From: Me
Subject Line: Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season
Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2008

This just in: the Email Experience Council just released the Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season! Last year, the eec tracked more than 3,300 emails from more than 100 top online retailers during the fourth quarter and released daily reports on strategies, tactics and trends via the Retail Email Blog. Based on that monitoring, they've created a helpful roadmap to the email holiday season so retailers and other B2C companies can better formulate their campaigns this year. This is a hugely valuable resource: make sure to make it a part of your holiday planning! Learn more about the Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season here >

From: Piperlime
Subject Line: Brown bag it.
Date: August 21, 2008

Piperlime writers get to have some serious fun with their copy. They have developed a really strong brand voice and I love that they keep it dialed with every email. Last week, as I sifted through my cluttered inbox, this particular subject line jumped out at me. Maybe it had something to with the fact that I'm looking for a brown handbag or maybe it just brought back fond memories of school lunches (and considering it's back-to-school time this SL is even more appropriate). Either way, it got me. So I opened the email. While the headline fell a little flat for me because it didn't support the subject line sentiment, the body copy was right on – Nothing says fall like a gorgeous brown bag. I agree, Piperlime.

From: Old Navy
Subject Line: Time to Play Favorites
Date: July 31, 2008

In keeping with the theme of this month's Smith-Harmon Loveletter, I want to take a minute to talk about preference centers.

Personalizing the inbox is no longer as easy as just including a Dear Jane as a greeting to your email or adding a name to your subject line. These days if you really want to deliver personalized messages that stand out in the inbox, you have to find out what your customers want. And you do that by building out your preferences center. Find out what interests your subscribers and you'll be better able to deliver the right messages to the right people.

Piperlime includes a banner that's dedicated entirely to preferences in every email. Pretty cool, right? Only problem is that the landing page felt like they were trying to get me to sign up for more Gap Inc. emails vs. finding out what interests me. I was hoping for questions about my age, shoe size, fave colors, sense of style, etc. etc.

Taking a giant leap, Old Navy actually dedicated an entire email to finding out what interests their subscribers. I was excited! Unfortunately their pref center landing page was as sparse as Piperlime's page. When I clicked-through, it simply asked me if I wanted info on Men's, Women's, Plus-Size, etc. clothing. Nothing else. Oh wait, it also asked if I wanted to sign up for more emails from any other Gap Inc. brands. Wish they'd asked me about my favorite colors or personal denim style. Or maybe at least what age bracket I fall in!

It comes down to this: The more you know about your audience, the more you can personalize the message. Check out Sephora's Beauty Insider profile experience to see a really cool pref center in action.

From: Me
Subject Line: Blog Olympics: Passing the Baton
Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2008

I was delighted to see that so many of the blogs we respect - and from which we derive so much inspiration - included us in their Blog Olympics picks! I am grateful for this fantastic, growing community of email experts who tell it like it is on a daily basis.

Of course we read and love all of these great industry resources...and so should you! Listed in no particular order:
(1) MediaPost's Email Insider
(2) The EEC Blog
(3) BeRelevant!
(4) The Retail Email Blog
(5) Brontoblog
(6) The Email Wars
(7) No man is an island

I'm also a big fan of Kelly Mooney's Mooney Thinks, as well as Splendora's "What To" Blog. Shoe Wednesdays are my absolute favorite.

Time for you folks to pass the baton! If your blog is included above, it's your turn to list your 7 favorites. No, they don't have to be email marketing blogs, but why wouldn't they be!? After all, anyone who's anyone is in email marketing ;).

From: Delta Airlines
Subject Line: Don't miss out on 1,000 bonus miles
Date: Thursday, August 14, 2008

From: Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards
Date: Don't miss out on your extra credit promotion.
Date: Thursday, August 14, 2008

Talk about serendipity: these two messages with similar subject lines showed up back-to-back in my inbox the other evening. Not only are the subject lines similar, but the theme of both as well: each message offers bonus credits/miles as an incentive for engaging with the respective airline. With all the consolidation lately in the airline industry, I wonder if they are using the same marketing teams?

From: Borders
Subject Line:30% Off Coupon for One Minute of Your Time
Date: Monday, August 18, 2008

I must be channeling my late Grandma Nixon: I am a sucker for a coupon. (She actually was more practical - she'd only clip them for things she was going to purchase anyways.) In any event, this was actual enticement for me. Despite the fact that I "hate surveys", I did click through on this, and there were only 4 questions, none of which were too personal. The subject line was spot on as well - normally Borders' Emails are too much visual overload for me and I automatically delete them. :)

From: Daily Candy
Subject Line:DailyCandy SF - Open Water
Date: Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The Brown Cannon 3 Surfboards featured in this Email are beautiful, but the part that caught my eye, was the "SHARE WITH THE CLASS - Take the Daily Candy Survey". Surveys have been fresh on our minds at Smith-Harmon as we've just gone through the process ourselves. Personally I hate doing surveys. I know that in order to receive better service I should participate, but what can I say? I still hate them. I nearly always automatically delete them from my inbox (or throw them away if they come via snailmail). I thought the humor of "Share with the class" was witty enough to entice me. Then I clicked on it... and scrolled and scrolled and scrolled. 45 questions. Pass. :)