Trends [October] This Month in Email Marketing: Rendering, Blocking, and Holidays

The hotel email marketing landscape is changing quickly. Here’s what you need to know.

Outlook 2016 Email Rendering Issues
“Outlook 2016 is finally here! And we already wish we could send it back for a webkit version. But we can’t. So here are a few coding challenges and workarounds to help you reduce the desire to break your keyboard in half and ragequit. You’ll notice that many of these were issues with Outlook 2013, so this will be familiar territory for some of you…”
Read Full Article on the EmailOnAcid Blog

Gmail’s New ‘Block’ Option: Pros and Cons for Marketers
“Gmail rolled out new “block” functionality to all Gmail webmail users yesterday, giving consumers yet another option to rid their inboxes of email they don’t want. On the surface, that might not sound like a great thing for marketers, but it’s not as bad as it sounds.”
Read Full Article on the Litmus Blog

Holiday Season
With the Holiday season fast approaching, email volume will be steadily increasing. Avoid email fatigue and earn your subscribers trust by sending consistent and relevant information. Establish an email cadence that syncs with your reader’s needs, use a consistent voice and a consistent schedule. Your best customers ok to receive more emails than infrequent guests or non-purchasers. With more email traffic and increased opens on mobile devices, it’s more challenging to convey your message. Send memorable, relevant email messages, get to the point, use nice images and keep your copy short.

Cyber Monday
Guests expect to receive online sales on Cyber Monday. If you are doing a cyber Monday (or Black Friday) sale then follow these tips. Consider sending an email in advance to let guests know you’ll be sending them a very special offer. Send your offer early and reminder(s) throughout the day to maximize sales. People will be looking for deep discounts on retail items or packages so make sure your offer is relevant. As many Black Friday/ Cyber Monday sales are now month long extended online sales – these specific days may not be the best time to compete for sales with a general promotion or regular offer.

Not doing a Cyber Monday/ Black Friday offer? Consider that it may not the best day to send your newsletter or any information that you want guests to spend time reading — it may get lost in all the email traffic.