{"id":21703,"date":"2020-10-26T09:35:59","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T13:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/?p=21703"},"modified":"2025-12-23T16:05:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T21:05:00","slug":"the-2020-email-spirit-award-an-interview-with-kimberly-coburn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-2020-email-spirit-award-an-interview-with-kimberly-coburn","title":{"rendered":"The 2020 Email Spirit Award: An Interview with Kimberly Coburn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<div id=\"simple-text-block-block_85b187beb35e76387e870559d0e5fa0b\" class=\"block-simple-text-block alignfull \" style=\"background-color:\">\n  <div class=\"container\">\n  \t<div class=\"row\">\n  \t\t<div class=\"col\">\n  \t\t\t<div class=\"copy\">\n  \t\t\t\t<p>This year, we launched the <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/conference\/awards\/\">Email First Awards<\/a> and announced our inaugural winners during <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/conference\/week\/\">Litmus Live Week<\/a>. In this blog post, we interview Kimberly Coburn, Senior Copywriter at <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/digitaladditive.com\/\">Digital Additive<\/a>, and take a peek behind their <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-first-award-winners-2020\/#email-spirit\">Email Spirit Award winning entry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21706 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/kimberly-coburn-and-luna.jpg\" alt=\"Kimberly Coburn holding a small dog named Luna\" width=\"200\" height=\"245\" \/>\n<p><strong>Kimberly Coburn<\/strong><br \/>\nSenior Copywriter at Digital Additive<br \/>\n<em>Featuring office mascot Luna<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Follow Digital Additive on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/digitaladditive\/\">Instagram<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/digitaladditive\">Twitter<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/digital-additive\/\">LinkedIn<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thoughts.digitaladditive.com\/\">Medium<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>So, what does email spirit mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kimberly: At the very core of email is a promise of one-to-one communication, an avenue for connection that&#8217;s meaningful and useful. So, to me, email spirit is an ethos of genuinely getting to know your recipients and connecting with them in ways that improve their days and lives. It&#8217;s authentic and joyful, as any meaningful connection should be!<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21708\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-damn-good-email-coffee-mug.jpg\" alt=\"coffee mug with Damn Good Email motto on it\" width=\"1200\" height=\"646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-damn-good-email-coffee-mug.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-damn-good-email-coffee-mug-300x162.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-damn-good-email-coffee-mug-1024x551.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-damn-good-email-coffee-mug-768x413.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/>\n<p><strong>Digital Additive\u2019s email spirit is centered around \u201cDamn Good Email.\u201d What a great motto! Where did it come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kimberly: We took a somewhat circuitous route to get to our unofficial motto. When we grew big enough to move into our first office, coffee was a first priority, and we decked out the kitchen with mugs from Crate &amp; Barrel that said &#8220;Damn Good Coffee&#8221;\u2014most likely a nod to Dale Cooper&#8217;s love of a strong cup in Twin Peaks. Our damn good coffee (which we source from a local roastery with a Do Good Initiative) is our rocket fuel to do what we do best: Damn Good Email.<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-21709 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-100-percent-open-rate-bottle-opener-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Lakefront Brewery beer with Damn Good Email beer glass and 100% Open Rate bottle opener\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-100-percent-open-rate-bottle-opener-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-100-percent-open-rate-bottle-opener-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-100-percent-open-rate-bottle-opener.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/>\n<p><strong>I think the \u201c100% Open Rate\u201d bottle opener is so clever. How do you come up with your swag ideas?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kimberly: Coming up with fun swag for our parties and gatherings is always a good time. Usually we start with the gift itself to reflect the event and then give it our Digital Additive twist of personality. The bottle opener, for example, was given at a holiday party held at a local brewery, so it only made sense. Getting to highlight our job of boosting open rates on something that literally has a 100% open rate was just too great to pass up. Not gonna lie, I was pretty pleased with myself coming up with that one. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is there any way email geeks can get their hands on your \u201cDamn Good Email\u201d swag or is the swag exclusive to employees?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kimberly: We usually share our swag at events and parties\u2014so the best way to get your hands on some is to get to know us for that invite (when parties are a thing again&#8230;).<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-21712\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-team.jpg\" alt=\"Digital Additive team members showing off their Damn Good Email coffee mugs\" width=\"1200\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-team.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-team-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-team-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-team-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-team-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/digital-additive-team-545x545.jpg 545w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/>\n<p><strong>How does Digital Additive\u2019s email spirit extend to the broader email community?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kimberly: Something I love about Digital Additive is that we bring the same spirit to the email community and to every single email send. At the core of our approach, relationships are the key. The same way we endeavor to understand our recipients and their needs to make sure we reach them in the right way at the right time, we also look at the broader email community in a similar way, bringing our team&#8217;s unique strengths and abilities to the broader world of email and helping our clients forge those important connections.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Learning a bit about you now\u2026 How did you get into copywriting in general and email in particular?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kimberly: I have always enjoyed writing and double-majored in Communications and Psychology in college. I thought I&#8217;d go back to school to get my PhD in Social Psychology, but decided to take a break and join the workforce to save some money first.<\/p>\n<p>I applied for a job as an interactive copywriter\u2014even mocking up some ads, since I didn&#8217;t have a portfolio to speak of\u2014and ended up really enjoying the way it blended both of the skills I had honed in school. Over time, I started to focus almost exclusively on the email and mobile experience. They&#8217;re super short format media, so every word counts, and I really like that puzzle-like challenge.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s your favorite email that you\u2019ve worked on and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kimberly: I always love the fun stuff with a playful tone. I once got to write emails for a gamer audience. Not being much of a video game player myself, I got to pretend to be an entirely different person with the voice. We also have an educational client with a really whimsical tone and brand that&#8217;s always a joy to write for.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you keep learning about email and growing your skills?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kimberly: Digital Additive has a really fantastic approach to continued learning and skills development. Every employee has a stipend to use toward developing our talents each year. I&#8217;ve been using mine for fantastic writing and content-generation workshops I wouldn&#8217;t otherwise have access to. As an agency, it keeps everyone growing and learning in their respective skills while keeping us as a company on the leading edge of industry development and innovation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s your favorite email trend right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kimberly: Personally, I find the increasing focus on accessibility a really heartening movement. If the goal of email is to connect with individuals, ensuring the steps are taken to be able to connect with all individuals regardless of impairment or a difference in ability is essential.<\/p>\n<h2>Email accessibility made easy<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4227 size-thumbnail alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/accesible-email-icon-150x150.png\" alt=\"email accessibility icon\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/>Connect with <em>everyone<\/em>\u2014no matter their ability. It\u2019s much easier than you think! Learn how in our step-by-step <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/resources\/ultimate-guide-to-email-accessibility\/\">Ultimate Guide to Email Accessibility<\/a>. You\u2019ll get insights and advice on how to write, design, and code emails that can be enjoyed by anyone.<\/p>\n<p>And with <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/accessible-email-made-easy-introducing-accessibility-checks-in-litmus\/\">Accessibility Testing in Litmus<\/a>, test your email against key accessibility best practices, listen to how your email sounds to a screen reader, and get actionable advice to improve your email\u2019s accessibility. <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/pricing\/\">Book a demo today<\/a> to see accessibility testing and more in action!<\/p>\n  \t\t\t<\/div>\n  \t\t<\/div>\n  \t<\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet Kimberly Coburn, Senior Copywriter at Digital Additive, and take a peek behind their Email Spirit Award winning entry for the 2020 Email First Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"blog_category":[1169],"class_list":["post-21703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog_category-community"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - 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