Return On Subscriber – Email Marketing Blog

Here it is, your March Email Marketing Calendar.

Below is a list of real holidays, wacky holidays, and pop culture events in March and ideas you can utilize to develop timely and relevant email marketing campaigns.

Tuesday, March 2nd: Read Across America Day – Dr. Seuss’ Birthday

It doesn’t have to be a book does it? How about blog posts, white papers, or customer reviews?

Thursday March 4th: March Forth – Do Something Day

I’m sure there quite a few things you have in mind for your subscribers to do, don’t you? This day is also used as a celebration of goal achievement.

Sunday March 7th: The Academy Awards aka The Oscars

Lots of folks getting together on this Sunday night, if your site or product or location can enhance their experience, get out in front of it.

Monday March 8-12: National Make a Referral Week

A perfect opportunity to ask and engage your loyal audience to refer you to their friends, write a review, or send a gift to a friend from your store or site. Make sure to make the process easy using forms or social sites. The official hashtag on Twitter for the week is #marw10.

Wednesday, March 17th: St. Patrick’s Day

Green Email. ‘Nuff said. (more…)

One of the bread & butter stats of Email Marketing, the “Open”, is really only the beginning of the story. The company Quantivo, who sent me the email that inspired this post,  could never know the damage this “Open” did to my perception of their brand. All they know is that there is a good chance I saw this email and possibly read/scanned it.

But why did I open it?  Because they played a trick on me.

I only do “Name & Shame” posts when I think there is a valuable lesson to be learned. This is definitely one of those moments.

While this was a clever trick to get me to open the email, the ramifications of this action are much worse. (more…)

Next month, I will be launching a Podcast series where we will cover both Email Marketing and Interactive topics that will focus on how to improve performance of your online programs.  I already have some great guests lined up who are prepared to go in depth on their success as well as provide tips and advice.

The series will be called “The Tip Jar with Alex Williams”.

So how do you win the Wii game?  i though you would never ask.  We will be announcing this podcast to our Email subscribers via email.  That’s where you come in.  Here’s your chance to flex your creative muscles and provide a subject line that will change peoples lives.  Three elements to get your started: Curiosity, Excitement, Actionable.

Post your idea in a comment below.  The winning idea will be used and we will post the open and click thru rates after the email launches.  You will also win the best waste of time ever – Mario Kart for the Wii.

Good Luck!

PS – You can sign up for the eROI Newsletter Here

eMarketer is featuring results of new surveys on Email Marketing. The studies are showing that most marketers are sending their campaigns on Monday & Tuesday, followed by Thursday, Friday, Wednesday, Sunday, & Saturday. These results do not take it into account performance or conversion, only marketer preference.

Also covered in this article is a study on Subject Line length in relation to response rates.  The research indicated that shorter subject lines resulted in higher open and click through rates.

As always, each audience is different, and only through testing will you find out what works for you audience.

eMarketer: Two Basic E-Mail Tactics

Screaming Deal (Nau: Off the Grid)

What’s comfier than Santa’s lap? (Pier 1 Imports)

Men’s SALE NOW 60% off! KAPOW! (Barney’s New York)

Yelp: Piping Hot & Liquored Up (Yelp – Portland)

Now even MORE $5 Tees! Come and see! (Threadless)

Don’t Miss Out! 24 Hour Sale + Last Minute Deals in NYC and Vegas‏ (Hotels.com)

Jingle Jams: A Holiday Music Mix‏ (NPR Music)

One cardinal rule of email marketing: If you think everything has been checked…..check again.

This email from Heineken, “a frosty glass of beer from Holland” as Duck from Mad Men called it, most likely wasn’t meant for me:

The obvious error here is the “(TEST with Espanol link)” in the email subject line (Don’t get me started on the noreply@ email address). While these types of gaffes amuse people like me and Dylan Boyd from The Email Wars, they have to leave Joe Consumer very confused.

As I went to check my preferences….

Apparently I opted in to the “small_test” list. I am assuming they also think I may speak Spanish.

My goal here is not to beat up on Heineken, everyone I know in email marketing has made mistakes. The takeaway here is to be very careful with your test groups. Double check every aspect that a subscriber sees so it is seemless from their normal experience with your messaging.

If they know it is a test, it’s not a test anymore.