MindComet

Champion :: The Perfect Storm

Last month as a part of a road race I competed in, I attended the race expo.  In part to pick up my race packet that contained my race number, the obligatory race t-shirt and goodie bag.  The other reason to attend the expo is to learn about the latest and greatest in apparel, shoes and other running accessories. 

This was a decent sized race at a vacation destination, and because of this some of the big players in the running world were there.  Champion was there and they were conducting a raffle of some sort.  I don’t remember what the prize was, but I signed up for it.  The form had a spot for your email address and a checkbox to confirm interest in receiving email communication from Champion.  I checked the box.

Champion did a great job of turning those email addresses around.  I received my first message from them on May 29th.  A mere 25 days since I registered. 

Unbeknownst to the folks at Champion, a running blog I read regularly, Irish Blue in a Running Shoe was singing the praises of one of their products.  Five Days later the email I received from Champion, featured the product with 20% off and Free Shipping. 

I realize that this was just a coincidence, but as you can imagine, I forwarded that email to all of my running girlfriends.  “Look, here it is, it’s on sales and free shipping!“

Champion fell right into the perfect storm of Smart Data Collection,  Consumer Generated Buzz, Email Marketing and the ever-important Forward to a Friend.

Bravo Champion!

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Posted by MindComet on Jun. 15, 2007

Spread It Out

More often than not, when I receive messages from a company with multiple brands, I receive messages from all of the brands almost back-to-back.  Now, yes, I have opted-in to receive messages from all of the brands, but why do they all have to come within a few hours?

It seems that most Monday mornings when I get my day started I have messages from Gap, Old Navy and Piperlime waiting to be opened.  These messages aren’t sent immediately one after another, and there are often messages sent between them, but over the course of an hour or two in the early morning hours, the messages are sent.

The same process tends to repeat itself on Thursday mornings when I receive messages from Abercrombie & Fitch and it’s sister Hollister.

We can assume that not everyone in the Old Navy database is also in the Gap database etc… but I think there is a strong possibility that people who are interested in casual clothes probably shop at both stores and if email is their thing, probably subscribe to both messages.

Perhaps there has been testing in the past and this formula works well for the brands.  But why overwhelm subscribers with message after message.  I guess it could cause comparison shopping, but if subscribers are buying only on price Old Navy and Hollister win, every time.

It seems more logical to me to spread the sending out, just a little bit.  Maybe instead of an hour between messages, wait eight, or even a day.

Or am I missing a bigger part of the puzzle?

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Posted by MindComet on Jun. 14, 2007

Now Here’s a Bright Idea…

The M&M’s Bright Ideas Newsletter is one of those love it or hate it messages.  The inner Martha-Stewart in me likes the idea of the cute and creative food projects, but from past experience, I know I can rarely execute on super-cute candy laden cakes.  I really have the best intentions, but there is a reason why I’m an email marketer and not a baker.  You don’t have eat email marketing.  Ahhh, I digress…

Other members of the email team used to receive the Bright Idea Newsletter and I’m sure, based on the overall cuteness, made the decision to opt-out. 

This got me thinking.  If you are going to produce only one regular communication without segmenting your list it’s probably wise to produce a message that has a greater general appeal.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t segment your list and tailor your messaging strategies based on that segmentation, because if you have the means, resources and time, you should be.  However, if you don’t have the resources, a general message is better than no message at all.

You don’t want to alienate your subscribers by producing a message that is too cute, too edgy, too whatever.  Keep it simple and keep your subscribers.

On a side note:  We complimented this newsletter in the past for their clever way of including a survey in the newsletter.  Another well done aspect of this message are the display of “Useful Links” in the footer of the message.  Including Sign up, Share with a Friend, Unsubscribe, Change Email Address, Add Us to Your Address Book – a link with Whitelist instructions for several email clients, and Contact Us.

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Posted by MindComet on Jun. 13, 2007

A Personalized From Name Done Right

Recently, we discussed personalizing messages with the from name, and the risks if the “Brand Spokesperson” isn’t a household name. 

The email marketing campaign from Site 59 does a great job of letting subscribers know at the time of sign up the name of their Travel Guru, Patty Griffin.

Every Tuesday, between 10:00 AM EST and 1:00 PM EST, I receive a message from Patty Griffin that has a cleverly written personalized note from Patty that contains links to various areas of the site. 

The frequency and consistency of the messaging allows for subscribers to be more accepting of messages from Patty.  With seven days between messages, it’s hard to forget.  As opposed to our example from a few weeks ago that was completely random.

This is followed by Patty’s Pick that highlights a different vacation spot each week.  The last section on the left is called “Getaway 411”.  This contains additional travel information and additional links to the site for travel discounts.

The right column contains a “Now Departing” section that dynamically displays deals from the departure city I selected when I registered.

This is followed by the “Tour Guide” Section that is a search feature to find last second deals.  And finally a “Need Ideas?“ section that has links to International, Sun and Beach, Under $250 and Luxury.  These links help if you have something in mind, but you need some assistance.

The sections are different sizes, but with a grey header and footer to each section, they all seem to work well together. 

Before I opted-in to this campaign I had never heard of travel guru Patty Griffin, however, now I look forward to the deals she sends my way once a week.  I can’t wait to go somewhere!

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Posted by MindComet on Jun. 12, 2007

The Welcome Message and Double Opt-In

Today’s Email Insider Column, by Whitney Hutchinson, discusses having a “Contact Plan” as the building blocks for success.  I agree with the column overall with the exception of the welcome message.

While I do agree that welcome messages are an extremely important part of the overall messaging strategy and should most definitely be used, there needs to be some thought put into timing if you are employing double opt-in best practices as a part of your email marketing campaign.

From a consumer point of view, it’s overwhelming to receive the message asking for confirmation of my subscription and as soon as I click the link to confirm I receive a welcome message.  It leaves me with an “Enough already” feeling when that happens.

A better option may be to time your welcome message to come within the next 24 hours

Instead of using Welcome Message Functionality, if it is available, use you recurring message feature combined with a query to send your Welcome Message to anyone who has opted-in one day in the past.

Your Welcome Message will be much more welcome if you are not overwhelming your newest subscribers.

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Posted by MindComet on Jun. 11, 2007

Man Cannot Live on Voodoo Alone

While we certainly appreciate people stopping by to check out Email Marketing Voodoo, but there are some other great email marketing industry blogs out there that if you’re not reading, you should.

Our Favorites are:

The Email Wars:  Our buddy, Dylan at eROI delivers this straight-shooting, insightful and funny blog.  One of my favorite aspects of this blog is that is often updated more than once a day.

No Man is an Iland: Published by Mark Brownlow out of Austria, Mark started Email Marketing Reports in 2001 when he was tired of decent people sending spam because no one helped them learn the basics of legitimate email marketing.

e-Buzz by cardcommunications:  Our friend, Kelly Rusk in the Great White North provides her thoughts and opinions and what’s new in email marketing – eh?

Tamara’s Email Marketing Best Practices Blog: Tamara provides a roundup of the latest email marketing best practices articles.

The Voice of Email: The Email Experience Council’s blog with posts from email superstars such as Jeanniey Mullen, Bill McCloskey and Deirdre Baird, there is a wealth of information from the world of email marketing

RetailEmail.Blogspot: Chad White reviews email marketing messages from the top 100 internet marketing retailers.  His daily AM Inbox is addicting.

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Posted by MindComet on Jun. 08, 2007

A Fresh Look Just in Time For Summer, and Lunch

Panera has a pretty good gig growing their email marketing subscriber list.  I opted-in at the restaurant while I was traveling in St. Charles, Illinois nearly two years ago.  An advantage that Panera has over Starbucks is free Wi-Fi.  They both serve lattes so take your pick – First thing in the morning, a weary, blackberry-less traveler needs is an espresso-based beverage and a way to check email that doesn’t cost $10. 

In the course of getting set up on their system, I saw an opportunity to opt-in to receive email.  What a great idea!  I was in the restaurant already, so chances are, I’m a fan, what a perfect way to grow their email marketing list.

The newsletter, On the Rise, Get it?  Bread?  Rise?  (Now that’s clever…) is personalized and has a link to the menu, recipes and a link to their catering option, as well as feature items or articles.  The template has been recently redesigned and the new name started at the end of April.

Old Template:


New Template:

Before the redesign, messages were somewhat infrequent, although always a pleasure to receive. 

I hope that Panera can maintain this monthly schedule.  Perhaps developing an editorial calendar can help keep them on track.

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Posted by MindComet on Jun. 07, 2007