Bronto Blog

Choosing a message to showcase was no easy task. Not only do many Bronto clients produce well crafted emails, we also had to consider what makes for good design, in both the objective and subjective sense. In the end we elected to spotlight an excellent product announcement message from Trek.

Once images are enabled, several things jump out:

1. Link to online version. Always a best practice to offer an online version of your message for those who have trouble or simply aren’t familiar with enabling images in their email.

2. Balance. The message uses a minimal (2!) amount of images and they balance the text quite well.

3. Space. Plenty of space surrounds the images and text blocks - nothing feels crowded or overly busy.

4. Fold. The most important area of a message needs to be in the top third so the recipient need not scroll down. The black section is well above the fold, showing and describing the Madone, and also providing a call to action.

5. C-T-A. Trek avoided the “Click here” trap and sold the Call-To-Action with a promise. “See the new Madone” tells the reader exactly what to expect.

6. Boilerplate. Providing the physical address and a clear unsubscribe link may not excite the reader, but it’s Can-Spam compliant, and Bronto loves compliance.

The overall design comes through as simple and upscale. A new product launch could easily become an excited mess with excessive description, too many images and not enough room to breathe. This classy approach likely scored points with Trek’s target audience.

DJ Waldow
Account Manager at Bronto

We’re hard at work putting the finishing touches on an upcoming release; this time we’re updating the Message Tracking reports. What does this mean? Well, for starters, we’ve added a summary at the top of the report giving you an at-a-glance review of the KPIs for your email. Not only does it have your tried and true Delivered, Opens, Clicks, and Conversions, it also has some new stats such as ‘Clicked / Opens’ and ‘Converted / Clicks’. These stats really help you get a bead on how well your contacts are converting between each step in the process. To echo that, and perhaps make it even clearer, we’ve updated the graph to better represent the funneling effect, it’s now a, wait for it… Funnel! Check back for more information about other improvements and screenshots in the coming weeks.

Adam Covati
Product Manager at Bronto

Bronto client American Meadows was the subject of a recent article and newsletter from Internet Retailer. We’ve seen many organizations outgrow their in house solutions and step up to professional email marketing software; American Meadows has already reported an increase in sales and they enjoy the full suite of analytics offered by Bronto.

“Allen adds that American Meadows sends e-mail to its entire list weekly. Though the unsubscribe rate is virtually nil—a function, he speculates, of customers’ affinity for the category—he’ll be adding segmented mailings going forward because the new program interface makes that easier to do.”

Bronto has long touted the ROI potential for email marketing; it’s our business and we see the results on a daily basis. iMedia Connection recently ran an article in the same vein, providing substance to be used when allocating those precious marketing dollars. The main points discuss why companies need to expand email budgets, why they haven’t done so already, and what to consider when implementing an email marketing campaign. There is even a full page dedicated to the story of Chiasso, a Chicago based furniture retailer and very successful Bronto client.

Read the article

Tie a bow around it because the June Customer Success webcast is in the can. Brian Clausen, Shopatron’s Executive Vice President, spent some time on the hotseat discussing how Bronto’s email marketing solution was integrated into the online stores of Shopatron’s name brand manufacturers. Check out the podcast to hear which strategies netted triple-digit returns!

DJ Waldow
Account Manager at Bronto