Slow Emails Volume 4
Missed a slow email? Catch up below.
Subject Line: Slow for some, fast if you just signed up
A slow email that probably took longer than it should to write, and send.
As always, I break my email up into two sections:
Throwing Rocks in which I throw metaphorical rocks at email-related topics and break down concepts with said rocks. To be clear, this is not meant to be negative in any sense, and is meant to raise questions of "is this update really that bad?" or find answers to "should I be sending a newsletter because everyone else is?".
Cool Tools - meant to be self-explanatory in nature and highlights great email tools that have caught my eye over the past month or so.
Throwing Rocks
a. Countdown timers
Did you know that these are no longer accurate? Because of Apple's latest update causing the mail app to pre-fetch content from a server only once at the time of delivery instead of open, countdown timers on iOS15 and macOS Monterey will no longer update in real-time. My favourite tools from Sendtric, Nifty Images, and Zembula that I've used to enrich emails and create buzz will simply start to look broken and ridiculous in my emails now. If you're looking for how to update your engagement strategies in line with MPP, check out BEE's article by Jen Capstraw which also features a shout-out to my expanded explanation on why Countdown Timers are dead here.
b. Shared frustrations
Email marketers have to collaborate closely with Analytics, Content teams, Paid Acquisition teams, Ops, PMM and other Marketing teams in order to launch campaigns. With more cooks in the kitchen, comes more bureaucracy, opinions, and longer timelines. So what common headaches do we as email marketers share? I'm running a Twitter poll right now until October 8th, 2021 because I want to gather insight into the hurdles we all face, and also feel better about some consistent migraines. Let me know what you think by voting, or replying with your biggest roadblocks.
I realize that this CTA has way too many words and I wouldn't recommend any brand to ever take this approach, but luckily this is my newsletter so we do what we want here.
Vote for your favourite headache in my Twitter poll
Cool Tools & Other Cool Stuff
a. Web-browser push notifications
Why aren't more brands priming for the native prompt before asking users to opt-in? When I worked at Braze as an Onboarding Manager, a lot of clients were hesitant to adopt web-browser push (the equivalent of mobile push). In my opinion, it's a completely under-valued channel, and similar to SMS, once users begin to opt into it, the ROI could be huge. I'm working on some research for brands that do prime subscribers with value, or education before prompting the native opt-in, and would love if you (or my other 60-subscribers) have seen any great examples. Can you reply back if so? One that I really liked was Machete - although not displaying the value, provided education on how to enable them.
It just looks good?
b. Nightmare at Email Camp
On October 26th, I will be speaking at Nightmare at Email Camp, can you attend? My topic is titled "Don't spook your subscriber: how to retain a SaaS subscriber for the long haul" (very scary theme) - and I get to partake virtually alongside a fantastic group of industry-leading experts across this three-day event that will span topics of strategy, deliverability, and all the technical things that go right over my head. You can register here.
c. Notion
My favorite project management tool is offering a 1k credit to startup teams - how cool is that! More here.
d. CARI, or Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute
This website aggregates and names different Consumer Aesthetic trends and the time they were popular. Really cool to see some of the trends be defined so distinctly, and be given a name.
e. Elevate your Zoom background
We're 18 months into WFH. We're tired of seeing the Golden Gate Bridge on zoom.
Ok... happy Saturday! Until another time,
Naomi :)