handmade communication with viral energy

If you haven't heard about the Snail Mail My Email (SMME) project from last summer, be on the lookout for the book that's just been released. Ivan Cash offered to take an electronic message, transcribe it on paper, and then send it anywhere in the world, for free.  It went bananas.

What a great reminder that human connection can be the most important component of social energy.

Here's a FastCompany piece about it.

email content tips

Content tip: don't forget WIIFT (What's In It For Them)

When we send promotional - or even stewardship - emails, our focus is always what we, the organization, need to gain.  That's why we send the message.  But the recipients care about their universe, not ours.

Recipients have a limited amount of time, space and attention span.

• Did you miss our in-store sale? Here is an online promo code.
• Will you be out of town and miss our conference? We can link you to the webinar and send materials afterwards.
• Want a deal this Saturday while you're running errands? Here's 20% off.
• Do you have zero time? We have organized gifts for you by recipient and price.

Solve their problems.

segmenting your email list: e-commerce.

Use every ounce of customer data to your advantage.  Email segmentation shouldn't be limited to multivariate testing of subject lines, frequency and image placement.  Utilize customer browsing data, demographic information and purchase history to segment your messages as well.  Specifically, putting the correct products in front of a customer can be the best way to trigger a transaction.

Here are some supporting articles worth checking out:

Matthew Kelleher post on eConsultancy

MultiChannelMerchant’s Daryl Logullo

daily deal emails

groupon & competitors: daily deal emails just aren't working.
is it the content?
is it the delivery mechanism?
it's the business model.
merchants lose money because they pay groupon + they give their customers a huge discount. instead, retailers are learning that loyalty programs are far more beneficial to their business.
alternatives? womply. square rewards. bloomspot.
read more.

most important mobile shopping days this holiday season

Consumers are on the move.
Great Forbes piece on How Retailers Can Make Their Email Marketing Glisten:

White suggests retailers may want to pay special attention to being mobile-friendly on days that consumers are more likely to be away from home, including:

• The day before Thanksgiving, which is the busiest travel day of the year
• Thanksgiving Day, when most consumers are with family with a smartphone in their purse or on the couch watching TV with a tablet on their laps, or out shopping with their smartphone in hand
• Black Friday, when many consumers are out shopping at brick-and-mortar stores
• Christmas Day, when consumers are flush with gift card cash and shop online because stores are closed