Newsletter Design Tips

Email + Mobile

Thursday, March 18, 2010 by Jeffrey Rohrs

Remember the good ‘ol college days? The days where you’d sign up for anything free because you never quite had enough money for food or books. Credit card companies would roam around campus flaunting their free t-shirts with a tempting, “All you have to do is sign up for your very own credit card and this t-shirt can be yours.” And of course, many freshmen fell for it. It was a free t-shirt, after all.

Probably not the brightest idea to ruin your credit over a free t-shirt. But, let me tell you about a really cool promotion involving, yes, free stuff and college students. Except this one is much smarter – for all parties involved.

In an effort to reach a younger demographic, Pier 1 Imports partnered with Barnes & Noble to run an SMS sweepstakes. Really, the idea is genius – partnering with a bookstore and using SMS to reach college students. Seriously, if you can name one college kid who isn’t glued to their cell phone, you win!

Using ExactTarget’s mobile functionality, Pier 1 placed in-store mobile calls-to-action next to the prize – a Papasan chair – in 100 Barnes & Noble bookstores near college campuses. Consumers who text in receive a text message, automatically triggered from ExactTarget, confirming their registration in the sweepstakes and asking them to opt-in to receive promotional emails from Pier 1 Imports.

And the best part is – the campaign is keyword-specific, with a unique keyword for each store, so Pier 1 can identify the exact store each consumer texts in from.
This is truly one scenario where everybody wins. One lucky college kid takes home a Papasan chair (perfect for a dorm room) and Pier 1 collects email newsletter sign-ups and reaches the younger demographic they were after.

It’s a true example of Email + Mobile bliss. Visit 3sixty for even more resources to get the most from our Interactive Marketing Platform.

Let’s face it: the fun in getting – or winning – free stuff never goes away. Even as you get older.  

Time for some Email Marketing Spring Cleaning

Friday, March 12, 2010 by Shelly Griffin

Maybe I am just a little too happy about the warmer weather... but I can smell Spring in the air. The snow has finally all melted, the birds are chirping, the days are getting warmer. Yes, Spring is in the air. Granted my happiness may be a tad premature. As the saying goes: if you don't like the weather in Indiana just wait 10 minutes. We could easily have more snow during the month of March. Whatever the case, I am going with it.

Spring is also the time to think about Spring cleaning. I am one of those weird people that actually looks forward to spring cleaning. I like the idea of starting fresh. Doing the deep cleaning and organizing. Open up the windows and let the fresh air into the house.

It's also a perfect time to do some email marketing spring cleaning... use a little elbow grease to scrub your subscriber database. Take the tooth brush and get down in the cracks. Are there subscribers that have stopped opening your emails? Maybe it's time to segment those to a different list and change the way in which you communicate with that group. It may be time to verify the frequency that your subscribers want to be communicated with, along with the content that they wish to receive.

I'm also of the belief that if something hasn't been used in a year, it needs to go. Donate it, throw it away, sell it - whatever the case it has to leave the house. Take the same approach to your emails. Design not working for you? Not seeing the open rate you expect or the open rate has declined over time? Then it is probably time to toss your email design and start fresh. Clean out the cobwebs. Review our Email Design Tips of the Week for some email design spring cleaning inspiration!

The other thing I LOVE about spring is the garden catalogs! You get to dream and plan all the beautiful plants that you can add to your garden this year. Check out what's new. With your email marketing program, there are all types of resources and ideas out there that you can peruse with wonderment and anticipation... maybe it is time to incorporate Twitter into your email marketing program.

All this talk of spring and sunshine... I think I'll go for a walk outside!

Designing For Your Subscribers: Webinar Q&A

Wednesday, March 10, 2010 by Justine Jordan

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend “Designing For Your Subscribers: Tips and Tricks to Increase Email Marketing ROI” last week. We had an excellent turnout and plenty of great questions. If you weren’t able to attend the session, don’t worry! You can watch a recording of the one-hour webinar on 3sixty.

Do you have data on email clients that consumer subscribers tend to use?
While data is available, your mileage may vary. Each audience will be different, and you may see dramatically different segments in your list or even between lists, as we saw in the webinar. Fingerprint publishes an aggregate of the data collected from marketers utilizing their service. MailboxIQ provides an in-depth view of email client usage, where emails are being read, and more. Even a simple List Demographics report in ExactTarget can help you understand which email clients your subscribers might be using.

What are the default pixel dimensions for common preview panes?
Over half of subscribers use a preview pane in their email client. We measured each of the default preview pane setups on Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Mail using a 1024x768 monitor resolution. Read the blog post here.

Do you also have data on monitor resolutions in order to determine which portion of an email might be “above the fold”?
Similar to preview pane dimensions, the dimensions for the area above the fold may vary widely since individual users can adjust the size of their preview pane and their inbox in general. Keep in mind that your users may not be viewing your email in an inbox maximized to full screen resolution. w3schools.com publishes display resolution trend information (as do many other sites), but it’s important to remember this data comes from their own website traffic. Just as with email clients, your own website’s analytics data may reveal more pertinent information about your subscribers’ screen settings.

Browser Size by Google Labs is a great tool for indentifying what portion of your email might be “below the fold” in different monitor resolutions. Keep in mind the following caveats: you must have a web-hosted version of your email (you need a URL to paste in) and the email should be left-aligned for best results.

What should be the ideal width of an email in pixels?
We continue to recommend 600px wide as a guideline. We’ve seen success with narrower and wider variations. Again, your results may vary. Generally speaking, we wouldn’t recommend going much wider than 750px.

Where did the "50% of users have images turned off" metric come from?
Many popular email clients—including Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007, Gmail, AOL, Yahoo! and Hotmail—disable images by default, forcing the subscriber to choose to turn images on. As we saw in our discussion of email client usage, these email clients can account for 70+% on many lists. It’s important to note that images off is the default for these email clients.

When designing using ExactTarget templates, how can you edit the preheader teaser text?
Our Client Success Center would be happy to assist you. You may reach the CSC by creating a case in BackOffice, sending an email to help@exacttarget.com or calling 866-558-9823.

How do I find out what the "web safe" fonts are?
This site has a great list of web-safe fonts and matches font equivalents between a Windows and Mac environment.

Is there any way to control what content is seen on a mobile phone using CSS? How should I create a mobile friendly version?
There are ways for a website to detect a mobile device and automatically serve up appropriate content, but email currently requires a manual approach. If you’re seeing a significant number of subscribers viewing your emails on a mobile device, we’d recommend creating a simple mobile HTML version and linking to it in the upper left of your standard HTML email. This version would include web safe fonts with minor formatting (color, bold, italics), short teaser text linking to full content, and little more than a simple image (such as a logo) at the top. This creates a great foundation for a mobile-friendly program, which can certainly grow – for example, eventually you might allow subscribers to choose “mobile preferred” and send them a mobile specific email directly.

Thanks again for attending and for all the great questions!

Your emails CAN do it all!

Friday, March 5, 2010 by Shelly Griffin

Everyone knows that I love to hear how our customers are using ExactTarget's application for their email marketing campaigns - especially when it is a great example of incorporating good design, call-to-actions, and cross sells - while still maintaining anticipated, relevant and personal content for subscribers. DineWise is a company that specializes in prepared gourmet meals delivered right to your door. They send both informational and promotional emails through ExactTarget. Check out this recent article on exactly what sets their emails apart.

Email Design Tip of the Week: Social Media in Email

Monday, March 1, 2010 by Andrea Smith

Should social media be used in email? Sure! But only if it makes sense for your audience. Decide if you will link to your existing social presence, enable content sharing, or both. Let’s take a quick closer look:

Link to your existing social presence. This can include a simple text or graphic link to your Facebook page, Twitter feed or LinkedIn site, driving traffic to your social presence. As with your email program and website, you’re simply encouraging interaction with your brand.
Enable content sharing through ExactTarget’s “Social Forward” integration. In other words, share an “item” with your network. This can include sharing the entire email or just a section of content. In doing this, you are allowing your subscriber base to evangelize your brand on your behalf. In the Florida Power and Light newsletter below, you have the option to share “Cold Weather Tips”.
Plan, test, repeat! While social media can bring value to your email program, make sure you’re thinking through the bigger picture. Social media is definitely an emerging technology that will someday be a part of standard brand practices, so it makes sense to give it a chance. Be sure to plan and design with the needs of your customers and subscribers in mind, then test, evaluate and repeat!

For more design advice and thoughts on social media, add @ETDesign to your Twitter feed and check out “Design Tip of the Week: Integrating Twitter to Your Email Strategy“.

Twitterview: Engagement. Delivered.

Monday, February 22, 2010 by Dawn DeVirgilio

Our own Chip House, VP of Industry & Relationship Marketing virtually sat down with me for our latest Twitterview on 2010 Resolutions. We talked deliverability and how marketers should be more engaging in 2010:

ExactTarget: @cehouse Your resolution is Engage Your Subscribers. What’s the easiest thing a marketer can do to engage? #ET2010

Chip House: The answer seems almost too easy. Treat them like you know them and you care about "what they think" as individuals. #ET2010

Chip House: the same things marketers do to drive high ROI (opt-in, branding, relevance, frequency) also drive engagement

ExactTarget: How does engagement affect email deliverability?

Chip House: Positive and negative engagement are monitored by ISPs. Complaints are "negative" engagement, and clicks are positive

Chip House: Engagement also comes in "implicit" ways -- meaning, if your emails aren't ever opened, that will lower inbox rate

ExactTarget: Explain why quality always trumps quantity in deliverability.

Chip House: Marketers know of the 80/20 rule. The 20% drives your sales, but the bad apples in the 80% kill your deliverability

Chip House: So most from the print space think "email is cheap, I'll send a lot" - but, the cost of mailing deep is poor engagment

ExactTarget: The whitepaper mentions reducing sending frequency can actually help re-engage. What other factors play a part?

Chip House: Regular list hygiene to re-engage or dump unengaged subs is needed. But, just reducing frequncy has shown to work too

Chip House: The balance of engaged and active customers has to heavily outweigh the unengaged & complaints to avoid the spam folder

ExactTarget: Where should folks go if they want more information on email deliverability?

Chip House: visit the deliverability blog at ExactTarget.com for starters... other good resources are the EEC, Sherpa and more

How are you engaging your subscribers in 2010? Want more expert advice on email design, deliverability, subscriber engagement? Download 5 Resolutions Every Marketer Must Make in 2010.

Email Design Tip of the Week: Using Google Docs for QA Management

Friday, February 19, 2010 by Tana Babcock

With the holiday rush behind us and the New Year in full swing, you might find yourself with a bit of extra time on your hands (no?!). You’ve finally made neat things called “rules” in your inbox to reduce clutter, and straightened your pencil cup, but something seems to be missing… ah yes, the feeling of accomplishment. This might be a good time to rethink your team’s quality assurance process. You want your client’s email campaigns to be successful, and in doing so, you may end up wearing a few extra hats along the way – including QA. Here are a few tips using Google docs to help facilitate a speedy yet thorough QA process.

Sign up for a free Google account (if you don’t already have one) to access the many tools Google has to offer. A handy feature (found within Google Documents) is the ability to create forms and spreadsheets.

My team and I have created several spreadsheet checklists for our QA process, but found it laborious to manually enter in content. By incorporating forms, you can enter in the information that you are checking (as you’re checking it), submit the form, and it will automatically populate in the spreadsheet. The end result will look something like the image below. It’s handy to use and also easy to hand off to anyone new to the project.

Once you’ve submitted the form, you can quickly review your spreadsheet to make sure everything was filled out properly.

This simple QA process has increased our efficiency and accuracy exponentially. Not only are we preventing error, we also have documented our efforts to eliminate them. It may also serve as great reference material to look back on when ramping up new campaigns or brands.

Please check out our blog about more productivity tips and software here!

Twitterview: Success By Email Design

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 by Dawn DeVirgilio

Feburary is unoffically Email Design Month here at ExactTarget. (Hint: If you aren't subscribed to Insight you can opt-in to our own email marketing newsletter - There will be some Email Design info coming your way this month!)

Today I was excited to have a Twitterview with ExactTarget's Justine Jordan, Manger of Design Solutions on our Email Design Twitter Account @ETDesign.

ExactTarget: @ETDesign In your resolution you challenge marketers to Design for Subscribers. Why is it not just about graphics and templates? #ET2010

Justine: Your subscribers determine your success or failure. Design with their needs in mind and they will reward you.

Justine: To design is to create a purpose/plan. Graphics are important (brand awareness, trust) but just part of the equation

ExactTarget: What is the first step for marketers to incorporate social media into their design?

Justine: Start small, have a plan. Decide if you will link to existing presence or enable content share. Design, test, repeat.

ExactTarget: Design.Test.Repeat is great advice! What do you recommend to marketers who are just starting to do email design testing?

Justine: Find out what elements drive success and focus your efforts there. Explore different ways to highlight key messages.

Justine: Make decisions based on data. Test the usual and then get creative. Left or right sidebar? Product or lifestyle image?

ExactTarget: What brands are doing a good job of creating great social experiences in their email design?

Justine: Brands that are finding ways to start conversations. Need unique ways to encourage interaction, not just clicks.

ExactTarget: Lastly, What was the most interesting takeaway from the Connections 09 Extreme Makeover Design Edition Session?

Justine: Can I quote @andy_mott? :: “Our intuition will never be as good as our ability to test.”

Justine: @ExactTarget Also, take risks, but make informed decisions. Be open to success where you didn't expect it and failure where you did #ET2010

How are you starting the conversation with your email marketing and social media strategy? Make sure to check out our 2010 Resolutions for more from our thought leaders on email design, deliverability, and subscriber engagement. And as always you can get more email design tips from ExactTarget on our blog.

Email Design Tip of the Week: Web vs. Email Development

Friday, February 5, 2010 by John Maitz

How many web developers out there were around when table-based layouts and inline styling were in vogue? Ask anyone who has been coding before the modern web what it was like and they’ll say that we’ve come a long way. With the proliferation of modern CSS techniques, the adoption of accessibility in design, and a strong focus towards web standards, tables are now used for what they were originally intended for—displaying tabular data.

Unless you’ve been coding HTML since the late 90’s and/or work in a shop that develops emails for clients, you may not have formal experience in coding an HTML email. This is not a guide or a deep dive, but a brief overview of what I found helpful when starting to work with HTML for email.

Doctype

DOCTYPES are not required for email. Since the information in the <head> tag can be stripped out, a DOCTYPE shouldn’t be defined. In some cases, you can probably leave out the <head> section altogether.

Layout

Since style sheet support is not consistent from client to client, use tables to achieve your preferred layout. Also, stay away from <div> tags and margins. Layouts that are built around<div>s and margins could yield unfavorable results when you test.

Style Sheets

While most web developers know that inline styling should be avoided if possible, this doesn’t apply when styling elements in an email. Inline styling is the preferred method for applying CSS properties to your design. While support for style sheets is on the rise, you must still code for the lowest common denominator— the email client that doesn’t support this feature.
Read more about CSS Support for Email.

Block-Level Elements (<h1>, <h2>, <ul>, <p>)

While block-level elements are supported in many email clients, it is good to remember that not all clients support style-sheets.
You may also run into challenges when using padding and margins through various email clients. Since <span> tags have a default margin/padding of zero, this would be a good starting point as an alternative to using block-level elements.

Float

Previously mentioned, there are emails clients that support the float property. As you’ll likely want to code in a way that achieves the best possible rendering performance in all the major email clients, you should avoid this property. A suitable alternative would be to use nested tables. Using tables, you will achieve better control over your layout, resulting in pixel-perfect email designs.

Developing HTML for email is by no means at the forefront of modern day web development. While it might seem antiquated at times, these methods were actually once a very modern and standard practice. Until email standards exist, grasping the fundamentals of email development and careful testing for rendering are crucial skill sets that every web developer should possess in their bag of tricks.

For a deeper look at HTML for Email and other related questions, be sure to check out the ExactTarget Design Center on 3sixty!

Design Tip of the Week: Visit our NEW Design Center!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 by Anna Meier

Recently, our Design Solutions team launched the Design Center on 3sixty. Within 3sixty University, the Design Center is an all-inclusive design resource to view and download our latest design whitepapers, template source codes, custom button collections and more! An extensive list of frequently asked design questions and HTML troubleshooting tips are also available, ranging in topics from preview pane dimensions to CSS support in email.

We invite you to visit, explore and gather inspiration for your next email campaign. We will continue to add and update features, so be sure to visit often and submit your feedback!

10 Tips for Successful Email Preheader Text

Monday, January 25, 2010 by Kristeen Hudson

In my previous blog post I explained what email preheader text is and why it is important. Below you will find some tips for creating your preheader text.

Tips for successful preheader text:

Call to Action – Unlike in your subject line, it’s ok (and encouraged) to use your call to action as your preheader text.

Be Positive - Use positive wording for preheader text. For example instead of saying, “Having trouble viewing this email? Click here” try “view this email with images.” The design team has a great blog post about this.

Support – Make your preheader text support you subject line. If you remember from my post Improve Your Email Subject Line, the subject line should support what is in the email. It is all one big circle.

Character Count – Keep in mind the length of the preheader text that will be displayed in the inbox (before opening). This length varies depending on the email client. To give you a character count reference, Gmail shows about 100 characters for subject line (this number varies based on screen size) and preheader text collectively (so if you have a long subject line none of your preheader text will display) and the iPhone displays about 140 characters (in the traditional vertical view) regardless of subject length. There are also some email clients that don’t display any.

Proper Placement – The marketing preheader text (aka the call to action) should be in the top left of the email. This way it will show up in the inbox. Then your more functional preheader text (such as add to address book, unsubscribe, forward to a friend) should be in the top right corner.

Short and Sweet – The pre-header text is meant to be a short summary that the subscriber can quickly glace at. If you make the pre-header text to long it defeats the purpose.

Echo – A common mistake by marketers is repeating the subject line as the preheader text. This repetitive and doesn’t add any value.

Look and Feel – Preheader text is generally smaller then body copy, but it should still be readable. Keep in mind color choices (dark text with light background or reverse is ideal) and font size (minimum of 8pt font).

Be Creative – You are competing for attention in the inbox. Write preheader text that is going to grab the attention of your subscriber and is going to make them want to read your entire email.

Test, test, test – Like everything else in email marketing, your preheader line needs to be tested. Try an A/B split with different pre-headers and test to see which emails get the most opens and conversions.

Resolve to Keep Your Resolutions

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 by Megan Sabine

Statistics show that of the 40% of people who make New Years resolutions, nearly 80% of those resolutions are discarded by Valentine’s Day.

80%. That’s a sobering statistic.

But it doesn’t have to be.

As marketers, we’re conditioned to setting goals, executing a plan, and measuring our results. Our New Years resolutions should follow the same pattern. And taking action is the key.

ExactTarget’s new whitepaper, 5 Resolutions Every Marketer Must Make in 2010, outlines the plan simply and succinctly:

Be helpful, not just social.
Engage your subscribers.
Treat subscribers like friends.
Design for your subscribers.
Get back to basics.

Although the pages on the calendar continue to turn, one true thing remains—good marketing is all about positive subscriber relationships. So, read through our recommended resolutions, post them by your PC, and resolve to make 2010 the Year of the Subscriber.
You have the power to make 2010 your best year yet.

Email Design Tip of the Week: Integrating Twitter to Your Email Strategy

Wednesday, January 20, 2010 by David Hoang

Twitter has revolutionized micro-blogging and ways users share content in real-time. Some believe that social media is more valuable than email, but I beg to differ, as both are powerful platforms and are different mediums of communicating. A great solution is integrating Twitter into your email campaigns to reach out to both audiences.

Why Twitter? According to Mashable, there was an estimated 18 million users on the popular micro-blogging site in 2009. Even with 60% of users quitting within the first month, there are roughly 7.2 million active users; untapped and perhaps not an email subscriber of yours. That’s a lot of people to reach out to. Twitter is a way to reach out to new users to: a) communicate with them outside the reach of email b) compel them to become an email subscriber.

Integrating Twitter to your email marketing campaigns will expand your presence and is very simple to set up. Here are a few ways to integrate Twitter in your email strategy:

Twitter integration
Twitter integration is currently an iLab feature and will be available to all ExactTarget users in the future, which will automatically post your email as a tweet to your company’s Twitter account. This is a simple and effective way to broadcast your message further; with the opportunity for your followers to re-tweet and share your email message.

Add social forwarding on your emails
The ExactTarget application provides a simple way to spread your email message beyond your lists with our social forward feature. Social forward will include buttons in your email message (Twitter is included as a ShareThis feature) which easily allows your subscribers to share your message. You will reach out to users who are not your subscribers; opportunity for new relationships.

Start a #hashtag
It’s amazing what people will do if you simply ask them. If you’re trying to reach out to your audience on Twitter, consider asking them to be an extension of your broadcast by starting a hashtag. For example, if Northern Trail Outfitters wanted to start a hashtag on Twitter, they could send an email asking subscribers to tweet with the hashtag “#NTO.” This begins a searchable discussion of content tagged “NTO.”

For a great example, check out Style Campaign’s blog post on how HBO’s True Blood used Twitter in their emails. This is a great way to utilize email to leverage your Twitter campaign.

Post content on your company Twitter account
Your presence matters. Regardless of the size of your company, start a Twitter account and open dialogue with the Twitterverse. Consider posting links, re-tweeting useful content and speaking with your followers. Set up a search and see what people are saying about your company.

Link to your Twitter account on every email
Again, your presence matters. Put a link to your Twitter account on the footer of your email messages; could be a button or simple link. Let people know you are there.

I want to conclude with a few reasons to use email in your marketing campaign, that doesn’t quite work on Twitter:

Sometimes you just need more than 140 characters.
HTML email will allow you to send your message to your subscriber’s inbox.
Your Twitter posts can get lost in the timeline and be bumped out of the real-time stream.

When integrating Twitter into your email strategy, think about the differences between the two platforms, the people on them, then ways you can converge the two together.

For great insights on the rise of social media and its relation to email, check out our whitepaper, Expanding the reach of email with social networks.

Follow us on Twitter at @ExactTarget and @ETDesign.

Happy Tweeting!

Design Tip of the Week: Email + Video: Take 2: Connections ’09 Panel Recap, Part 2 (of 3)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 by Chris Studabaker

Last post, I discussed current support and delivery methods for email + video. This time we're going to focus on some of the benefits and concerns and finish with a few closing thoughts. As I mentioned last time, please note that this blog centers on the technological considerations around email + video—the strategy around sending video in email (or not) is another discussion!

Benefits of email + video

Strong emotional appeal
Highly engaging
Personal, even user-generated content

Video offers incredible emotional appeal and a personal, highly engaging form of communication. Online video and social media offer the additional bonus of user-generated content, an incredibly effective tool for brand recognition and even advertising when used properly. Volumes have been written on this subject, and I recommend further reading on video as an advertising medium.

Concerns regarding email + video

Development cost and time
File size and bandwidth
Frame rate inconsistencies
Deliverability

Video use does come with some concerns, the foremost being that video represents a considerable development cost and time investment. Integrating video with email requires first having the video! Creating video content then requires the same commitment to brand standards and quality that comprises the rest of your brand experience.

Moving to technical issues, browsers interpret animated .gif frame rates differently, so it's important to test and ensure your .gif appears as desired in all browsers. File sizes and bandwidth are also a concern. A typical HTML email message may be no more than 150KB, including images, but even a simple animated .gif can double the total file size. To carry this further, sending a 1 MB video to one million subscribers can demand significant resources, and adding send frequency to the equation means we must be cognizant of the effect video can have on web hosting and bandwidth. The lack of video standards also raises concerns with deliverability. ISPs and email clients have different standards when determining spam/junk/trash messages, and the lack of generally accepted practices makes testing even more important.

These concerns can certainly be addressed successfully, but these points show it's important to remember that adding video to an email program represents far more than simply a new content block to plan.

Conclusion

Remember the message's primary goal
Consider video in content hierarchy
Know your audience
Subscriber expectations

In the end, we land on a mindset you're very familiar with: Subscribers Rule! Whether it's text headlines or Hollywood-style full motion video, know your subscribers and provide relevant content. Crafting engaging calls to action, nurturing a subscriber-centric content strategy, and establishing strong subscriber relationships are still primary concerns to email marketers, and video is a powerful new tool we can begin to use in accomplishing those goals.

You can check out Part 1 of this series for info on current support and delivery methods for email + video. Part 3 will share some interesting customer experiences and discuss ExactTarget's animated and static .gif testing using Connections '09 emails.

Email Design Tip of the Week: Email + Video: Take 2: Connections ’09 Panel Recap, Part 1 (of 3)

Thursday, January 14, 2010 by Chris Studabaker

Video in email is one of the most intriguing hot topics regarding email's technological growth and audience engagement capacity. Current support for the combined use of these mediums is low, but audience interest and advertiser investment in online video—and this type of media convergence—continues to grow. This blog recaps the major points I discussed in the "Email + Video: Take 2" panel at Connections '09. Please note that this blog centers on the technological considerations around email + video—the strategy around sending video in email (or not) is another discussion!

Online video
Online video, itself, is young—it only began to take root in 2005—but it's quickly become an integral part of our online lives. Discussed in conjunction with email, it's imperative to note that online video has already seen rough standards emerge (formats such as .mpg, .mov, .wmv, and .avi). Email, unfortunately, continues its history of little to no standards, and the emergence of video in email has created a new set of compatibility issues.

Current support for video in email
Today, there's a near complete lack of support for video across the major email clients. Sporadic support exists for some formats but the animated .gif is the only format reliably supported. Gif is a standard web image format and supports animation, though it's limited to 256 colors, does not support sound, and inconsistent frame rates are possible. It's hardly a true video format—which has given rise to some innovative, albeit workaround, solutions—but animated .gif images remain the best all-around option for including motion graphics in email.

There are also a few companies in the marketplace offering paid solutions to include video in email. These companies offer two main services: first, the technology to send video; and second, relationships with consumer email services (such as AOL and others) to allow the successful receipt of that video. However, the list of ISPs supporting these services is limited and should be researched. Lastly, HTML5 is around the corner and there are indications that it might open more options for including video in email.

Delivery methods

Streaming – video downloaded as it plays
Linking – click through to externally hosted video
Embedding – video data included in sent message

To avoid confusion, it's important to set a few definitions regarding the three methods of video delivery. Streaming video refers to a hosted video beginning to play as soon as enough data has loaded, and then continuing to load as it plays (as on YouTube, for example). Ultimately, this is the experience that marketers hope to deliver with video in email. However, the current standard practice is to use a static image with a "play" button, linking to a page on which subscribers can watch the externally hosted video—your website, a landing page, even your company's YouTube channel. Linking to video poses no technical challenges and will work in all browsers and email clients.

Embedding is occasionally mentioned and refers to actually inserting the video file or video code into the email itself, almost like attaching the video to the email. This is a workaround, represents a negative user experience in many ways, and is not recommended.

Part 2 of this topic will contain a look at benefits & concerns of email + video and give a few concluding thoughts. Part 3 will share some interesting customer experiences and discuss ExactTarget's animated and static .gif testing using Connections '09 emails.

Join today: Email Design Testing Webinar

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 by Kristina Schott

At ExactTarget, we design emails for success. Part of that process may include putting a few design variations up against each other in a test.

In September, ExactTarget hosted the Extreme Makeover: The Email Design Competition as a highlight to Connections '09. Read up on an overview and results here.

On January 13th, MarketingExperiments, the researchers who partnered with ExactTarget to analyze the data of the tests, will hold a webinar exploring the results.

The ExactTarget Design Solutions team will be logged in, watching the results unfold with you! We're excited to see the data of our redesigned emails analyzed by MarketingExperiments' Senior Manager of Research Partmerships, Andy Mott. Also exciting is the opportunity to hear the dulcet voice our very own Joel Book, who will be appearing as a special guest.

Register and join us to celebrate performance-driven design!

Maximize your Agency ROI: How adding science to the creative process reveals a 26% gain in email response!
Wednesday, January 13, 2009
4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST

Register now!

Is Email Design Testing Really Worth It?

Monday, January 11, 2010 by Joel Book

Recently, ExactTarget partnered with MarketingExperiments to explore how marketers can use data to make smarter email creative decisions. Researchers from both companies developed experiments to test the most effective creative executions as part of a special ExactTarget email redesign competition.

On Wednesday, January 13th, join Andy Mott, Senior Manager of Research for MarketingExperiments, for a special web clinic where we will take you behind the scenes of this competition that pitted three agencies against each other to create emails for Pier 1 Imports, AAA of Ohio, and MarketingExperiments.

You’ll see “before and after” designs, and learn why you may be leaving money on the table by not testing your email and corresponding landing page.  

Register today to attend this special web clinic:

Maximize your Agency ROI: How adding science to the creative process reveals a 26% gain in email response!   

Wednesday, January 13, 2009 
4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST

Aptera’s 2010 Email Marketing Resolutions

Friday, January 8, 2010 by Dawn DeVirgilio

The following post is from Brooke Francesi who runs email marketing at Aptera, an ExactTarget customer. Aptera is a custom software development and web design firm.

With a new year, a new decade, and a lucky seven anniversary on the horizon, Aptera is looking forward to 2010, especially what is holds in store for our e-mail marketing program. Unlike other marketing avenues, it’s a relatively painless process to analyze the overall success of your e-mail campaigns and adjust where needed. That’s exactly what we’ve done to create our resolutions for 2010.

More effective segmentation:
While our subscriber lists are already segmented into basic categories, we realize that segmentation doesn’t have to end there. For 2010 we are resolved to revamp our system and divide subscribers into vertical markets in order to better serve their interests. We do our best to adhere to ExactTarget’s Subscribers Rule! mantra and that’s something better segmentation can only help.

1, 2, 3 Testing:
This year we’ve vowed to stop listening to what people tell us will work, and find out what really works. We know what worked last year, but will it work this year? Numerous sources report that testers achieve significantly higher open and click-through rates, as well as conversion rates. We’re not going to just believe it; we’re going to test different variations of the message, the creative, the timing, and the frequency.

Get social:
For Aptera, 2010 is the year we eradicate the “one-way-road” approach to information. We’re building a four-lane highway to connect data-rich sources of information. Keeping e-mail and social media apart just doesn’t make sense. We plan to share the stand-out information in our e-mails, and recruit opt-ins from friends and followers in our social environments. Why would we use social networking and e-mail as mutually exclusive channels when we can utilize them together?

There are easily over a dozen other 2010 resolutions we could be making to improve the success of Aptera’s e-mail marketing campaigns, but there sense in getting ahead of ourselves. I firmly believe that positive change occurs in baby steps, and by setting oneself up for success rather than failure. So, here’s to 2010 and e-mail success for everyone!

Faction Fights

Friday, January 8, 2010 by Karen Balle

I admit it. I am, at heart, a gamer. I always have been. I always will be. I got hit by the bug early in high school with AD&D and it hasn't left me since.

I am also opposed to spam, in its many forms. Unfortunately, sometimes these two things intersect and one of the things has to give way. I'm pretty sure you can figure out which one it is. You may think I'm talking about Zynga, but I'm not. Although their games have had to give way recently because of their practices. I'm talking about another game.

Guild Wars. I bought Guild Wars back when it came out and have played it on and off over the years. I even bought some expansions and was going to get GW2 for a Christmas present. Every once in a while, they send me a newsletter, even though I unsubscribe every time. I have now unsubscribed more than five times. I send them a nice email each time, explaining why this is bad and a violation of CAN-SPAM. I even get a personal response saying they won't do it again. Then I get another just when I'm about to start hoping that it's ok to start supporting them again. The most recent one was the day before I went Christmas shopping.

I am heartbroken. I love my games. Don't look at me like that! There are worse vices that I could have, like underwater basket-weaving or tai chi skydiving. Fortunately, there are a lot of other game companies that get it. I'll give my money and time to them instead.

Email Marketing Resolutions: All About Subscribers!

Thursday, January 7, 2010 by Dawn DeVirgilio

We just completed the first 'Twinterview' in a series we'll be doing with some of our experts on email design, deliverability, education and research from our latest resource, Five Resolutions Every Marketer Must Make in 2010.

Here is how it went down:

ExactTarget: @jkrohrs - What’s the most important resolution for email marketers in 2010? #ET2010

jkrohrs: @ExactTarget In 2010, email marketers should resolve to actually meet their best subscribers face-to-face.

ExactTarget: You talk about customer feedback in the whitepaper, what’s the best way to get it?

jkrohrs: No "best way" for customer feedback. Seek it wherever possible. Start conversations. Meet in person. Survey.

ExactTarget: What brands do a good job of engaging customers to get feedback?

jkrohrs: Amazon, Zappos, Apple. But there's a lot to learn from local companies who depend on WOM to survive.

ExactTarget: How should everyone's favorite topic, Social Media, fit into marketers’ new year’s resolutions?

jkrohrs: Be authentic. Passionate marketers are best at social media. Not passionate about your product? Change jobs.

ExactTarget: And last but not least! How does the Subscribers Rule philosophy play into all of this?

jkrohrs: The @SubscribersRule philosophy reminds us all that consumers--subscribers--are our bosses. Serve them well.

You can check it out yourself by searching #ET2010 (where Jeff also add's some color commentary on his authentic avatar), and read more on Jeff's 2010 resolution.

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