Jared Blank, VP of E-Commerce, Tommy Hilfiger, is all about testing new-wave marketing through digital channels, but he also appreciates the value of tried and true marketing tactics.

In the below interview, Part II of a two parter filmed at last year’s eTail conference, Blank talks about some of the fundamental elements of direct marketing that are also super important in email marketing. Namely copywriting. It is an essential part of good email marketing, as many of you already know. But how many of you really focus on it?

Blank points out that many of you have, as he’s seen subject lines get snappier and copy get catchier.

“No one’s going to open the email if the subject line isn’t good,” said Blank.

Here, here.

“A good copywriter is invaluable,” he said. “Once you have someone like that, you notice a difference immediately.”

Blank also mentions the benefits of affiliate marketing and that digital marketers shouldn’t forget about that either.

In Part I of the interview, Blank talked about a project he rolled out at Tommy Hilfiger which tested a homepage overlay to gather email addresses. The project was very successful and helped the company significantly increase its email database. But, he stressed, if taking on such a project, know that it won’t be a quick, easy win.

Big projects can take eight to nine months in development time, said Blank, advising that marketers should plan to tackle two or three major projects a year. Keep that in mind in your next planning meeting with your CMO (or if you are the CMO…yeah – what Jared said.)

Watch the video here and enjoy!