Some insights are so simple they leave us thinking, “doh, why haven’t I already done this?”
April 1st Email
How can retailers leverage the prank aspect of April 1st? Here is a great example from Solostove.
We All Make Mistakes
I’m not sharing this to bash the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). I’m sharing it to demonstrate how easy it is to make a mistake. Basically, someone in their IT department needs to configure outgoing email (DKIM and SPF):
Email Signup Trick
Every site shows an email signup popup, and 98% of users click the close button. Why? Because the signup request doesn’t have the right context. The user has just landed on the site, they don’t even know what makes your business unique. Tacklewarehouse.com also needs email sign-ups but they use a clever context tool to present their request. On each …
If You Want Feedback Remove All Friction
Received this great email from Lyft asking why I hadn’t used the service in a while. See screenshot and notes below screenshot: Love this email for 4 critically important reasons: 1: It’s personalized to my actual behavior (“why have you not used Lyft since 6/14.”) 2: Headline makes it clear this is a quick email (“One-Minute Feedback”). 3: I just …
Reverse Psychology … It Works
The best way to have your audience take action is to casually ask them to keep a secret:
A NO Isn’t a NO for Everything
You may have a subscriber who subscribes to your newsletter and then unsubscribes. You could just let them go, or you could do this:
Why I Love eCommerce …
… because it allows for an infinite number of interesting business models. My friend Mike Johnson pointed me to something new. Scott Keyes is the Scott behind scottscheapflights.com. Scott’s Cheap Flights is a subscription service that sends out email alerts to subscribers on international flight deals. It’s basically a human powered flight price alert system. But what makes it stand …
Quizzes Convert
Threadless.com regularly runs 30% off deals. They used a different hook in their latest email. I love this idea because, as we’ve seen before (link), the human mind is addicted to challenges/questions/puzzles:
Your Free Sales Army
Having a sales force is expensive, which is why only large businesses have them. But, even little ecommerce sites have access to a sales force; their customers. This dormant force can triple the visibility of your brand, and they don’t even need a sales commission. But, to activate them you need to establish an authentic relationship first. And it’s not …
If You Have a Sense of Humor, Use It
Hat tip to Paige Kusmierz for sharing this great Spirit Airlines (spirit.com) email blast. Love their sense of humor (read text at bottom of screenshot):
Please Don’t Unsubscribe (Video Request)
When I unsubscribed from a mailing list I was taken to a page with a funny video that begged me to stay subscribed: You can see this page live here: https://spc.gc.epsilon.com/optout/OptOut.aspx
Using Email for Word-of-mouth Marketing
Word-of-mouth marketing is so powerful. But it’s hard to get right. Here is an idea I thought up: DANAT is a gourmet chocolate manufacturer (not a real company). Their fans absolutely love them but only 0.005% of chocolate lovers in the US even know of DANAT. DANAT could spend on spray and pray marketing but they want to use their marketing dollars wisely. DANAT wants …
Super Cool Order Confirmation Email
Order confirmation emails are boring. And the reason is simple: order confirmation emails are generated after the customer has given up their credit card info. So why bother making it cool or interesting? That’s what the retailer is thinking, anyway. But that isn’t how CDbaby.com thinks. Here is their order confirmation email: Thanks for your order with CD Baby! …
Is It a Good Idea to Send a Followup Email?
Question: I want to send my mailing list a special discount that will run just 5 days. If I send discount notification email on day 1 and “last day” email on the 5th day what kind of sales lift could I get with “last day” email? Answer: 2.3x