What sizzled, what stayed the same, and how marketers can plan for 2017

How 2016 Valentine’s Day email campaigns got it right

Introduction

There’s a lot of history behind Valentine’s Day. Its celebration of love goes way back to the 14th century! For 21st century marketers, this happy occasion is a great opportunity for lift generation through upbeat customer contact. And these marketers aren’t simply messaging about flowers, candy and other gifts. Or just tying yet another promotional event to the occasion. Valentine’s Day messages now commonly also relate to dining, travel and leisure.

In this Valentine’s Day “Look-Book,” we share five notable 2016 emails, each from a major brand. In collaboration with eDataSource, Inc., Epsilon’s email experts were able to review the subject lines, open rates and creative of these emails, and then provide commentary on execution and opportunities for improvement.

#Happy Valentine’s Day!

Key insights

> There is considerable emphasis on Valentine’s gifts for ‘him,’ and not just ‘her.’ Any family member can be included.

> Much Valentine’s Day email

content is wisely oriented around gift “suggestions” or the more formally-titled “Gift Guides.”

> Targeted subject lines −

personalized with customer name and relevant product offers − can be very effective, with or without price or other incentives.

> Subject lines should be tested to ensure that critical elements are visible in mobile inboxes, despite any truncation that may occur there.

Subject Line:

100 Ways to Make His Valentine’s Day One to Remember

Read rate: 33%

An email that’s not just geared toward the female on Valentine’s Day. We love it!

The subject line of 100 ways to make his Valentine’s Day one to remember instantly grabbed my attention. The creative is simple, while engaging. The single call to action keeps the customer focused while the product feature of choice monopolizes on the trending beard. Leveraging the footer is a nice use of the ‘real estate’ to cross promote brands and drive additional sales.

Mara CrisafullSenior Relationship Manager, Epsilon

MArA’s Quick tips

• Considerincludingagiftguide‘forher’aswell.

• Includetheoptiontoviewtheemailinabrowserlinkforrenderingchallenges.

#BelleChic

100 ways to remember

What we love most about this campaign is the s curve design!

Sephora got this email right starting with their attention-grabbing subject line featuring a glyph and a list, which is an effective email marketing tactic. Once opening the email the preview pane promotes the 3X point offer and the FREE product for their Beauty Insiders. But what we love most about this campaign is the S curve design that effectively guides you down the email and reveals their 8 beauty product loves. In addition, they featured and highlighted keywords like NEW, EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED ADDITION to drive home the sense of urgency around their promotions. 

Lauren GentileVP Executive Creative Director, Epsilon

LAuren’s Quick tips

NEW, EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED

• LeverageHTMLtextforproductdescriptionsandbullet-proofbuttonsforCTAs(CallToAction).

• Incorporatingredbuttonsinthiscreativewouldenhancetheuserexperienceandcreatemoreprominentcalltoactionsdrivingengagement.

Subject Line:

Read rate: 14.29%

#Sephora

nice job with the header!

When mailing a promotion, a clear call CTA is critical. Sunglass Hut doesn’t waste real estate with unnecessary header options or secondary content. The promotion drives the interest, and Sunglass Hut provides several deep-linked CTAs to encourage the viewer to ‘click on’ the best place of the website to take advantage of the promotion. Nice job with the header! The “gift guide” promotes the holiday objective of the email and stands out with an icon and creative.

Justin WilliamsAccount Director, Epsilon

Justin’s Quick tips

In stores now!

• Considerpromotingwithintheemailthenewfeaturedsunglassesforthenextseason.‘Seasoned’sunglassownersalwayswanttobe‘intheknow’ofthenextfashion.

• Nexttothe‘redeeminstore’calloutregardingthepromotionaloffer,consideraddingaprinticontoremindtheviewerstoprintthecouponofferandtakeittotheirlocalstore.

Subject Line:

$75 Off Valentine’s Gifts for Her, Him and You! In Stores Now

Read rate: 24.7%

#Sunglass Hut

Subject Line:

Valentine’s Gifts for Daughters

Read Rate:34%

the combined effort of the subject line and headline does a great job at conveying the message!

A targeted subject line with a specific purpose. It can be very relevant to an audience and it is prescriptive. The combined effort of the subject line and headline does a great job at conveying the message! The targeting of daughters is out-of-the-box thinking, and it’s not your ‘typical’ target for the Valentine’s Day holiday (although daughters are very deserving). The message is clear and concise and is not a ‘jack of all trades’ in terms of promotion and renders nicely on mobile devices.

Amy PeplerSenior Relationship Manager, Epsilon

AMy’s Quick tip

SupriSe you daughter!

#Teleflor

AMy’s Quick tips

• Partnershipemailmarketingisaneffectivestrategy.ConsiderincludingtheChadwick’sgoldcreditcardpromotionwithinthebodyoftheemailasaseparatecalloutviaanicon.

• Inthefooter,consider‘teasing’promotionsthatareupcomingforthenextholiday.

Subject Line:

The Best Way to Spend Valentine’s Day in 14 Cities

Read Rate:10%

A little something for everyone!

There’s always a little something for everyone in a lifestyle email, which makes the email much more appealing for opens and clicks. Users tend to click around more when at least one item appeals to them. The variety of offers, ‘product and service’ options included in this email educates the reader on the multi-functional purpose of Travel & Leisure. The visual experience of this email is intriguing and keeps the viewer’s attention.

Amy CrouchAccount Manager, Epsilon

AMy’s Quick tip

take a romantic drive

#Travel & Leisure

AMy’s Quick tips

• Testsubjectlinesforlifestyletypeemailshighlightingmoreofthecontentwithintheemail.

• Thinkaboutcondensingthecontentblocksto2x2formatinsteadof1x1.

Conclusion

As demonstrated, a lot of great creative work went into the Valentine’s Day holiday planning. And, it’s in no doubt due to the fact that marketers are in planning mode months ahead of time. Marketers begin with their Valentine’s Day holiday planning strategy in the early part of Q1. Keep this ebook handy to help you with your planning for next year. It will be here before you know it!

Want to hear more from our experts about the Valentine’s Day holiday season? please visit our epsilon blog site, a Brand new View.

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What’s trending in email creative?

New technology and fewer restrictions by ISPs have

made email a more dynamic, interactive and engaging

channel than ever before. It’s also opened the door

to new creative potential within the channel. How

are retailers taking advantage of new technology and

reinventing old tricks when it comes to email creative?

8 – December 24 in 2015. We also saw a +0.6% increase