Archive: December 2007
Giving back for the holidays.
We decided to adopt a family for the holidays through St. Luke’s Community House, a fabulous organization (and past Emma 25 honoree!) that provides a wide variety of social services for the West Nashville community. Everybody chipped in to help, and we were able to give our family some fun stuff, like a tea party set and Lightning McQueen race car, as well as some practical stuff, like winter coats and bedding. Not that winter coats aren’t fun. Just don’t try and race a parka.
Anyhoo, a big thanks to St. Luke’s for giving us the opportunity to give back. Between the bake sale to raise money, the present wrapping bonanza and the many shopping trips, we had a great time doing some good. To find out ways you can get involved with St. Luke’s, visit their website or sign up for their email newsletter (powered by Emma, of course).
In the picture, from left to right: Kendall, Taylor, Emily, Kathleen, Christina, Erik, Sara, Erin, Rachael, Dave, Cliff, Gina, and Kris.
[tags]St. Luke’s Community House, volunteer, adopt-a-family, myemma.com, Emma 25[/tags]
Send some email, do some good.
That’s the motto for our Emma 25 program, the annual initiative where Emma customers tell us about the great non-profits in their communities, and we pick 25 and award them with a free email marketing account, html email template, and service that’s renewable year after year. In its fourth year, we hope that giving away free accounts through Emma 25 makes it easier for deserving charities to get the word out about what they’re doing, stay in touch with donors, organize events and do even more great work.
And these organizations are all about great work. They’re doing all sorts of fabulous things, like organizing a 4000-mile bike ride from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska to raise money for cancer research, providing cost-free arts programs to underprivileged kids in Australia and raising money to fight hunger in Massachusetts, just to name a few. For the complete list of this year’s Emma 25 honorees, including their websites, visit the Emma 25 landing page.
Oh, and here are some Emma staffers who pitched in to help with the selection process, standing in front of the infamous Emma 25 Selection Process Whiteboard. We really should think about a new name for that. From left to right: Christina Griffith, Cliff Corr, Gina LaMar, Kathleen Cotter and Suzanne Norman. Thanks to Laura Key and Dave Delaney for helping as well, although we have to give them the dreaded “not pictured” label.
[tags] nonprofits, charity, email marketing, Emma 25, myemma.com[/tags]
Email marketing awards, meet the conga. No, seriously.
If you think there’s no place in the business world to “shake your body baby, do that conga,” then you clearly did not attend the MarketingSherpa Email Awards Gala Party this past March in Miami. Successful email marketers from around the globe gathered at Gloria Estefan’s downtown Miami restaurant, Bongos, to acknowledge email campaigns in categories such as best retail promotion, best email newsletter and best B-to-B campaign (to name a few). The mojitos flowed freely and everyone could feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger. Okay, I promise no more Gloria lyrics.
Don’t miss your opportunity to conga be honored at the 2008 awards. The deadline for submissions is January 11, 2008 and the campaign should be one you sent in 2007. All you need to do is submit a campaign you’re particularly proud of. Of course, proud is defined by amazing results – you sold a lot of stuff or got a ton of click throughs, for example. For more details on the criteria and to submit your campaign, hop over to the MarketingSherpa site. And ask us if you have questions or need a little help. We know there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of you Emma users out there with award-worthy campaigns. How ’bout a little recognition and a mojito (or two?). I know you can’t control yourself any longer.
Okay, sorry about that last one. I couldn’t resist.
[tags] marketingsherpa email summit, email marketing, email marketing awards, email newsletters, myemma.com[/tags]
Email marketing turns the tables on the traditional retail calendar
Why does Cyber Monday have to be *after* Black Friday? It doesn’t, according to Kodak’s email offer on a digital camera, sent four days before Black Friday. I love the way they encouraged customers to make a purchase online ahead of the traditional brick and mortar retail rush. No 3 a.m. alarm clock, no trip to the mall, no foot race, no throwing of elbows – it’s just a few clicks. Here’s the breakdown of the offer:
-> The email offer creates urgency in two ways – the supply is limited and the sale only lasts for two days.
-> The landing page keeps things interesting. The discount actually increased over the two days. It seemed like the discount grew every time I visited – 7%, 11%, 18%, 23% and finally 25%. The folks at Kodak summed it up well: “You can WAIT to save more – but you RISK losing out!”
And even though this campaign went out before Thanksgiving, it’s still a timely lesson two weeks before Christmas. With store crowds only getting thicker, consider using email marketing to make shopping convenient for your customers, but don’t forget to create a little urgency as well.
Have you seen (or used) other creative strategies to create urgency this holiday season? If so, chime in. We’d love to continue the conversation…
[tags]black friday, cyber monday, holiday retail, email marketing, myemma.com, kodak[/tags]
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