A Very Merry [something] to You!

January 6, 2017 Amy Hamilton

We live in a politically correct world where people can be easily offended, so simply wishing subscribers a Happy Holiday can be a tricky thing. Because Christmas and Hanukkah are religious holidays, you don’t want to exclude anyone or step on any toes. Here are a few ways retailers messaged their subscribers this year, ranging from the daring to the all inclusive and a little vague.

1. Retailers That Went For It

I was surprised to see a few retailers going with the Merry Christmas message this year. I personally only recommend going this route if your company is clearly marketed toward a specific religious group (ie: The Christian Book Store). I wouldn’t want to offend and potentially lose a customer.

From: Michaels
Date: 12/24/16
Subject Line: We Wish You a Merry Christmas!
See it animated

There’s no doubt which holiday Michaels was backing this year. Their headline spells out in all caps and dancing letters, “MERRY CHRISTMAS.” It is colorful, festive and attention grabbing. One nice thing about singling out a holiday is you don’t have to worry about choosing imagery that caters to everyone (for example snowflakes over Santa). They went a bit generic though with gold glitter stars throughout the email –glitter seems to be a common trend among holiday emails of all types this year.

From: Christopher & Banks | CJ Banks
Date: 12/25/16
Subject Line: Wishing You A Merry Christmas From All Of Us!

Christopher & Banks also wishes a Merry Christmas in both the subject line and headline. They chose a nice photograph of a wreath hanging on a front door to fill the design. The copy is heart-felt and personal, coming from the President & CEO. I always enjoy receiving these types of communications (personal letters). It’s a nice reminder that there are real people behind the company that appreciate my business.

2. Did We Cover Everyone?

These emails did their best to incorporate multiple December religious holidays. This method can be fun and a little comical with original holiday phrases. It also shows your desire to bring everyone together.

From: Cupcake Polish
Date: 12/25/16
Subject Line: Merry Christmahanakwanzika! Celebrate with a FLASH SALE! ❤💚💙

Cupcake Polish invented the word “Christmahanakwanzika” in their subject line. Their email went on to read: “Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy New Year! We hope you are having a great day no matter what you celebrate!” I like how all encompasing it is with a bit of humor. The email design is a little lack-luster, but they did included a graphic “word cube” that includes all the holidays with some graphics.

From: Madam Glam
Date: 12/24/16
Subject Line: Merry Chrismukkah ! 🎉

Madam Glam started with a similar approach, using the subject line and headline Merry Chrismukkah, but the copy leans a bit more Christmas (mentioning Santa). The graphic they chose could be viewed as generally winter themed — a tree made of glittery gold hearts, surrounded by falling snow. Overall, not a bad email, but make sure to stick with the plan from beginning to end.

From: Gap
Date: 12/25/16
Subject Line: May your day be merry and bright

Gap started out with a vague subject line (May your day be merry and bright), but got more specific within the email. They laid it out plain and simple: Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah from our family to yours. The imagery is winter-clad models sporting cozy hats, coats and scarves. Glittery titles and background add to the generic but wintery design.

3. Happy … December?

And finally these retailers took the safe approach by sending well-wishes in a general way. It’s honestly the safest approach. It’s a way to say, hey, we care about you and want you to be happy, whatever you’re celebrating. There were plenty that used the well-known “Happy Holidays,” so here are a few that used an alternative method.

From: Tiny Prints
Date: 12/25/16
Subject Line: ❄ A Special Season’s Greeting for You
See it animated

Tiny prints decided to go with the headline “Merry Everything.” Since this choice of words doesn’t call out any holidays specifically, I’m going to place this under the slightly vague category. It is all encompassing, but a little noncommittal. It’s not a bad option, but I did find it a little funny to read, thinking, “Wow, they really weren’t sure what to say here.” It is, however, one of my favorite designs with texture, depth, color and even a subtle animation.

From: Neiman Marcus
Date: 12/25/16
Subject Line: Merry Christmas + a treat for you!
See it animated

Although the subject line is clearly Christmas, the email itself is more general holiday. The headline reads “May Your Day Be Merry & Bright!” The design, while colorful and creative, got the creepiest award in my book. The good: a model with a winter hat surrounded by doodles of snowflakes, doves and swirly patterns. I could even be okay with the strange choice to doodle a mustache on her, but … The creepy: they add an animation of her winking in a really weird and unnatural way. The right eye doesn’t squint as it should in a normal situation. It’s just a little unsettling.

From: Serena & Lily
Date: 12/24/16
Subject Line: Brightest holiday wishes.
See it animated

Serena & Lily went with a broad headline, “Wishing you a bright holiday.” They created their own unique graphic of a snowflake containing drawings of home furnishings. They also animate a little sparkle. I have to say, it is quite unique, but the design lacks a bit of flow and color.

One Final Observation:

As far as these day-of holiday emails go, I prefer it when the message is solely focused on well-wishes. It shouldn’t look like a last-minute inclusion tacked onto the top of a product/sale message. It makes the message a little less personal, not to mention that not many people will be shopping on the day of the holiday they’re celebrating. However, I don’t mind the addition of a link to send a virtual gift card. That’s an easy last-minute gift that doesn’t involve shipping or leaving the home.

Get Social this Holiday

December 9, 2016 Amy Hamilton

Maurices and Disney found clever ways to get their customers to interact with their social network pages this season! Let’s take a look…

From: Maurices
Date: 11/18/16
Subject Line: ‘Tis the season for shopping, saving & free shipping

Maurices animated

Maurices is running a promo that qualifies you to win your holiday wishlist. They call it the “Wish Pin Win Sweepstakes.” To enter, you fill out a small form, then pin any number of their products (to Pinterest) along with the required description line: On my wish list #wishpinwinsweepstakes #discovermaurices. I’m not quite sure how the user is linked to their Pinterest account, but I’ll leave that to the experts.

The idea behind this promotion has many advantages.
1. Engagement. It encourages shoppers to browse through the website, in turn finding products they’re interested in.
2. Customer Acquisition. By entering the contest, Maurices can gain access to a potential new customer’s contact information and ask if they’d like to receive future emails.
3. Future Targeting. By creating a wishlist, Maurices can better target each subscriber based on products they’re interested in. In this case, it can be obtained through their browsing history (since the wishlist is created in Pinterest rather than through Maurice’s website).
4. Even More Customer Acquisition. By posting products on Pinterest, word will spread about the best items you have to offer. Not to mention, products look so much better when suggested by a friend.
5. Conversion. By encouraging people to pin these items, the tedious work of browsing and compiling is now done — it’s easy for them to share it with friends and family. BAM, holiday wishlist complete.
6. Customer Retention. Offering contests keeps customers happy and waiting for the next opportunity to win.

Overall, this is a great way to market yourself using social media.

From: Disney Movie Rewards
Date: 12/01/16
Subject Line: Happy Holidays, Amy

Disney Movie Rewards

For the month of December, Disney Movie Rewards is giving free reward points for clicks! On December 1st they sent an email announcing the promotion: “Earn 5 Points Every Day!” I clicked the CTA in the email, logged in, and earned my free points. BOOM. Done. Easy. The second day, I went to get my points but saw new instructions. To receive points I must now visit their Facebook, Twitter OR Pinterest page. There, I would find a link to a magic code. I can then use that code on the Disney Movie Reward’s website to redeem my points.

A great advantage of this promotion is that it:
1. Makes customers aware of their social media presence, and
2. Encourages them to “like” the page so they’ll be reminded to redeem points (therefore opting in to future posts).
3. Also, by liking the page, and/or posts, their friends will become aware of the promotion as well.

There are a few things I might change about their strategy, however.
1. For the kick-off email, I would make it clear how the process works (that social media will be involved). Rather than linking to the Disney Movie Rewards website, I would provide call-to-actions to their social media pages.
2. It seems like a lot of steps to earn your reward. Rather than listing a link within the social media post, I would like to see the code displayed there instead. I can only think of one reason why you might want to use a link: to direct them to a page with more opportunities for click through / conversion. In this case, the landing page only has the magic code.

Overall, still a creative way to incorporate social media.

Kudos to Maurices and Disney on finding unique ways to grow your customer base and engage existing customers through social media.

Holiday Hits

December 5, 2016 Amy Hamilton

Looking for a way to spruce up your holiday emails? Here are a few tips, sure to catch the eye!

1) HOLIDAY SHAPES

These emails cluster products together to form holiday shapes. You can go many directions with this idea — snowflakes, stockings, presents, etc. The sky is the limit!

From: Charming Charlie
Date: 11/30/16
Subject Line: Wrap up all the GIFTS on your list today!
See it animated

Charming Charlie took the extra effort to add twinkling lights on their “tree.” I also like that they chose products with coordinating colors.

From: Ulta
Date: 11/27/16
Subject Line: Favorites for Under the Tree + Cyber Monday Preview

Ulta created a tree out of gold gift boxes and stacked the products on top. In a brilliant move they list each product individually below with a CTA. The products are also staggered and tilted for great flow. Awesome job.

2) FESTIVE FONT

Even the smallest change, like a font, can make a big statement.

From: aerie
Date: 11/29/16
Subject Line: 40-50% Off & FREE All End Tonight. For Real.
See it animated

Aerie introduced a new font for the holiday season. The capital letters now give the feel of a magical winter wonderland.

From: Starbucks
Date: 11/27/16
Subject Line: The Cyber Monday clock is ticking

Starbucks is using a new cursive font, minimally, in the key words of their headlines. It’s a sure way to make certain words POP and set a tone for the email.

3) HOLIDAY GRAPHICS

From: Gymboree
Date: 11/29/6
Subject Line: Cyber Deals On The Run! ENDS AT MIDNIGHT

I like Gymboree’s creative way of displaying their sale promotions. Each deal is listed as if it’s a road sign at the North Pole. The little characters at the base of the sign are a nice touch too. Very cutesy and on-target for a kids’ clothing store.

From: Sur La Table
Date: 11/30/16
Subject Line: Get Gifting with Our Holiday Catalog

Sur La Table’s red ribbons not only add a festive feel but also dimension and flow to the design. They’re precisely placed to accent each image and point to the next section. The staggered and tilted images also help to add to the flow. The white negative space really helps to keep all the images from feeling overwhelming. Love.

From: Michaels
Date: 11/26/16
Subject Line: Get Ready for Christmas – 50% Off Christmas Trees, Décor & More

There’s a lot going on in this email (it’s overly long with a mix of styles), but I do like how Michaels lists their categories on gift tags in this section. They are a great way to add a holiday feel while giving a pop of color, and making your call-to-actions stand out.

From: Starbucks
Date: 11/16/16
Subject Line: It’s spiced. It’s iced.

I love the chalk-drawn spruce & leaves surrounding the products in this Starbucks email. They are a nice wintery touch with sophistication. The monotone color doesn’t distract from the products, but works as a nice accent. They also create great flow between products.

4) ANIMATION

From: Anthropologie
Date: 11/28/16
Subject Line: Just hours left for free ship + extra 30% OFF sale!
See it animated

Anthropologie’s stacked, wobbling packages create a fun holiday feel. I love the hand-crafted look as if it’s cut and pasted watercolor gifts, complete with drop shadow. It’s a very stylized and unique look, sure to catch the eye.

From: HomeGoods
Date: 12/02/16
Subject Line: You have a gift for giving.

HomeGoods included this fantastic stop-motion animation of products being placed into a box and wrapped up. It’s so much fun to watch. It’s a nice way to show a variety of products available for gifting. I would love to see each product called out by name with CTAs below.

5) CLEVER COPY

From: Starbucks
Date: 11/20/16
Subject Line: The more Mondays, the merrier

What says festive more than ‘Twas the night before Christmas? Starbucks created their own version of this classic poem in this email. They continue the poem down the page as it coordinates with products:

Then $20 more bagged, brewed and poured
is 80 stars toward a free drink reward.

And finally something to sip and to savor
Half off any frappuccino size or flavor.

Creative and fun to read.

From: Uncommon Goods
Date: 11/16/16
Subject Line: You’re Going to Need a Bigger Tree…

What better way to make your email memorable than to plant an “ear worm” in someone’s head? Song lyrics for headlines or subject lines do just the trick. Uncommon Goods uses, “Make Spirits Bright” as a title to their message about a custom whiskey barrel.

From: Neiman Marcus
Date: 12/01/16
Subject Line: 12 gifts of Christmas: Candles, cashmere + more

Here’s a fun use of the 12 days of Christmas. The items from the classic song are replaced with products:

7 days of sipping (cocoa mix and mugs),
6 ballerinas leaping (ballerina shoes),
5 tiiiiiiiiny treasures…

I can’t help but sing it while I’m scrolling. I especially love that they took care to picture the correct amount of products. The design has nice flow with staggered products that overlap into the next section.

These are just a few ideas to inspire you. Don’t forget to have fun and be memorable. Happy holidays and to all a good night!

Tis the Season to Give

December 1, 2016 Amy Hamilton

Well, it’s officially time to break out those holiday designs! This year, make sure to extend your theme beyond the main message and include it in the framework of your email as well. You can add fun graphics or just switch up the colors for a festive touch. Today, however, I want to talk about one specific addition — a “gifts” button. It provides a quick and easy way for subscribers to shop for their loved ones and see what your business has to offer. Much like a recovery module, it offers an opportunity for click-through even if the subscriber wasn’t interested in the main message. Here are a few examples of gift call-to-actions that popped!

From: Anthropologie
Date: 11/16/16
Subject Line: New tops in need-now shapes: 25% off + free ship.

Anthropologie introduces a new “gifts” link in their footer. It can’t be missed with contrasting red text that animates! See the email animate.

From: American Eagle
Date: 11/16/16
Subject Line: A fresh take on destroyed denim

American Eagle follows suit with a red animated link, but they take it a step further by placing it above the fold. Love this idea! See the email animate.

From: UncommonGoods
Date: 11/14/16
Subject Line: Win the Holidays

If you want to go all out, instead of a singular “gifts” button, break down the gifts by category. Shop by: gender, personality, price point, age, hobbies, etc. — the sky is the limit. (Side note, I just have to say I love this main message design. The use of graphics is so clever, bold and simple. It’s just perfection. But anyway, back on topic…) Uncommon Goods includes a footer at the bottom with “shop by” categories to help simplify gifting. Normally I would say it could use a headline to call out gift giving, or something to make the section stand out a bit more. But since the entire email is essentially a shop-by-category theme, it might have been overkill. Well done.

Uncommonly Good

January 14, 2016 Amy Hamilton

During the holiday season, one thing retailers can count on is customer unpredictability. Shoppers are no longer buying for themselves, but for everyone else. No amount of data collected over the year can anticipate what type of product your customer’s Aunt Margret will want. One strategy to overcoming this obstacle is sending a “shop by person” email. Rather than focusing on the product, these emails aid in narrowing the search by focusing on the TYPE of person you are shopping for. It’s easy for this genre of email to fall short on originality and interest. However, UncommonGoods delivered two outstanding examples this season. The designs are festive and fun. The categories are specific, cover a variety of personalities, and are (surprisingly) original/varied between the two emails.

From: UncommonGoods
Date: 12/19/15
Subject Line: But Actually, This is the Cutest

This email does such a great job of capturing the feeling of a classic claymation movie. The email scene is set with paper clouds dangling from strings, carefully chosen fonts and a little world of objects and characters made entirely of clay. Even the star atop the tree twinkles in an animated gif. The setting fills the email, tying everything together. The categories themselves are circles of varied size and placement, creating flow and interest. The addition of colored drop-shadows adds dimension. They even include a link to a video, bringing the characters to life with music. Just in case the previous category options didn’t cover everything, they finish the email with a few general gift ideas, an option to shop by price, and a link to sale items.

From: UncommonGoods
Date: 12/16/15
Subject Line: Your List Comes Alive!

The headline of this one grabbed my attention right away. The quickly recognizable lyrics instantly put the song in your head as you read them. I like that it’s a lyric not often seen used (like fa la la la la for example). The design is made up of hand-drawings of the “person of interest” in a holiday setting. Everything flows well, again breaking away from the grid. The placement of the text, how one image interacts with another, and the use of pointing cues all contribute to the movement. Again, they finish the email with additional options by including links to general products and new arrivals.