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As a follow-up to my previous blog post, I continued to monitor the Gmail inbox placement for ProFlowers over the past two months. What I saw was a remarkable turnaround from the struggles the floral retailer had in February and March, when it bottomed out at 26.1 percent around Valentine's Day. ProFlowers’ proactive approach to restoring sender reputation with Gmail customers seems to have worked as planned.

In eMarketing + Commerce’s new (and FREE) podcast series Email Talk, sponsored by Silverpop, email experts Andrew Kordek, co-founder and chief strategist, Trendline Interactive, and DJ Waldow, founder/CEO, Waldow Social, will entertain you while at the same time offering insights, actionable tips and best practices around email marketing that you can take back to your desk!

We picked 23 of Internet Retailer's top 25 companies (from the IR 500) and looked at 50 brands that these companies own to find the best overall inbox delivery and open rates over the last 90 days. Piperlime.com, with 99 percent inbox delivery, and Banana Republic and iTunes at 98 percent, were at the absolute top of the inbox delivery range. Kmart, HP, Gap, Netflix, Old Navy, Best Buy and Bath & Body Works all follow closely behind with delivery in the 97th percentile.

Brands such as ProFlowers, Red Envelope and 1-800-Flowers make their promotional email push two or three weeks before Valentine's Day comes around. These campaigns usually do very well, with higher than average open rates, that is, when customers actually receive the emails. 

State of the Social Universe: What Marketers Should Keep in Mind, from 4 Experts Who Can Help You Reach for the Stars

They shared their insights on where things are now, what trends are emerging, what marketers need to emphasize, and how they can make the most of it all. Sections include:

1) Drive the Mobile Vehicle Smartly, and Honor Your Email Opt-In Relationships
- Sara Meaney President, Strategy & Growth, Hanson Dodge Creative

2) It's About Location, Location, Location: Know Where Your Customer Is
- Asif Khan Founder and president of the Location Based Marketing Association

3) On the Rise: Social Intelligence
- Doug Camplejohn CEO of Fliptop

4) Start - and End - with Your Content
- Ann Handley Chief content officer for MarketingProfs

The way we communicate is moving-literally. Smart phones are outselling PCs, and tablet sales are expected to outpace desktop sales by 2013. But although the screens may be smaller, the possibilities for engagement are larger than ever.

You'll find the following covered in this handy whitepaper:

- What Does Mocial Mean for Marketers?
- Determining Your Mocial Strategy and Goals
- Growing Your Email Database Through Social and Mobile
- Making Email More Social
- Extending the Reach of Social and Mobile
- Deploying Integrated Programs Across Email, Social and Mobile

In eMarketing + Commerce’s new (and FREE) podcast series Email Talk, email experts DJ Waldow, founder/CEO of Waldow Social, and Andrew Kordek, co-founder and chief strategist of Trendline Interactive will entertain you while at the same time offer insights, actionable tips and best practices around email marketing that you can take back to your desk!

Emailers have cranked up the volume. In 2011, promotional email volume once again reached an all-time high. After a year of tracking the activity of more than 100 of the top retailers, Responsys put together the highlights that will help define your 2012 email marketing strategy.

Celerant Command is real-time software that manages all areas of sporting goods dealers with one fully integrated system.

Welcome to the Retail Email Blog's sixth annual inductions into the Subject Line Hall of Fame, which honors retailers whose subject lines stand out in the inbox because of their creativity and originality. A great subject line can mean the difference between an opened email and a deleted one. While mentioning a fantastic deal in a subject line can generate great open rates, you may not always have killer deals to tout.