eBook - Silverpop

Should I Adopt the Latest Tactic
that Everyone Else is Using?
I’ve seen so many
Q: innovations in email, but
I can’t keep up. How do I know
which ones I should try without
testing everything?
In the days following Steve Jobs’ death,
A: I found myself thinking, oddly enough,
about Apple’s TV commercials, especially “Lemmings,”
in which briefcase-toting office workers
march off a cliff until one man lifts his blindfold
and sees what’s happening.
Many marketers run their email programs like
lemmings, because they copy a competitor’s or
peer’s new practice without doing proper due
diligence first.
As a result, an effective email design might
evolve into a mishmash of uncoordinated additions
that obscure the email’s main purpose, like
the call to action.
“Lemmingism” In Action
Several years ago, a well-known marketing
publisher began adding the newsletter name to
the front of the subject line: (From Name) “Publisher
Name” (Subject Line) [Newsletter Name]
“Newsletter content.”
I don’t remember why, but I think the rationale
was that some older email clients showed the
sender’s email address instead of the friendly
“From” name in the inbox. This added an additional
level of branding and helped differentiate
among their multiple newsletters.
Thereafter, many other publishers and marketers
began adding brand names or newsletter
titles to the subject line. This might or might not
have been the right practice; other from name/
subject line combinations might work better for
your company.
Other trends followed, such as putting “add to
address book,” “view Web version” and “view
mobile” links at the top of the email. Now it seems
like everyone is adding “preheader” text at the top
of the email message or scattering social network
icons like breadcrumbs.
How many marketers simply adopted these practices
without thinking through the options and
benefits?
Measure Your Lemming Likelihood
Many or all of these practices might make sense to
address specific subscriber challenges or increase
email results. But you should ask yourself some
tough questions before you simply bolt on a new
element in your emails.
1. Why would we want to do this?
Does preheader text really drive more clicks or
conversions? Why can’t an email be wider than 550
to 600 pixels?
Don’t simply accept that a suggestion from another
marketer or a consultant is the way to go.
Question everything, including what I’ve written
here.
2. Does this problem affect us?
Practices will emerge that solve valid but specific
challenges. A few years ago, some email marketers
began adding an unsubscribe link at the top
of their emails. While this practice was not widely
adopted, many marketers started asking if they
needed to do this as well.
In most cases, an unsubscribe link at the top of your
email is unnecessary unless you experience higherthan-acceptable
abuse complaints overall or with
specific ISPs. This practice can reduce spam complaints
for some emailers, but for others it might
simply take up valuable pre-header real estate.
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