—as well as that all-important special offer. These features combine to give Cosyfeet real inbox staying power.

Notonthehighstreet.com
Why we love it: Breaking away from email marketing convention, this missive from gifts etailer Notonthehighstreet.com has no immediate call to action in the subject line. However, with the title “Weddings, weekends and winning” the recipient has a clear idea of what’s on offer. The wedding is clearly the royal wedding, with themed products including badges, biscuits, and bunting. The weekend is covered by travel bags and passport holders. And the win involves taking part in an Easter egg hunt. As the win element was consigned to a small graphic at the top right of the email, we would have liked to see more made of it. But otherwise this was a delightful email that made us long for a cream tea and a street party.--MT

Missing a trick--part 3

Regular readers will know I have a bit of a beef with the levels of personalisation in pet supplies emails. I’ve blogged about it at least twice (here and here), and commented on it countless times. So imagine my delight at finally receiving an email from a UK-based pet-supplies merchant that said it was creating an email preference centre.


I envisaged a world where I entered the type of pet I own (dog), his age, breed or size. I thought it may even ask me what I usually fed him, whether he had any medical conditions, what flea treatment I used and when the next one was due, all in the name of creating a 360-degree view of me as a customer. I pictured the retailer sending me superpersonalised emails with offers I couldn’t refuse. Think what you can do to your repeat-order levels if you knew the last time I bought a dog-worming tablet and could schedule to send me a reminder three months later. Think also of the goodwill you’d generate by showing me more products suited to a Labrador than a Chihuahua--I don’t quite think my dog would carry off the tiara look.

Then came the disappointment. Pets at Home only wanted to know if I had a dog, cat, horse, bird, reptile, fish, small pet, or “other”. There wasn’t another page to fill in. That was it. I can’t help but feel that Pets at Home really missed an opportunity to get to know its customers.--MT

Magicbox gets social

We like to think that all the catalogues and websites we’ve reviewed read the articles and act upon the advice they’re given. When an email from magic-tricks retailer Magicbox landed in my inbox this week, I was instantly reminded of the website review we published in September by BT Fresca’s Sarah Hughes.

In her review, Hughes commended Magicbox for using video on its website and making use of user-generated content, but suggested it go a step further by “inviting happy customers to post videos of themselves performing their newly acquired magic tricks”. The email I received this week confirmed that Magicbox was indeed taking this route.

In the email titled “Want to win £100 of free magic?”, Magicbox invited recipients to celebrate the launch of its new customer video reviews feature. Taking up more of Hughes’ advice, Magicbox incentivised customers by offering the best video £100 in free products from the Magicbox website.

Adhering to further customer engagement best-practice, Magicbox then introduced additional social elements to the email—customers could enter the competition by posting their videos on YouTube and sending a link to Magicbox as well as by uploading them directly to the Magicbox site. A shortlist will then be posted on Magicbox’s Facebook page and fans will be invited to vote for their favourite.

In her review, Hughes said it was clear that Magicbox is committed to improve its online presence where possible. Certainly that seems the case with Magicbox integrating more content-rich features and social-media elements into its website and its emails. Wonder what more tricks it has up its sleeve.--MT

Valentine's emails we love

Firebox
Subject: “You Can Hurry Love - Order by 5pm Friday 
to Spoil Someone Special!”

Why we love it:
We’re not really the romantic type, nor are we particularly organised when it comes to buying gifts, so that’s why this email from Firebox won us over. Received on Thursday, 10th February, there were a mere two working days to secure a present for our sweetheart. But Firebox reassured us, and the rest of its customers, that all wasn’t lost—we could still beat the last-order deadline.

Debenhams
Subject: “P.S. We love you...”
Why we love it:
This was suggested to us by BrightMinds’ IT and web manager, Joshua Geake for its “simple and remarkably apt” subject line. And we agree. There’s something for everyone in the email: an outfit for a night out, gifts for her and him, chocolate and champagne indulgence and best of all, the chance of winning a weekend away. And we said we weren’t romantic…

Bakker
Subject: “Bakker wishes you a happy Valentines day”
Why we love it:
We’re not sure we love it, but it certainly made us sit up and take notice. Sent on the 14th, the email wished us a happy Valentine’s Day. Making us feel even better, Bakker announced “Our customers love flowers, we love our customers!!” alongside a big picture of a bouquet of roses. Well, at least someone sent us flowers. The image almost led us to believe that this lovely arrangement was free with our next order, until we scrolled down a little further to see that a bundle of six towels was the free gift. We’re pretty sure “Huh?” wasn’t the desired the reaction.--MT

Emails we love--VAT promotions

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, it can’t have escaped you that the rate of VAT has gone up from 17.5 to 20 percent. Always ready to take advantage of a marketing opportunity, retailers flooded email inboxes with offers to beat the hike. Here are some of the memorable ones we came across:

Glasses Direct
Subject line: “Beat The VAT - All Prices Held + 20% Off Frames For 1 Week!”
Why we love it: The attention-grabbing headline (above) entices customers to open the email whereupon they are greeted by an attractive graphic containing all the necessary details. We also liked that those unsure about taking up the deal were further coaxed by friendly copy: “We are chuffed to bits to be able to tell you that we will not be increasing our prices this year due to the increased VAT. In fact it’s even sweeter than that, as until 11th January we’ll be cushioning the blow of increased VAT even further by also offering you an extra 20% off frames!” There’s no doubt left in the consumer’s mind as to what the offer is and how he can take advantage of it.


White Stuff
Subject line: “Spring sneak peak & more sale items”
Why we love it: This email from White Stuff sees us digress. The VAT rise is clearly not the focus of the email, though it does get a mention in a comic book-style speech bubble: “We are not putting our prices up!” Primarily, we love it for its fun and vibrant superhero theme, and most of all, the “New Adventures of Superdog” comic strip.

Dell
Subject line: “Let Dell pay the VAT increase for you! Click here”
Why we love it: Yes, we know, the “Click here” in the subject line is redundant. So much better to say “Click to open and let Dell pay the VAT for you” or even just “Let Dell pay the VAT for you”. Aside from that, the idea is clever, it may only be a rise of 2.5 percent, but it’s better Dell pay it than us. Makes us feel like we’re sticking it to the man.--MT