Templates Are One of the Keys to Successful Email Marketing

Choose Models Who Look Like You
For a long time there's been conjecture about finding a better way of assisting on-line buyers to better evaluate how specific items of clothing will look on them. Until now we've been pretty much limited to looking at still photos of those items on tall skinny models who don't look like anyone I know.  

Now in an online first, you can pick a model which looks most like you, (or if you're a guy, most like your spouse, special friend, etc.) and see what you/they may look like in the items you select.

   Visitors to the KnickerPicker Dressing Room area can choose from three models vaguely representing small, medium and large-ish frames. You can dress the model in selected items and have her turn around so you can see the clothing from both the front and back. With another click the model will walk toward you and turn around again on command. Trust me, it's practical and it's fun. And by the way, it's a lingerie site and it sells thongs ... which definitely added to my fun.

Click here to evaluate the site for yourself. http://www.knickerpicker.com/dressing-room.asp  My only recommendation would be to add more body types ... which I'm sure will happen once this creative and user friendly ingenuity grabs more attention.

A Blueprint for Successful Email Marketing
Here are the top three things that make or break email marketing. (These are good tips ... really. Pass them on to your marketing department.)

1. FROM LINE: This is the No. 1 factor that influences the success of an email marketing campaign. If recipients recognize who the email is from, they are more likely to read the subject line. When developing your from line, you have several options: It can be your company name, brand or product, market or newsletter name. Once you establish a from line, stick with it!
2. SUBJECT LINE: This is the second most important factor influencing the success of your email marketing campaign. Recipients' email inboxes are cluttered. Your goal is to make the subject line compelling so that the recipient is motivated to open your email.
3. TEMPLATES: Templates allow you to project a consistent look and feel to your communications. Elements to consider when developing a template:

• About half of the recipients of your message will see both the header and the first few lines of your message in their preview pane. The content and images displayed in the preview pane can contribute to getting the recipient to open your message.
• Pay attention to the top two inches of your message. Consider including an offer statement, a table of contents or other elements that will motivate recipients to open your email. Many marketers will use a design header that mirrors a version of their Web site to build consistency and help drive traffic to their Web site.
• Half of the recipients will decide whether to keep reading after two sentences. Make sure you have a great introduction.
• And finally, most marketers create their emails in both HTML and text formats. The majority of recipients are able to receive messages in HTML but they may prefer to receive text, especially if they regularly check email using a PDA.

 "C" is for "Cave In"
If you haven't watched Sesame Street for a few years, you're probably unaware of a rather insidious change on the show: Cookie Monster has gone off cookies. Isn't that akin to Oscar the Grouch being nice and clean? Do the PC police know no bounds? Apparently not, because the fellow who once sang sweet love songs to his pastries now snacks on fruit and vegetables. 

NPR producer Elizabeth Blair unfortunately did not take issue with the dietary switch in her recent interview with Cookie Monster.  Blair, who calls Cookie Monster a "deeply sensuous character who speaks to our most basic appetites and desires," knuckled under to the healthniks by feeding CM broccoli during his interview.

P.S. Sesame Street has also thrown over Grover for Elmo, who is similar but with a more annoying voice.