En BestofEmailSwipeFile

201 3 e h t f o t s e B e T

l i a m E e p i w S File

On their own, the examples on the following pages are inspiring and thought-provoking. However, together they represent ve trends that dene where great email marketing design is headed:

Te Best of the

Email Swipe File

Mobile-Friendly The wide screens of desktops are being rapidly replaced by more modest tablet screens and challengingly small smartphone screens, and the pixel-precision of mice is being replaced by ngers on touchscreens. This transition is having a dramatic effect on email design and ushering in a variety of new tactics.

Personalization

A swipe le is a record of your top-performing campaigns that you return to for learnings and ideas. It was this concept that inspired us to create the Email Swipe File on Pinterest, Pinterest , where we share the emails and landing pages that excite and impress us. In this report, we highlight the 20 examples from the pinboard that we most hope you’ll steal, test, and make your own. Explore bonus Swipe File content online

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In the era of email engagement, greater relevancy has become imperative. Personalization is one of the key ways that marketers can make their messages more personally relevant to their subscribers.

Triggered Sophistication Triggered emails are among the most successful emails you’ll ever send. Their outsized ROI has inspired some marketers to explore ways to make them ever better—with better—with longer campaigns, smarter content, and better triggers.

Editorial Voice Content marketing is having a major inuence on product marketers, who are realizing that advice, tips, and customer inclusion create more engaging emails with fewer discounts.

Kristina Huffman Design Practice Lead ExactTarget @ETDesign

Inspired Fundamentals While marketers are constantly gaining new tools to make their emails more effective, they shouldn’t forget the f undamental design tactics that have continued to be effective for years.

Mobile-Friendly

Kickstarter Type: Promotional email Send Date: January 8, 2013 Subject Line: The Best of Kickstarter 2012

View the Kickstarter email on Pinterest View similar pins:

Tumblr

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→

Meetup →

Te email is super simple and super straightforward. With a headline, three sentences, and a threecharacter call-to-action, the email provokes interest and propels the subscriber to the rich, slideshow landing page. - Chris Studabaker, Regional Manager

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The Best of the Email Swipe File

pinterest.com/exacttarget/email-swipe-file •

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Mobile-Friendly

Kickstarter Type: Promotional email Send Date: January 8, 2013 Subject Line: The Best of Kickstarter 2012

View the Kickstarter email on Pinterest View similar pins:

Tumblr

→

→

Meetup →

Te email is super simple and super straightforward. With a headline, three sentences, and a threecharacter call-to-action, the email provokes interest and propels the subscriber to the rich, slideshow landing page. - Chris Studabaker, Regional Manager

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Mobile-Friendly

TOMS Shoes Type: Promotional email Send Date: April 12, 2013 Subject Line: New Ballet Flats & free shipping on all orders!

View the TOMS email on Pinterest View similar pins:

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Starwood →

REI →

UGG

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Te really interesting thing about OMS’ use of responsive design in this email is that the hero image is animated only in the narrow screen version, with the shoes changing as the feet push back and forth. Tey are serving up a mobile-sized gif instead of cramming a desktop-sized gif onto a mobile screen, keeping load time as quick as possible. - Kristina Huffman, Design Practice Lead

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Mobile-Friendly

TOMS Shoes Type: Promotional email Send Date: April 12, 2013 Subject Line: New Ballet Flats & free shipping on all orders!

View the TOMS email on Pinterest View similar pins:

→

Starwood →

REI →

UGG

→

Te really interesting thing about OMS’ use of responsive design in this email is that the hero image is animated only in the narrow screen version, with the shoes changing as the feet push back and forth. Tey are serving up a mobile-sized gif instead of cramming a desktop-sized gif onto a mobile screen, keeping load time as quick as possible. - Kristina Huffman, Design Practice Lead

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Mobile-Friendly

Moosejaw Type: Promotional email Send Date: January 7, 2013 Subject Line: It worked for Obama...

View the Moosejaw email on Pinterest View similar pins:

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Icelandic Tourism Board →

A catchy, intriguing, topical subject line introduces a mobile-friendly, plain-text email that’s well-suited to convey the concise message. Both this email and the text-heavy emails of the campaign season are reminders that plain text can still be very effective, particularly in the age of mobile. - Laura Earley, Associate Designer

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Mobile-Friendly

Moosejaw Type: Promotional email Send Date: January 7, 2013 Subject Line: It worked for Obama...

View the Moosejaw email on Pinterest View similar pins:

→

Icelandic Tourism Board →

A catchy, intriguing, topical subject line introduces a mobile-friendly, plain-text email that’s well-suited to convey the concise message. Both this email and the text-heavy emails of the campaign season are reminders that plain text can still be very effective, particularly in the age of mobile. - Laura Earley, Associate Designer

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Mobile-Friendly

Reiss Type: Promotional email Send Date: April 14, 2013 Subject Line: Textured Summer Knits + London Lives Video

View the Reiss email on Pinterest →

Designed in nice screen-sized chunks with large images and big buttons, this “mobile aware” email is perfect for tablets, but still functional on smartphones. Unlike many brands, this UK retailer also made their navigation bars at the top and bottom of their email mobile-friendly. - Abul Kashim Siddique, Senior Design Consultant

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Mobile-Friendly

Reiss Type: Promotional email Send Date: April 14, 2013 Subject Line: Textured Summer Knits + London Lives Video

View the Reiss email on Pinterest →

Designed in nice screen-sized chunks with large images and big buttons, this “mobile aware” email is perfect for tablets, but still functional on smartphones. Unlike many brands, this UK retailer also made their navigation bars at the top and bottom of their email mobile-friendly. - Abul Kashim Siddique, Senior Design Consultant

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Personalization

Jetsetter Type: Preference center

View the Jetsetter preference center on Pinterest → View similar pins:

Fab.com →

Jetsetter’s preference center collects subscriber preferences for ‘Destinations’, ‘Activities’, and ‘Scenes’, all of which are vital to creating highly targeted travel offers. Teir preference center also addresses three of the most common reasons that subscribers opt out—too many emails, irrelevant emails, and change of address. - Andrea Smith Design Lead, Content Marketing & Research

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Personalization

Jetsetter Type: Preference center

View the Jetsetter preference center on Pinterest → View similar pins:

Fab.com →

Jetsetter’s preference center collects subscriber preferences for ‘Destinations’, ‘Activities’, and ‘Scenes’, all of which are vital to creating highly targeted travel offers. Teir preference center also addresses three of the most common reasons that subscribers opt out—too many emails, irrelevant emails, and change of address. - Andrea Smith Design Lead, Content Marketing & Research

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Personalization

Fitbit Type: Notifcation Send Date: April 23, 2013 Subject Line: Your Weekly Progress Report in Fitbit!

View the Fitbit email on Pinterest → View similar pins:

LinkedIn

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Trough their wireless trackers, scales, and mobile tools, Fitbit collects a lot of information about their users’ activities, diet, and sleep. o keep your progress top of mind, Fitbit sends you a summary of your stats from the past week. Tey also email you notifications when you earn badges for reaching certain milestones. - Hannah Kleyn, Design Consultant

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Personalization

Fitbit Type: Notifcation Send Date: April 23, 2013 Subject Line: Your Weekly Progress Report in Fitbit!

View the Fitbit email on Pinterest → View similar pins:

LinkedIn

→

Trough their wireless trackers, scales, and mobile tools, Fitbit collects a lot of information about their users’ activities, diet, and sleep. o keep your progress top of mind, Fitbit sends you a summary of your stats from the past week. Tey also email you notifications when you earn badges for reaching certain milestones. - Hannah Kleyn, Design Consultant

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Personalization

Lowe’s Type: Progressive profling email Send Date: March 13, 2013 Subject Line: Version 1: Personalize your savings this spring Version 2: A Quick Question to Customize Your Emails View the Lowe’s email on Pinterest →

Looking to gather data to power some segmented seasonal messaging, Lowe’s sent this tablet-friendly progressive profiling email asking subscribers about their plans for the spring. Te home improvement retailer geo-targeted the email to areas where spring had arrived and also ran a subject line A/B test to better understand what would compel the most subscribers to provide more information about themselves. - Amanda Monroe, Associate Designer

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Personalization

Lowe’s Type: Progressive profling email Send Date: March 13, 2013 Subject Line: Version 1: Personalize your savings this spring Version 2: A Quick Question to Customize Your Emails View the Lowe’s email on Pinterest →

Looking to gather data to power some segmented seasonal messaging, Lowe’s sent this tablet-friendly progressive profiling email asking subscribers about their plans for the spring. Te home improvement retailer geo-targeted the email to areas where spring had arrived and also ran a subject line A/B test to better understand what would compel the most subscribers to provide more information about themselves. - Amanda Monroe, Associate Designer

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Personalization

IVCi Type: Promotional email Send Date: Q2 2013 Subject Line: IVCi conversation

View the IVCi email on Pinterest

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While most emails work best as HML emails, we’ve found that drip emails are the most successful when they’re in a rich text format, which makes them appear as though they’re a one-to-one communication between a sales rep and a prospect. his email from IVCi is short, conversational, and includes a personalized signature to enhance the impression that the email is coming directly from a sales rep. - Mathew Sweezey, Marketing Evangelist

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Personalization

IVCi Type: Promotional email Send Date: Q2 2013 Subject Line: IVCi conversation

View the IVCi email on Pinterest

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While most emails work best as HML emails, we’ve found that drip emails are the most successful when they’re in a rich text format, which makes them appear as though they’re a one-to-one communication between a sales rep and a prospect. his email from IVCi is short, conversational, and includes a personalized signature to enhance the impression that the email is coming directly from a sales rep. - Mathew Sweezey, Marketing Evangelist

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Welcome 1 Triggered Sophistication

Welcome 4

Zulily Type: Welcome email series Subject Lines: Welcome 1: Get shopping credit! Invite your pals to join zulily too Welcome 2: Go ahead ... play favorites Welcome 3: Anytime. Anywhere. Take zulily with you. Welcome 4: Calling all social butteries Welcome 5: Smart shopping is your superpower

Welcome 2

View the Zulily series on Pinterest → Welcome 5

Welcome 3

View similar pins:

Target

→

Crate & Barrel →

With the vast majority of marketers still sending a single welcome email, Zulily is well ahead of the curve with this five-email welcome series that seeks a closer relationship with new subscribers b y asking for referrals, asking about their favorite brands, and promoting their mobile app and social presence. - Andrea Smith Design Lead, Content Marketing & Research

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Welcome 1 Triggered Sophistication

Welcome 4

Zulily Type: Welcome email series Subject Lines: Welcome 1: Get shopping credit! Invite your pals to join zulily too Welcome 2: Go ahead ... play favorites Welcome 3: Anytime. Anywhere. Take zulily with you. Welcome 4: Calling all social butteries Welcome 5: Smart shopping is your superpower

Welcome 2

View the Zulily series on Pinterest → Welcome 5

Welcome 3

View similar pins:

Target

→

Crate & Barrel →

With the vast majority of marketers still sending a single welcome email, Zulily is well ahead of the curve with this five-email welcome series that seeks a closer relationship with new subscribers b y asking for referrals, asking about their favorite brands, and promoting their mobile app and social presence. - Andrea Smith Design Lead, Content Marketing & Research

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Triggered Sophistication

Foursquare Type: Welcome home triggered email Send Date: March 2013 Subject Line: Welcome back from your trip! How was it?

View the Foursquare email on Pinterest

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Not only does this email use responsive design to target Foursquare’s highly mobile users, it is triggered by check-in patterns that involve airports and locations outside of my normal stomping grounds. - Kristina Huffman, Design Practice Lead

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Foursquare Type: Welcome home triggered email Send Date: March 2013 Subject Line: Welcome back from your trip! How was it?

View the Foursquare email on Pinterest

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Not only does this email use responsive design to target Foursquare’s highly mobile users, it is triggered by check-in patterns that involve airports and locations outside of my normal stomping grounds. - Kristina Huffman, Design Practice Lead

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Crutchfeld Type: Browse abandonment email Send Date: November 2012 Subject Line: Digital SLR Cameras: Our top picks View the Crutchfeld email on Pinterest →

Tis browse abandonment email tries to get at the reason why you didn’t purchase in the same way that a good store associate would. It features the product you browsed, but then also suggests a new arr ival, featured price drop, top-seller, and customer favorite in case you were looking for the newest product, the best deal, or social validation. - Chad White, Principal of Marketing Research

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Crutchfeld Type: Browse abandonment email Send Date: November 2012 Subject Line: Digital SLR Cameras: Our top picks View the Crutchfeld email on Pinterest →

Tis browse abandonment email tries to get at the reason why you didn’t purchase in the same way that a good store associate would. It features the product you browsed, but then also suggests a new arr ival, featured price drop, top-seller, and customer favorite in case you were looking for the newest product, the best deal, or social validation. - Chad White, Principal of Marketing Research

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Editorial Voice

Twitter Type: Promotional email Send Date: December 20, 2012 Subject Line: See the most popular Tweet of 2012

View the Twitter campaign on Pinterest

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Tis email does a great job of drawing you in. Te subject line makes you wonder what the top tweet was, and the email makes you wonder which of the topics shown was the top tweet, all with the goal of enticing you to click through. - Chris Studabaker, Regional Manager

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View similar pins:

Barnes & Noble

Editorial Voice

Twitter Type: Promotional email Send Date: December 20, 2012 Subject Line: See the most popular Tweet of 2012

View the Twitter campaign on Pinterest

→

Tis email does a great job of drawing you in. Te subject line makes you wonder what the top tweet was, and the email makes you wonder which of the topics shown was the top tweet, all with the goal of enticing you to click through. - Chris Studabaker, Regional Manager

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View similar pins:

Barnes & Noble



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Editorial Voice

J.Crew Type: Gender-segmented email Send Date: July 1, 2012 Subject Line: Female Version: My favorite summer whites Male Version: Shoes are re quired. Socks are not.

View the J.Crew emails on Pinterest View similar pins:

→

Neiman Marcus →

NFL Shop →

More marketers are taking a “content first” approach to selling. Tis J. Crew email does an excellent job of leading with advice on etiquette and style to build trust and to give their subscribers the confidence to move forward with purchases. - Mike Diekhoff, Design Consultant

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Editorial Voice

J.Crew Type: Gender-segmented email Send Date: July 1, 2012 Subject Line: Female Version: My favorite summer whites Male Version: Shoes are re quired. Socks are not.

View the J.Crew emails on Pinterest View similar pins:

→

Neiman Marcus →

NFL Shop →

More marketers are taking a “content first” approach to selling. Tis J. Crew email does an excellent job of leading with advice on etiquette and style to build trust and to give their subscribers the confidence to move forward with purchases. - Mike Diekhoff, Design Consultant

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Editorial Voice

Pandora Type: Promotional email Send Date: April 12, 2013 Subject Line: Thanks to You: 200 Million Strong

View the Pandora email on Pinterest → View similar pins:

JetBlue

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Barnes & Noble

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Infographics were the biggest new trend in B2B marketing last year. his year we’re seeing infographics make their mark on B2C marketing, as in this Pandora email, which includes interesting figures on their growth .

- Chris Studabaker, Regional Manager

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Editorial Voice

Pandora Type: Promotional email Send Date: April 12, 2013 Subject Line: Thanks to You: 200 Million Strong

View the Pandora email on Pinterest → View similar pins:

JetBlue

→

Barnes & Noble

→

Infographics were the biggest new trend in B2B marketing last year. his year we’re seeing infographics make their mark on B2C marketing, as in this Pandora email, which includes interesting figures on their growth .

- Chris Studabaker, Regional Manager

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Editorial Voice

Levi’s Type: Promotional email Send Date: April 9, 2013 Subject Line: Denim Die-Hards View the Levi’s campaign on Pinterest →

Partnering with fashion website Refinery29 to get their interpretation of 501 jeans for the photo gallery presentation in this email is just the beginning of this social-driven campaign. Subscribers are asked, “What’s your interpretation?” and encouraged to upload photos of themselves st yling 501s, and ultimately asked to vote on a Pinterest-inspired landing page to determine which finalist is the winner. - Tana Babcock, Design Consultant

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Editorial Voice

Levi’s Type: Promotional email Send Date: April 9, 2013 Subject Line: Denim Die-Hards View the Levi’s campaign on Pinterest →

Partnering with fashion website Refinery29 to get their interpretation of 501 jeans for the photo gallery presentation in this email is just the beginning of this social-driven campaign. Subscribers are asked, “What’s your interpretation?” and encouraged to upload photos of themselves st yling 501s, and ultimately asked to vote on a Pinterest-inspired landing page to determine which finalist is the winner. - Tana Babcock, Design Consultant

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Animation Inspired Fundamentals

Havaianas Australia Type: Promotional email Send Date: April 18, 2013 Subject Line: Disney for BIG Kids!

View the Havaianas Australia email on Pinterest View similar pins:

Home Depot →

→

Bed Bath & Beyond →

his Australian sandal-maker did a great job of recognizing a wonderful opportunity to use animation in a delightful way, making clever use of the Cheshire Cat’s penchant for mostly disappearing. - Lindsey O’Donnell, Design Consultant

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Animation Inspired Fundamentals

Havaianas Australia Type: Promotional email Send Date: April 18, 2013 Subject Line: Disney for BIG Kids!

View the Havaianas Australia email on Pinterest View similar pins:

Home Depot →

→

Bed Bath & Beyond →

his Australian sandal-maker did a great job of recognizing a wonderful opportunity to use animation in a delightful way, making clever use of the Cheshire Cat’s penchant for mostly disappearing. - Lindsey O’Donnell, Design Consultant

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Inspired Fundamentals

Jack Spade Type: Promotional email Send Date: March 21, 2013 Subject Line: Watch Out! $98 Graphic Watches Are In

View the Jack Spade email on Pinterest View similar pins:

Sephora

→

→

Jonathan Adler →

Clean simplicity is the new sweet spot for email design and this email delivers by keeping the headline and call-to-action above the fold and using a mix of illustration and product shots to intrigue and get subscribers scrolling. - Anna Meier, Design Consultant

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Jack Spade Type: Promotional email Send Date: March 21, 2013 Subject Line: Watch Out! $98 Graphic Watches Are In

View the Jack Spade email on Pinterest View similar pins:

Sephora

→

→

Jonathan Adler →

Clean simplicity is the new sweet spot for email design and this email delivers by keeping the headline and call-to-action above the fold and using a mix of illustration and product shots to intrigue and get subscribers scrolling. - Anna Meier, Design Consultant

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CB2 Type: Promotional email Send Date: December 1, 2012 Subject Line: get her this

View the CB2 email on Pinterest View similar pins:

→

Canadian Tourism →

Tiffany & Co. →

Gift guides are a major selling tool during the holiday season. CB2 takes this concept and turns it into a fun, interactive decision tree that all starts with rating the gift-recipient on a scale of 1 to 10. It’s hard to resist following every path to its recommended gift. - Ryan Alvis, Design Consultant

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CB2 Type: Promotional email Send Date: December 1, 2012 Subject Line: get her this

View the CB2 email on Pinterest View similar pins:

→

Canadian Tourism →

Tiffany & Co. →

Gift guides are a major selling tool during the holiday season. CB2 takes this concept and turns it into a fun, interactive decision tree that all starts with rating the gift-recipient on a scale of 1 to 10. It’s hard to resist following every path to its recommended gift. - Ryan Alvis, Design Consultant

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Anthropologie Type: Promotional email Send Date: March 15, 2013 Subject Line: Denim on the rise | Free shipping

View the Anthropologie email on Pinterest View similar pins:

Lands’ End →

→

The White House →

Tis email proves the adage that a picture’s worth a thousand words by making it super easy to see at a glance the difference between Anthropologie’s different denim styles. For good measure, they also include some words, offering advice on what to wear with each style. - Chad White, Principal of Marketing Research

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Anthropologie Type: Promotional email Send Date: March 15, 2013 Subject Line: Denim on the rise | Free shipping

View the Anthropologie email on Pinterest View similar pins:

Lands’ End →

→

The White House →

Tis email proves the adage that a picture’s worth a thousand words by making it super easy to see at a glance the difference between Anthropologie’s different denim styles. For good measure, they also include some words, offering advice on what to wear with each style. - Chad White, Principal of Marketing Research

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Images off Inspired Fundamentals

Bendon Lingerie Type: Promotional email Send Date: May 8, 2013 Subject Line: Something extra for you: buy any 2 items, get the 3rd free.

View the Bendon Lingerie email on Pinterest View similar pins:

Mothercare →

→

Orbitz →

Images on

Rather than seeing image blocking as an obstacle, this Australian lingerie retailer saw it as an opportunity to use a mosaic of color blocked table grids to send a simple heart-sha ped message. While many marketers use mosaics to emulate the images-on creative, Bendon Lingerie chose not to be limited by that. - Kirk Barlow, Senior Deliverability & Marketing Consultant

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Images off Inspired Fundamentals

Bendon Lingerie Type: Promotional email Send Date: May 8, 2013 Subject Line: Something extra for you: buy any 2 items, get the 3rd free.

View the Bendon Lingerie email on Pinterest View similar pins:

Mothercare →

→

Orbitz →

Images on

Rather than seeing image blocking as an obstacle, this Australian lingerie retailer saw it as an opportunity to use a mosaic of color blocked table grids to send a simple heart-sha ped message. While many marketers use mosaics to emulate the images-on creative, Bendon Lingerie chose not to be limited by that. - Kirk Barlow, Senior Deliverability & Marketing Consultant

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