Using MailCharts to Track Industry Trends
Overview
After you log into the MailCharts app, navigate to the Brands > Industry groups section. Once there, you’ll see a list of ecommerce industries to select from, including Accessories, Apparel, Arts & Entertainment, Food & Drink, Footwear, Sports & Activities, Home, Beauty & Personal Care, Travel & Tourism, Gifts, Health & Fitness, Pet Care & Supplies, and Baby. Select the industry group you’re interested in.
Once clicked, you’ll be brought to an Overview page that consists of recent emails for the industry, group data, and insights from the category, and featured journeys from brands. This page is great for getting baseline insights in the category, but the in-depth insights are in the Emails and Reports sections.
Emails
In the Emails section of the industry group you can see all the recent emails from the industry’s brands and sort them by Thumbnails, Inbox, or Calendar views. By default, your emails are sorted from newest to oldest. Select the Advanced Options button to sort through the emails and customize your search parameters.
Search features include:
- Searching by keywords within an email
- The date range of when the email was sent
- Holiday filters
- Email classification (welcome, browse abandon, winback, etc.)
- Promotions used
- Technology used
- And more subject line and content filters
Click on an individual email in the email search tab and a screen pop-up appears with email details, including subject line, preheader text, desktop view and mobile view, as well as general insights and whether the email is part of a user journey.
Reports
The Reports section of the industry group is full of great insights for what ecommerce brands are sending and the best time of day to send. Reports are split into five main categories: Sending Behavior, Subject Lines, Promotions, Benchmarks, and Calendars.
Sending Behavior
In this tab, we see the general sending behavior of every brand in the category. If you’re looking to get more detailed, you can choose up to five brands to compare or view data over a specific period. In addition to the number of emails sent, you’re also able to see when brands are sending.
Subject Lines
The subject line tab shows the average subject line length for the category as well as popular terms used in the industry. We’ve also aggregated subject line examples by length and by promotion so you don’t have to dig through your inbox. This information can help your team ideate on future subject line tests and get a feel for what’s happening in ecommerce in terms of promotions.
Promotions
The first graph in the promotions tab shows the average promotional rate over time. You’re also able to view this graph during a specific period, compare with historicals, or compare up to 5 brands. Next, you’ll find the average promotional rate by brand. Lastly, we aggregate examples based on if the promotion is using a percentage off, dollars off, free shipping, or buy one get one free. This tab is great for understanding the language the industry is using during sale periods and holidays.
Benchmarks
The benchmarks tab is great for understanding where a brand falls compared to its industry. Does the brand send more or fewer emails than the industry average? How about its subject line length compared to its peers? Find these stats and more in this section.
Calendars
This last tab shows the number of brands sending an email and average promotional rate during a particular month. This can help you identify popular send times and promotions around holidays but in a calendar format.
Using MailCharts to inspire your automated campaigns
The tracking feature within our Journeys is unparalleled. By clicking the Journeys tab in your selected industry, you’ll be brought to a page featuring the top email workflows most commonly implemented: cart abandoner, purchaser, email subscriber, browse abandoner, and churn workflows.
Select the journey you’re interested in. You’re then brought to a screen with a calendar. Select a brand and series you’re looking to access from the dropdown at the top left.
The journey emails from the selected email category and brand populate automatically into a calendar view. By selecting the Timeline view (located at the top of the calendar view), you can get a better understanding of the workflow logic and triggers involved. You can engage with the emails in the Timeline or Calendar view the same as you would in the Emails tab by clicking the email you’re interested in viewing.
Using MailCharts to create custom lists
Save your favorite email examples or brands you love in one place. You can do this anywhere within the app with brands or individual emails.
Creating lists of email examples
Select the email you want to add to a specific list. Once your email pop-up appears, look for two tabs in the top right, Details and Add to List. Select Add to List. There, you can create a new list name or add to an existing list by selecting the + sign to the right of the list name.
Creating groups of brands
In the top navigation in the app, select Brands > Discover. Search for popular brands in the top search bar or choose from our curated list on the page. To the right of the brand name is a + symbol. By clicking it, a pop-up appears allowing you to add the company to a new group or an existing group.
Alternatively, you can add a brand to your custom groups within the brand’s page. In the top right of the brand page, there is a button, Add to Groups. Click it and the same pop-up appears to add the brand to one of your curated groups.
While our guide focuses on searching through emails via the industry page, you can also access the same features on individual brand pages. To do so, select Brands > Discover in the top navigation instead of selecting Industry groups.
Build your weekly trends report. Plan your calendar for next quarter. Find inspiration for automated campaigns.
MailCharts is for ecommerce email marketers.