MarketingSherpa Video Archive

Old Dog, New Tricks: How Dell designed an email with old technology to launch a new product

Dave Sierk, Dell



At MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2014, marketers took the stage to tell their success stories in leveraging the latest in email technology, such as mobile and responsive design.

Dave Sierk, Consumer and Small Business Strategist, Dell, took a different route and designed a more engaging email for a new product campaign using "old" technology: GIFs.

The new product featured in the campaign, the Dell XPS 12 Convertible Ultrabook, can convert into a tablet. Illustrating its functionality, however, goes a bit beyond catchy copy.

In his Email Summit 2014 presentation, Sierk dove into how the animated GIF showcased the value of the product much more effectively. The email saw a 109% increase in revenue compared to benchmark data from the previous year.

"We were blown away when we got the results back and saw this incredible lift in revenue. We typically see good engagement rates from a click standpoint, but low revenue and conversion numbers," Sierk explained.

Watch Sierk's full presentation for more on the best time to send emails, using video content in emails, and the importance of testing email messaging.

Download the slides to this presentation

Related Resources

Email Summit 2015 Call for Speakers — Have insights to share like Sierk did? Apply to be an Email Summit 2015 speaker.

Email Marketing: How a creative throwback helped Dell boost revenue 109%

Email Marketing: Dell lifts revenue 109% via GIF-centric campaign

GIFS in Email Campaigns — Watch Sierk's MarketingSherpa Media Center interview.