Updates from May, 2010

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  No-Image Email Design Experiment

  emarti 10:44 am on May 25, 2010 | 1 Permalink | Reply
  

  Are you tired of hearing about the limitations of HTML email design - specifically, how email browsers display (or don’t display) images? What’s a designer to do if you can’t rely on images to provide that hook to grab people’s attention? How do you create visual interest or a branded look and feel?

  Of course, images can be used, but the majority of email clients need to actively turn these images on. But I want people to see my email design instantly, and have my design go to work attracting attention and directing the viewer’s eye. After all, isn’t that the point of designing and creating HTML email in the first place?

  The Challenge

  So, I gave myself a challenge: design a visually engaging HTML email without using a single image. The biggest challenge of any designer is to work within the limitations of the project at hand. Fine, if images are a problem, I’ll do without them. It’s an extreme solution to the problem of blocked images, but one that is well worth investigating.

  Design

  Since this was just an exercise I wanted to keep it simple. So I needed a design “theme” that would be easy to implement. Since tables are the primary tool for HTML email layout, I decided to work with a grid of squares that could be combined and colored to break up the space and create visual interest. This grid layout would translate perfectly to the rigid structure of HTML tables.

  

  I created a fake company name (PixelMania) which helps make sense of the design elements. Maybe they sell old Atari games…

  Once I was happy with the design mock-up, and fairly confident I could create it solely with HTML, I was on to the next step.

  HTML

  For the sake of time – and just in case this experiment was doomed to fail anyway – I decided to build just a portion of the whole email. My thinking was, if it works for this one section of the email design, it will work for the entire layout and the hypothesis will be confirmed.

  I created a table that matched the 20-pixel x 20-pixel grid of the image layout. Then, I brought in an image of the design as a background of the table to use as a guide. The image was tinted so that when adding color to the table cells (described below), I could see the difference between colored and uncolored cells.

  

  I then combined cells where I needed to have space for text. Next, I added color to each individual table cell <td> tag, matching the layout of the image I placed in the background.

  

  Once all of the cells were colored, I removed the background image from the table. I then added all of the text into the layout and styled everything to match the design.

  

  Testing

  Of course, as I built this email design I followed “best practices“, and coded it in a way that shouldn’t break in email browsers. But, as I’ve learned through trial and lots of error, never assume it’s going to work as envisioned. I sent a test to myself so I could see the results of the email in multiple browsers.

  Unfortunately my fears were realized. The grid I created did not hold its width in any of the email browsers tested. Even though I had set each <td> width to 20px the layout was squeezed when the preview pane was smaller than the total width of the email. This definitely won’t do.

  

  The only solution I could come up with was to use spacer images to hold the table cells in place. Rats, I had to use images after all. I created another row at the bottom of the table and inserted clear 20px wide gifs in each <td>. Time to retest.

  

  Success!

  Yes, images had to be used in the end, but only to maintain the HTML structure and not as a design element. I can live with that. I challenged myself to create a visually interesting and engaging email design without using graphics, and I’m happy with the end result.

  Implementing the above email design was a time consuming process, and may be difficult when working within the real world of deadlines and budgets. But, what this experiment hopefully demonstrates is that designers can always find graceful solutions to big problems by using their greatest asset: creativity.

  This email design experiment also opens up a number of other possibilities, such as:

  • Creating images from photographic sources using this HTML grid technique and coloring cells to match the sources
  • Creating images from colored X’s
  • Creating HTML text layouts – lots of words in different sizes, colors, and Web safe fonts

  From lyrishq.com

   

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  Take Email Marketing to the Next Level

  emarti 8:36 am on April 5, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: best practices (2), email marketing (2), HTML email

  

  My fellow Webmasters: Will you join with me in proclaiming that this is the year we will take our email marketing to the next level?

  Let’s banish the days of the endlessly long email! No more will listeners receive messages filled with only images, resulting in a completely blank email that will more than likely be moved to the trash immediately!

  For all the time, money and effort put into our Email Marketing, we are doing a major disservice to ourselves and to our databases by not following Best Practices. (More …)

   
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  Permission Must Be Re-earned with Every Message

  emarti 12:30 pm on March 10, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  

  Some marketers might regard an opt-in subscription as the end of the permission process—but it’s just the beginning, says Stephanie Miller in a post at the Daily Fix blog.

  “Permission does not give marketers a license to just send whatever, whenever,” she argues. “In fact, more than just a one-time exercise, permission must be re-earned with every message.”

  Here’s how to implement a strategy that continues to request permission from a subscriber long past the initial “yes”:

  Send relevant content only when a subscriber needs it. It’s fine, Miller notes, to remain visible with a newsletter sent on the third Thursday of every month. But the frequency of promotions and offers should reflect a customer’s apparent readiness to buy—for instance, if he or she has made a recent purchase or is up for renewal.

  Re-engage non-active subscribers sooner rather than later. “If the messages are not resonating,” she says, “stop them, or offer to change frequency or content type.”

  Miller concedes that an email program oriented to strong value propositions will likely result in smaller subscriber files and more work for fewer records. But, she says, it’s worth it: “On the surface, it might sound like poor marketing strategy, but actually, it results in a better situation. Subscribers who really want to be on your file are always going to be more engaged and return higher response and revenue.”

  The Po!nt: It doesn’t end with “I Do.” Like any human relationship, an email-customer relationship requires work over time.

  Source: The Daily Fix. Read the full post.

   
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  Five Ways to Break the Rules of Email Marketing and Still Win the Game

  emarti 10:12 am on March 9, 2010 | 0 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: best practices (2), email, email marketing (2)

  From Marketing Profs:

  One of the most common questions I’m asked starts with, “What is the best-practice for…?” For example, “What is the best-practice for subject-line length?” or “What is the best-practice for day or time to send?” or “What is the best-practice for copy/creative length?” The answer inevitably goes something like this:

  “Well, the ideal subject-line length is between [insert range] characters but that really depends on what delivers the highest number of opens/clicks/conversions… for you.”

  In other words, we can find and spit back best-practices for most email-marketing-related questions; however, I nearly always find marketers who “break the rules” with tremendous success.

  Why? Often they have tested and found that their subscribers respond better to a practice that is not considered “best.” When I think of not following industry best-practices, five examples come to mind.

  1. Overstock.com: ALL CAPS IN THE SUBJECT LINE

  If you’ve ever received an email from Overstock, one thing jumps out.

  

  The subject lines are, often, IN ALL CAPS. Some subject lines read “BEDDING BLOWOUT” or “CLOSEOUTS” or “FREE SHIPPING COUPON.”

  Now, industry best-practices would tell you not only to never use all caps but also to avoid the word “free” (that is now a bit more debatable). However, it works for Overstock.

  I had the chance to meet a member of the Overstock email-marketing team, and he informed me that they have done (and continue to do) extensive subject-line testing. Those types of subject lines you see above outperform the others… by far!

  Will that technique work for you? It depends.

  2. Chris Brogan’s Newsletter: A Whole Bunch of Text, Few Links, and No Clear Call to Action

  (Disclosure: Blue Sky Factory designed Chris Brogan’s template, and Brogan is a client of BSF.)

  Chris Brogan sends out a newsletter that, with the exception of a few call-to-action buttons and logos, and the Share With Your Network (SWYN) feature, is all text.

  

  Although industry best-practices say that email copy should include opportunities for people to click,

  Brogan’s open rate is far north of 50%, and he consistently extends his reach by double digits through SWYN; moreover, he often gets hundreds of replies thanking him and asking follow-up questions.

  If that isn’t engagement, I’m not sure what is. So, again, the practice of sending mostly text emails works… for Brogan and his subscribers.

  Will it also work for you? It could.

  3. Marketing Over Coffee: Ugly vs. Pretty Template Test

  In September of 2009, Blue Sky Factory Client Service Manager Joanna Lawson-Matthew ran an experiment to see how a text-heavy, design-light (i.e., ugly) template would perform against a Blue Sky Factory–designed, polished, professional, industry-best-practice (pretty) template.

  The client was Marketing Over Coffee, a weekly podcast that discusses both classic and new marketing, hosted by John Wall and Chris Penn. (No longer a client, Penn recently became the VP of Strategy and Innovation for Blue Sky Factory.)

  Original (Ugly) Template:

  

  New (Pretty) Template:

  

  Suffice it to say, holding subject line, from name, email content, and date/time of send constant, the open rate and click-through rates of both the old and the new template were nearly identical. (For the full details on the results of the experiment, see “Marketing Over Coffee: And The Winner Is…“)

  Should you be sending a text-heavy (ugly) template? Maybe.

  4. Apple: One Big Image

  Apple fans are everywhere. Many would argue that Apple can do no wrong when it comes to innovation, design, product launches, and marketing.

  I’ll let you be the judge of that; however, I can tell you that one of Apple’s email-marketing tactics that does not follow industry best-practices is its use of images.

  Nearly all its emails lead with a big image. Best-practices would tell you that is bad. (I’ll leave the deliverability side of this conversation out for now.) Far too many email clients (and users) have images off by default. So, when the Apple email lands in your inbox, it looks like this:

  

  See the problem? The entire top of the message is blank. To make matters worse, Apple does not even include alt text (alternative text) or the ability to click on a link. When you view the message with images on, below, you see a nice picture of a MacBook Pro as well as a call to action to “Shop Mac.” With images off, Apple loses the potential click (and conversion).

  

  So, what gives? How does Apple get away with that?

  At the Email Evolution Conference in Miami in February, I was fortunate to meet two of the gentlemen who are responsible for email marketing at Apple. They said they’re aware of the “one big image” issue and are looking to make some tweaks.

  However, as they told me, their emails work. Why? Probably because Apple is such a trusted brand that subscribers are more likely to auto-enable images.

  Does that mean you model your creative after Apple and include a big image at the top? Possibly.

  5. Publishers Clearing House: Breaks So Many Rules (but Gets Killer Results)

  In February 2010, Chad White, research director at Smith-Harmon, wrote “It’s Not That There Aren’t Best Practices…” in which he referenced my displeasure with the design of the Publishers’ Clearing House (PCH) emails.

  Here’s an example. Below is the top section of a recent PCH email. (I’ve shown only the top portion, as the entire email would be seven times as long—another no-no.)

  

  Yikes! The subject line includes my name (bad) and makes little sense (bad). The top portion is littered with big images (bad). There are too many flashing gifs(bad), caps (bad), and the letter O instead of zeros  (bad). Overall, it makes me dizzy. It breaks just about every rule I can think of.

  But here’s the rub: It works. In fact, PCH emails do more than work. They have open, click-through, and conversion rates that would make any email marketer salivate.

  I know because I spent a significant amount of time with Sal Tripi, PCH’s senior director of operations and compliance. He agreed that PCH emails are not pretty and don’t follow industry best-practices. However, they perform. They knock it out of the park. Sal’s team has tested and retested—and these emails win, hands down.

  So, should your emails look like PCH’s? Yes—assuming you are getting the killer results PCH is.

  * * *

  Remember: The next time you hear “best-practice,” ask yourself whether that practice is best for you and for your audience. Have you tested to confirm that the industry norm is really the best option? What does the data tell you? Are you maximizing your goals? Have you performed some split (A/B) testing to see whether the “anti” best-practice works better? Try it. I dare you.

  From http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2010/3450