+ All Categories
Home > Social Media > best of emails

best of emails

Date post: 29-Aug-2014
Category:
Upload: events-carpet-and-flooring
View: 238 times
Download: 2 times
Share this document with a friend
Description:
 
Popular Tags:
23
e Best of the Email Swipe File 2013
Transcript
Page 1: best of emails

The Best of the

Email Swipe File

2013

Page 2: best of emails

A swipe file is a record of your top-performing campaigns that you return to for learnings and ideas. It was this concept that inspired us to create the Email Swipe File on Pinterest, where we share the emails and landing pages that excite and impress us. In this report, we highlight the 20 examples from the pinboard that we most hope you’ll steal, test, and make your own.

Explore bonus Swipe File content online →

The Best of the

Email Swipe File

Kristina HuffmanDesign Practice LeadExactTarget@ETDesign

The wide screens of desktops are being rapidly replaced by more modest tablet screens and challengingly small smartphone screens, and the pixel-precision of mice is being replaced by fingers on touchscreens. This transition is having a dramatic effect on email design and ushering in a variety of new tactics.

In the era of email engagement, greater relevancy has become imperative. Personalization is one of the key ways that marketers can make their messages more personally relevant to their subscribers.

Triggered emails are among the most successful emails you’ll ever send. Their outsized ROI has inspired some marketers to explore ways to make them ever better—with longer campaigns, smarter content, and better triggers.

Content marketing is having a major influence on product marketers, who are realizing that advice, tips, and customer inclusion create more engaging emails with fewer discounts.

While marketers are constantly gaining new tools to make their emails more effective, they shouldn’t forget the fundamental design tactics that have continued to be effective for years.

On their own, the examples on the following pages are inspiring and thought-provoking. However, together they represent five trends that define where great email marketing design is headed:

Mobile-Friendly

Personalization

Triggered Sophistication

Editorial Voice

Inspired Fundamentals

Page 3: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File4 5

KickstarterType: Promotional email

Send Date: January 8, 2013

Subject Line: The Best of Kickstarter 2012

View the Kickstarter email on Pinterest →

View similar pins:

The email is super simple and super straightforward. With a headline, three sentences, and a three-character call-to-action, the email provokes interest and propels the subscriber to the rich, slideshow landing page.

- Chris Studabaker, Regional Manager

Meetup →Tumblr →

Mobile-Friendly

Page 4: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File6 7

Mobile-Friendly

TOMS ShoesType: Promotional email

Send Date: April 12, 2013

Subject Line: New Ballet Flats & free shipping on all orders!

View the TOMS email on Pinterest →

View similar pins: Starwood →

The really interesting thing about TOMS’ use of responsive design in this email is that the hero image is animated only in the narrow screen version, with the shoes changing as the feet push back and forth. They are serving up a mobile-sized gif instead of cramming a desktop-sized gif onto a mobile screen, keeping load time as quick as possible.

- Kristina Huffman, Design Practice Lead

REI → UGG →

Page 5: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File8 9

MoosejawType: Promotional email

Send Date: January 7, 2013

Subject Line: It worked for Obama...

View the Moosejaw email on Pinterest →

View similar pins:

A catchy, intriguing, topical subject line introduces a mobile-friendly, plain-text email that’s well-suited to convey the concise message. Both this email and the text-heavy emails of the campaign season are reminders that plain text can still be very effective, particularly in the age of mobile.

- Laura Earley, Associate Designer

Icelandic Tourism Board →

Mobile-Friendly

Page 6: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File10 11

Designed in nice screen-sized chunks with large images and big buttons, this “mobile aware” email is perfect for tablets, but still functional on smartphones. Unlike many brands, this UK retailer also made their navigation bars at the top and bottom of their email mobile-friendly.

- Abul Kashim Siddique, Senior Design Consultant

ReissType: Promotional email

Send Date: April 14, 2013

Subject Line: Textured Summer Knits + London Lives Video

View the Reiss email on Pinterest →

Mobile-Friendly

Page 7: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File12 13

Personalization

JetsetterType: Preference center

View the Jetsetter preference center on Pinterest →

View similar pins:

Jetsetter’s preference center collects subscriber preferences for ‘Destinations’, ‘Activities’, and ‘Scenes’, all of which are vital to creating highly targeted travel offers. Their preference center also addresses three of the most common reasons that subscribers opt out —too many emails, irrelevant emails, and change of address.

- Andrea Smith Design Lead, Content Marketing & Research

Fab.com →

Page 8: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File14 15

FitbitType: Notification

Send Date: April 23, 2013

Subject Line: Your Weekly Progress Report in Fitbit!

View the Fitbit email on Pinterest →

View similar pins: LinkedIn →

Through their wireless trackers, scales, and mobile tools, Fitbit collects a lot of information about their users’ activities, diet, and sleep. To keep your progress top of mind, Fitbit sends you a summary of your stats from the past week. They also email you notifications when you earn badges for reaching certain milestones.

- Hannah Kleyn, Design Consultant

Personalization

Page 9: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File16 17

Lowe’sType: Progressive profiling email

Send Date: March 13, 2013

Subject Line: Version 1: Personalize your savings this spring Version 2: A Quick Question to Customize Your Emails

View the Lowe’s email on Pinterest →

Looking to gather data to power some segmented seasonal messaging, Lowe’s sent this tablet-friendly progressive profiling email asking subscribers about their plans for the spring. The home improvement retailer geo-targeted the email to areas where spring had arrived and also ran a subject line A/B test to better understand what would compel the most subscribers to provide more information about themselves.

- Amanda Monroe, Associate Designer

Personalization

Page 10: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File18 19

Personalization

IVCiType: Promotional email

Send Date: Q2 2013

Subject Line: IVCi conversation

View the IVCi email on Pinterest →

While most emails work best as HTML emails, we’ve found that drip emails are the most successful when they’re in a rich text format, which makes them appear as though they’re a one-to-one communication between a sales rep and a prospect. This email from IVCi is short, conversational, and includes a personalized signature to enhance the impression that the email is coming directly from a sales rep.

- Mathew Sweezey, Marketing Evangelist

Page 11: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File20 21

Triggered Sophistication

ZulilyType: Welcome email series

Subject Lines: Welcome 1: Get shopping credit! Invite your pals to join zulily too Welcome 2: Go ahead ... play favorites Welcome 3: Anytime. Anywhere. Take zulily with you. Welcome 4: Calling all social butterflies Welcome 5: Smart shopping is your superpower

View the Zulily series on Pinterest →

View similar pins: Crate & Barrel →Target →

With the vast majority of marketers still sending a single welcome email, Zulily is well ahead of the curve with this five-email welcome series that seeks a closer relationship with new subscribers by asking for referrals, asking about their favorite brands, and promoting their mobile app and social presence.

- Andrea Smith Design Lead, Content Marketing & Research

Welcome 1

Welcome 2

Welcome 3

Welcome 4

Welcome 5

Page 12: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File22 23

Not only does this email use responsive design to target Foursquare’s highly mobile users, it is triggered by check-in patterns that involve airports and locations outside of my normal stomping grounds.

- Kristina Huffman, Design Practice Lead

FoursquareType: Welcome home triggered email

Send Date: March 2013

Subject Line: Welcome back from your trip! How was it?

View the Foursquare email on Pinterest →

Triggered Sophistication

Page 13: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File24 25

CrutchfieldType: Browse abandonment email

Send Date: November 2012

Subject Line: Digital SLR Cameras: Our top picks

View the Crutchfield email on Pinterest →

This browse abandonment email tries to get at the reason why you didn’t purchase in the same way that a good store associate would. It features the product you browsed, but then also suggests a new arrival, featured price drop, top-seller, and customer favorite in case you were looking for the newest product, the best deal, or social validation.

- Chad White, Principal of Marketing Research

Triggered Sophistication

Page 14: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File26 27

This email does a great job of drawing you in. The subject line makes you wonder what the top tweet was, and the email makes you wonder which of the topics shown was the top tweet, all with the goal of enticing you to click through.

- Chris Studabaker, Regional Manager

TwitterType: Promotional email

Send Date: December 20, 2012

Subject Line: See the most popular Tweet of 2012

View the Twitter campaign on Pinterest →

View similar pins:

Barnes & Noble

Editorial Voice

Page 15: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File28 29

More marketers are taking a “content first” approach to selling. This J. Crew email does an excellent job of leading with advice on etiquette and style to build trust and to give their subscribers the confidence to move forward with purchases.

- Mike Diekhoff, Design Consultant

J.CrewType: Gender-segmented email

Send Date: July 1, 2012

Subject Line: Female Version: My favorite summer whites Male Version: Shoes are required. Socks are not.

View the J.Crew emails on Pinterest →

View similar pins:

Editorial Voice

NFL Shop →Neiman Marcus →

Page 16: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File30 31

PandoraType: Promotional email

Send Date: April 12, 2013

Subject Line: Thanks to You: 200 Million Strong

View the Pandora email on Pinterest →

View similar pins:

Infographics were the biggest new trend in B2B marketing last year. This year we’re seeing infographics make their mark on B2C marketing, as in this Pandora email, which includes interesting figures on their growth.

- Chris Studabaker, Regional Manager

Editorial Voice

Barnes & Noble →JetBlue →

Page 17: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File32 33

Levi’sType: Promotional email

Send Date: April 9, 2013

Subject Line: Denim Die-Hards‏

View the Levi’s campaign on Pinterest →

Partnering with fashion website Refinery29 to get their interpretation of 501 jeans for the photo gallery presentation in this email is just the beginning of this social-driven campaign. Subscribers are asked, “What’s your interpretation?” and encouraged to upload photos of themselves styling 501s, and ultimately asked to vote on a Pinterest-inspired landing page to determine which finalist is the winner.

- Tana Babcock, Design Consultant

Editorial Voice

Page 18: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File34 35

Havaianas AustraliaType: Promotional email

Send Date: April 18, 2013

Subject Line: Disney for BIG Kids!

View the Havaianas Australia email on Pinterest →

View similar pins:

This Australian sandal-maker did a great job of recognizing a wonderful opportunity to use animation in a delightful way, making clever use of the Cheshire Cat’s penchant for mostly disappearing.

- Lindsey O’Donnell, Design Consultant

Inspired Fundamentals

Home Depot → Bed Bath & Beyond →

Animation

Page 19: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File36 37

Jack SpadeType: Promotional email

Send Date: March 21, 2013

Subject Line: Watch Out! $98 Graphic Watches Are In

View the Jack Spade email on Pinterest →

View similar pins: Jonathan Adler →Sephora →

Clean simplicity is the new sweet spot for email design and this email delivers by keeping the headline and call-to-action above the fold and using a mix of illustration and product shots to intrigue and get subscribers scrolling.

- Anna Meier, Design Consultant

Inspired Fundamentals

Page 20: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File38 39

CB2Type: Promotional email

Send Date: December 1, 2012

Subject Line: get her this

View the CB2 email on Pinterest →

View similar pins:

Gift guides are a major selling tool during the holiday season. CB2 takes this concept and turns it into a fun, interactive decision tree that all starts with rating the gift-recipient on a scale of 1 to 10. It’s hard to resist following every path to its recommended gift.

- Ryan Alvis, Design Consultant

Inspired Fundamentals

Canadian Tourism → Tiffany & Co. →

Page 21: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File40 41

AnthropologieType: Promotional email

Send Date: March 15, 2013

Subject Line: Denim on the rise | Free shipping

View the Anthropologie email on Pinterest →

View similar pins:

This email proves the adage that a picture’s worth a thousand words by making it super easy to see at a glance the difference between Anthropologie’s different denim styles. For good measure, they also include some words, offering advice on what to wear with each style.

- Chad White, Principal of Marketing Research

Inspired Fundamentals

The White House →Lands’ End →

Page 22: best of emails

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file • 20132013 • The Best of the Email Swipe File42 43

Bendon LingerieType: Promotional email

Send Date: May 8, 2013

Subject Line: Something extra for you: buy any 2 items, get the 3rd free.

View the Bendon Lingerie email on Pinterest →

View similar pins:

Rather than seeing image blocking as an obstacle, this Australian lingerie retailer saw it as an opportunity to use a mosaic of color blocked table grids to send a simple heart-shaped message. While many marketers use mosaics to emulate the images-on creative, Bendon Lingerie chose not to be limited by that.

- Kirk Barlow, Senior Deliverability & Marketing Consultant

Inspired Fundamentals

Orbitz →Mothercare →

Images off

Images on

Page 23: best of emails

View the Email Swipe File on Pinterest →

View the Facebook Swipe File on Pinterest →

exacttarget.com

Want more?


Recommended