• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, June 11, 2018

SendGrid processed 2 billion emails on May 24, its second-highest total ever, the first being over 2 billion last Black Friday. The reason? The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, which took effect the very next day. Much of that volume was from companies sending their GDPR privacy notifications, says Carly Brantz, VP of revenue marketing, SendGrid.

“A lot of it was an update of their policy in general, acknowledging it rather than asking for an opt in,” she adds.

Another factor was that “most companies were sending to their entire subscriber list to make sure they were compliant,” says Brantz. She also believes that the emails went to global lists.

That’s one reason she feels that marketers should be GDPR-compliant both in Europe and in the U.S. “just to make sure all your bases re covered and that you treat them the same. It’s better to be safe than risk getting that fine.”

Brantz also urges firms to explore post-GDPR re-engagement campaigns to say, “We want to stay in touch with you.” 

That GDPR was only one of the trends SendGrid has spotted in recent weeks. The other, as reported, was that Memorial Day had lower email open and click rates than prior Mondays, perhaps because there was a 4% volume increase.

That’s not surprising given that “people are at picnics and barbecues and having fun with their families,” Brantz says. “It can still be a great time to send emails, but you want to make sure it’s as relevant as possible.” 

She adds: “Retail in general does well on holidays when people want to know what to do buy for loved ones and family and even themselves. B2b emails wouldn’t be a good use case during that time.”

These trends also hold true as we approach other seasonal holidays. July Fourth is also a day given to fireworks and picnics — it may pay to get promotional emails out before the holiday.

And Father’s Day is definitely an occasion where it makes sense to stay ahead of the holiday itself.

“I’m getting a lot of email myself about gifts to get for fathers,” Brantz notes. “There’s not a ton of email on the day itself—it’s sort of like the ship has sailed.”

Here’s another possible tip for festive occasions.  

“There’s a big debate around whether to use emojis in the subject line,” Brantz says. “For the Fourth or Father’s Day, you can test using emojis in the subject line if you can incorporate them in a unique way — say, a golf club or golf bag. You could then use emojis to stand out. 

Brantz concludes that this is an exciting time for email marketers.  “There are a lot of new advancements to help you segment more effectively, based on demographics and behavior,” she says.