👉 Must-read predictions for BFCM 2021

Essence of Email Weekly Essence of Email Weekly [Essence of Email]( [Read in Browser]( [Essence of Email Weekly September 24, 2021]( Hello, email marketing community! 👋🏻 Autumn is here! ‘Tis the time for sweaters, old Coldplay albums, pumpkin spice lattes, and… holiday preparations! All of us in the email marketing industry know just how important it is to start prepping for Cyber Week on time. And with iOS privacy changes and the new trends BFCM set last year, we might be in for an interesting holiday period. That’s why we’ve compiled another Essence of Email Quarterly report! In this edition, we’re going to take a look at Q3 2021 and provide lots of resources to help you prepare for a successful Q4. From list cleaning and segmentation to campaign and flow holiday strategy and deliverability tips, we’ve covered every aspect of email marketing to help eCommerce businesses have a successful holiday season. We’re rolling it out next Friday, so make sure you check your inboxes on October 1. Stay tuned! 💌 ECOMMERCE BFCM predictions for 2021 [Blog Image]( Source: Tenor With the holiday season coming up, [RetailMeNot]( surveyed over 1,000 U.S. consumers to discover [the top 2021 holiday trends]( and try to predict what will change in comparison to last year. According to the survey, this year consumers will spend $885 on average on holiday shopping. That’s up $120 from the 2020 average. Most of them will shop for apparel/clothing (58%), gift cards (54%), toys (40%), small electronics (smartphones, smartwatches, headphones: 38%), food and beverage (food baskets, wine, liquor: 36%), jewelry (32%), makeup and skincare (29%), and large electronics (TVs, laptops, gaming consoles: 26%). In addition, 83% say they’ll get started their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, with the majority (24%) starting in November. More than half (51%) of their shopping will be online while 49% will be in stores. In comparison, in 2020 about 56% said they’d prefer to shop online. But when can they find better sales? Should they shoot for Black Friday or Cyber Monday? And what’s [the difference]( between the two? Black Friday originated from the need to extend sales the day after Thanksgiving when everyone is off from work and eager to spend time and money on shopping. Cyber Monday originated as Black Friday’s counterpart. People who wanted to avoid long lines in brick-and-mortar stores could wait for Monday and do their shopping online. But recently, the line between the two has blurred. Both days offer both live and online offers, and the sales have also extended from Thanksgiving through the Monday after the holiday — also known as “Cyber 5’’. According to some, Cyber Monday edges out Black Friday for “the highest overall discounts online’’, and typically hosts the deepest promotions of any other day during Cyber 5. However, Black Friday has the holiday factor, which might be easier for those in the workforce who don’t have time for shopping during work hours. When it comes to sales, Cyber Monday typically outperforms Black Friday. Black Friday raked in [$9 billion in 2020](, while Cyber Monday hit $10.8 billion, making it the largest online shopping day in U.S. history. What’s it gonna be this year? Stay tuned! DIGITAL MARKETING Apple’s update is here [Blog Image]( Source: Tenor It’s official: Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection feature went into effect on Monday, September 20. In the unlikely case anyone forgot, the update will nullify tracking emails (open rates) on Apple devices. And while a lot of email marketers went into full panic mode, some welcomed the change and are much more enthusiastic about it. Ryan Phelan, co-founder of [RPEOrigin.com]( and the Chairman Emeritus of the Email Experience Council Advisory Board argues this is a good thing that will teach marketers to focus on more important metrics, as open rates were far too insignificant, unreliable, and outdated to begin with. In [MarTech’s blog](, he differentiates between the tactics and the strategy marketers will need to find workarounds and do without the metric. [Others]( agree iOS 15 isn’t necessarily the end of the world, but merely the latest update in a series of steps towards the end of third-party data tracking, which will push advertisers to rely more heavily on first-party data. When it comes to the changes the update has caused, recommendations include removing unresponsive contacts from the lists and starting performance testing to “better navigate in a world void of opens”. Others are recommending stepping up their own first-party data and prioritizing opt-in messaging. This means users can choose if they’d like to receive emails from advertisers and therefore, advertisers can personalize messages so users are more likely to interact. From here, it will be all about clicks and conversions. To find out more about cleaning up your list and how to track, segment, and send to Apple devices this holiday season, make sure to check out our Quarterly report which will be out next Friday! EMAIL MARKETING Too many tools in the shed? [Blog Image]( Source: Tenor [MediaPost]( reports that marketers are using too many tools and integrations, according to [The State of Martech](. This can have a negative impact on results. It’s especially tricky for email marketing teams “since email is the top tool used by both marketing and sales.’’ Overall, 83% agree that consolidating tools would increase their efficiency. And consolidating tools we are! Litmus, the app providing web-based email testing and tracking solutions, [has formed an integration]( with the Adobe Experience Cloud application that helps B2C brands create and test emails. According to [Litmus](, 60% of companies have four or more people involved in email reviews and approvals (a 52% increase from the previous year). Consequently, 50% of marketers said optimizing their email workflow is a priority. The goal of this integration is to “provide marketers with everything they need to optimize and streamline their email testing and development processes so they can focus on delivering even more personalized, value-driving email campaigns,” said Melissa Sargeant, CMO of Litmus. Similarly, [Stensul](, the email creation platform, [has integrated]( with Slack and Teams to make “email creation activities directly shareable through the major collaboration platforms.’’ This will have a positive impact on stakeholder engagement and feedback and will make the optimization process quicker and easier. Email creation can indeed be a long and complicated process, especially if you’re handling it internally. That’s why you might want to let the pros do it while you focus on other important matters. Tempted? Shoot us a message at info@essenceofemail.com to see how we can help. 😉 EMAIL DESIGN INSPO It’s all in the details… 🐶 [Blog Image]( Source: Sniff & Bark Every successful brand knows just how important it is to strategically [plan an email template]( so that it contains all the right elements in all the right places. This increases the chances of clicks and conversions and can really help a brand make a profit. But once that’s done, the focus should be placed on details, too, as they can bring an email to life. This is crucial for building a brand and establishing connections with the audience. Pops of color, animations, gifs, and icons can refresh an email and make miracles! Let’s take a look at this perfect example by [Sniff & Bark](. This is the first email in their Welcome sequence, where they did a pretty good job on the copy, visuals, and brand introduction. [Blog Image]( But our heart goes towards the bottom of the email, just above the footer. Just look at it: a simple yet extremely effective GIF of a dog spinning grabs our attention and points us towards an important message: that Sniff & Bark donates a percentage of every purchase to pups in need. The small, colorful icons (which are also GIFs) provide additional information on the product without taking up too much space. This little corner of the email creates a sense of warmth and says a lot about the brand and its values. 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