Getting ready for the holiday season is almost a year-round effort—which is to say you’re preparing for November and December the other 10 months of the year. To help you prep, I discuss 6 retail email marketing priorities in this slide deck, which includes supplemental links to research reports, articles, and real-world examples that allow you to take a deep-dive into the topics that are most important to you: 1. Reassessing program goals 2. Getting mobile-friendly 3. Optimizing snippet text 4. Increasing targeting and personalization 5. Building out triggered emails 6. Keeping inactivity in check. Check out this slide deck and see why making progress on each of these priorities between now and October will get your email program in excellent shape for the upcoming holiday season.

1. 6 Retail Email Marketing
Priorities for 2015
Or “6 Things to Work on before the Upcoming Holiday Season”
Chad White
Lead Research Analyst
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
@chadswhite

2. Chad White
• Lead Research Analyst, Salesforce Marketing Cloud
• Author of “Email Marketing Rules” and nearly 3,000 posts
and articles about email marketing
• 10+ years covering email marketing and ecommerce as
researcher and journalist

3. 1.Reassess program goals
2.Get mobile-friendly
3.Optimize snippet text
4.Increase targeting & personalization
5.Build out triggered emails
6.Keep inactivity in check
The Big Priorities

4. 1
Reassess Program Goals

5. 1.Email marketers are not in synch with CMOs and
other marketing leaders when it comes to defining
email marketing success.
2.Many email marketers appear to confuse email
marketing health and optimization metrics for true
success metrics.
The Big Picture

6. How CMOs Measure Success

7. How Email Marketers Measure Success

8. How Email Marketers Measure Success
CMOs agree that these are success metrics, but all the
others are campaign optimization or channel health metrics.

9. Email Metrics
Matrix • Focus on metrics that
contribute to (1) Email Channel
Success, (2) Subscriber
Optimization, and (3) Business
Success
• All other metrics support your
efforts at improving those
higher-level metrics

10. The last thing you want is to
achieve all of your goals and
discover that you have not
achieved success.

11. • 2015 State of Marketing (Salesforce)
• The State of Marketing Leadership (Salesforce)
• Are You Looking at the Best Marketing Metrics?
(Convince & Convert)
• Don't Use The Wrong Metrics To Measure
Success (MediaPost)
• 9 Experts Weigh in on Email Metrics that Matter
(Zettasphere)
For More Details

12. 2
Get Mobile-Friendly

13. 1.Subscribers often tune out or unsubscribe from
brands when they receive mobile-unfriendly
emails on their mobile devices.
2.Mobile email reading is at critical mass for most
brands.
3.The majority of major B2C brands are now
sending mobile-friendly emails most of the time.
4.Mobile-friendly landing pages are important too.
The Big Picture

14. Percentage of emails read in mobile,
webmail, and desktop environments

15. 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Oct. '13 Dec. '13 Feb. '14 Apr. '14 Jun. '14 Aug. '14 Oct. '14 Dec. '14 Feb. '15
Not Mobile-Friendly Mobile-Friendly Responsive Mobile-Aware
Percentage of 140+ Major B2C Brands Using Mobile-Friendly Email Designs
The State of Email Mobile-Friendliness
Source: Salesforce Marketing Cloud

16. • Email conversion rates on smartphones are
about half of what they are on tablets and
desktops. The majority of that gap is due to poor
design rather than consumer preference.
• Responsive is the fastest growing, most popular
mobile-friendly email design approach. However,
it’s not the only approach.
It’s Because of Poor Design

17. Responsive: Content adapts to device (e.g.,
Marriott, Apple, AT&T, Toms)
Hybrid Responsive-Aware: Some responsive and
some mobile-aware content (e.g., Jack Spade)
Mobile-Aware: Single column, large images & text,
well-spaced links (e.g., Pizza Hut, Piperlime)
Quasi–Mobile-Aware: Some mobile-aware content
Desktop-Centric: 2+ columns, small text, close links
The Mobile-Friendly Spectrum: Where Are You?

18. © Copyright Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud. All Rights Reserved.© Copyright Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud. All Rights Reserved.
Mobile-Friendly Disconnects
In June 2014, only 30% of major
B2C brands had mobile-friendly
emails and landing pages. And
55% had one or the other.
Disconnect:

19. Google will begin ranking mobile-
friendly sites higher starting Apr. 21

20. Consumers are way out
ahead of retailers on using
mobile. It’s time to do some
serious catch-up.

21. • 53% of Emails Opened on Mobile; Outlook
Opens Decrease 33% (Litmus)
• Mobile-Friendly Disconnects #Infographic
(Salesforce Marketing Cloud)
• Smoothing Out the Mobile Email Journey (Retail
Online Integration)
• Mobile-Targeted Design: Next Step After Mobile-
Friendly (MediaPost)
For More Details

22. 3
Optimize Snippet Text

23. 1.As more emails are read on mobile devices, the
number of subject line characters displays
shrinks. At the same time, more subscribers are
seeing snippet text, which displays a preview of
the email’s HTML text content.
2.Snippet text is like a “second subject line.”
3.The majority of B2C brands don’t optimize their
snippet text.
The Big Picture

24. The State of Snippet Text
Optimization

25. • Extend the subject line
• Clarify a teaser style subject line
• Supply the call-to-action (e.g., link, coupon code)
• Give the punchline to the subject line
• Appeal in a different way (e.g., following an
emotional subject line appeal with a discount)
• Add first-name or other personalization
Snippet Text Strategies

26. Marketers recognize the
critical nature of sender
names and subject lines, but
have neglected this third
“sometimes” component of
envelope content.

27. • Optimizing the Second Subject Line #Infographic
(Salesforce Marketing Cloud)
• 4 Key Email Subject Line Trends for 2015
(Salesforce)
For More Details

28. 4
Increase Targeting
& Personalization

29. • “One size fits all” emails are steadily declining in
effectiveness as subscriber expectations rise.
• Marketers recognize the need for
personalization, dynamic content, and predictive
intelligence (and triggered emails, which we’ll talk
about later).
• However, other marketing initiatives have pushed
personalization down the to-do list.
The Big Picture

30. Personalization Has an Impact on
Metrics Related to Top Marketing
Goals

31. Personalized Customer Experiences
Still Lag Traditional Marketing Goals

32. 1. Who They Are: Starbucks, Sephora
2. Who They Care About: Gerber, Broad Ripple
3. What They Did: Fitbit, Reliant, American Apparel
4. What Others Did in Reaction: TripAdvisor
5. What They Have: Volkswagen, Kiva, Moosejaw
6. Where They Are: Timberland, Nextdoor
7. How Others Like Them Behave: West Elm
Different Ways to Personalize Content

33. Consumers want brands
to prove they’re paying
attention by delivering
content that’s tailored to
their individual interests.

34. • Refresh Your Approach to 1:1 Marketing
(Forrester)
• 6 Degrees of Email Personalization (Salesforce
Marketing Cloud)
• Four Keys To Improved Subscriber Journey With
Progressive Profiling (MediaPost)
For More Details

35. 5
Build Out Triggered Emails

36. • Triggered emails are the safest way to deliver
more email to your most engaged subscribers.
• The ROI of triggered emails is generally multiple
times that of broadcast emails.
• The adoption rate of most triggered emails is well
below 50%, giving users a competitive advantage.
• A basic triggered email is better than nothing, and
gives you a foundation on which to build.
The Big Picture

37. Super-engagement
strategies foster
more opportunities
with subscribers
who are most
engaged. Triggered
emails are a key
part of that.
Source: “Email Marketing Rules” (2nd Ed.)

38. Effectiveness of Triggered Email
Campaigns

39. Usage Rates of Triggered Email
Campaigns

40. • Welcome Series: Michaels, Target, Zulily
• Post-Purchase: Mazda, Crate & Barrel, Amazon
• Reengagement: Mini USA, American Apparel
• Win-back: Pinkberry, Moosejaw
• Birthday: American Apparel, Gerber, Rabbit
• Anniversary: ModCloth, Levi’s, ASOS, Zappos
• Browse Abandon: Crutchfield, Williams-Sonoma
• Cart Abandon: Blue Nile, West Elm
Examples of Triggered Emails

41. The new litmus test for
email marketing greatness:
Does the majority of your
email marketing revenue
and engagement come
from triggered emails?

42. • 2015 State of Marketing Report (Salesforce
Marketing Cloud)
• The New Litmus Test For A Great Email
Marketing Program (MediaPost)
• Super-Engagement: Increasing The Value Of
Your Most Valuable Subscribers (MediaPost)
For More Details

43. 6
Keep Inactivity in Check

44. • ISPs started using engagement metrics in their
email filtering algorithms in the late 2000s.
• Now engagement metrics are a big factor in
deliverability and inbox placement at Gmail,
Yahoo, and other ISPs.
• This change makes it dangerous to hold onto
inactive subscribers in order to reduce spam
complaint rates.
The Big Picture

45. • There are literally hundreds of factors that
influence whether an email is blocked, junked, or
delivered to the inbox.
• Unfortunately, marketers only have visibility into a
few of those factors—and that visibility is poor or
compromised in every case.
Gmail says:

46. Email Metrics
Overlap with
Business
Metrics & ISP
Metrics
+ Opens. ISPs see every open.
Marketers need pixel renders.
+ Clicks. ISPs don’t measure
them, but they’re marketer’s
2nd best proxy for engagement.
+ Replies. Marketers have
trained subscribers to “do not
reply” for 2+ decades.
Engagement =
Source: “Email Marketing Rules”

47. • “Ramp down” email frequency to subscribers
who don’t engage with your messages.
• For example, if you’re sending daily, switch to
weekly for those subscribers.
• Re-permission subscribers who continue to be
inactive after another 3-6 months, dropping those
that don’t confirm their interest.
Gmail recently recommended:

48. Increasing
Engagement by
Mailing Inactive
Less Often
Your email list can
appear far more
engaged in the eyes
of ISPs just by
mailing inactive
subscribers less
frequently.
Source: “Email Marketing Rules” (2nd Ed.)

49. Cutting inactives is painful.
But losing the ability to reach
your active subscribers is
devastating. That’s why it’s
important to monitor and
manage inactives.

50. • Opens, Clicks, and Blocks in the Third Age of
Email Deliverability (MediaPost)
• 5 Deliverability Tips for the Holiday Season
(Salesforce Marketing Cloud)
For More Details

51. Review of 2015 Priorities

52. 1.Reassess program goals
2.Get mobile-friendly
3.Optimize snippet text
4.Increase targeting & personalization
5.Build out triggered emails
6.Keep inactivity in check
The Big Priorities

53. Making progress on each of
these priorities between now
and October will get your email
program in excellent shape for
the upcoming holiday season.
Good luck!

54. Thank you