Adventures in Email Marketing

Revisiting the same retail/corporate emails that I profiled in “10 images off”. Have they cleaned up their act? Also, some surprises from top retailers. Eddie Bauer, Peets’, Red Envelope, Gap, Barnes & Noble, Fandango, Avis. Some new samples & surprises: Dell, Amazon, & Twitter. Note- Discovery isn’t covered because they haven’t sent me anything.

The top methods of managing Image Suppression in design:
- Less image dependence in the overall design (say it with words!)
- Good alt tag strategy- entice and describe, briefly
- Lift text to the top of the fold- make sure folks see your offer
- Use html tables with background text color and CSS inline text color
More posts on Image Suppression.

1. Coit Liquor
I removed them because the point I was making was evidenced this week by another company.

2. Eddie Bauer: the Good Got Better

Then: Great

Now: Greater

I wasn’t sure they could improve- but they did! Nice HTML table, inline CSS font styling. Also, note the images that are off don’t dominate the message of the HTML. New font styling on the headline lends it more predominance.

3. Peets

Then: Great Mixed-Use

Now: OK

Partially because my browser was stretched out larger, I couldn’t see the copy below the main promotional image. So they should probably tighten up that layout to let the text float higher. I think it would just cover more bases. I still really like the palate and use of HTML table colors.

4. Red Envelope: Different Approach- still Mediocre

Then:

Now:

Before it had a mysterious subject line and mysterious alt-text. Now, they are more descriptive in their alt-text, but overall still very dependent on images in their design, and very little text comes through above the fold.

5. Avis: Worse

Then: So-So

Now: Less ALT Tags

Before, I commented on their use of spacer GIFs, and muddled multiple offers. This time, they changed their template, to remove alt-text from the main promotional image.

6. Gap: Still Struggling

Then: Behind

Now: Slightly Better

Still the alt-text is in all caps, but at least with the image on the right they mixed it up a little. Also very image dependent, and no text or offer information. All image menu header, though using alt-text, looks cluttered with images suppressed.

7. Fandango: Worse

Then:

Now:

Got a little worse. In the first email they knew my name. In the second they stopped personalization with a simple “Hello!”. I do still like the bulleted text above the fold and the colored HTML tables.

8. Barnes & Noble: Staying Strong
Then: Strong

Now: Still Strong

My impression- and leave a comment if you disagree- is that their template is really quite good.

New Samples & Surprises

6. Dell: Innovative

What a great creative way to sell using HTML and colored text. It’s really great.

6. Amazon: Missed the Boat

Not so great. Their usual emails are far better, but this one-off promotional one that I got today doesn’t use alt tags, and relies far too heavily on images.

8. Twitter: Alternative

Interesting some of the companies that decide to email just in text. I wonder if someone can do a metrics tests showing a 50% split on text versus HTML in the current climate of image suppression, and also with segmentation on the user’s email account- yahoo, gmail, etc. I wonder if the click % would be the same. The common rule is that text emails just don’t get the kind of clickthrough that HTML emails experience, but maybe times are changing, especially for certain verticals?