Essence of Email Weekly

Hey there, we've got awesome news!

We're partnering with Blueshift to bring you their free virtual conference — Blueshift Engage21, from May 3 to May 7. For five days of sessions, we're hosting industry-leading marketers from companies like Stitchfix, Houzz, and Udacity to discuss how they are implementing new, smarter marketing strategies to deliver customer experiences that are connected, relevant, and engaging.

When you sign up (free of charge), you'll also receive access to all of last year's conference, Engage20, on-demand instantly.

Register for Engage21 now!



SOCIAL MEDIA


Twitter innovations


Source: Giphy
Twitter is launching "Professional Profiles'' for brands and creators!

It'll be a new way for brands to present themselves with special, dedicated tools and features created for work-related use. The new profiles will contain more details, including address and contact info, a verification badge, business category, and an updated layout that differs from the one used for personal accounts.

Additional elements, such as product display panels and image galleries, are currently in development.

This new kind of Twitter account is still in its testing phase and available only to a handful of US brands — but it's expected that more brands will get access in the months to come.

Creating separate business profiles is something that Facebook and Instagram have already done. With Twitter following suit, this could mean a range of new opportunities for categorizing and managing brand exposure and reach. The move could also facilitate new, dedicated product launches, streamlined ad opportunities, conversation tools, and more.

And with some additional eCommerce attempts by Twitter, we can't wait to see where these innovations will take them. With online shopping booming, eCommerce via in-stream product displays on social media seems like a good way to go. So far, so good!



DIGITAL MARKETING


The loss of third-party cookies


Source: Giphy
Last month, Google announced that its ad tools will no longer support tracking of users across websites, starting from 2022. Last year, there was a similar announcement of intentions to stop supporting third-party (3P) cookies. This would mean that marketers might have a hard time delivering timely, personalized content to the right audiences.

Add to this the ever-increasing demands of GDPR and CCPA compliance, with brands having to pay very close attention to privacy legislations, and you've got a pretty transformational period ahead. And last year's study by Epsilon indicates that 69% of US marketers believe that eliminating 3P cookies will have a bigger impact on the market than GDPR and CCPA.

With the lack of 3P cookies, marketers will miss out on a lot of customer behavioral data. But they can still use this huge shift as an opportunity for digital transformation through a blend of innovative and time-tested marketing strategies, says Litmus in their recent article.

What can they do to set themselves up for a successful period?

• Understand their reliance on 3P cookies
• Make first-party data their top priority
• Double-down on time-tested marketing channels that deliver the highest ROI

For detailed info on the three suggested strategies, head to the Litmus' blog post.



ECOMMERCE


Amazon's rolling out an email marketing program… kind of


Source: Giphy
Amazon has been prohibiting businesses selling on their platform from contacting their customers directly, unless it's about the status of an order, or similar. By doing this, they were keeping customer data private, and protecting customers from spam. But this was also helping them keep control of clients by owning the customer data. Still, they are beginning to loosen their grip.

Last week, Amazon began testing a tool that will let the US companies in its Brand Registry to create an email marketing program for the customers who have opted to ''follow'' the brands. The companies will then be able to message and notify customers of upcoming sales, product launches, and promotions.

The tool, called "Manage Your Customer Engagement," is designed to drive repeat purchases, and build a more robust following on Amazon's marketplace.

For now, the tool is available only to the businesses included in the Brand Registry — a program launched in 2015 to help businesses curb the sale of counterfeits. Since then the program has expanded to include many other benefits, and more than 350,000 brands are currently registered.

An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement: "Amazon is committed to serving our shoppers by helping them engage with their favorite brands. With Manage Your Customer Engagement, brands will be able to initiate email campaigns about new product announcements and offers that Amazon will send to shoppers who choose to follow the brand."

It is believed that this new tool will help companies differentiate themselves on Amazon and build brand loyalty.

Email is the future!



EMAIL DESIGN INSPO


A hearty welcome from Shopify


Source: ReallyGoodEmails
Welcome emails are sooo important! You can connect with your new subscribers, make a great first impression, and introduce them to the brand or the journey they just embarked on… if you know how.

This email by Shopify is a great example of the very first email in the Welcome sequence. It is well-designed, properly structured, and on-brand in terms of colors and the overall vibe.

But most importantly, it welcomes the new subscriber and outlines all the next steps they have to take and explains the process in full detail. This is super important — you've just got their attention and you need to meet them at the right point of their journey and guide them, making them feel secure.

The testimonial from a happy customer is the cherry on top, so they know they're in good hands.

Kudos to Shopify — they know their business!