Issue #166 All About Email

Hi, friend. 👋

Welcome to Issue #166 of All About Email!

Last week, I introduced a new mini-series based on recent workshops I’ve been running. This series will examine the intricacies of email marketing.

This week, we examine “Tips and Best Practices for Data,” as part of this mini-series, we have a new section called “Further Reading.”

Let’s go! 👇

Before we continue, the voice of Brian, is no more. 😭

Sadly, in the future, my newsletters will no longer contain an audio version, as Beehiiv has removed the feature from their free and mid-tier plan.

Hold Your Horses 🐎

Before you even start to send emails, you’ve got to think about data and how you acquire that data. 🧠

🕵️‍♂️ As we enter an age of Privacy (which has been a long time coming), we will have less data than we’ve been used to over the last twenty years, and in many cases, that’s a good thing.

Customer-First data - As the age of Privacy grows and third-party tracking is retired, Customer-First data will rise (or, you could argue, has already risen).

Customer-first Data comprises:

• Zero-Party data

• First-Party data

What is First & Zero Party Data?

🎉 Firstly - Email is the perfect way to gather this data.

“Customer-first data is data sourced directly from a prospect or customer.”

It includes both:

• Zero-party data (information someone gives to you proactively, like their email address, phone number, or birthdate).

• First-party data (information observed by a brand about someone on their owned properties, like what products they clicked on or links they visited from an email).

Gathering Customer-First Data

⚡️ There are many ways email can be used to gather Customer-first data. The below is not an exhaustive list but a place to start:

• Subscriber sign-ups - In addition to an email address or phone number, take advantage of this opportunity to ask new subscribers for information that will help you personalize the content you send.

• Quizzes - are an effective way to help people find the right product and gather information about a new prospect.

• Post-purchase questionnaires - This is a great time to get a person’s reason for buying something.

• Product Reviews - Positive reviews are an excellent form of UGC (User-Generated Content) that you can reuse across your marketing channels. **

** Negative reviews are also good opportunities to promote good customer service or find potential issues with your product or service and turn those into positives.

Further Reading

📰 As part of our mini-series, each topic covered will include additional reading resources for building the workshops and these emails.

This week’s resources on Data and Privacy are:

• Google is now proposing a Privacy Sandbox and not removing third-party cookies.

• Investigation into Google’s ‘Privacy Sandbox’ browser changes (UK CMA).

• Klaviyo - Customer First Data

• Klaviyo - How to collect Customer-First Data

• Octane AI - Smart Quizzes That Unlock Growth For Shopify Stores.

What is YOUR biggest challenge?

So, friend, between now and next week (and throughout this mini-series), I would love to hear from you:

• What is your biggest challenge in email marketing right now?

• What do you struggle with on an ongoing basis?

• What email skill do you not have but wish you did?

📧 Just reply to this email and let me know.

That’s it for This Week 👋

⏭️ Next week, we will continue our mini-series as we look at Data & GDPR.

See you next week! 😀

Sponsorship Opportunities

🚨 If you’re interested in sponsoring the “All About Email” newsletter, you can find all the details in this Google Doc. I currently have “Classified” slots and a Main Sponsor slot available.

Email Marketing News & Tips

This week's excellent and insightful email news & tips:

• Media Collective - A multimillion-dollar commitment to support the next generation of independent journalism. (Beehiiv)

• You Called it What? - We asked more than a dozen newsletter operators how they named their newsletter — and why. Here’s what they told us. (Inbox Collective)

• Red Flags - 13 AI Tools to Transform Your Newsletter. (Send It Right)

• B2B - How to Find a Business Owner’s Email Address Efficiently and Ethically. (ZeroBounce)

• Should I leave Substack? - Substack, Ghost and beehiiv all walk into a bar. Who's buying the drinks? (Lex Roman)

• Avoiding Blocklistings - Part 2 - Monitor and Educate Your Customers. (Lauren Meyer & Spamhaus)

• Shielded Email - Google may soon let you create email aliases in an effort to fight spam. (Android Authority)

• AI & Preview Text - The Ultimate Guide to Email Preview Text. (Carin Slater & Litmus)

• Milestone - Congratulations to the Email Love team on all their work over the last year.
(Email Love)

• Apple AI - Let’s talk Apple Intelligence and its impact. (Aubrey Miller-Schmidt)

If you have a question about this email or email marketing, reply, and I will answer you as soon as possible.

I hope you have a great week! 👋