Searching for the Perfect e-Dialog Holiday Party Outfit

e-Dialog conducts research on the customer purchase path because we recognize that marketers need the ability to communicate with their customers through various connection points in multiple channels.  (Read more in The Online Marketing Suite.)

 

Our research found that the typical purchase path has 3.8 touch points.  This means that a customer saw your print/online/broadcast ad and was introduced to your product or service.  Next, they likely did some research either on your website, a review site, or even by posting a status asking for opinions on their Facebook wall.  This second connection likely influenced whether or not they considered buying from you.  If they wanted to purchase, they probably looked for a deal online or in their email archive.  Finally, they purchased either digitally (yes, this includes e-, m-, or f-Commerce) or in-store.  This totals 4 touches - and there are endless other combinations of introducing, influencing, and closing advertising activities involved.

 

Key findings:

    - There are 3.8 touches in the typical purchase path

    - 36-50% of purchase paths involve more than one touch point

    - If the path includes multiple touches, the average order value is likely to increase by 42%

 

I would like to detail the recent purchase path I traveled while shopping for the e-Dialog holiday party (our Facebook page probably has some pictures!).  My path probably starts in August 2011 when I bought a dress for a wedding at White House | Black Market.  Since then, I’ve been receiving catalogs for the store at my home address.  In a recent catalog I saw a patterned silk top I liked. 

 

Next, I visited the website to see additional pictures of the item.  I decided I definitely liked it and that it would be great for the party.  So, I checked my email archive for any recent deals or promo codes.  Finally, I went to the store to try on the top.  I ended up buying it – along with 3 pairs of jeans that I found there! 

 

To recap, after 1) seeing the catalog, 2) viewing the item online, 3) checking recent WHBM emails, I ended up 4) spending almost $200 in store. 

 

While the company did not offer an e-receipt option, or send an immediate thank you, I did receive an email to rate my purchase 1 week later.  This was definitely a multi-channel win:

 

 

Overall, I was extremely happy with all aspects of the experience.  However, for the purpose of continuous improvement, I do have to point out a multi-channel miss: I went back to the site soon after my store visit to look at the swim collection that was announced via a recent email.  The swim line is not available in local stores so I considered ordering online.  I had trouble logging in to receive my loyalty program discount.  I chatted (online) with a customer service representative who quickly realized that while I had an in-store purchase history, I had a very old online profile – from two addresses ago!  (This is a perfect case for why getting the “big data” together to get the 360 view of your customer is so important!)

 

Marketing Wrap-up: Week of February 3, 2012

Welcome to the first week in February! Did you see your shadow yesterday? Let's get into the top stories this week. 

 

Of course, everyone is talking about Facebook filing for their IPO on Wednesday, seeking to raise $5 billion. Speculation is rampant about what this will mean for the company, for Mark Zuckerberg, for social media in general, for Facebook employees, etc. Mashable has thoughtfully pulled it all together for you on one handy page. Definitely worth a read.  

 

In email-related news this week, we saw the announcement of the Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance group, or DMARC. DMARC is made up of representatives from email service providers, financial services companies, social media companies, and email security firms, with the purpose of developing standards to reduce the threat of deceptive emails. You can read more at www.DMARC.org.

 

On the social media front, a company that is getting a lot of attention suddely is Pinterest. I've been using it for a little while, and as more brands get on board, it will be very interesting to see how it evolves. The infographic below shows how much traffic Pinterest is already driving for retailers. Some users are already saying allowing commercial entities to be on Pinterest ruins the site for them. We'll see how Pinterest manages the site in the future. 

 

 

Well, that's it for this week. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback on my picks and any stories you think are making waves in digital marketing.

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications specialist,
e-Dialog, @eDialogLiz 

 

Marketing Wrap-up: Week of January 20, 2012

Wow-a big week for online marketers! Let's get right into it.

 

The big (BIG!) story this week is of course SOPA. SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act. This act was proposed as a way to protect copyright holders from online piracy, however, as written, it could change the way the Internet functions, by shutting down, and banning companies from doing business with, sites that have been flagged as hosting copyrighted material. This would mean sites which allowed user-generated content, including comments, would need to monitor that content to be sure it was not copyrighted. The fear is this would be overwhelming, and sites would simply stop allowing user-generated content. This week, numerous web sites went dark in protest of SOPA,  and encouraged users to contact their government representatives. It seems to have worked, since the sponsor of the bill has withdrawn support and it looks the bill will be revised to address some of the issues. Check out this article for a good overview. Also, you may want to take a look at Mashable's round up of their coverage. 

 

In Facebook news, they announced this week that sixty apps are now integrated with Timeline, including Pinterest, the new darling everyone is talking about, plus eBay, TripAdvisor, Zynga, and others. These apps use Facebook's OpenGraph for what they call "frictionless sharing" which is similar to the way apps like Spotify share what music you're listening to. Fab.com will apparently reward you for enabling Timeline posting and doing some social shopping. If you enable friends to see when you make a Fab.com purchase, you get a $5 monthly credit. If you also reveal your Fab.com username, another $5 credit, for a possible $10 per month. This looks like it is going to be valid through May 2012, so it looks like you could possibly get $40 total in credits to spend on the site. The email below was sent to customers. It's a little light on details, IMO. 

For retailers, this week was the National Retail Federation's Big Show in NYC. e-Dialog was there along with GSI Commerce, PayPal and Milo. You can take a look at NRF's blog posts from the show here and be sure to check out eBay Ink as well.

 

Well, that's it. Another busy week gone by. Until next time!

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications associate

e-Dialog, @eDialogLiz

Marketing Wrap-up: Week of January 9th 2012

 

Thirteen days in to the new year and already we have seen and heard some big developments coming from the marketing, tech and media world. So, to make your life easier, here are some of the top news and blog articles we have found most interesting.

 

Top links of the week:

 

1. An interview with Phil Simon: Business lessons from Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google MyCustomer.com

 

2. Ten social media strategies to define a successful 2012 Brian Solis

 

3. Help customers reach content and products more easily: How to streamline site navigation to attract and retain customers Marketing Profs

 

4. Apps to become universal - HTML 5: The future of AT&T’s mobile store Mashable

 

5. Real-life examples of how Google’s ‘Search Plus’ pushes Google+ over relevancy  Search Engine Land

 

6. Mercedes and Facebook? Who predicted that one? PSFK

 

7. Here to stay or marketing fad? 86% of marketers to use 2D barcodes in near future Econsultancy

 

8. The most downloaded social apps - Mobile social media: top apps, deal sites and more Marketing Profs

 

9. YouTube and Twitter are growing while Facebook stays static: Facebook loses share of social network visits as YouTube grows Brand Republic

 

10. Consumers seem to be more likely to click on an ad than on other devices: Mobile drives more search ad clicks ClickZ

 

11. Four timeless email copywriting commandments Marketing Profs

 

12. Mobile payments insight: How PayPal plans to scale its in-store payment system Gigaom

 

Be sure to drop us a comment below and tell us your favorite industry developments of the new year so far.

 

Millie Bartlett, Marketing Coordinator, e-Dialog UK

Is Facebook Hiding Your Email Messages?

Facebook Messages has been around for about a year now, and there was a lot of talk when it launched about how different types of messages from different recipients were managed and categorized by Facebook into either the Messages folder or the Other folder. We even wrote a pretty detailed piece about it. But suddenly, people seem really surprised that messages they want to see aren't being presented to them because they are showing up in the Other folder.

This story reminded me of some recent research we did, in which we asked consumers if they were aware of the filtering tools offered by their email clients that could help them prioritize email messages. The results were pretty surprising. More than 30% of respondents in the US and UK said no, and more than 40% in APAC said they were not aware.

For me, the key take-away from these two points is that marketers can't assume that consumers know how to use technology in the best way, and that education is needed to help consumers have a beneficial relationship with brands. When Facebook Messages was launched, we recommended that marketers comb through their database and identify Facebook.com addresses and send them an email telling them how to ensure they receive the messages they opted in to. I think it's even more important now. 

 

I'm curious if any of you have looked at how many Facebook.com email addresses are in your database and any strategies you are using to make sure your messages get seen. Let me know in the comments!

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications associate,

e-Dialog, @eDialogLiz

What Facebook's Timeline Cover Photo Means for Brands

With the official launch of Facebook Timeline for all users, there has already been speculation about when brand pages will get the Timeline treatment and what it means. That's not what this post is about. Instead, I want you to think about how brands can leverage the Timelines of individuals, and in particular, the prime real estate of the cover photo.

 

Brands on Facebook today drive engagement primarily via page likes, comments, and photo shares. But the cover photo presents a new opportunity for engagement. Consumers who love your brand can now make your imagery their own, enhancing your reach. VW was early to the party, offering a cover photo back in October. Mountain Dew is already on this, offering several versions of Dew-themed cover photos to their fans. HBO's True Blood is offering their fans images from the show for their cover photos as well. 

 

For email marketers, your images can do double duty. Retailers like The North Face often use a stunning hero image in their emails. Imagine offering that photo as a downloadable cover image. Other uses for the cover photo could be wish lists, product reviews, or purchased items. 

 

Then we get to contests. Contests are huge on Facebook. Certainly a brand could ask fans to create a cover image and those could be voted on and the winning image offered for download. I could also see posting a brand's cover image as a prerequisite for entering a contest, in the same way liking a page is now. 

 

And of course, there will be the "just for fun" options that can be a great way to keep fans engaged and checking in with you for new content. It could also be a way to reward brand advocates and super fans, by giving them an exclusive image for their page.

 

I'd love to hear what you think about these possibilities for the Timeline cover photo and any ideas you are thinking about. Leave me a comment!

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications associate,

e-Dialog, @eDialogLiz

 

Marketing Wrap-up: Week of December 16, 2011

Only one shopping weekend until Christmas! I know we've all got a lot on our to-do list, so let's breeze through the top marketing moments of this week. 

First, Facebook is finally rolling out access to Timeline to everyone. Of course, there's been some griping about not understanding how to use it and why they changed it. I've had it for a while, so I'm used to it, and as I see it, being able to look back at your status updates and conversations does have value. I've been surprised how much I actually like it. And I love the large custom photo area at the top. I have a lot of ideas about how marketers can adapt and get consumers to use that space to share brand info, but that's a post for another day!

 

In other big news, Zynga has filed a $1 billion IPO. They are one of the most successful social gaming companies, but many have said their fortunes are too closely tied to Facebook, and while their games are played by millions, players complain new features are rolled out without fixing existing issues. Plus, working at Zynga is apparently no picnic. In early trading, the stock price rose, but then fell below the initial offering price. Time will tell if they will be a smart investment in the long term. 

 

In case you didn't know, today is Free Shipping Day, otherwise known as the last day you can use standard shipping to get your packages delivered by Christmas.  You can go to http://www.freeshippingday.com/ to see the list of more than 2,500 retailers participating. My inbox is overflowing with reminders about free shipping. I've also seen a lot of extensions, offering expedited free shipping up until December 22 in many cases. Retailers are also promoting in-store pick up for online orders as an alternative. 

 

And finally, because it's Friday and we can all use a bit of fun, check our our Build-your-own-snowman app! I'd love to see your creations-share them on our Facebook wall.

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications associate,

e-Dialog, @eDialogLiz

Finding the Holiday Fun in my Inbox

I’m done holiday shopping.  It is a new record for me, and I’m not going to lie – it feels good!  I shopped at the mall Black Friday Weekend and I “celebrated” Cyber Monday.  I scoured my email for coupons, promo codes and free shipping deals to get the best prices.  Now that I’m done, I can focus on the fun in my inbox!

 

The first “fun” I came across was in an email from White House | Black Market:

 

They created a Facebook-based application where customers drag-and-drop items to generate a personalized wishlist.

 

This wishlist is, of course, share-able to your wall:

 

The SC Johnson family also got into the fun on Facebook by allowing customers to create a mood board based on their favorite Glade fragrances.  This really struck a chord with me – since I’m done with shopping – now it’s time to concentrate on decorating!

 

The email directed consumers to Facebook:

 

Once on the site, you select different room scenes and decorate them using furniture, trimmings and Glade products.

A few companies used contests or sweepstakes to draw interest to their product offerings.  The Limited sponsored a “Holiday Wishlist Facebook Giveaway”.  Just “Like” their page to enter for a chance to win a prize a day.

 

Others used Twitter and YouTube to promote their holiday initiatives.  Bed Bath & Beyond asked subscribers to follow them on Twitter using a cute play on decorating your nest:

 

Finally, there was the just plain silly.  Walmart added a banner to their email to encourage views of a holiday “Yodeling Cat”. (While I don't see any real added value here, the link is here in case you just can’t resist!)

 

 

Overall, companies are using email to broadcast their social programs this season.  This makes sense because the overlap between email is social is only around 18%, according to
e-Dialog’s primary research.  Furthermore, email is typically the first medium a customer chooses to interact with.  Seventy-five percent of respondents said they signed up for email before they investigated the company’s social presence. (Source: Deciphering Customer Acquisition: Connecting Acquisition Across Email, Social and Mobile, e-Dialog © 2011) 

 

So, I will continue to kick-back and watch the fun file into my inbox!  What is your favorite interactive holiday activity to date? 

 

Lauren Pizzi, e-Dialog

 

 

Marketing Wrap-up: Week of November 18, 2011

As we end the last full week of work before Thanksgiving, here are a few newsworthy developments to keep the marketing juices flowing. 

 

From the UK DMA's blog comes an interesting post on the difference between frequency and cadence in email marketing. The two terms are often used to mean the same thing, but they are different. I haven't heard the concepts outlined this way before, so I'd be interested to hear if you think this is the right way to define the terms.

 

Maybe I'm a little biased, but I'm really excited about the new Facebook app PayPal has developed to let friends send money via Facebook. It's simply called Send Money, and that's exactly what you can do with it. You can send an eCard with the money, if it's a friend's birthday, for example, or just send money without an eCard. I think it will be interesting to see how this takes off over time. 

 

Over at ClickZ, Jeanne Jennings says blacklisting and filtering are legitimate marketers' best friends, even though they often complain about being blocked improperly. Symantec reports that 74% of email sent in September and October was spam, so imagine if that mail all got through to the inboxes of your subscribers. Talk about clutter! Are you thankful for the spam cops? 

 

Well, those are my top reads for this week. As always, let me know what you're reading and what you think of my picks. 

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications associate

e-Dialog, @eDialogLiz

Making Social Media Work for Business

On Monday I attended the Awareness Social Media Business Summit in Boston. It was a full day of social media and how/why/where social impacts business. We covered email, mobile, location-based apps, content creation and management, organizing your business for true social impact and social's role in PR. With all the social media junkies in the room, the tweets were fast and furious. You can check them out using #ESMBoston.

 

Opening the day was Jeremiah Owyang from Altimeter, who talked about How to Build a Scalable Social Media Business Program. Most companies, including those in the room, were at either the centralized or hub and spoke model. To be truly scalable Jeremiah stated companies need to embed social media across all departments and levels of the organization, enabling business units to do their own social media programs but having a central hub to manage policies and education. 

 

Next was Todd Defren from Shift Communications, a PR firm. He talked about how traditional PR, like press releases, can be combined with social media for greater impact and reach. It was really eye-opening to see all the ways that information can be shared. 

 

The third presentation was from Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman, authors of Content Rules. They challenged the audience to think about content not just as written materials, but anything that helps you tell your story. Re-imagine, don't just recycle content. Turn a white paper into blog posts, powerpoints, videos, interviews with the authors, infographics, etc. They showed a really cool video put together by Google called "Who is Lady Gaga?" that illustrates that you may think something like search data is boring, but you can really get creative and come up with something cool.

 

Next up was Mike Lewis of Awareness, the conference sponsors. He talked about distributing social content and the social funnel, which comes before the sales funnel. Awareness did some research on this and you can access the report as an e-book on their site. 

 

The next presentation was from Tim Hayden of 44Doors. He spoke about mobile and some of the developments we may see in 2012 and cautioned marketers not to get too excited, because while the technology may exist, the number of consumers with phones that can run technology like near field communications probably won't be that many. He advised marketers to focus on mobile behavior over technology. One interesting tidbit he mentioned when talking about using SMS short codes was that people are more likely to send a text to what looks like a "real" 10-digit phone number, rather than a standard short code.

 

We then heard from Mike Schneider, author of Location-Based Marketing for Dummies, on location based services. One of the first things he said that really resonated was that LBM is new, there aren't benchmarks, so you really need to pilot programs and see how they perform and then refine them and run them again. A lot like email I think in that the only benchmarks that matter are your own and you need to always be testing and refining. He also said that even if you're not doing any location-based marketing now, be sure to claim your places anyway. 

 

Jason Keath of SocialFresh took the floor next to talk about how your blog can drive business. He talked a lot about the importance of headlines and how they act as the elevator pitch for your post and you should spend as much time on the headline as the content. This is a lot like email, where the subject line really should be developed thoughtfully, but often is the last step in the process and gets done quickly so the mail can be sent. He also talked about using photos and the fact that people are more likely to share photos because they tell a story more succinctly than text. He also said if you want to drive business from your blog, be sure to include calls to action whenever possible, like email subscription forms, and use social media widgets that allow readers to follow you on Facebook without leaving your blog. 

 

At the end of the day we heard rom Laura Fitton, otherwise known as @Pistachio. She related how she built her business by keeping the customer's needs in mind rather then her own. It's all about providing value, and that includes your marketing as well as your actual product. Position your message from the customer's point of view and they will be as excited about your marketing as they are about your product. 

 

Overall, it was a good way to spend the day and I highly recommend you check out some of the materials I linked to. 

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications associate, e-Dialog, @eDialogLiz

 

 

Marketing Wrap-up: Week of September 30, 2011

Do you ever just stop and take a moment to look at what is going on in the digital marketing industry?

 

The industry moves fast and with most of us working at least 40 hour weeks, heads down, we fail to take note of all the current happenings. Whether you own an agency, manage campaigns or study the industry, you need to be in the know.

So, stop and have a read of a collection of links that we think are the hot topics of the week. Hey, if you can’t stop, at least take a glance and pick a few that stand out to you.  

Here is e-Dialog’s Top 10 list of links, buzz and reads for this week.

Here it goes: 

1. 1. According to ClickZ and recent conference agendas, mobile is still a big topic of discussion. The Mobile Evolution of Email goes through some statistics as to why this is.
    
2. 2. Ten top tips for brands creating tablet content from The Wall, explores the forecasted increase in tablet penetration and why it is important for brands to get on the band wagon.

1. 3. Tesco mixes augmented reality into Price Drop push – as well as a two-week TV campaign, out of home advertising, digital activity, a national press takeover and week-long radio activity - talk about multi-channel marketing!
    
2. 4. Return Path’s recent research shows inbox placement rates drop 3.5% over 18 months in the UK.
    
3. 5. An opinion piece from Gigaom about the evolution of mobile: Mobile payments won’t sell itself, it requires added value. Also on this topic, Dave Chaffey at Smart Insights gives us a short update on Google’s Wallet launch.
   
   
4. 6. ClickZ tells us how email works… if you didn’t know already. A strong focus on bounces, it’s worth a read.
    
5. 7. Marketing Profs are always full of good insights, this time they are teaching us a lesson, or four. How communities are changing marketing (and four community-building lessons)
   
   
6. 8. Mashable looks into how Facebook Timeline might radically change the look of brand pages. Also read the link within this article: what Facebook’s changes mean for marketers. Double whammy.
    
7. 9. Can you imagine your desk without a desktop computer? And instead of a computer, all you have is a mobile phone where everything you need to fulfill your working day resides. Well it’s coming and ClickZ tell us to get over it. How rude.
    
8. 10. There must be something in the water, everyone is talking about mobile email this week (more than usual) and MarketingSherpa is no exception: Mobile email marketing: 5 tactics to engage and convert smartphone users.

10.5. Utilizing video in marketing: the first ever scavenger hunt to hit YouTube comes from Zyrtec. Play the game to win a Samsung Galaxy Tab.

 

Now that didn’t take so long, did it?  Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below.

Have a great weekend and we'll see you next week.

Millie Bartlett, Marketing Intern, e-Dialog

 

 

 

Are Ragu Dads the New Motrin Moms?

Way back in 2008, (eons in social media time) Motrin launched a campaign aimed at moms that took the wrong tone and got the wrong kind of buzz. Now it's 2011 and it looks like Ragu may have a similar problem after launching a campaign called Mom's the word on dinner, about what's for dinner when Dad cooks, which implies dads are less competent than moms in the kitchen. 

On their Facebook page, Ragu has posted a video featuring mommy bloggers talking about what it's like in their house when their husbands cook dinner. Mostly they say the men cook breakfast for dinner or like to grill. With Ragu's easy recipes they can increase their repetoire!

 

On the surface, it's certainly annoying that Ragu doesn't recognize dads are more involved than ever with their kids, but I think the bigger issue was how they used Twitter to get the word out. Apparently they messaged a bunch of people who they knew were dads and had blogs and active social media profiles. 

 

Well, the twitterspere has taken notice in a pretty vocal way. Here's a post from C. C. Chapman on his reaction to being targeted. So far it has 122 comments, 881 retweets, and 337 Facebook shares. Check out the twitterstorm in real-time here: http://twitter.com/#!/search/%40ragusauce. Looks like Ragu is reaching out directly to those who are speaking up and saying they would happy to talk privately. I wonder if that will be enough?

 

 

It will very interesting to see how this develops...

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications associate, e-Dialog, @eDialogLiz

Using Social Intelligence to Improve Email Marketing Success

Forrester Research recently released a report called "Using Social Intelligence to Improve Email Marketing Success" in which they say that while social media gives email marketers opportunities to gather data about their customers, few are actually doing it and using that info to create more relevant email marketing. 

 

There are three ways that social data can influence your email marketing. First, it can increase the relevance of the content. If you are monitoring chatter on your Facebook page, or using Twitter to ask followers what they would like to hear about, it's an easy win to incorporate those topics.

 

Second, social media can provide creative content, like tweets or comments, or even photos uploaded to your Facebook page. TJMaxx is a great example of how to do this well. They use tweets and comments from their Facebook page within their email campaigns. In the example below, they have prominent links to their Facebook and Twitter pages, and include a tweet relevant to the content of the email.

 

The third way social data can be used by email marketers is for improved segmentation and targeting. Matching up expressed interests from tweets or Facebook comments can help marketers choose the appropriate audience for specific messages, leading to increased opens, clicks and ROI. 

 

Of course, gathering this data can be a challenge. In their report, Forrester notes that companies that work to append social data to email addresses find matches only 20-50% of the time. So Forrester recommends asking for social ID at email signup, as part of the registration process. But look for other opportunities as well, maybe during the purchase process or if someone contacts your customer service deptartment. 

 

Have you seen any examples of email marketers collecting social IDs? I would love to hear about it-just leave a comment!

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications specialist, e-Dialog, @eDialogLiz

Marketing Wrap-up: Week of September 23, 2011

Welcome to the first installment of our new feature, the Marketing Wrap-up! Each Friday, we'll bring you the top stories of the week that impact digital marketers.

 

Obviously, the number one story of this week is Facebook's new layout and the features they announced Thursday at the F8 developer's conference. The biggest change is that profiles will now be timelines, allowing users to share their lives on Facebook, as a kind of digital scrapbook. Additionally, they are opening up the Open Graph technology to allow developers to create buttons for things other than "like," such as "read," or "watched." There was a lot of talk about frictionless apps and real-time serendipity....which sound cool, but I'm not sure I want to give apps permission to post as much as they want, when they want instead of approving posts.

Check out Facebook's info on the new timeline and sign up to be one of the first to get it. 



 

From Digital Marketing International comes a commentary on Forrester's recent report on European email attitudes. 

Forrester’s recent report on consumer attitudes to email showed a trend across Europe for declining consumer attention and increasing likelihood to delete.  Although the reasons often vary by country (particularly around attitudes to privacy), the overall picture is pretty consistent and amply reflects the need for an improvement in relevance as marketers seek to adapt this most established of digital channels to a changing landscape.

 

And finally, ReturnPath has released their latest global deliverability report that shows almost one fifth of email marketing messages are failing to make it to the inbox. I think the key findings are these:

Many senders are still resistant to implementing the best practices that make email deliverability more likely and more consistent. We still see programs with high frequency, low valueand lack of segmentation. Research done by Return Path Professional Services shows high percentages of top brands missing basic best practices like welcome messages, efficient opt-out procedures and appropriate permission levels, which all can strengthen email deliverability.

 

 

What's your take on these stories? What was your top story this week? Do you think Google+ opening to everyone is news? I would love to hear about it!

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications associate, e-Dialog

Recruiting Facebook Fans Via Email

Many brands are harnessing the interactive power of Facebook to build relationships. To increase exposure to their Facebook page, they are using their email list to promote the benefits of joining other fans on Facebook. 

Bob Evans, a restaurant chain with locations in the southeast, prominently promotes email sign up on their website, and also promotes Facebook to their email subscribers. This example is pretty light on the reasons why you might want to like them on Facebook. It just mentions promotions and offers. On a creative note, I have no idea why the blue box is there. It shows up in the hosted version as well. It is pretty much the same size as the above the fold area, so perhaps this was from a proof and wasn't removed before the message was deployed. 

 

 

The next example is from Driscoll's Berries. You might wonder why a berry company even has an email program or a Facebook page, but I think Driscoll's does a nice job of creating content, such as recipes, and coupons that drive people to remember the brand when they are in the supermarket. I like this example highlighting their Facebook page because it does give some info on what people can find, implying that you can get even more content than you get via email. I also like to inclusion of the upcoming Facebook event talking about how to use berries in recipes for frozen pops. Design-wise, I like the Find us on Facebook button in the header. It makes it really easy to take action. 

 

 

 

 

The third example is from New Balance, a sneaker company. They keep it simple, but point out that you can get exclusive content and access to contests on their Facebook page. I love the creative, using the shoelace to spell out "like us!" but I wonder if some people had a hard time seeing it at first.

 

 

 

Finally, this example from Rite Aid, which doesn't specifically ask for a follow, but instead promotes excusive coupons and when they will be going live. Coupons are big on Facebook right now, so this is a smart strategy to get people to follow your page. 

 

 

What do you think of these examples? Do you think it's better to use email to drive traffic to Facebook, use Facebook to build your email list, or use both equally?

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications specialist, e-Dialog

Returns & Exchanges: The Card Attached Would Say…

“…thank you for being a friend.”

GelaSkins did exactly that when they recently deployed a dedicated campaign honoring their most recent brand milestone of reaching 100,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook.  The fashion of their promotion as well as minor set up elements and details allowed customers to connect with the brand even if they weren't in the market for a new phone/gadget accessory.  GelaSkins is consistently setting the bar for retailers, exuding a wealth of personality within one message - even if promotional elements are secondary.

 

To celebrate their achievement of 100K ‘likes’ on Facebook, GelaSkins offered users a 20% discount on their next purchase.  Many retailers present coupons with “just for you” or “enjoy” language, whereas GelaSkins accentuated their quirky personality by declaring that they wanted to “high-five” their customers back for their Facebook milestone; after all, this achievement was customer-generated.  What better way to celebrate this type of moment of engagement than by rewarding users who made the milestone a reality? 

 

A primary ongoing differentiator for GelaSkins in the inbox is their accentuated sense of their jocular brand through main calls to action in their campaigns, but it's also in the minor details that many retailers may overlook.  Ever wonder if retailers were going to craft something more compelling than “View on a mobile device” or “Having trouble viewing this email? Click here” to direct customers to hosted links?  GelaSkins kicks up the entertainment factor by displaying their hosted link with the phrase: “Email no worky? S’ok, click here”.  Needless to say - that is certainly one way to stand out in the inbox.

 

A second template feature that does not usually have high visibility or generate brand presence is the disclaimer.  Disclaimers are typically the most lackluster component of a campaign, just treated as a formality or legal requirement.  GelaSkins doesn’t waste any real estate in their creative and cleverly reminds customers that the offer is not available for gift certificates with a more customer-friendly, on-brand approach:

 

 

 

Staying true to their quirky personality and simultaneously supporting the friendship theme, GelaSkins comically debuts a cameo appearance from Golden Girl Blanche Devereaux in the campaign.  Proudly flaunting a cell phone (fashionable GelaSkin included) along with a heartfelt smirk, Blanche is an award-winning choice as far as cameos go.  She maintains the lighthearted nature of the brand (not to mention the theme song reference is undeniably suitable.)

 

 

 

GelaSkins instructs customers to retrieve the appropriate discount code on their Facebook page.  The ‘engage’ stage of the customer lifecycle is certainly accentuated by only allowing users to get the code via Facebook.  At this point, customers are potentially interacting with the brand within two channels in under sixty seconds (insert high-five from your closest marketing executive here).

 

Are your retail campaigns streamlined with an ongoing brand-enhancing theme?  Are you sharing valuable milestones or “MOEments” with your customers?  If they continue to maintain their multichannel success and transparency of key brand milestones, I'm confident GelaSkins will have many more 'high-five' campaigns to deploy. Who knows - perhaps Rose or Sophia will make an appearance in the 500,000 Facebook ‘like’ celebratory campaign. 

 

 

 

What brand do you think does the best job showing their unique personality in email? Share your opinion in the comments!

 

Julianne Manoogian, program manager, e-Dialog

Returns and Exchanges: Like Me! Follow Me! Share Me!

Lately I’ve been receiving a wave of emails inviting me to ‘Like’, ‘Follow’, and ‘Share’ brands on Facebook and Twitter. Each time, I ask myself, "what’s in it for me?"

Check out what these retailers are saying to entice shopaholics like myself!

I received the below from Claire’s.

SL: Follow the Fashion on Claire's Facebook
The email highlights the benefits of ‘liking’ them: “Rate the latest looks on stars” and “get the scoop on accessories”

 

The next one I received was from Piperlime.

SL: Let's be friends. (The benefits are many.)

Straight to the point. They even provide a list of perks with clear CTA buttons!

 

Chili's made my mouth water with the campaign below.

SL: You Like Us, You Really Really Like Us!
The benefits of liking Chili’s: Offers, giveaways, and contests.

 

 

Pink Nation sent me this goodwill message, thanking fans for their loyalty.

SL: Thanks for the Love: 2 Million Strong!

Although I wasn’t a fan at the time I received the email, the “member exclusives” and “great goodies,” caught my eye, so I joined and shared the page with a friend.

 

The last one I received was from Nature’s Bounty.

SL: 2 Days Left - 'Like' Us on Facebook for a chance to win a bag of our best sellers!

I was offered a chance to win a bag of their bestselling products, in exchange for my ‘Like.’

 

Those who ‘like’ a brand are more loyal, willing to make a purchase, and share with their friends. These customers are HANDRAISERS, willing to engage, asking their favorite brands to communicate with them! So tell your customers why they should ‘Like’, 'Follow' or 'Share' your brand and follow through with your promises. A valuable fan is an engaged fan!

What brands are you engaged with? How did they entice you to ‘Like’, 'Share' or ‘Follow’ them on Facebook and Twitter? I’d love to hear about your experiences!

 Nicoletta Bartolomeo, program manager, e-Dialog

Extending the Experience with Post-event Email

Last Saturday night, I went to see Guster at the House of Blues in Boston. On Monday I got an email from LiveNation asking me to review the show. I had already shared photos on Facebook and checked out other people's videos from the show on YouTube, so of course I was happy to provide a review. 

 

I appreciated that the email included the info on the show I went to, rather than just a generic review request. When I go to a show, it's a rare occurence, so maybe not so important to include this info for me, but for people who see a lot of shows, this is a must-have. I liked that they included a link to learn more about ratings and reviews, and I think it's also not too heavy-handed of them to include a link to look for more events.

Once I clicked through, the review submission form was very easy to use, with only three items required; my review based on 1-5 stars, whether I would recommend the event to a friend (yes or no) and then a form field for my comments. I also liked that they included an example of what type of comment you might put in each section. The form included options for uploading photos and/or video of the concert too. They also asked about my seats and the sound quality, etc. One quibble and a missed opportunity: they didn't let me know when my review was posted on their site. I think a brief email telling me my review was posted would have been a nice follow up. 

You may think this is all well and good, but you're a retailer or a B-to-B company, so this type of email doesn't fit into your program. But you would be wrong. With a few tweaks, the follow-up can be an effective tool for a lot of different organizations. Retailers can ask for a review after a purchase, restaurants can ask for feedback after a meal, B-to-B marketers can ask about how a prospect enjoyed a recent webinar or whitepaper download. 

I hope I've given you some food for thought. I would love to hear about how you think this type of email can fit into your messaging plan.

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications specialist, e-Dialog

Creative Critique: Tips for Tweaking the Email Template

LivingSocial is one of the many social sites I subscribe to for great deals on local dining, entertainment, services and shopping. Below is an email I received that got me thinking about small design changes that could have a big impact. Let's take a look at a recent email.

 

While I love the deals they offer me and think highly of their creative, I have four minor recommendations for their email template:

1. Check Rendering in as Many Places as Possible: While the addition of the 4/25 aerial background shot is a fun idea, it actually breaks the email when viewed on a wider monitor, as you can see in the screenshot below.

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This is a tricky one! To avoid this, a much wider image could be used and/or the left and right sides of the image could be blended to a solid blue color (in this case). The background would also need to be changed from black to blue in the HTML, which would create a seamless viewing experience for users on wider monitors.

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2. Make it Easy to Read : “YOUR DAILY DEAL”  at the top is difficult to read on the blue background. White would make it more legible on blue, and would still render it clearly if images were disabled and the user was viewing the email on a solid black background.

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3. Maximize Your Real Estate: The two column layout utilized here doesn’t take full advantage of valuable real estate as you can see below.

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It would be economical to integrate the offer image in a more horizontal way (or make it shorter) so that the deal description can wrap under it. Additionally, the “1 Deal Location” copy is surrounded by unutilized white space.

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In this quick revised mockup below, you can see that the deal location is pulled up next to the price (now you can quickly glance at the exact town of the deal before you even decide if you want to view it!) and the copy is extended 100% across the email. This is a more compact arrangement and makes for a shorter email.

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The same principles can be applied to the “Find Out More” offers below the hero section. This will make the email shorter and will raise more content above the fold, while allowing for less scrolling.

4. Social Sharing: LivingSocial currently has two friend referral programs in place. If you buy a deal, you can then share a unique user link on your social network. If three friends buy from that link, you get the deal you just purchased for free. Additionally, if you invite a friend to sign up for LivingSocial and they purchase something, both you and your friend get $5 in deal bucks deposited into your account. Both of these programs are important incentives for the cost-conscious shopper (LivingSocial’s target audience) and should arguably be advertised in LivingSocial’s emails. At the very least, regular Facebook, Twitter, and Forward to a Friend functionality can be added at the top to simply share the deals. On that note, I am interested to see which daily deals website integrates the new Facebook Send button first!

LivingSocial offers a great service, has a beautiful website, and is well-branded. In my opinion, these few relatively minor enhancements to their emails would be easy to implement and would prove worthwhile. What do you think? 

 

Anna Boyadjieva, creative specialist, e-Dialog

 

 

 

 

Returns and Exchanges: You’re Invited…To the Next Trend in Social

You're invited to an emerging trend in the retail world: generating buzz over new product lines across channels via live events. It’s appealing to see brands announcing new Spring lines via email. It’s even better to see the same brands reinforcing excitement in the form of multi-channel events. Brands such as Bath & Body Works and Clinique have generated events across a range of channels which offer customers an opportunity to interact directly with advocates and develop into one themselves.

Bath & Body Works piqued interest of customers across channels with “America’s Biggest Fragrance Event”. Channels ranged from social networking, to email, as well as direct mail in celebration of their new scent. The event offered users the chance to take fragrance quizzes and even provided assistance in finding the perfect mother’s day gift. Customers were encouraged to consult with fragrance experts who were available via Facebook. Twitter updates and in-store ‘signature sniff challenges’ rounded out the multi-channel campaign, allowing customers to connect with the brand in many different spaces.

Bath & Body Works encouraged users to RSVP to the event on Facebook. A call to action coupled with a viral component is what will allow retailers to maximize their reach for any piece of content or event. If brands can get users to interact with them on Facebook and Twitter via a ‘Like’, event confirmation, retweet, or comment, the interaction is also posted on customer’s wall/recent activity feed. Suddenly, the brand’s reach is compounded, to reach an entire new customer base without much effort or additional funds on the brand's part.

  

Also introducing customers to a brand-enhancing event was Clinique, who recently hosted their first Twitter event. Clinique’s VP of Product Development tweeted countless answers to customer’s questions regarding what solutions would work best for their skin care needs. The introductory email campaign had the event as their hero image and appropriately invited users to follow the brand on Twitter. Clinique provides additional convenience to customers with a link to learn more about Twitter (perfect for that segment that hasn’t quite caught on yet) as well as an ‘add to my calendar’ feature.

 

 

 

 

To remain competitive, especially in the social space, brands must realize that appealing content and connectivity is fundamental. Retailers must ensure they are actively cultivating a balance of providing valuable offers as well as brand-building content to their base of followers. If worthwhile to your fans, this content has a much higher potential to go viral. Users will recognize your brand to be the ‘industry expert’ in fragrance, makeup, (insert product line here) as a result. Bath & Body Works and Clinique have provided social networking events to merit this type of brand-building attention and industry credibility. 

It's no secret that not all customers are guaranteed to have a Twitter account or Facebook profile or can travel to your closest store. The key is to offer options that allow your customer to make the decision as to how they would like to connect to your brand, whether that's in all available channels, a few, or just one.

As more and more retailers catch on to this emerging trend, the social networking space will undoubtedly become as crowded as a department store (or inbox) in December. Retailers may find that a blanket discount in return for clicking ‘like’ will be lost in the amplified noise in social spaces. In result, increasing long-term value for customers will be paramount to maintaining a strong presence. Brand-building events such as these present an undeniable opportunity to do just that.

 

Have you participated in any of these events? I'd love to hear what you think about them!

 

Julianne Manoogian, program manager, e-Dialog