Creative trends in email 2021

Creative trends in email 2021

by Alex Williams, Andrea Campbell Comment Closed
For most businesses the email channel has proven to be an extremely valuable utility as our lives and businesses have digitally transformed overnight. According to HubSpot, email marketers are sending 27% more emails than they then did pre-coronavirus, and 78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months. But with more messages hitting inboxes now than ever before, the big question we get is, what do we do to ensure our messages stand out?  In this article we explore the top 6 creative trends in email you need to know. If you are feeling behind already, don’t worry - unlike fashion trends, email trends come in big long waves, so it is usually not too late to jump on. However, don’t delay too long or you might start blaming your creative execution for a disengaged audience and unfavorable unsubscribe rates. Check out this video from Trendline's Creative Team https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5XWm9c6voU   Color - playing with the secondary palette A compelling...
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Three ways thriving email marketing programs grow healthy email lists

Three ways thriving email marketing programs grow healthy email lists

by Trendline Interactive Comment Closed
At the core of any successful email marketing program lies a healthy database of subscribers. Therefore, marketers should make growing that database a central priority. However, list growth continues to be difficult for marketers. An Ascend2 survey reported that 34% of respondents found “increasing email list size” was a difficult objective to achieve. This was third behind maintaining an engaged list (45%) and reducing spam complaints (37%). The study also revealed that more marketers felt email list growth was more difficult than proving ROI. These results are not surprising. Instead of letting analysis of comprehensive datasets lead the way, we often see “anecdotal evidence” and corporate agendas guiding email-list growth strategy. In an effort to demystify list growth, here are three things we’ve found that email marketers with large and thriving email databases have in common. 1. They track all sources of email list growth. Yes, tracking only some list sources is better than not tracking any list sources. However, unless all sources are...
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4 ways to clean up your martech mess

4 ways to clean up your martech mess

by Mark Pollard Comment Closed
In our previous post, “9 signs your martech is a mess,” we helped you determine whether your marketing technology stack works like a dream or is one hot martech mess. If you discovered that your tech is causing you stress, read this post to start identifying the solutions to your tech headaches. Martech messes don't happen overnight, so they can't be resolved overnight. Your first clue that something is amiss might come from your customers, especially if you notice your email engagement statistics start to drop or you get complaints that customers are getting the wrong kinds of emails. The voice of the customer can be a powerful indication that your marketing tech stack is out of whack. Consider surveying your customers on the value and relevance of your email messages. You don’t have to ask technical questions - just those that will help you identify where your tech might be misaligning with expectations. Also, do an internal review of your stack. This...
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Measure your email acquisition success

Measure your email acquisition success

by Trendline Interactive Comment Closed
The lifeblood of a high performing email program is growing the email subscriber base, whether by converting current customers into subscribers or attracting new ones. Having a growing subscriber list is an important indicator of a healthy digital marketing program, but the quality of those subscribers is just as important as their quantity. In this post, we'll explain why quality matters and how to learn which email acquisition strategies will help you attract the best subscribers for your customer base. (See our previous post, “How to Grow Your Email Marketing List,” for effective opt-in strategies and tactics.) Why quality matters Size is important for an effective email database because it means you are reaching a broader share of your market with email. A larger database allows you to segment and target communications to be sure you're always sending the most relevant messages. It's also a reliable data source for testing new approaches and understanding what your customers are thinking and doing. However, size does...
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How to run a successful email content audit

How to run a successful email content audit

by Scott Burdsall Comment Closed
When COVID’s first wave initially struck in early 2020, many marketing teams were left without a clear crisis response plan. Many needed to develop new messaging plans overnight and created campaigns that might have sounded good at the time, but it quickly became clear that everyone had similar ideas. Even the most comprehensive crisis-management protocols didn't tend to envision a world of lockdowns and mandatory social guidelines–or the economic, social, political, and cultural upheavals that would follow. Over the course of 2020, we've learned what our brands stand for, what our customers really want from us, and some of the organizational traps that kept us from responding as efficiently and effectively as we could. Now is the time to put that knowledge into action. While we managed to survive the initial storm, the pressures placed on the email marketing teams are set to continue in Q4 2020 and into 2021. Prepare for the long haul It’s the perfect time to assess your capabilities...
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Screening checklist for crisis response emails

Screening checklist for crisis response emails

by Scott Burdsall Comment Closed
As part of your crisis management email marketing revaluation, you might have to add some qualitative review questions to your campaign pre-deployment and quality-checking process. Besides checking for typos, broken links and call-to-action button copy, you should audit your content to make sure you're keeping your customers' interests in the forefront and not inadvertently offending with ill-timed or tone-deaf content. These questions can help: 1. Does my content answer "WIIFM?" "WIIFM'' means "What's in it for me?" Or, bluntly, "So what?" You can say yes to this question if your copy focuses more on the benefits of the product that its individual features – or on the benefits of any changes you have to make to accommodate COVID requirements. When you get right down to it, customers are all about themselves, so meet them where they are and remind them – overtly or subtly – why their lives are better because they buy from you. 2. Does my email address the customer's perspective? This goes...
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Email for marketplace businesses

Email for marketplace businesses

by Scott Burdsall Comment Closed
Your customer's relationship with your brand is complex. To borrow a phrase from the Beatles, it's more like a long and winding road than a short path from awareness to conversion. That's why the "one size fits all" model of email marketing doesn't work as well as it used to. Messages that treat every customer the same don't address each customer's unique situation, and the result is loss of engagement and contact with that customer. In today's complex retail environment, marketers have to listen closely for the signals their customers are sending and find the right timing and frequency to send messages that respond to those signals within a framework built to help the brand achieve its own objectives. This is hard enough for traditional retail brands that combine both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce. It becomes even more critical with the growth of "marketplace" e-commerce models. If your brand operates on the marketplace model and you're seeing diminishing returns from your email messaging, this information...
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Content Marketing 101: What’s in it for Me?

Content Marketing 101: What’s in it for Me?

by Colleen Preisner Comment Closed
It has probably happened to you. You meet a guy at a conference or party who starts talking about himself, and within 15 seconds, you’re looking for an escape. Guess what! The same thing happens when we send an email about our brilliant products or services. However, we don’t even get 15 seconds–we get approximately 4–and the escape route is ‘delete’, ‘unsubscribe’, or ‘mark as spam.’ The solution? Don’t be that guy. Why did they sign up? Digital marketing should be a conversation, but if you’re talking about yourself, it’s a lecture. Frame your conversation by asking yourself why your subscribers signed up. Did they subscribe so you can tell them you’re “a leading service provider” or so they’ll know when you form a new partnership? Not likely. Most subscribers are with you because they thought there was something in it for them. Make sure there is. Every email or blog post, and ideally every paragraph and sentence, should include a clear benefit to...
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Trendline’s Top 10 Articles of All Time

Trendline’s Top 10 Articles of All Time

by Hannah Wilson Comment Closed
August marks Trendline’s 10-year anniversary, and we’ve had a lot to say! Here’s a list of our top-read articles of all time. From holiday emails to deliverability resources, there has been no shortage of Trendline content through the years. 10. Overview of the Enterprise Email Service Provider Landscape The Enterprise Email Service Provider (ESP) landscape continues to evolve, and choosing which platform is right for you can be a challenge. Learn from Trendline’s CEO, Morgan Stewart, about the strengths and weaknesses of each of the ESPs. 9. The Best QA Process to Produce Error-Free Emails Our QA process at Trendline not only needs to produce and test error-free emails but do it as quickly as possible. Trendline’s VP of Email Operations, Molly Privratsky, gives the full scoop on how the QA Team maintains a high error-free rate at blinding speeds by utilizing the Litmus tool. Read the full case study. 8. Soft Bounce vs. Hard Bounce: What’s the Difference? So your email bounced. What caused...
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Email Logistics in Crisis Management

Email Logistics in Crisis Management

by Derek Harding Comment Closed
From COVID-19 to social justice movements to Cybersecurity attacks, 2020 has been nothing short of a whirlwind. How are you preparing for when these issues begin to infiltrate your company’s operations? Your Crisis Management Plan To determine how the process will operate, your crisis management plan must include the logistics of any email notifications you are planning to send. Last time, I wrote about the importance of understanding the risks and rewards of hosting data at third parties and why it is critical to understand how your organization’s requirements and limitations will impact your overall security situation. Today, I want to look at the importance of email logistics in your crisis management communication plan. Whether or not the incident is related to third-party data hosting or your email service provider (ESP), it will frequently include using email to notify people and notify them quickly. On the surface, this sounds pretty straightforward. There shouldn’t be any significant problems with contacting your customers and prospects via...
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