E-mail

Wellington Fonseca, vice president of marketing for Gilt Groupe, discussed strategies his company uses for engaging customers across multiple channels during a session at Integrated Marketing Week (imw) 2013 in New York this week.

Jim Davidson, the manager of marketing research at email and marketing automation provider Bronto Software, presented data from Loading the Sleigh: Marketers' Plans & Expectations for the Holiday Season, a jointly published report by Bronto Software and Retail Systems Research, during his presentation at the 2013 Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition in Chicago this week.

Imagine you could do just five things to improve your email results. Each could give you an incremental lift in opens, clicks and conversions, but if you can make at least three out of five pay off, you get the bonus of the multiplier effect. Response improvements can combine to make a difference.

In a keynote presentation at eM+C's (sister brand of Retail Online Integration) All About eMail Live! conference earlier this year, David Daniels, CEO and co-founder of the Relevancy Group, a provider of marketing consulting and research services, highlighted five trends that email marketers need to be aware of if they hope to succeed in today's crowded marketplace. Here are three of those trends

Problems for America's biggest retailer have Wall Street worried about the strength of the economy.

Best Buy has quickly revived email support due to customer demand after the electronics retailer pulled an email contact from its website in December. Happy Customer first reported on Dec. 11 that an email contact form had disappeared from the customer service page and the company was placing a higher priority on live chat to communicate with customers. Best Buy told Happy Customer at the time that the decision was based on a survey of online shoppers and that email is "unable to offer the same level of in-the-moment assistance."

The first one lands before the sun comes up: "Sale! Our buyers' favorite picks up to 50% off." An hour later, there's another: "4 deals inside and everything ships free!" By the time you get to work, even more: "Exactly What She Wants: Chic Shoes and Handbags on Sale Now!" In the avalanche of messages hitting inboxes this time of year, retailers' emails work extra hard to stand out, with painstakingly-crafted sales pitches that nudge you through a desired progression that starts with opening the email, reading it, clicking through to the website and, finally, the holy grail, making the purchase.

How do you execute a mobile-friendly email campaign in a way that actually improves sales? I've seen many "good ideas" produce unimpressive and even disastrous results. The best way to make sure you achieve your objective is to split test an email campaign that you've optimized for a smartphone against your standard creative.

Best Buy has eliminated the email contact form on its customer service page, saying it's instead pouring more resources into live chat. The option to email the company from the customer service page was pulled last week. The company told Happy Customer that email is "unable to offer the same level of in-the-moment assistance." The decision was also influenced by customer feedback, as 20 percent of respondents to a survey of Best Buy's online shoppers said they prefer live chat.

During the manic shopping period around the Thanksgiving holiday, sometimes refered to as "Cyber Week," there was a huge jump in the number of emails opened on mobile devices compared to the same period in 2011. Knotice analyzed over 2.8 million emails and found a 50 percent increase in the number opened from a mobile device during the Thanksgiving retail frenzy period. Overall, 45 percent of emails sent by retailers were opened on a mobile device, including tablets.