Category Archive: All things email marketing
Meet Cheekwood
How a museum used email and surveys together to make the most of a stunning Dale Chihuly exhibit.
This summer and fall, Nashville’s Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art is the temporary home to spectacular glass sculptures by internationally acclaimed artist Dale Chihuly, and the museum extended its normal hours to allow visitors to experience the exhibit in the evenings. Chihuly’s work is a sight to be seen any time of day, but artistic nighttime lighting transforms Cheekwood’s grounds into a wonderland and transports you — at least mentally — away from the thick, humid Nashville air to an otherworldly place.
While the folks at Cheekwood had planned on offering extended hours on Thursdays and Fridays, overwhelming support for the exhibit made them consider adding another night of Chihuly goodness to the calendar. Rather than just assuming it would be well received, they empowered their email subscribers to make the call.
With Emma’s survey feature, Cheekwood sent a short, stylish campaign (using their stunning Chihuly-themed custom stationery) inviting members, subscribers and volunteers to weigh in on the possibility of making Wednesday evening yet another time to drop by and take in the exhibit. They linked to an equally stylish survey, in which they posed the question, “Do you think Cheekwood should add Wednesday evening to Chihuly Nights?” and then gave survey-takers a chance to include comments to support their answer.
The response was fantastic. The campaign containing the link to the survey was emailed to more than 13,000 audience members, and more than 31% of them opened the email. Nearly 2,000 recipients clicked on the link to take the survey, which overwhelmingly favored adding Wednesday as a new Chihuly Night.
It doesn’t end there, though. The Cheekwood staff created a follow-up campaign to announce the new night and to thank their subscribers for taking the time to give their input. They even shared the survey results (a whopping 94% were in favor of adding Wednesday nights) along with some of the great comments survey-takers offered up in their responses.
This was Cheekwood’s first survey using Emma, and we love the way they kept it simple. They focused their approach on learning the opinions of those closest to the organization, and they thoughtfully followed up with the outcome, letting those email subscribers and Chihuly-enthusiasts be the first to hear the good news.
Is your baby’s button ugly?
Another way effective email design can make your campaigns more effective: Get all your buttons to look just right.
I know the feeling. You’ve crafted what feels like the perfect email. The photo totally complements the concise and appealing description of your new service. The label for your call to action is clear. You just know people are going to click it and take that next step. Everything’s ready. You take a deep breath, and send your baby out into the world. You’ve worked hard, and you’re proud of that baby of yours. You wait for good things. And you wait. And you wait some more. But nothing happens.
What went wrong? Why aren’t people clicking your call to action? Well, it’s time to get honest with yourself. Your baby’s button may be ugly. The label is fine. But that button design isn’t going to win her any ribbons at the county fair. You see, that button doesn’t have enough perceived affordances. Don Norman is credited with introducing this term to the design world, and it refers to “those action possibilities that are readily perceivable by an actor.” In other words, there are certain qualities of an object, in your case a button, that help people understand what they can do with it.
Let’s take a closer look at a button. Maybe you’re creating a campaign to announce your new lunch menu (because your new paninis are quite tasty). Besides showcasing a great photo of said panini, you really want your customers to click that button so they can check out the new menu on your website.
The first question to ask yourself is whether it looks like a button. Not really. It looks more like a rectangle with a border. Second question, does it look clickable? Maybe. It’s pretty flat, but it is different than the photo and the text. Of course, no one wants to settle for maybe – fortunately, it’s easy to add perceived affordances and make that button more effective.
This revised button looks more clickable than the old one. (The fancier way of saying this is that it demonstrates a higher level of affordance.) I know it’s tempting to be totally unique from a design perspective — and you can be if you keep affordance in mind — but it’s often more effective to use a design convention that’s already out there instead of dreaming up something new.
Sure, your button might look similar to another one, but who cares? Your audience members know that it’s a button, and they know what usually happens when they click one. They don’t have to figure that out. It’s one less thing for them to think about. Using a button with more affordance eliminates a barrier. And let’s face it, you’re competing with a lot of other noise out there (digital and physical). Why not help your subscribers get to your content – and to those delicious paninis – more easily?
The “when and where” of surveys
Survey know-how series, part three of four:
Using Emma surveys can help you plan and streamline events.
Now that we’ve explored some of the best reasons to survey your customers and some things to keep in mind while you’re designing a market research survey, let’s take a look at another useful application of this free, integrated tool. Planning an event to support your business can be complicated and time-consuming to manage. But using email and surveys together can really streamline the communication and let you focus on, you know, the event planning.
Many of our savvy customers are using the survey submit button to collect event RSVP information. This pairs easily with an invitation email, which can provide event details and a link to the RSVP survey.
For example, consider this. You have an event coming up, and your goal is to invite your customers, while hopefully spreading the word to some prospective customers as well. But you need to know how many beanbag chairs to set up, so you’ll be asking people to RSVP. Well, you can use an email campaign as the actual invitation, and then use a survey to collect RSVP responses.
Here’s how:
- Design a survey that asks the RSVP information you need.
- Create an email campaign with all of the details of the event itself. This is your invitation.
- Ask people to RSVP by linking to your survey in the email. Voilà.
- You can even add our Social Sharing feature to your email if you’d like your recipients to be able to share your invitation with others.
This format lets you ask exactly what you need to know: Can you attend? Will you be bringing a guest? Will you be bringing s’mores as your potluck dish? (In that case, you can bet that a few Emma staffers will be there too.)
Once you’ve heard back from your audience, you can easily organize the responses so that you can report back to your caterer (yep, better order some more marshmallows) and get in touch with those who responded. For example, a timely “Directions and Parking” follow-up email to those who said yes can minimize both frantic inbox-searching for your clients and day-of phone calls for you. Or, after the event is completed, sending a follow-up survey soliciting feedback and suggestions can help you continue to improve.
Also, that whole link-to-the-RSVP-form-straight-from-the-email thing makes *actually* responding a lot easier for your recipients. That way, hopefully you and your staff will only have to say ‘s’il vous plaît’ a few extra times.
Subject line remix
Five effective subject lines that defy conventional wisdom.
If you’ve ever seen tips for writing an effective subject line or maybe even attended a conference about email marketing best practices, you’ve probably been advised to abide by a certain set of tried-and-true principles.
First, the experts often say, include your company or brand name so that the mailing becomes instantly trusted and recognizable. Next, keep it short to make the most of the fixed space for subject lines in most email clients and webmail applications. And lastly, use the subject line to highlight the most important part of your campaign message and get your readers to click.
These are great guidelines and are always a helpful place to start. But it’s worth going your own route sometimes, too. I’ve recently noticed five subject lines in my inbox that have seemingly ignored or temporarily kicked conventional wisdom to the curb, yet still grabbed my attention.
Subject line #1
He Is Both Father and Mother
- The mailing content: A Father’s Day story from a non-profit celebrating a father who played both roles to his family after his wife passed away.
- Why it stood out to me: Curious, quirky and open-ended phrasing.
Subject line #2
Pods, Prefabs, Parking, Planting, and Paralyzing the Press
- The mailing content: An assortment of environmental stories.
- Why it stood out to me: Effective use of alliteration.
Subject line #3
School Lunch: Would You Eat That?
- The mailing content: A story of a teacher eating the same lunch as her students every day.
- Why it stood out to me: A hot topic in the news, followed by a question that instantly engaged me.
Subject line #4
Do You See God in Your Coffee?
- The mailing content: A report on searching for the perfect cup of coffee at local coffee shops.
- Why it stood out to me: Again, an engaging question (and one that brings back fond memories of late-night, college-dorm-style philosophical discussions).
Subject line #5
Abe Lincoln slaughtered vampires!
- The mailing content: A review of a newly released novel.
- Why it stood out to me: Pop culture references paired with American history … now that’s a winning combination. Even if you don’t have a vampire novel to promote, you can sneak in a reference now and then that’s on everyone’s minds. (FYI: Millard Fillmore was totally on Team Jacob).
All these creative examples take a unique angle – looking for a relevant but unexpected way to present your mailing can yield strong results and bring new life to your newsletters and other campaigns.
So when is the appropriate time to mix it up a bit and try your hand at something outside the norm?
- If you’re in a rut and you’ve been following the same formula for writing subject lines for the last year, it’s prime time to mix it up.
- If you’ve found success in the past with a certain style but your response numbers are beginning to trend in the wrong direction, even previously successful subject lines are worth revisiting.
- If you find yourself about to announce a new service or product, that’s also a great opportunity to try something new.
Feel free to weigh in below with recent subject lines that grabbed your attention … I look forward to your feedback.
Creating effective welcome triggers
How three customers crafted stylish and effective automated welcome emails.
Setting up a trigger is simple.
You’re probably familiar with the trigger email feature, which allows you to queue up emails that send automatically whenever a specific event occurs, instead of sending manually to a group all at once. This is such a handy tool to have at your fingertips that we wanted to spotlight a few ways to make the most of it.
Emma allows you to set up four styles of triggers: when someone signs up to receive your emails, when someone has a birthday or other date-related event, when someone clicks a link in a campaign or when someone completes a survey.
That first type, sending an automatic welcome email when someone signs up for your mailing list, can especially make a difference in how engaged you are with your audience.
A welcome trigger is one of the best and simplest ways to make contact with new subscribers. After all, they’ve just signed up and you’re fresh on their minds, so you know they’re interested in what you have to say. However you craft your welcome email, don’t think of it as just an auto-sender. It’s your opportunity to connect with your audience, capture their interest and set their expectations.
Ask yourself:
- Is my welcome email enticing? Check that your subject line is branded and specific, and consider including a coupon or special offer in the email.
- Does the tone of my welcome email convey my brand’s personality? (Nothing is duller than a welcome email that looks as if it’s been written by a robot.)
- Have I set expectations for what my subscribers will receive going forward?
So let’s take a look at a few examples.
1. Chinet, manufacturer of household products, created their welcome trigger at the end of May, and it’s experiencing some of the highest response rates we’ve seen across all industries: a 78% open rate and a whopping 93% click-through rate to their $1-off coupon. Which goes to show that there’s no need for extravagances — a moderate coupon can be wildly successful among interested subscribers.
Chinet's welcome trigger offers a coupon.
2. Maggie Whitley’s welcome email is bold and colorful, conveying a playfulness that matches her website and brand. She’s the owner of Gussy, an online shop of ruffled totes, headbands, baby blankets and more, and she lets her fans know from the get-go that she’ll personally communicate with her subscribers, as well as send out audience-wide campaigns. Her email marketing is all about creating relationships. The welcome email offers 15% off any online purchase, and it’s seeing a 79% open rate and 21% click-through rate.
Gussy's welcome trigger takes a colorful approach.
3. The European American Bakery Cafe offers a $5-off coupon in their welcome email and sets expectations about what subscribers will receive, including exclusive online offers, a first look at new menu items, invitations to upcoming events and shop updates. These are perks shared exclusively by new people in the bakery’s club, and their welcome email is seeing a 74% open rate and 29% click-through rate.
A welcome trigger with perks.
*****
So is it time to develop or revise your organization’s welcome strategy? A welcome trigger that’s immediate and engaging sets the tone for future communication and paves the way for a lasting relationship with your subscribers.
For more about how to use Emma’s welcome triggers, visit our help section.
The art of the correction message
What to say when what you said wasn’t what you meant to say.
Here at Emma, we like to talk about how your email marketing strategy is a constantly evolving conversation with your customers and clients. And, as is the way of all conversations, it’s likely that someone will eventually misspeak. When that someone is you, it can be a bad feeling — few things are more humbling than making a public mistake. Fortunately, the conversational nature of email is on your side, and you can correct yourself as soon as you realize your error. A prompt correction and apology lets you not only set something right but also to show a nice flicker of personality. If done with a touch of class and maybe even a little humor, an apology can even strengthen the bond between you and your subscribers.
Now, because nobody’s really jockeying for the nickname, “The Joe Biden of Email,” be sure to get your message in front of fresh proofreaders before you send it. But since even the most careful vetting process can miss an error, it’s comforting to know that your proofreaders aren’t your last line of defense — your audience is.
Listen to your readers. The RSVP name and email address you associate with your email marketing strategy isn’t just there to let your readers know who they’re hearing from — it’s also there so they can get in touch with you. If your loyal readers spot a mistake in your email, an email reply is the handiest way for them to let you know about it, so use an active email address and keep a close eye on your inbox.
Making the most of a mistake can help you strengthen the bond with your audience.
Nashville’s Belcourt Theater boasts a devoted audience of film buffs, so when the beloved movie house recently misidentified a showtime for one of their upcoming films, a diligent reader was happy to let them know. A strong communication channel with their audience meant that the Belcourt was able to promptly issue a correction message. As a bonus, they turned a typographical error into an opportunity to show appreciation for their readers. What should you do if you find yourself in a similar position? The same thing you would do if you misspoke at a dinner party: Correct yourself, apologize for the error and give credit to anyone who may have helped you see it.
(Note: This apology format does not apply to dinner parties where a game of charades is involved. For charades-related gaffes, the universally accepted apology is an exaggerated shrugging motion coupled with a bashful smile.)
Be prompt. You’ll probably see one of the highest spikes in activity in the two hours immediately after you send your campaign. The sooner you send a correction message, the more likely these early respondents are to connect with your correction rather than your error.
Be specific. You don’t always have to craft a completely new message to address a mistake — sometimes it’s better to correct your original content and send it out again. If you send a revised version of your original message, be clear about the correction you’re making, starting with the subject line. If your audience clearly sees “correction” there, they’ll probably skip the first message and go directly to the follow-up. In the introduction to your email, it’s a good idea to specifically address the error, just in case some folks were puzzled by your earlier message.
Be courteous. Anne Holland’s website, whichtestwon.com, offers readers a fun opportunity to play armchair web consultant to a new split test every week and then test their guesses against real-life results. Her weekly email notifications are critical to her operation, so when she misidentified a guest speaker she’d invited to host a webinar, she quickly realized her faux pas and issued a humble but humorous apology. Then, in a show of solidarity, she deliberately misspelled her own name. The correction message addressed an earlier mistake and showcased her own graciousness.
Be accommodating. If your error affected the audience’s experience — say, for example, a broken link to a limited-time offer — you may want to take an extra step, like extending the deadline on the offer to accommodate your readers.
Remember, email is one of the more personal communication channels available to you, and if someone has invited you to share information with them regularly, they’re likely to be forgiving of the occasional mistake. Careful proofing will keep your message consistent and your apologies rare, but everyone makes mistakes from time to time. (Hey, we’ve had to correct ourselves before, and email is kind of our thing.) A prompt correction and apology will go a long way toward showing your customers the human side of your business.
In-store experiences and email working well together
How World Market used email to begin a lovely brand + consumer relationship.
Sometimes a good email experience starts on a random Saturday afternoon while you’re holding onto a rug and standing in a check-out line. World Market, known for affordable and stylish goods from around the world, does some savvy marketing that starts with the point of sale and heads right to the inbox. They use several best practices to build relationships with customers and keep them coming back for more.
When I was recently buying a World Market rug, the cashier asked me if I’d like to become a member of the World Market Explorer Rewards Program. She compared the program to a Kroger Plus Card program, assured me it was free and said I’d receive coupons if I signed up. So, of course, the bargain lover in me signed up: name, email and telephone number.
Simple enough. Expectations set. Bring on the coupons…
A day or so later, I got an email prompting me to set up my Explorer membership, confirming my interest with an official opt-in. After entering a couple of details (taking 15 seconds, tops), I received a 10-percent-off coupon in my inbox within minutes. (I already had my next rug purchase in mind.) What’s especially important to note here is that World Market reached out as soon as I joined the list while my memory of signing up was fresh. Lots of organizations forget to do this, and they lose the opportunity to get people engaged right away.
A few days later, they sent me a $10 off coupon. I knew I would receive coupons, but two in one week was a nice surprise. I was further intrigued when the next email invited me to go to the World Market Preference Center to indicate my personal interests in their brand. World Market will use those details so they can send me content that they know interests me.
With one swift interaction and a couple of emails, World Market made me into a repeat buyer.
Takeaways for your own email strategy:
+ Let your subscribers know what they should expect when they sign up for your list, and follow up with them quickly.
+ Follow through and meet — or exceed, if possible — those expectations.
+ Engage your customers through email, listen to what they have to say and tailor your messages accordingly.
5 reasons to add social sharing links to your email campaigns
Adding social media icons to your email campaigns with Emma’s new feature takes just a few seconds, but it can increase your reach and help you identify your most avid followers. Who knew all of that could be as simple as pushing a couple of buttons?
If you’re new to this whole social networking thing — or if you know your way around Twitter and Facebook but just aren’t sure whether you want to try the Social Sharing feature — take a look at these reasons we think it’s worth doing. (And, of course, this new feature is free with your Emma account.)
+ To harness the reach of social media. A single share can be really powerful because of the number of followers that one email recipient can reach. How powerful could this be, you ask? Well, Facebook claims that the average user has 130 friends, so every 1,000 email subscribers represents a potential audience of 130,000 people! (Actually it’s exponentially more than that because shared content can be shared further once it’s in the network.)
+ To share the idea of, well, sharing. You may have readers who are already active on social networks and just haven’t considered how their followers and friends could benefit from your content. It’s a simple idea, but adding the icons to your emails helps connect those dots for your audience members who just haven’t thought to share your campaigns with their contacts.
+ To grow your email list. This may seem obvious, but when your content is shared on social networks, it’s typically being shared with a group of people who share common interests, so it’s already likely relevant. With that in mind, we’ve made it easy for them to sign up from the landing page if they’re interested in getting future emails from you. So not only might your email get shared … but you might also gain new subscribers.
+ To pave a road that’s already being traveled. Even if you haven’t seen it, your recipients might already be sharing your content. The new Social Sharing icons simply give them a shortcut to doing it easily. For an interesting case study in measuring the additional traffic from shared email content, take a peek at the story of SmartBrief in this MarketingSherpa article.
+ To pinpoint your most loyal fans. Having your audience share your content is quite an honor, of course, so you may want to provide something special for folks who regularly share or help you spread an important message. With Emma’s enhanced reporting feature for Social Sharing, we’ve made creating that list of loyal fans simple for you.
Want to give Social Sharing a try? Log in now or read more in our help section. If you’re new to Emma, you can inquire now to learn more.
A Nashville nonprofit mobilizes volunteers after a flood
When Nashville endured record-high rainfall and flooding over this past weekend, Hands On Nashville recognized that relief efforts would need to be large in scale and swift. Josh Corlew, HON’s Emergency Preparedness Manager, sent a series of email campaigns urging folks to get involved and showing them where – and how – they could donate time or money. You can see recent campaigns here and here.
In a crisis that is being declared a federal disaster, Hands on Nashville is using the immediacy of email and social networking to their advantage: updating supporters when volunteer positions have filled, posting ongoing needs and keeping the spirit of urgency alive.
Of course, all of us at Emma are paying special attention to how nonprofits are helping during the flood since our main office is in Nashville. And we’re pleased to have Hands On Nashville as one of our customers. But most of all, we’re thrilled to see email and social networking sites play such a practical role in communicating, bringing people together and helping solve problems during a crisis.
A few ways to follow and support Hands On Nashville’s efforts:
+ Sign up to receive their email newsletters
+ Follow them on Twitter (@HONashville)
+ Check out their current volunteer opportunities
You can also text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to donate $10 to relief efforts in Nashville.
By the way, Emma designer Taylor Schena designed the flood-edition Hands On Nashville stationery pictured above.
Nonprofit uses new media to win old-school publicity
How a nonprofit used email and Twitter to inspire their supporters and win a full-page ad in USA Today.
The folks at To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) recently won a full-page ad in USA Today by using email and social media together in one simple, combined effort. By using Twitter to further their cause, the nonprofit — which helps people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide — found a way to inspire their supporters and score great publicity.
“What would we say to 4 million people?” began their April 15 campaign, referencing USA Today’s enviable readership numbers. The email then reminded everyone how important grassroots communication has been in the history of the organization, which Jamie Tworkowski founded back in 2006.
In the email campaign, Tworkowski asked readers to tweet a specific phrase to enter USA Today’s Twitter campaign for charity. The phrase? “Let’s bring hope and help to America. Please RT: #AmericaWants @TWLOHA to get a full-page ad in USA Today.”
One week later, TWLOHA sent a follow-up email campaign to share the good news — they won the contest.
“Right now, we simply want to say, ‘Thank You.’ Your support is indescribable. We have a voice because of yours. We are all in this together, this conversation about pain and hope,” Tworkowski wrote to his supporters. Continuing the spirit of collaboration, the campaign encourages readers to use Twitter to share their ideas for what message should be included in the ad.
It’s great to see nonprofits tap into the power of social networking as a way to extend their reach and find new people who also care about their mission. (By the way, Emma’s new social sharing feature makes it easier than ever to pair up your email campaigns with social networks — you can try it out now in Emma Preview, if you want to see how it all works.)
Key takeaway: Look to your email subscribers to help you spread the gospel of your organization using social media mediums like Twitter.
Emma is a member of the Email Sender & Provider Coalition and the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group.
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