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Category Archive: Social Networking
August 17, 2010
From: PETCO
Subject Line: PETCO | Summer Scavenger Hunt! Win Prizes + FREE Shipping on $25
Date: Sunday, August 15, 2010
PETCO sent an email introducing a multi-day Scavenger Hunt. The hunt leads you through their facebook, twitter and blog pages, getting subscribers to follow them and familiarizing them with the content found on those pages. The hunt is loaded with incentives for the subscriber - play and you could win gift cards! How creative and fun!
My only gripes:
1) Timing
The email was sent on a Sunday and the first step of the scavenger hunt was for Sunday only. For those who didn't check their email that day, they lost out on the first opportunity to play. A) One solution would be to send out an introductory email with an overview of how the Scavenger Hunt will work and when it will begin. B) Another idea would be to make each step of the scavenger hunt span a week (rather than one-per-day). This would spread out the email reminders and would give the subscribers additional time to play on their schedule.
2) Segmented Email Series
So far I've only received one email - I'm anxious to see if I'll get more. If made into a series, I suggest announcing last week's winner in each email to entice subscribers to be the next big winner. I also caution against sending too many emails to subscribers that aren't interested. I would only continue to send the series to those who click on any of the first 3 emails.
3) Best Practices: HTML copy
HTML text would have been great on the hunt portion of the email. Nice job using it at the top though!
Overall, I love this concept - what a fun way to get your fan-base accustomed to using your social networks and grow your social subscriber base!
March 18, 2010
From: New Look
Subject Line: Open me quick for Free P&P - Ends Midnight tonight
Date: Tuesday, March 16, 2010
From: New Look Facebook Update
It's such a simple concept: One message - say it loud, say it proud. A fashion retailer from the UK has dug up this old tactic and executed it nicely with their new look. I love the time sensitive push in the subject line, it's so in-your-face. Hopefully, consumers are much like Alice in Wonderland who, when told to drink or eat something, will acquiesce in a heartbeat.
Free shipping as an offer is perhaps overused but do consumers still find it as much of a "treat?" Does it just concentrate revenue, which was already bound for your brand, into a single 24hr period? Possibly, but it also trumps the competition on that day by bringing in some extra cash which may have been spent elsewhere. They probably could have done with a bit more focus on the image, in fact, I can take or leave the two chaps who might be about to audition for some reality TV music show.
The balance of system text is also too much in favour of images - the personalisation at the top is a little hollow as it is not followed up or relevant to me. The email was supported by much Facebook and Twitter activity and created a dialogue around the offer and generated some community excitement, which is always well advised.
From: Virgin America Subject Line: Next up: Orlando Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010 There are so many things I love about this email. Let's start with the subject line, Next up: Orlando. In just three words, Virgin America has told me that they've added a new route as well as what the new destination city is. Brilliant. Next let's talk about the clean and simple email design. The use of white makes it easy on the eyes. It's not cluttered. And everything is organized in a way that's easy to scan. Dreamy. Now onto the words. The copy is succinct and informative. Nothing is screaming at me (notice the lack of exclamation points!!!). And best of all, rather than take the boring route with a button that says "book a flight" they had some fun. "Grab a Seat" is the perfect example of how buttons can have some personality AND be directive at the same time. Another noteworthy addition is the juicy "Tweet This" button sitting front and center above the fold. I haven't seen anybody else do it quite like that. Clicking on the "Tweet this" button landed me right in my Twitter account with my tweet already populated for me. And it went a little something like this: @virginamerica Next Up: Orlando. Starting August 19, fly from San Francisco or Los Angeles. http://www.virginamerica.com/flights/orlando
March 16, 2010
From: Fairytale Brownies Specials
Subject Line: Free Shipping...at your request!
Date: Monday, March 1, 2010
By now, most marketers understand that social media channels function like a user group of your most loyal or most outspoken customers. They talk amongst themselves, about your brand and sometimes even with company representatives. By asking the right questions and participating in the conversation, you can let these avid fans shape your promotional strategy for the benefit of your entire audience. That's why I love this Fairytale Brownies message; they participated with their social network and reacted by presenting the most requested offer... Free Shipping.
I also love that they didn't just react by sending a free shipping offer but instead made it clear where the conversation took place and where you as a customer can have a direct conversation with them. Notice the call-to-action for social media, "What would you like? Join the conversation." This shows much more dedication to the channel than the typical "follow us on..." that most marketers employ.
February 1, 2010
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From: Apple
Subject Line: Fitness made fun with iPod and iPod gear.
Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
From: Apple
Subject Line: Sounds like love. Give iPod this Valentine's Day.
Date: Sunday, January 31, 2010
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There's no doubt that Apple has AWESOME design sense. Every email I get from them is breathtaking:
- They use vibrant, crisp and creative imagery
- Their newsletters have a great sense of flow and balance
- They're often using new creative treatments like having their images break out of the grid
- They include interactive/eye-catching treatments like ratings and videos
- They're not always about the "Hard Sell" -- Apple "Adds Value," as we would say at Smith-Harmon, by providing informative content with "Did you Know" sections
- They optimize for viewing without images by using HTML text in the majority of their emails
But have you noticed that they're missing a few key best practices? Such as:
- A preheader
- A View this Email with Images link
- Social/Sharing Options
I think a few of those small tweaks could show even more activity for them. But awesome job Apple, you are an inspiration!
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January 20, 2010
From: kate spade Subject Line: i resolve to wear out my passport Date: Thursday, January 7, 2010 From: kate spade Subject Line: i resolve to sing in the rain Date: Thursday, January 14, 2010 Simple, clean and fresh. What a perfect way to start off a new year. Kate Spade is carrying this "i resolve..." handle throughout all their emails this month and I love it. Everything about this email gives me room to breathe. From the photography to the typography, and the free shipping top promo to the social footer. My fave is the "i resolve to sing in the rain". Given that I'm practically rowing a boat to my local coffee joint because of all the rain, the timing on that one was perfection. My only gripe is the landing page experience. When you click on the "Shop the Collection" link, it takes you to a pretty little landing page with a few rain essentials... and a few randoms (why is there a necklace on this page? is it waterproof?). Wish they had more of a selection to really tell the rainy day story. They have two jackets, one boot, two bags and an umbrella. Makes me wonder what a Macy's or a Piperlime or a Nordstroms could do with this type of story, since they have so much more to choose from.
January 11, 2010
From: west elm Subject Line: Get exclusive west elm offers on Facebook and Twitter Date: Saturday, January 9, 2010 Although this email was sent on Saturday, which according to The Retail Email Blog is the least popular day of the week to send emails, I was pretty excited to see an entire email dedicated to social. There isn't a sales pitch for product to be found, from preheader to footer. I was intrigued enough to become a fan on Facebook. When I got to the west elm Facebook page, my excitement faded. Fast. There were all kinds of wall posts from other fans, but precious few content gems from the west elm team and only a few photos. And even after I officially became a fan, there wasn't a special offer to be found. Somehow I was hoping that once I got behind the secret fan curtain, there'd be some cool stuff waiting for me. No such luck. This brings me to my big gripe with companies adding Facebook and Twitter experiences to their emails: Lack of content. It's not enough to just get people to your page, you need and want them to come back and participate. Two steps forward for the social-centric email. One step back for a disappointing experience.
January 4, 2010
From: Zappos Subject Line: Toast The New Year With A New You! Plus, Get Free Shipping Date: Monday, January 4, 2009 Thanks to the social revolution of 2009, Facebook, Twitter and/or YouTube buttons have become fixtures in the footer or top nav of just about every email in the inbox. While some companies do indeed put together a social strategy, too many companies add the social factor simply because everyone else is doing it. They don't actually invest time, talent and money into creating a true social experience. What I L-O-V-E about Zappos emails is that they raise the bar by including a recent tweet from Tony their CEO. Now that's what I call delivering on the experience. Rather than simply throw in a "Follow Us on Twitter", Zappos creates content around the social experience by including a sample tweet. Very clever. Just wish it wasn't so buried at the bottom of the email.
December 29, 2009
From: Business.com
Date: Friday, December 18, 2009
B2B magazine's recent " 2010 Outlook" indicates social media marketing will be of rising importance for business-to-business (B2B) marketers.
This was proven with the experience of one of my B2B clients who focus on a professional market. They indicated that Facebook was the winner when it came to driving engagement and Twitter was the winner when it came to driving revenue. What was surprising to me was that professionally focused LinkedIn was well down on their list when it came to engagement and driving revenue.
Their social campaigns have been running for just a few months and they consider the jury to still be out regarding long-term trends. However, their initial campaigns have proven that social, as an important channel to increase engagement, drives sales and provides user generated content to enhance their email programs.
B2B marketers, have you included social media as a part of your 2009 marketing mix? If so, what channels and which have been the most effective in driving engagement, sales and/or leads? Are you using this User Generated Content to enhance your email content? I am interested in your comments.
December 21, 2009
From: Victoria's Secret
Subject Line: Our Way of Saying Thank You: Special In-Store Offers.
Date: Wednesday, November 25, 2009
From: Victoria's Secret - Facebook
Date: Wednesday, November 25, 2009
From: Victoria's Secret - SMS
Date: Friday, November 27, 2009
Victoria's Secret is leading the way with their strategy for integrating cross channel campaigns to engage their audience at multiple touch points. Case in point, their Black Friday free bag giveaway message was delivered via email, mobile and social. However, in order to be successful, great strategy needs to follow through with great execution. Timing is everything and their timing was off.
Their email should've been a specific Black Friday reminder. The email was sent out Wednesday and included offers for the whole weekend. It's important to map out the timing of your marketing messages against the timing of when your customers are shopping, while also giving them enough time to plan in advance if the call-to-action is a retail store.
Once I received their SMS message, I was already done with my shopping for the day. Don't they know that people start lining up at 4am to get the best deals and by noon most people are back home taking a nap? As for Facebook, they should've talked about the in-store offer for Black Friday, not the Fashion Show. I realize they posted content on the 25th, but a reminder on the 27th would've been more important than the Fashion show, which was several days later.
Overall, they need to close the loop. The SMS link does not take you to a mobile site, nor do they have a mobile store app. There are also missed opportunities with the email and Facebook pages - both are prime locations to encourage mobile sign up, but the only place I could find mobile sign up was on their website. (I understand they do have in-store signage but I've never seen it - and I shop there often).
A great cross channel strategy will only get you so far - the key is making sure the execution ensures the success of the campaign.
Blogger's note: Hours after I finished this blog post, I received an SMS message that Victoria Secret has now launched a mobile website. Glad to see they're headed in the right direction!
December 17, 2009
From: Fresh Pair
Subject Line: The 12 Thongs of Christmas + Shop Our Biggest Sale of the Year
Date: Friday, December 9, 2009
I want to thank the Smith-Harmon team for building a great blog and allowing us to contribute. It's an honor.
I don't know about you, but I have a ton of emails pouring into my inbox right about now and it takes a lot to get me to open them. The subject line of this particular email made me smile, but more importantly, it got me to open it. 12 thongs of Christmas is a funny theme and it definitely made me want to find out more - isn't that the perfect formula for a winning subject line? 80 percent of respondents decide whether to click the "Report Spam" or "Junk" button without opening the actual message, while 69% base their decision on the subject line. (Source: A survey conducted by the ESPC and Ipsos).
Once I opened the email, the theme and the copy "Getting a little cheeky for the holidays" made me laugh. I'll admit the ornaments in the wreath are racy - and the landing page made me blush - but my level of engagement was up. I would have posted this to my Facebook page, had Freshpair included a SWYN (Share With Your Network) option next to their other social options in the email. I really wanted to talk about this email, so I forwarded it to three friends instead.
Another feature that I really like about this email is how Freshpair created a sense of shopping urgency, and then anticipated my questions about shipping dates for getting my order processed in time for Christmas. Contact information for their Customer Care Specialists is also very easy to find.
I'm looking forward to the next Freshpair email. :)
December 16, 2009
First off, let introduce myself. I am a Sr. Strategist in the Chicago Responsys office and a loyal reader. I am happy that Smith-Harmon has joined forces with Responsys and now I can contribute to this blog on a regular basis!
Email is the online channel of big shoulders, like poet Carl Sandburg's Chicago. Social media may reach your prospects with your brand message, but email needs to be integrated with your plans, toiling, "under the smoke, dust all over his mouth," to perform the heavy lifting of informing the prospect about your brand, helping them become comfortable with the purchase decision and ultimately drive the conversion.
If you still don't believe that social media and email marketing are partners in crime and not adversaries, Facebook is about to make it very easy for brands to collect email addresses from their fans, pages and applications as soon as next month. This functionality is scheduled to go live this year or early in 2010. (The best guess is in mid-to-late January, according to Michael Lazerow's December 8 commentary published on MediaPost.com.)
Emerging channels are not killing email - they're actually making the channel even more dynamic and powerful. Be sure to include a quick sign up on your Facebook brand pages and landing pages for content linked from Twitter, Digg and Delicious, a vanity URL pointing to an email sign-up form at the end of your YouTube videos, LinkedIn groups and profiles, and other social media content to keep your email program "strong and cunning."
As you're wrapping up 2010 marketing plans, don't forget about email. It is there - a "tall bold slugger" working as hard as ever to help you meet your marketing goals. Treat social as a natural extension of your email and lifecycle marketing strategy and harness the power of multichannel marketing in 2010.
December 11, 2009
From: Chase
Subject Line: Your Communities. Your Vote. Our $5 Million.
Date: Friday, December 11, 2009
As we're all rushing to buy and wrap presents, decorate our homes and offices, snap that all-important family picture and figure out what to do with Great-Aunt Esther's annual fruitcake [insert your choice of atrocious holiday tradition], I'm reminded to take a breath and appreciate the small things that bring us holiday cheer. I was jolted back into a true appreciation of the season with an email forward from a coworker on a viral email that was making the rounds. Many of you have already seen this email or read about it on the blogosphere, but if you haven't - I urge you take a look at video.warmup.com.
I was reminded of this effective strategy today. My bank teller at Chase wished me a happy holiday, but instead of her usual reminder of other Chase products and services, she asked me if I supported any local charities and if so, to check out Chase's effort on Facebook to give away $5 million dollars this year to customers' favorite charities. When I signed into my bank account, I saw the following banner ad. Chase has set up an ingenious effort to generate "fans" and spread this goodwill and holiday cheer by asking users to "vote" for their favorite local charity and put them in the running for a $25,000 grant. I voted for my favorite local organizations as well as spread the word throughout my network by posting my "vote" on my wall.
I was grateful for Chase's effort to help me slow down and think about these other acts of giving. I won't ever receive the much-needed gift of time from an email or an online marketing campaign, but they can cement my brand loyalty and loosen my purse strings. Now, if only a company could figure out how to email me idiot-proof instructions to assemble my kids' dollhouse ...
December 10, 2009
From: Facebook
Subject line: New Privacy Settings
Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Great job by Facebook making it easier to share and not share. Once you have lots of people on Facebook you are bound to have a mixture of who you know (from college buds to in-laws). You need to post on a "need to know" basis. Now you can.
The "Specific People" option lets you choose friends individually or from your predefined Friend Lists.
So for a small business, you could do social posts just like you send targeted email. Don't think you can do that yet for a large business due to restrictions on Friend List sizes.
December 8, 2009
From: MGM Grand Subject Line: Tweet your sins for a free night at MGM Grand Date: October 28, 2009 Been meaning to blog about this one since... October 28. Don't let my tardiness in posting it tarnish the brilliance behind the idea. LOVE the clever use of Twitter here. The subject line absolutely draws you in and the fact that Las Vegas is involved makes it that much more tempting. Being the angel that I am, I confess that I didn't tweet my sins, so I can't speak to the total experience. However, I do think this is a really interesting approach to integrating social in a whole new way with your email program. On the best practices front, this email has some work to do, but the concept is sinfully genius.
September 29, 2009
From: The Zoe Report Subject Line: Ain't No Jeans Wide Enough Date: September 28 I am an admitted Rachel Zoe Project addict. I can't get enough of the fashion antics and celeb appearances. If you haven't seen this decadent indulgence, check it out on Bravo. In the meantime, let's talk about Rachel's daily emails. As far as blog-type newsletters go, hers just rock. IMHO. Glamour shot aside, what I love about the emails is that they truly read the way Rachel talks, complete with her fave fashionisms and all. Why is this such an important thing to note? Because it feels like a conversation. As an occasional ghostwriter myself, it's also worth noting that there is a chance that Rachel is not always writing these on her own, and understandably so. She's a busy gal with a lot on her plate. So the coup d'etat here is that if a copywriter is penning these precious gems, she (or he) is a writer who truly understands voice and how to carry it through. Love that. I'm also drooling over the clever FTAF language: Glamour is contagious. Share with friends. See, SWYN doesn't have to be boring.
September 21, 2009
September 11, 2009
From: The Gap
Subject Line: Get Up to $15 Off Cords
Date: September 10, 2009
Really, really bright yellow type aside (you may want to get out your sunglasses), this email feels so clean and directed. They kept the fluff at a minimum and focused on the offers, keeping them front and center with clear shopping CTAs. The only thing I'm confused about is the subject line. Wondering if this should actually be a "Save" vs. a "Get" story. To me, "Get" implies that I have to do something, like use a coupon code. That's not the case in this situation as the cords are already on sale. Hmmm. I'm sure someone could argue the other side of it, but if it were me, I'd go with Save.
I also like the way they've added some movement to the SWYN banner at the bottom. It's hard to tell from a jpeg, and I didn't catch the right phase here, but they used a rotating copy story to draw your eye. The full sequence starts with "What were you born to do?" (this jpeg shows it mid-sequence) and the social buttons say "Tell Us on FaceBook, YouTube, Twitter." What a clever way to get the conversation going. A lot of folks simply say "Follow Us", which feels very one-sided. Keep it on the down-low, but I'm going to have to borrow this idea. It's a goodie. To see the animation, click here.
August 31, 2009
From: Tobi Subject Line: 20% Off, Happy Friday! Date: Friday, August 28, 2009 Just when you thought you were out of clever ideas for how to spin a sale...check out Tobi. They're TGIF approach is refreshingly simple and cleverly executed, not to mention that it's 20% off regular-priced merchandise...not sale and clearance! While most retailers are waiting to use the Labor Day handle for their big fall savings push, Tobi's smart approach makes sure all their loyal fans spend their hard-earned cash on their site first. Nice thinking. Still wishing they had a preheader and FTAF in their emails, but they do have the SWYN icons at the bottom, so that's a step in the right direction. And let's not overlook the straightforward subject line that tells the entire story in only four words and still has personality. Well done.
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