We all know what we should be doing in our email programs, but it can be difficult to find the time to actually implement best practices in an effective, creative way. For the second consecutive year, BlueHornet’s Retail Email Idea Book recognizes brands who have embraced email best practices to deliver personalized, meaningful, best-in-class emails that engage and delight.

2. MEET YOUR SPEAKERS
Brian Banks,
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR, BLUEHORNET
John Bilderback,
SR. CREATIVE DESIGNER, BLUEHORNET

3. • Blindsgalore uses an
opt-in light box triggered by
website behavior:
• number of pages visited
• dwell time
• abandonments stats
• Clever, concise copy
emphasizes value
proposition

4. OPTIMIZE OPT-IN
• Location, Location, Location – Go
beyond the home page and layer multiple
(and persistent) opt-in options through out
your website.
• Test interstitial and pop-up opt-ins –
Brands with light boxes see in upwards of
a 50% increase in acquisition rates.
• Keep it simple – Use common sense to
determine appropriate fields for the
acquisition form.
• Don’t forget about mobile – Include the
mobile user’s experience when
determining acquisition strategy.
• Keep it clean – Validate subscribers at
sign up to ensure data quality.
DESIGN & PLACEMENT

5. ACQUISITION FORM BEST PRACTICES
• Collect the data you need, leave the rest.
• You can always ask for more later. Use a
preference center or progressive profiling
to acquire more data later in the
consumer lifecycle.
• Test the number of form fields you use to
understand where opt-in behavior starts
to decline.
• Confirm (and thank) subscribers when
they complete the form.
• Make sure error messages are helpful
and clear.
• Track acquisition source to determine
your most valuable subscribers and add
another dimension to your reporting.
65% of B2C companies
require 2 - 4 fields for list
growth efforts
BLUEHORNET & ASCEND2, EMAIL LIST
GROWTH SURVEY

6. • Recent BlueHornet consumer
research shows that almost
50% of consumers are “Not
Likely” to share marketing
messages to their social
networks.
• Use social appropriately
• Make it worth their time – and
yours

7. • Thank subscribers
• Set expectations
• Incent conversions
• Encourage cross-channel
engagement (if appropriate
for your audience)
• Tell your unique brand story
• Welcome is worth it. This
campaign saw a 300%
increase in open rate and
almost 1000% increase in
CTR. Revenue-per-email
(RPE) is one of the best for
the brand.

8. • Pet360 sends early & often
• Day 1: 20% thank you
discount
• Day 5: Coupon reminder &
product line exploration
• Day 11: Value-added
content, beyond product
• Day 14: Coupon conversion
urgency

9. • Send the first email immediately.
• Set expectations and clarify what you’ll be
sending and when so subscribers know
what to expect from you.
• Educate about special benefits, loyalty
programs, and cause initiatives.
• Consider rewarding subscribers with a
special offer – but you may not need to.
• Welcome is a great time to ask for
additional information.
• Provide a link to your preference center
and allow subscribers to customize
content and cadence.
• Test performance to optimize cadence,
content and call-to-action.
• Consider tailoring your welcome to
acquisition source.

10. • Global Hotel Alliance’s
DISCOVERY rewards program
delivers a true 1:1 experience.
• Each message is custom
tailored by membership level,
award status within
membership tier, stated
preferences, and recent travel.
• This data is also reflected in
the linked landing page.
• Rich, detailed, consistent
creative delivers a luxurious
brand experience.

11. WELCOME
POINT ACCOUNT SUMMARY
POINTS ACCRUAL, REMINDERS
BIRTHDAY REWARD

12. • Mountain HardWear sends a
discount 7 days after
subscription to surprise &
delight their customers.
• Result? Higher engagement,
higher lifetime value than
using a discount to incent
loyalty membership.
• Subscribers like it so much
they share it with others to
encourage them to join the
program.
LOYALTY
LOYALTY REWARD

13. Recent BlueHornet consumer
research shows that nearly
75% of consumers expect
personalization based on
online purchases and self-
reported interests.
• More than 50% of
consumers surveyed also
expect personalization
based on gender, birth date,
and web browsing behavior.
• Preference centers are a
great way to start.

14. BikeBandit asks for email
address and bike riding style
at subscription, enabling an
effective level of initial
personalization right out of
the gate.
Subsequent emails
encourage account set up
where subscribers can
specify bike type.
And it works – 70% of their
subscribers complete this
information.

15. Luxury Link wins them back:
• Subject line & body copy
are relationship-focused
• We Miss You!
• Where’ve you been?
• Hi <First Name>, Still Want to
Get Travel Deals?
• Subscribers are reminded
of the value to them
• A special offer incents
conversion
• Strong call-to-action

16. • Subject lines drive success – Opens
are critical to overcoming habits of
disengagement. Test and optimize to
ensure you’re sending your very best.
• Keep it short and sweet – Email
content should be concise, to the point,
and compelling.
• Be direct – Tell your subscribers what
their behavior, or lack of behavior, means
to the relationship moving forward.
• It’s okay to say goodbye – Ensure the
“unsubscribe” button is clear for those
who decide to leave.
• Encourage a dialogue – Let your
subscribers tailor their experience by
providing links to an Opt-Down or
Preference Center.

17. • Allen Edmond’s
temperature-sensitive
campaign was enabled by
location at time of open.
• Those at 40 and below
saw the winter wear
version.
• Those at 41 and above
saw the rain gear.
• Context is king.
+300%
click-through
rate

18. • Edmunds.com customers
engage with the brand most
right on the lot.
• Email is tailored to the
device of open.
• One click to download the
app
• Great creative continuity

19. • 68.07% of shopping carts are
abandoned*.
• Columbia Sportswear sees
open rates between 55% and
66%, and RPE between
$5.89 and $10.30.
• Average RPE is a 10,000%
lift over promotional
messages.
*Source: Baymard Institute, Dec. 2014

20. • Do your research – Experiment with the
number of reminder emails and the amount
of time required before each email triggers.
• Remind subscribers of what they’re
missing – Feature an image, description,
customer reviews, and testimonials of the
abandon item(s).
• Focus on customer service – Be sure the
reply address is a monitored inbox, and give
customers multiple ways to order (phone,
live chat, etc.).
• Consider sweetening the deal – Test
including incentives such as free shipping,
free returns, or discounts if the first email
doesn’t lead to a conversion. But be careful,
you don’t want to train your consumers to
abandon in order to get a discount.

22. Rethink the every day with
“new” holidays
• National Donut Day
• National Ice Cream Day
• Talk Like a Pirate Day
Make up your own events
• Technology Tuesdays
Push the envelope
• David Hasselhoff’s birthday
• It’s Burning Man Season
Go international
• Guy Fawkes Day
• Day of the Dragon or Lotus

23. • Know your audience. For
Brighton customers, more
is more.
• Going the extra mile with
detailed content to create a
larger story around a recent
purchase.
• Refreshing change from
typical follow-up purchase
emails.

24. • Create a great brand experience by
showing your appreciation and focusing
content around customer service.
• Include images of the purchased
product(s) and include as much additional
product information as possible.
• Build community by soliciting reviews for
recently purchased products.
• Incentivize customers to re-purchase with
free shipping offers on their next purchase
or a discount on their next logical product.
• Be mindful of the thin line between
transactional and promotional messaging.

25. • Great design
• Inspirational
• Tied to relevant events
• 12+ products per email

26. Like a post purchase series,
product lifecycle messages are
great vehicles for building trust.
Help your customers with
warranty information, product
care guides, loyalty programs,
and additional resources and
services available.

27. • Focus messaging around utility and
better customer experience, rather than
a sales email.
• Personalize the email with images of
relevant product.
• Make it easy to purchase again. Craft a
click-to-conversion path that reduces the
amount of clicks and fields as possible.
• Consider a series as the time to
repurchase/ replenishment nears.
• Use the opportunity to cross and upsell
related items, warranties, and services.

28. Recent BlueHornet research
indicates that more than
40% of consumers will stay
on your list if you simply
allow them to control
messaging frequency.
Another 40% will go
regardless of what you do.
Use the opportunity to
improve your program – like
this smart survey.