In addition to email, the study showed that paid search and online display advertising were the next most successful marketing tactics of the 2011 holiday season, with 48.9 percent naming search and 34.8 naming online display advertising as extremely or very successful campaign tactics. Our internal experts are currently looking at real-time data around these and other marketing channels and will present what they’ve learned during a live webinar on Thursday, October 25^th at 1:00 p.m. EST. This information should prove very helpful to marketers who want to improve their campaigns based on current trends and results. Register for the holiday webinar and you’ll receive all of the survey data in the form of a 2012 holiday marketing white paper. Here’s to a joyous and profitable holiday season!

Text-to-join program   

Marketers can organically grow their mobile base by initiating a text-to-join program to allow mobile users to opt in to receive promotional text messages.

• Choose a specialized keyword or style
• Create a campaign to engage subscribers
• Build a call to action like an in-unit display or window signage to promote the Short Message Service (SMS) program

Loyalty program

Businesses can set up a loyalty program where customers gain reward points to help increase engagement and retention rates with customers. Although there can be many barriers to entry, setting up a loyalty program is the best way to create a link between the customer and transactional data. It enables marketers to gain visibility into who their best customers are and market directly to them.

Retail address capture

Marketers can capture transactional data after a purchase is made in a store to get a direct profile of who customers are, from economic status to key demographics. By understanding who is shopping in your store, you can better target them with personalized and dynamic content in other channels.

To learn more about our holiday insights, join our webinar on October 25^th. Our resident data experts Bill Tancer and Regina Gray will review holiday trends and offer insights you can use to update your email, search and social campaigns based on real-time data.

Most marketers use subject lines to state an offer or the main message held in the email’s content, however, this may not always be the best approach. Subject lines for emails that blatantly state the main message aren’t necessarily the emails that garner the highest open rates.

Subject lines for emails that blatantly state the main message aren’t necessarily the emails that garner the highest open rates.

Subject lines are your chance to catch the reader’s attention, and ensure that your message stand out, potentially against hundreds of other emails in their inbox. It’s a chance for your email to create a first impression with the reader in 50 characters or less. Yes, this can be a challenge, but if the right line is written to capture a unique voice, the outcome can be rewarding.

There are different themes that subject lines can be written in, not just to inform a reader of the content, but to draw them in so they’ll want to read more. Where one brand may boast “50% Off Fall Accessories,” in their subject line, another company may utilize that space to say “Get it all for fall – Exclusive savings.”  The content of the email can remain the same, but creating intrigue surrounding the actual subject of the email might create an allure for readers more than something direct.

Experian CheetahMail’s content and strategy team hand-chose companies with vastly different businesses and studied more than 1,000 promotional mailing subject lines over a specified period of time, with each subject line being defined and placed into one of four categories. While there is no way for anyone to ensure that readers will open an email, our thorough categorization and research has allowed us to develop best practices for subject line writing.

Knowing how to write subject lines in an effective manner involves knowing the different categories that subject lines fall into. Experian CheetahMail defined four main categories that serve as a useful framework to get a message or tone across at the reader’s first glance. They are: fun, curiosity, direct and relationship. Despite the fact that these four categories are short and simple, the subcategories span many topics, both broad and specific. These subcategories can help get any tone or message across and are also useful in helping inspire new lines by getting the creative juices flowing.

So which categories work best?

Fun and curiosity have the highest unique open rates and definitely are good choices for sparking subscribers’ interest. However, they can lose some of their appeal if used all the time.

Direct messages play a key role in informing subscribers about offers, deadlines and special products. While the unique open rates for direct messages are lower than those seen in the fun and curiosity categories, in multiple past studies we have seen that offers and time limits can provide a boost in transaction rates. A 21 percent increase in transaction rates for offers in subject lines was noted in our holiday reporting and subject line analysis in 2011. Relationships subject lines allow subscribers to relate and connect to products and topics that enhance their identification with the brand and further define their overall experience. These relationships can bridge marketing channels and give subscribers a chance to interact with the brand online, on social media sites, through loyalty benefits and through special events.

To optimize response, a well-balanced email program will incorporate all of these categories, as well as incorporate continual subject line testing.

To learn more about best practices in writing subject lines for emails, and to find out about the most commonly used subject line categories vs. subject line categories with the highest open rates, download Experian CheetahMail’s white paper “It’s all in the wording: A guide to optimizing your email subject lines.”

Much has changed since last holiday season. You are probably already aware that ISPs have significantly modified their filtering processes, putting heavy weight on engagement to determine a sender’s reputation and whether or not an email should get delivered to the inbox. In past holiday seasons, many marketers have often taken advantage of this time of year as a reason to “blast” more messages and promotions to its entire subscription list. While this strategy, as you could imagine, often can generate more revenue, it can now negatively impact deliverability. The truth is that deliverability rates decline during the holiday season.

The truth is that deliverability rates decline during the holiday season.

Engage early
We always encourage our clients to try to win back and re-engage inactive subscribers year round.  While re-engagement may not always be first priority on a marketer’s “to-do list,” having a list of highly engaged subscribers come holiday time is imperative.

During the holidays, think about the frequency in which you email your subscribers. Are your offers personalized? Are they relevant? As subscribers take more control over their inboxes, marketers must still be mindful to treat their subscribers as individuals and make their holiday messages resonate with their audience. Remember, the more relevant your messages are, the more likely a subscriber is to engage and interact.

Mailing to unengaged or disengaged subscribers can negatively impact your ability to deliver holiday messages to your best customers!

You know your customers, but ISPs don’t
From an ISP’s point of view, engagement is based solely upon how a subscriber interacts with your emails in that one email box. Unfortunately, ISP’s don’t have the data to go beyond this channel like you do. Regardless of how frequently a subscriber engages with your brand in other channels, you must ensure they are engaged in the email channel particularly.

You’ve got the data. Utilize what you know about your customers to ensure email engagement. Today’s shoppers expect high levels of personalization and relevancy. We also encourage our clients to leverage all touchpoints and channels to connect with customers and encourage them to engage via email.

Point of sale address collection
Point of sale is always the highest risk for collecting bad addresses – especially during the holiday season. Most cashiers are extremely busy and aren’t incentivized to enter accurate or even real email addresses. Thus, it is important that you utilize list hygiene services like Experian QAS, and avoid mailing to ‘fake’ addresses.

For more tips and strategies on collecting email addresses at point of sale, download Experian CheetahMail’s white paper, Point of sale email: Managing compliance, privacy and deliverability with in-store email acquisition.

Set expectations
Set expectations with subscribers about the types of communications they will receive and how often they will receive it from you. Welcome emails are a great opportunity to communicate subscription benefits, as well as set expectations – then don’t deviate from these promises. When you over-mail customers during the holidays, your messages have a higher chance of being marked as spam or customers unsubscribing – thus reducing your engagement rating with ISPs.  Just because companies like Groupon or Living Social may email their subscribers every day, does not mean that your customers are expecting the same from your brand. You must do what works best for your customers, your brand and your engagement strategy.

If you do have subscribers that may not want to engage with you as often as others, it’s a good practice to offer an opt-down subscription, rather than simply an opt-out.  This gives control to the subscriber and allows them to choose frequencies and types of communications that are most relevant to them.

New rules – so now what?
Our advice is still the same as it has always been: send engaging messages that are relevant to your own customers. Be strategic with your holiday campaigns and utilize email marketing technology to treat your subscribers as individuals. Leverage the holiday season to increase engagement levels, while understanding the risks associated with mailing to inactives.

If you follow these simple guidelines, happy holidays are sure to come!

For more information about deliverability and ISP engagement filtering, download Experian CheetahMail’s white paper: Three pillars of successful email deliverability.

Here is a quick and easy reference guide by Experian CheetahMail to help you follow point of sale email acquisition best practices. Remember, best practices start before point of sale and continue after the transaction.

For more information on managing compliance, privacy and deliverability with in-store email acquisition, download our latest Point of sale email white paper.

As featured in a new white paper: The Happy Holiday Inbox: Last minute tips for spreading the cheer with email this year, the biggest trends include:

• Mobile and social galore: Links to social networks and mobile viewing are amplifying email marketing promotions. Fifteen percent of email openers read emails on a mobile phone, and that number is growing. Additionally, forty percent of online consumers who use social networking sites plan to use Facebook for feedback from family/friends to help make a decision about a product, according to a survey by PriceGrabber.com.

• Touting and shouting shipping deadlines: Including deadlines to provide urgency, and directions that encourage customers to act fast, is more prevalent than ever.  An analysis of last season’s campaigns confirms that on average, shipping deadlines improve email transaction performance by 22 percent.

• Creativity shines: The 2011 holiday season is showcasing some of the trendiest and most appealing looks email has ever sported.   And it’s no wonder – compared to email campaigns without animated gifs, ninety percent have significantly higher transaction rates (60 percent) and 118 percent more revenue per email than the campaigns without the animation.

To learn more, download the white paper today.

According to exclusive research from Experian Simmons, fully 29% of cell phone owners today believe that their cell phone will be the primary device for their entertainment needs, in the future. Furthermore, a recent report by J.P. Morgan estimates that U.S. mobile ad spending will nearly double in 2011 to $1.2 billion. Screen size and limitations on creative, the report says, present obstacles to mobile advertisers. These obstacles and opportunities make it more important than ever for marketers to understand the behaviors and mindset of the mobile consumer.

In this first in a series of blog posts, we will explore some key findings presented in the 2011 Mobile Consumer Report recently published recently by Experian Simmons. Media outlets have started to take note, citing the report in articles here, here and here. Come back to this blog frequently for further updates, or download the full report today.

Mobile Market Overview

Cell phone ownership among American adults stands at 91%, up from 72% in 2006. The vast majority of teens, too, have joined the mobile revolution, with 74% of those ages 12 to 17 porting a portable phone, up from 59% in 2006. Even tots are getting into the act, with a reported 22% of kids ages 6 to 11 owning a cell phone today. Among adults ages 22 to 24, the idea of not owning a cell is virtually unheard of, with an astounding 98% of consumers in this bracket reporting personally owning a cell phone. While cell ownership among adults age 65+ is the lowest of any adult segment, it is the fastest growing, having increased a relative 52% between 2006 and 2010. Despite the rise in youth owning cell phones, 90% of all mobile phone owners in the U.S. are adults, a rate unchanged since 2008.

Percent of Americans that own a cell phone, by age 

Mobile Service Providers

Verizon maintains its position as America’s number one cell phone service provider, with 32% of all adult mobile phone owners saying they are Verizon subscribers as of May 23, 2011. AT&T also has a sizable share of the market, with 28% of mobile phone owners subscribing to AT&T for cell service. Battling for third place are Sprint and T-Mobile, which respectively claim just 11% and 10% of the mobile market. Smaller, often regional, providers may individually have fewer subscribers, but combined, claim an impressive 22% of the total cellular market.

Verizon and AT&T will almost certainly continue to dominate the market, especially given the fact that cell phone subscribers are increasingly staying with their provider for an extended period of time. As of May 23, 2011, the average cell phone subscriber had been with their provider for 3 years and 2 months, up from 2 years and 11 months observed at the beginning of 2008. Furthermore, 59% of cell phone subscribers say they’ve been with their current provider for at least 4 years, up from 46% who reported the same in early 2008.

59% of cell phone subscribers say they’ve been with their current provider for at least 4 years

Click here to learn more about obtaining vivid consumer research from Experian Simmons and don’t forget to check back here for new blog posts on mobile consumers.

 As smart phone adoption grows, activities not possible in recent history will continue to become the norm. Ten percent of the American population has performed a shopping-related activity including researching products and comparing prices. The most common items consumers want to buy via their cell phones are tickets to movies and events, travel services and games/toys.

“The number is just a fraction of the population, but being that it’s such an early trend, it’s got a lot of room to grow, “ John Fetto, senior marketing manager for Experian Simmons told Aaron Baar from Marketing Daily.
Consumers want to use their phones to make a purchase. As of May 23, 2011, 15 percent of all adult mobile phone owners were interested in a service that would allow them to make a purchase in a store, up from 10 percent in February 2009.

Read the full interview between John Fetto and Media Post’s Marketing Daily: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=155586.

Download a copy of the newly released 2011 Mobile report from Experian Simmons.

Today’s mobile phone users (91 percent of Americans) represent a potential pool of customers for saavy retailers.

For marketers, this means getting ahead of the curve and understanding how consumers are categorized by phone use, how each category uses the technology and how marketers can best connect with prospects and customers.
“While not all mobile phone users are buying products and services through a mobile phone, they are using the devices to shop in ways that can lead to purchases in stores, or through ecommerce sites,” said John Fetto, Experian Simmons senior marketing manager. “A retailer must understand the dynamics of these customer segments in order to devise an effective mobile strategy.”

John spoke with Internet Retailer and discussed the 2011 Mobile Consumer Report and what it means to marketers. Read the full interview here: http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/08/02/33-million-consumers-shop-mobile-phone.

A big part of a successful back-to-school email marketing program is knowing the best time to start promotions; what types of mailings will drive the most customer response; and how to capitalize on peak times of buying interest on a more granular, or product, level.

Back-to-School mailings with offers in the subject line had 69 percent higher transaction rates than those without offers.

According to a new analysis, major email marketing trends and opportunities for driving back-to-school retail sales, include:

• September shows a higher proportion of back-to-school supply promotions in comparison to apparel.
• Search queries including “back to school” have increased each year for the past three years.
• Back-to-School mailings with offers in the subject line had 69 percent higher transaction rates than those without offers. (This is noteworthy given the fact that during last holiday season, for example, campaigns with offers in the subject line provided an average 20 percent lift in transactions).
• And more…

Click here to view all findings in the new white paper, 
Back to School Countdown: The A,B,C’s of preparing your email programs for the big day