Email Creative March Madness: Final Four

By now, you're familiar with my Creative Cage Match posts, in which I throw two emails into the cage and one comes out a winner. Today, I'm going to mix up my sports metaphors to bring you Email Creative March Madness. Since launching Sass Marketing, I have hosted four Creative Cage Matches, which makes for a perfect mini-bracket. The winners from those four matches — the Final Four — are competing today head-on with NEW creative in two separate games. Then next Tuesday I'll host the Email Creative March Madness National Championship. There are five areas to score points, and scores are as follows: 0 points: Dude you missed! 2 points: Nice shot! 3 points: You're totally going pro! Game 1: Food vs. Makeup GrubHub was the winner of the first Creative Cage Match. Hailed as the “nation’s leading online and mobile food ordering company,” GrubHub's original CCM performance impressed me with it's multi-part drip campaign, sassy copy, entertaining design, and well-written subject lines and preheader text. This email, sent March 13, starts with the subject line: "Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with Grubhub." It's to the point ... and not much else. Surprisingly, despite preheaders of the past, this email skips it altogether. The St. Patrick's day icons are whimsical and eye-catching, while keeping things from being too busy. Possibly the best part of the email is that Grubhub identified a handful of restaurants near my apartment, and gave me a brief overview, including: restaurant name, cuisine, delivery charge, minimum order and address. Following each is a "View Menu" call-to-action button, as well as a photo of a menu item. I appreciate the quick "snapshot" that lets me make my ordering decision that much easier. Grubhub's Points Subject line: 0 Preheader text: 0 Copy: 2 Call to action: 2 Overall design: 2 Total: 6 points Up against Gruhub is Birchbox, the most recent Creative Cage Match winner who swept with its solid content marketing via email. This beauty subscription box loved by millions kept things simple and straightforward with its original winning email, letting the tutorial video do all the talking. I received this email on March 16, with the subject line: "Sneak Preview! Your April Box Options" (Trust me, the hibiscus emoji wasn't as huge as it's displaying here). As a Birchbox subscriber, this is exactly the kind of subject line I look for every month. The inclusion of the emoji was cute, and also a nice way to make the email stand out in a sea of black text (especially since it's a brightly colored flower). The preheader text echoes the subject line, but is personalized with my name: "Melissa, we're revealing the customization options for your April Box." It's also a clickable link, taking you to the Web page that includes the monthly reveal video. The email design borrows a border from the Rifle Paper Co. Botanical Notebook + Notepad Set — an April featured item — and includes a image of Lorelei and Rachel, two Birchbox ladies who subscribers are very used to seeing in our inboxes. Birchbox's copy, as usual, gets to the point, supporting the "Reveal My Choices" call-to-action button. I mean, seriously ... who's going to pass up clicking through and finding out more info?! Birchbox's Points Subject line: 2 Preheader text: 3 Copy: 2 Call to action: 2 Overall design: 2 Total: 11 points Gruhub vs. Birchbox Final Score: 6 to 11 Oh wow ... we have a clear winner in Game 1, with Birchbox wiping up the court with Grubhub. It was the subject line and preheader that provided the clear advantage in this situation. Game 2: Retro Dresses vs. Scotch Late last year, retro clothing e-tailer Lindy Bop knocked IKEA right out of its Creative Cage Match thanks to clean design and solid calls to action. Lindy Bop also included emojis in its subject line, which, when they're visible is a nice touch, but tcan be missed if they don't render properly, so keep that in mind. The subject line for the March 21 email read " Mid-Season Sale is here " Not the most scintillating of subject lines, but what convinced me to click through was the preheader, "BESTSELLERS NOW UP TO 35% OFF." Even more interesting, I figured out that Lindy Bop was using a hidden preheader, because it does not show up on the actual email, but it's clearly visible in my inbox. As always, Lindy Bop's product images are great, and showing the original price — as well as discounted price — truly drives home the bargain shoppers are getting. There isn't a ton of copy, but I do like the personalized line: "Melissa, You're Welcome ;)" It's cute, playful, and very on-brand for the e-tailer. The calls to action follow each item, as well as the clickable main image boasting the sale, which takes you to the sale page. Lindy Bop's Points Subject line: 0 Preheader text: 3 Copy: 2 Call to action: 2 Overall design: 2 Total: 9 points Up against Lindy Bop is my favorite scotch whisky distillery, LaPhroaig, and winner of the 2016 best birthday email CCM. LaPhroaig hit all the right notes with its personalized birthday card and discount for my big 3-4 in January. LaPhroaig emails very selectively. As in, this is the most recent email I received from them, and it's from Jan. 25. "Nothing Says Sláinte Like Burns Night and a Single Malt Scotch Whisky" reads the subject line. Okay, Burns Night might be a bit too niche for most, but my bet is if you drink scotch, you're familiar with it. The preheader, unfortunately, echoes the same old tired "Having trouble ..." which is a shame, given all the fun Robert Burns' lines they could have used. The email is text heavy, and the design is a bit cramped. I appreciate sharing the bottle image, but maybe it could have been sized down a smidge to let the text breathe. In celebration of Burns Night, the distillery had current Scottish poet Elvis McGonagall deliver an ode to LaPhroaig, in the style of Burns, in a YouTube video. It's amusing, and worth a watch. That said, looking over the email, you notice there isn't a clear call to action. Does LaPhroaig just want to share the video? Or am I supposed to do something else? https://youtu.be/NTHB7_ILleg LaPhroaig's Points Subject line: 2 Preheader text: 0 Copy: 2 Call to action: 0 Overall design: 0 Total: 4 points Lindy Bop vs. LaPhroaig Final Score: 9 to 4 Again, a clear winner, and proof that you need to give your audience clear calls to action, and an airy design never hurts. Check back next week when Birchbox and Lindy Bop go head to head in the National Championship round. New creative will be selected, email components will be judged and there will be only one winner!

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Email Creative March Madness: Final Four

Melissa Ward

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Melissa Ward