Issue #203 All About Email

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Hi, friend. 👋

Welcome to Issue #203 of All About Email!

Last week, I was back writing some stuff, sharing some tools, and code for easy carousels that you can use in your emails!

This week, my fifth guest author of the summer explores a topic I don’t know much about, but it is an excellent complement to email marketing and part of omnichannel marketing.

Take it away, Elizabeth! 👇

Adding SMS to Mix? Read this first…

Five years ago, I sent an email to clients informing them that I would be adding SMS to my services, provided it complemented an existing email program.

💥 No takers…Fast-forward to the 2023 holiday season and suddenly, bam!

Clients started asking, “Can we add SMS to our customer journey?”

As with any change to a program, I always ask three questions:

1. Does this make sense for this audience? Just because SMS is trending doesn’t mean it’s right for every brand.

2. How can we integrate it into the existing strategy so it feels like part of the journey, not just another channel?

3. How will we measure success?

SMS offers a compelling way to reach your audience in real-time.

🚨 But that doesn’t mean blasting the exact message you’re sending via email, especially not at the same time.

When done right, subscribers who opt into both channels are 2.4 times more likely to purchase than those who are sent SMS alone.

💪 The key is to play to each channel’s strengths.

Here are five strategic ways to integrate SMS into your existing strategy:

1. Use SMS Where Timing Matters Most

⚡️ Flash sales, last-chance offers, or low-inventory alerts. 

2. Let Email Lead, Then Follow Up with SMS

💡 Avoid sending the same message simultaneously in both channels. Send the email first, then follow up with those who didn’t engage via SMS.

3. Abandoned Carts

🛒 Start with email. If there's no response, one well-timed SMS can bring them back without flooding both channels.

4. Re-Engagement

Offer options: fewer emails, more texts, or a pause. Give people control of where they want to hear from you. 

5. Test Formats and Frequency

📱 SMS or MMS? You won’t know what works until you test.

In a recent client test, SMS outperformed MMS, and SMS is a lower cost. Let analytics guide you, not your opinion.

🧠 Adding SMS isn’t about sending more messages. It’s about doing it smarter.

With the right strategy, SMS can increase your marketing performance and create a more seamless customer experience.

My (Simon’s) Thoughts

We will start at the end, what a brilliant quote to finish with from Elizabeth, and I couldn’t agree more, good marketing is:

• Timely

• Relevant

• Omnichannel

❤️ For regular subscribers of this newsletter, you know I love data! So when Elizabeth suggested “letting analytics guide you”, I want that shouted from the rooftops.

Data and testing are so important, amen Elizabeth!

⚠️ The word of caution on simultaneous messaging is vital and a common mistake. With omnichannel marketing, team members working in silos and (unnecessarily) complicated automations, it’s so easy to bombard (and lose) a customer.

Make sure your team and your messaging are on the same page.

It’s been a pleasure having Elizabeth back again this year, and if you missed her guest post last summer, you can read it now.

🎉 Thank you, Elizabeth!

Before You Go

🐝 I mentioned last week that with Beehiiv, there are some limitations to their custom HTML snippets (which I’ven’t quite figured out how to get around — I might not be able to), e.g., styling tags are stripped out.

Jay Oram (the code’s original creator) gave me some classic CSS that will solve the centring issue for ESPs that strip some styling:

• margin: 0 auto;

So the updated code from last week would look something like this:

• <div style="margin: 0 auto; width: 300px; height: 300px; overflow-x: hidden;" class="swipe">

All About Email - Playlist 🎧

I listen to lots of music, particularly when I’m writing newsletters.

Each week, when I hit the publish button, I’ll share the track I am currently listening to and create the most eclectic playlist you’ve probably ever heard.

Sponsorship Opportunities

🚨 If you’re interested in sponsoring the “All About Email” newsletter, you can find all the details in this Google Doc.

That’s It For This Week 👋

If you are just joining us or missed my previous summer guest authors, you can catch up:

• Creating Consistent Content - Vicky Smith

• Your Treasure Map to the Inbox - Travis Hazlewood

• I Like Big Buttons (and I Cannot Lie) - Emily Ryan

• The Most Overlooked Inbox Barrier - Sarah Gallardo

Next week, I’ll be taking a look at how you can use SVG images in your emails and how to deal with Gmail.

See you next week!

Email Marketing News & Tips

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

• This is Insane! - PostmarkGBA: A working GBA emulator running through Postmark. (Postmark)

• A Free Tool I Use - Transform your text into any case style instantly. Perfect for blog headlines, academic titles, email subjects, and social media captions. (Cappycase)

• HTML Email Templates - Save yourself the pain of coding HTML email and download these 10 templates today. (HTML Email)

• Media Collective - Journalists Are Taking Control and beehiiv Is Powering Their Rise. (Beehiiv)

• How to Fix It - Why Most Companies Still Fail at DMARC Implementation. (EasyDMARC)

• It’s 2025 - Is It Still Worth Launching a Newsletter? (Inbox Collective)

• Message-ID Syntax - It looks like Google are gradually ratcheting up their enforcement of RFC compliance, enforcing it on a small fraction of email to encourage senders to comply with those requirements. (Word to the Wise)

• August 27th, 2025 - Yahoo's free mailboxes are permanently on a data diet: from 1 TB down to a still-impressive (and still more than Gmail's 15!) 20 GB. (Alison Gootee)

• Personalised Video in Email - One of the funniest and smartest videos you will see this year! (Lloyd Hofmeyr)

• I’m Very Excited - The podcast is happening! (Jaina Mistry)

• Breaking News Roundup - Email’s compliance, security, and infrastructure all moved this week. (Andrew Bonar)

• Lots of Great Reads - Resources for helping you explore Digital CRM excellence. (ActionRocket)

• I Read It Twice - Email Advice From A Friend: Sabahudin Murtic. (Des Brown)

• Grow Your Audience - Why Every Newsletter Needs Its Own Website (and How To Launch One Fast). (Beehiiv)

• Send Some Love - An interview with Alison Gootee. (Sendview)

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! 👋