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Email Style & Etiquette - For Those Who Print

Here's something that I am amazed to find many people do not understand.  When you design an email, or a web page for that matter, the idea is to create online interactive content that maximizes the delivery of your information and faciliates the user's quick understanding of your message.

Email design is not based upon, synchronized with, aligned the same as, or even conceived the same as print design. 

HTML emails and web pages do not have a "Page 1" or a "Page 2."

HTML emails and web pages function with online design in mind, not printers.

So, for those who are inclined to print the newseltter you are creating in HTML and sending via email, one of two things must be understood:

Either

1. The audience is aware that the printed piece may not look exactly like it did on the screen, and they are forgiving of these design descrepencies or
2. The designer includes a link to a print-ready document that will look on paper the way it does in the document on the screen.

Offering a "Print Version" is a nice option when your email has a lot of written information and your list includes readers who print to read.

Creative Strategies - Hilton's Homewood Headlines

I love to read emails from my favorite hotels in my favorite cities around the country. 

I signed up a few years ago for Hilton's Homewood Headlines.  The Hilton's email marketing strategies are consistently direct and relevant and the content is useful and entertaining.  I like the note they include to the right, which is usually very personal in tone and offers a chance to win a prize. 

Here's a fun one:

The magic of a family vacation is in the simple moments you share together. That's why Homewood Suites by Hilton offers your family everything you need to create as many of those moments as possible. Spacious suites with fully equipped kitchens and complimentary high-speed internet access keep everyone comfortable. Complimentary hot breakfast starts each day off right. Now through July 15, 2007, show us a photo of the moment that made your vacation unforgettable, and it might end up on a Times Square billboard.

I didn't enter a picture, but would love to see the billboard they mention!

Best Practices - Practice v Profit

There is an email marketing debate out there today, and the question seems to be based in the argument of best practice vs. most profit.  (See http://www.clickz.com/3626503 and then read http://blog.emailexperience.org/)

Email marketing has a growing list of industry leaders who participate in the ongoing discussion and promotion of best practices in email marketing.  This seems to be in response to two things:

1. The need for standards and a more common set of measurements to determine value and ROI
2. The need to stop abuse of email

Meanwhile, email marketing also has an eager group of leaders who focus on improving profits by integrating this strategy into their marketing mix.  This seems to be in response to two things:

1. The need to increase profits and grow business
2. The need to report positive ROI and meet departmental goals

These two groups are not mutually exclusive.  What's important is knowing how to maintain a positive position in business, both in terms of adhering to and benefiting from industry standards and in terms of turning a profit.

Email marketing pioneer Al DiGuido says that best practices in email marketing do matter (Clickz article Putting the Service in E-mail Service Provider):

"Don't expect an ESP to divulge proprietary information about an individual company's performance or strategy, but do expect the aggregate lessons from assembling best-practice information."

Here, DiGuido points out that marketing professionals who hire an Email Service Provider need to pursue aggressive Q&A.  Adoption of an ESP should depend on how well it can help your business meet financial goals.  The vendor must display a combination of knowledge of best practices and superior functionality of the technology they are selling.

The importance of best practices in email marketing brings us to another point.  In today's email news from eROI, read about a study that points out the descrepency between professionals who preach "best practices" and those who just preach them. 

"Email deliverability and rendering has been a hot topic for a long time, but how important is it to marketers? There is a vast difference between what they say and what they do." 

The eROI study indicates that the two most important elements of an email campaign's success are 1) content and 2) deliverability.  When success in terms of dollars is based on ideas like content and deliverability, it is no wonder they are hot topics often discussed at roundtables and seminars. 

What is interesting is that almost half of the marketers surveyed are not adjusting their email design to the diverse demands of various email applications like the new Outlook 2007.  If deliverability is key, and success is measured on real results from opened and viewed emails, then it would be worth while to pay attention to best practices in HTML rendering.

It's all connected.  Email best practices and increasing ROI on email campaigns are not mutually exclusive. 

What's more, best practices today are different than they were even a year ago, so one global online discussion in the summer of 2007 is not enough.  It is too much to assume that what works today will work tomorrow.  The discussion needs to continue, needs foundation in statistics, and needs proponents.  Organizations like the DMA's eec are filling that bill.

Cool Marketing Resource - EmailStatCenter.com

The relatively new resource EmailStatCenter.com boasts to be "The Leading Authority on Email Marketing Metrics."  The statistics are collected from a variety of sources and sorted by topics, such as "Authentication," "From Lines" or "Trend Reports."  All statics are attributed.

For example, at the category labeled "Creative" are these statistics, among others:

• Most common screen resoltion is 1024 X 768. - OneStat.com (April 2007)
• Fewer than 50 percent of marketers create emails that render appropriately.
  - Email Experience Council, Jan 2007

Highlight of the Week - Email Statistics

Statistics support use of email
A poll of women business owners reported by the National Association of Women Business Owners showed that 81% of respondents either currently use or are considering the use of email marketing for their businesses.

Email marketing continues to be a key component of the marketing mix for businesses. 

Some may say the popularity of email is shrinking.  But the stats are in all around us, and the facts are just the opposite.  Let's be clear, the future of email is strong.  It's the function of email that is changing.

Email is shifting away from a dual-purpose mechanism.  As a social communication tool, email is primarily used by generations X and above.  However, as an article at News.com explains, the younger generation gravitates toward quicker and more customized communication tools with instant messaging, MySpace pages, and texting.  See "Kids say e-mail is, like, soooo dead" by Stefanie Olsen.

But LISTEN UP, young ones!  At work if you only read your email once a week you may be in for a shock.  Most jobs rely heavily on email for official notices, educational information, instructions and requests, and report submisions. 

Business-to-business email has solidified its place in our working world.    And while we are busy keeping up with the pace, a timely, relevant and useful email message from a key vendor or customer is often effective and appreciated.

Top quality email marketing campaigns follow the rules, pay attention to target audiences, key in on subscriber preferences, and prove effective time after time.