Open Rates…you are “living on a prayer” baby.
I have engaged in many debates centered around the use of open rates as a viable metric for success in email marketing and to be honest, I am done debating the issue. You see, I think open rates have some merit, but nothing that I would base my entire email program’s success or failure on. You see…email open rates are like 80’s music. It was once great stuff to listen too. as it was fresh and cool and the beat was good. We judged our lives and happiness around the next cool Depeche Mode, Poison or Motley Crue song and loved it. 80’s music had its purpose and still does today, but in a much different way.
I still break out some old 80’s tunes and jam in my car but somehow the songs lose their appeal to me in a pretty fast way. This is how I feel about open rates. We gladly have that column in our tracking metrics reserved for open rates and they are nice to look at (like a good Def Leppard or OMD album cover/song, but to me its old school.
Right about now open rates are saying things like “Don’t forget about me”, because “Time after time” when people debate on whether “Should I stay or should I go” people find out that a high open rate can contribute to more “Mony mony”. However, we in the email community are watching “Every breath you take”
Those of you in the email community who think open rates are still alive, prosperous and add gobs of value to organizations..I encourage you to not “Take on me” because it will be “When Doves cry” before you can convince me that open rates are the “eternal flame” in email.
“Don’t stop believing” my fellow email marketers…open rates are here to stay like all of the 80’s stations out there. And for better or worse we need to show our “true colors.” Open rates are like a good 80’s song…great to have in your music collection..just not something I would like to listen too on a regular basis for entertainment.
*** I assure you that no “red red wine” contributed to this post……….ok I am done now***
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open rates, engagement rates, email metrics, email marketing, email best practices, email content, email humor, email program
At some organizations, the email person is often looked at as a second class citizen. Most people think email marketing folks are people who could not hack it in the real world of marketing and so they chose to sit behind the computer and push a button all day to send out emails for the company.
No matter how much you read or know about email marketing, some folks within the organization look at email marketing as a necessary thing and that there really isnt all that much to think about. People don’t get that it’s an art and a science and therefore despite the big revenue numbers that email can produce, email folks tend to be on the lower end of the marketing pay scale.
Despite all of this, its time to be a hero. It’s time for you to come out from behind your office or cube and take a risk that you know will benefit your program and your organization. Do the right thing for your subscriber and try something that through testing you know will work. Be a hero to your subscriber. Be a hero to your organization and be a hero to yourself.
Do it now and beg for forgiveness later. Some of the greatest hero’s in history went against what was popular to accomplish great things.
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email, email marketing, email best practices, email strategy
Don’t discard subtle changes in your email program. A tweak of the pre-header here or a change in the template there can add up to either big gains or losses.
Remember that email marketing is not based off hunches. It is data driven and what YOU may think will be great for your customers will turn out to be something different unless you first test it out. Sometimes the changes you make might go against what some experts may deem as best practices but again, its your program and your subscribers.
Don’t be afraid to make the subtle changes in your program, but make them data driven and not what others think or say might be the best.
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email marketing, email, best practices, testing, email testing, pre-header, deliverability
Attention all #emailsnob Below you will find only a couple of T-Shirt Designs that I have put together. I welcome your input and thoughts and would be more than happy to get submissions from all of you. This is our T-Shirt and I would love to agree on a design. I would be more than happy to get them printed and sell them at cost to all of you.
I built all of these T-Shirts at a great site called CustomInk. They have a variety of choices for the shirts. I did the designs in white, but we can certainly look to do something else.
So without further adieu…
Design 1
Design 2
Design 3
Design 4
Alt Text is so not new. In fact, I did some research and it I can find some posts that are several years old about this very subject. To me, “doing” Alt Text is not something that should be an option in your email program regardless of size. I say this because most ESP platforms today make it easy for you to incorporate Alt Text into your images.
Spend the time to do the basics right everyone…you will be happy that you did.
Here is an email that I received from a retailer where the Alt Text says “top nav” Some of you will argue that they did incorporate Alt Text into it, but I say no. Don’t make it so generic and inject some creativity into please.
As always, I welcome your thoughts.
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alt text, email, email marketing, email best practices, email engagement, HTML email
Do you see anywhere on this page where I can subscribe to email? Yea…me neither.
Folks make the place for me to sign up for email easy……………
After further poking on the site, it looks like I have to create an account in order to sign up for their email..which to me is kinda of pain and not intuitive enough for the common person like me. I think companies that make you create and entire account with a UN and PW along with not giving me an option at sign up to NOT receive email is a lost opportunity for them. I welcome your thoughts.
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email acquisition, email marketing, barnesandnoble.com, email sign up
I love the analogy that Anton makes here about sending email and going out and trying to score with the ladies.
While the post is funny, it does have some real truth behind it.
Check it out below.
Email Ethics: Email marketing is like a night out in a club!
J.D. over at Return Path has a great educational post on the spam folder. I have lately been fascinated with delivery so I have been reading about it as much as I can.
There are some great resources out there to learn about this kinda of stuff and some great folks like J.D. and others that write great little articles such as this for public consumption.
Al has some great advice on what to do if you are still getting emails from companies even after you already unsubscribed.
One of my goals is to become more and more educated on deliverability. I know enough about deliverability to be dangerous but like anything, I love to learn.
Al Iverson’s Spam Resource: Make it stop!
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I love simple designs and talbots.com has it nailed when I want to change my email or unsubscribe.
However, I think it would be wise of these guys to perhaps offer the user the ability to opt down from their email.
I think giving the customer a choice in frequency makes them feel in control. This is what email is all about right?
I welcome your thoughts.
Jeanne Jennings has a great article over at ClickZ on 2 free email deliverability tools that people should be leveraging.
I can say that I have and will continue to leverage both of these. Both Return Path and EDS are top notch at what they do and these free tools are the tip of the iceberg.
My suggestion is that you look at both of these tools if you are concerned with deliverability and then really explore their other offerings to see the fit in your organization.
The link to the post is below.
As a result of Michigan beating Notre Dame this weekend and “the bet” that I lost, I produced a video which should explain a few things.
@djwaldow this is for you.
I have tried 9 out of the 10. Some are good and some are well….not so good. Since I aggregate a ton of content, I find myself needed a powerhouse of client to keep with everything.
How many do you have/tried?
10 essential Twitter apps for marketers – iMediaConnection.com
I have a couple of questions centered around the email that I received from Biz Stone the other day.
- Why is it only in plain text?
- Did someone QA the content? There are fragmented sentances.
- Why do they not have other social media integration?
- Why was the email more than 140 characters?
Comments are welcome.
Chris Marriott over at iMedia talks about reactivation campaigns strategies and while basic in nature he does have some good point.
One of the things he fails to mention is that reactivation is tough and requires a tremendous amount of patience and testing in order to get it right.
I have often found that articles like this have a good message but fail to convey to the reader that this kind of stuff is really really hard work.
Also, not sure I dig the reference to calling subscribers the âliving deadâ as I prefer non-engaged, but since it was a Halloween reference post, I wont press that issue. Give it a read and let me know what you think.
Tactics for reviving dead email subscribers – iMediaConnection.com
Is Circuit City trying to sell me a laptop or coffee? Sure its a woman looking at what appears to be a laptop, but to me its a really weird use of an image to push cheap laptops.
Your thoughts?
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weird email, email image, email marketing, email engagement, image based email, confusing email
Taking advantage of the 09/09/09 date today overstock does a great thing with their creative and 9% coupon. Plus look at all their prices…. I love clever email marketing.
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overstock, email marketing, email, clever email, email engagement, good email, funny email
Browser Speed Tests: Chrome 4.0 and Opera 10 Take On All Challengers – Browsers – Lifehacker
I love Firefox because of all of the add-ons. In fact, I am an add-on addict and my work browser is so customized even my CTO is impressed with all my stuff on it.
If I want speed however, I turn to Chrome and although a memory pig, it cranks. If I want my full experience with all my add-on’s and stuff, I turn to FF which of course is fast, but not as fast as Chrome.
Last but not least..I use Safari on my Mac and FF and Chrome on my laptops.
Good article below which gives the reader a good sense on all of the browser speeds. Enjoy.
Browser Speed Tests: Chrome 4.0 and Opera 10 Take On All Challengers – Browsers – Lifehacker
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I am honored to have been recognized over at marketingprofs.
Again folks..Its all about respect.
Have a great Labor Day folks.
MarketingProfs Articles : Find Out What It Means to Me
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If my wife did not have a great job and I had no ties to Chicago, Zappos would be a place I would love to work for.
For those out looking and for those that are qualified, here is something that I never do which is post a job through my blog.
Email Marketing Manager Job in Las Vegas 89074, Nevada US
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There is a post over at the Vertical Response blog about the use of pop ups to acquire email address.
My take is this: I hate pop ups. I have the best pop up blocker I can have and to utilize them to acquire email address’ seems a bit much to me. If you have a great site with great content and plenty of places for me to sign up for your email on the site, then you should not have to resort to a pop up on page exit to ask one last time. It may work for some company’s and that’s great but I would not advise anyone to do so.
Give the article a read and let me know what you think.
VerticalResponse Email Marketing Blog for Small Business: Grab an Email Address With a Popup Window
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I get a lot of email.
I critique a lot of email.
I like to critique a lot of email that comes from email service providers.
The other day I got an email from eRoi that knocked my socks off. From the moment I opened it, I was engaged. The first image below is with images turned off and you can clearly see that I can pretty much get the whole scoop on what they are trying to tell me without the images.
Three things stand out about this email that gets my email marketing snob self all tingly:
- All of the message that they are trying to convey is above the fold
- The footer of the message is clearly displayed
- The pre-header text is clear and concise and the offset color scheme makes it spicy.
Now this is just the email without the images on. See below for my critique of the email with the images on.
The email with the images on is even more impressive and here is what I like
- This is the first email I have seen with the social media integration in the header and in the footer. Wonder if they are testing placement and how that is working for them.
- The images used in the email are eye catching and MAKE me want to look and read
- For the most part, the email looks and feels the same with the images on and their isn’t some huge disconnect and I like it that I can engage and pretty much have the same experience with/without the images.
- Lastly, you are not trying to SELL me something or blow your own horns. Its refreshing to get a newsletter where all you care about is trying to educate me….and oh yea..get me to click thru
At the risk of sounding like I am brown nosing the folks over at eRoi, my only issue (and its not mine) is the fact that the email is pretty progressive for a B2B audience (which is what I am assuming its meant for) However, I am a progressive guy even at 40 and know good creative and best practices when I see it. If their clients who subscribe to this react and engage well with the email, then I say to hell with ol’ fashion newsletter templates and send out this great stuff.
eRoi…I read your blog often and watch your twitter feed….and you talk a lot about best practices. Its great to see that you practice what you preach and for what its worth, you win The Scrappy Email Marketers email of the month (retro back to August for your recognition)
Congrats….and next up will be to review your preference center. Are you up for it?
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email, email marketing, eRoi, email best practices, social media integration, pre-header text, ESP, above the fold, email engagement, email deliverability
This is a pretty cool concept and great for anyone with a list of under 500 users.
Lets see if any other ESP’s follow suite.
Good stuff Mailchimp
Freemium Email Marketing from MailChimp | MailChimp Email Marketing Blog
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Interesting how Bluefly is promoting 2 different twitter accounts on their promotional email. One account is their corporate account and the other is their CEO..which is pretty much reminiscent of another famous CEO on twitter.
I kinda like this approach as it gives you the flavor/personality of the company from which to chose from. I think if you can afford the real estate within the email, its worth a shot if nothing more than to test it.
Creative is below and as always, let me know what you think.
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email, email marketing, bluefly, bluefly.com, email best practices, email strategy, social media marketing, email copywriting, promotional email
Great post and video of Seth Godin and Tom Peters talking about the value of blogging.
I truly feel that the value/power of blogging has a much greater impact than Twitter or Facebook..but then again, what do I know.
Digital Homes Are Here to Stay | Andrea Vascellari
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We all have done it. I have. I have checked my email, my FB and even my twitter account while driving.
After this video, I won’t anymore. Check it out and lets work together to becoming a safer place.
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I live in one of the most corrupt states in the Union. As a state we have something like an $11 billion deficit and the county in which I live has the highest sales tax in the nation. (I think we are at 10.75% now) We have an ex-Governor who has been impeached and he (along with his office cronies are now facing indictments all over the place.
Bottom line….we are the political laughing stock of the US and a state which is in serious trouble on many fronts. However, one good thing I guess is when my iPass (an electronic device used to pay all of the highway tolls here in the Chicago area) goes below a certain balance, I manage to get an email from the highway authority everyday letting me know that my balance is low. Forget the look and the feel of the email. Forget all of the best practices that they have missed and the lack of everything that is email sacred here…I am just glad I get the email….everyday. I guess at one point, I will replenish it..when I have to go on the toll road again, but until then, I am going to see how long they send the email for.
The funny thing in all of this…is that the State is so strapped for cash and I will bet that they are contracting this type of thing out..and perhaps paying millions to a compant to trigger these things amongst some of their other emails that I get. Anyway..take a look below and as always..let me know what you think.
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email marketing, email, trigger email, triggered email, email engagement, email best practices, pre-header, HTML, plain text email, State of Illinois, transactional email
