Welcome to the first in a series of bite-sized pieces of deliverability inspiration from around the globe. First up: the luck o’ the email reach.
For St Patrick’s Day, email goes Irish, just like the rest of us. Retailers took advantage of the opportunity to send email promotions this past weekend, hoping to keep revenue green, while saving customers some green ($) as well. Subject lines caught attention by flaunting shamrock emojis and green hearts. Many subject lines also emphasized the “luck” aspect of this holiday, making the deals seem more exclusive.
This period we took a look at New York and Company, a retailer who took full advantage, sending at least three email campaigns this weekend. As luck (or sending strategy) would have it, NY&Co’s spam rate decreased nearly by half versus this same weekend last year. Besides more appealing subject lines including shamrock emojis this year, the most striking difference is a decrease in send volume, which peaked at 7.4M last year with a low of 6.9M, compared to this year’s high of 6.5M and average of 4.6M.
The takeaway here? A larger reach is not always better. It is considered best practice to regularly clean your email lists, removing unengaged users and bounced emails. Avoid purchasing, sharing, or renting email lists. While it’s important that many people see your email, it is even more important to avoid being marked as spam, so your valuable clients can continue to receive your emails.
2019
| Date | Subject | Volume | Inbox | Spam | Read | Read + Delete | Deleted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/17/19 | ☘️ Happy St. Paddy's Day! Enjoy $19.99 Dresses and More | 4.6M | 95.58% | 4.42% | 13.53% | 7.83% | 13.87% |
| 3/16/19 | ☘️ It's Your Lucky Day with $100 Off | 6.5M | 92.12% | 7.88% | 12.13% | 7.25% | 13.14% |
| 3/16/19 | ☘ Lucky You! $6.99+ Doorbusters till 2 PM in stores and online | 4.6 M | 94.69% | 5.31% | 15.20% | 9.25% | 16.17% |
2018
| Date | Subject | Volume | Inbox | Spam | Read | Read + Delete | Deleted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/17/18 | Celebrate St Paddy's Day w/ $100 Off | 7.1M | 88.25% | 11.75% | 14.49% | 7.65% | 20.35% |
| 3/17/18 | Best-Selling Dress only $16.99 | 7.4M | 87.18% | 12.82% | 13.93% | 7.24% | 20.07% |
| 3/16/18 | Lucky You! Doorbusters & New $150 Off | 6.9M | 88.62% | 11.38% | 14.30% | 7.34% | 19.76% |
New York & Company’s 2019 St Paddy’s Day Emails
New York & Company’s 2018 St Paddy’s Day Emails
Fun fact: in the Gaelic language, the name “Patrick” is actually “Pádraig”—hence St. Paddy’s with a D and not a T.
