holiday retail email marketing tips silverpop

Email  Marketing  Tactics  to  Maximize  2014  Holiday  Revenue    

Meredith  Gertz,  Fabric.com  @fabricdotcom    Loren  McDonald,  Silverpop,  an  IBM  Company  @LorenMcDonald  

Today’s  Presenters  

Loren  McDonald  VP,  Industry  Relations  Silverpop,  an  IBM  Company  lmcdonal@us.ibm.com  @LorenMcDonald  

Meredith  Gertz  Email  Marketing  Manager  Fabric.com  Meredith.gertz@fabric.com  @fabricdotcom    

Agenda  

Shopping  /  Mobile  Data  

Email  Tactics    

Takeaways  /  Q&A  

Today’s  Agenda  

Mobile  Shopping    &  Email    Data  

The  Smartphone  Paradox   66%  higher  than  tablet  rate  

43%  of  tablet  rate  

28%  of  tablet  rate  Less  

browsing  time/page  

views  

Source: Litmus, Jan 2014

Silverpop  Retail  Mobile  Benchmarks  –  Highs  and  Lows  

Low,  average  or  high  -­‐  your  mobile  readership  is  only  increasing  –  and  

can’t  be  ignored.  

Fabric.com  Email  Readership  

65%  of  Fabric.com  

email  subscribers  are  reading  on  

smartphones  

We’re  seeing  a  big  bounce  rate  from  

email  to  conversion.    

 A  focus  in  creative  is  to  give  users  the  very  best  email/tablet  visual  experience.    

Agenda  

Shopping  /  Mobile  Data  

8  Email  Tactics  

Takeaways  /  Q&A  

Agenda  –  Email  Tactics  

#1.  Make  Your  Emails  Mobile  Friendly  

Especially  for  Remarketing  Emails  

Screensize-­‐apalooza  

Small   Medium   Large  

iPhone  2.3”  wide  

Galaxy  Note  3.2”  wide  

Nexus  7  7.3”  wide  

 BlackBerry  2.6”  wide  

iPad  Mini  5.3”  wide  

Excite  13  8.5”  wide  

Chart  Source:  Litmus  

Are  your  emails  touch-­‐friendly?  

Old  mouse   New  mouse  

More  than  just  “design”  –  Think  “context”  

The  Simple  Difference  –  Responsive  Emails  

Desktop   Mobile  

Responsive  Mobile  

Responsive  Desktop  

Test  Across  Key  Devices  and  Email  Clients  Android  2.3   Apple  Mail  6  

Website/emails  use  same  button  

Heat  map  lessons:    

•  Shoppers  look  for  discounts  first  

•  CTA  beneath  it  gets  higher  conversion/lower  bounce  rate  

#2.  Update  Onboarding  /  Welcome  Emails  With  Mobile  Shopping  Info.  

Typical  Welcome  Email  Approach  

Immediate  3-­‐7  days  

7-­‐14  days  

Immediate  

Stand  alone  

Email  #  1  Email  #  2  

Email  #  3  

3-­‐part  series  

Add  to  an  existing  email  or  add  as  a  new  email  in  onboarding  series  

 •  Payment  alternatives  (e.g.  PayPal)  

•  Register  today  /  social-­‐sign-­‐up  option  

•  Download  our  mobile  app  

•  Use  our  wishlist  /  save  for  later  function  to  complete  the  purchase  

process  later  

#3.  Targeting  &  Cadence  Targeting,  Black  Friday,  Cyber  Monday,  et  al  

Holiday pounding …  

200+  annually  4  per  week  

1  every  1.8  days  

@LorenMcDonald  

Nov  18  1  week  before  Thanksgiving  Day  

Jan  2  

Dec  25  

51  emails  

37  emails  

T-­‐Day  To  

XMAS  

50  emails  44  days  

Every  time  an  email  goes  ka-­‐ching  an  retail  marketer  gets  her  wings!  

Every time an email dings, an email marketer gets her wings!  

All:  • Black  Friday  

• Cyber  Monday  • General  Promotions  

Targeted:  • Past  purchasers  

• Gift  card  purchasers  • Never  purchased  

Onboarding  • New  holiday  subscribers  

welcome  • Onboarding  track  

Purchasers  • Order  confirmation  • Upsell/Cross  sell  

• Post-­‐purchase  care  

Remarketing  • Cart/Browse  abandonment  

• Resends  Targeting  &    Cadence    

Possibilities  

Fabric.com  2014  Holiday  Approach  

Fabric.com  will  be  increasing  our  

volume  during  the  2014  holiday  over  

2013  holiday  frequency  

But  we  haven’t  seen  an  increase  in  unsubscribe  

rate  ...  

Holiday  Emails  Must  Have  a  Purpose  

 How  does  this  help  me?  

Does  the  email  take  care  of  a  gift,  fill  a  problem  with  a  solution,  let  me  check  something  else  off  my  

holiday  list?      

Use  “White  Space”  to  Maintain  Engagement  

The  holidays  are  a  great  opportunity  to  inspire  our  

customers.              

In  2014  we’re  going  to  be  offering:    •  More  projects  •  More  ideas  •  More  inspiration  from  gifts  to  

home  decoration.    

Fabric.com  Win  Back  –  Deployed  Prior  to  Holidays  

Win  Back  Series  •  3  emails  

•  60/90/120  days  if  no  purchase  •  Updating  with  holiday-­‐themed  images  

•  “Thanks”  sent  on  Thanksgiving  

Day  •  “You  are  part  of  

the  Fabric.com  family”  

•  Generates  LOTS  of  positive  feedback  

12  Days  of  December  –  12/14  to  12/25  

Fabric.com  Sample  Holiday  Promotions  Deal  of  the  Day   Deals  &  Steals  

#4.  Holiday  Onboarding  /  Holiday  Shopping  

Reminders  

Welcome and remind in season  

-­‐  Register  now  for  easier  and  quicker  checkout  process  during  the  hectic  holidays.  Registering  also  makes  shopping  on  your  smartphone  or  tablet  a  breeze.    -­‐  We  offer  PayPal  payment  option  –  leave  your  credit  card  in  your  wallet  or  purse!    -­‐  Download  our  mobile  app  for  a  superior  mobile  shopping  experience.    -­‐  Use  our  wishlist  /  save  for  later  function  to  complete  the  purchase  process  later.    -­‐  Register  with  social  sign-­‐in  using  your  Facebook  account.  

Sample  content  to  add  to  a  holiday  shopping  reminder  email  

Content  to  Consider  Including  

Information  about:  Shipping  schedules   How  to  return  items   Gift-­‐cards   Call-­‐center  hours  

Email-­‐only  specials  

Reassure  simplicity  of  holiday  shopping  experience  

Change  preferences  

Frequency  options  if  you  want  less  

Expect  Increased  frequency  

#5.  “Make  It  Easy”  For  Consumers  and  Yourself  Don’t  make  them  work  or  have  to  think  

Clean,  Simple  With  Primary  CTA  that  “Pops”  

Shipping  Options  –  Return  Policy  –  Gift  Cards  –  1-­‐888-­‐555.1212  

Highlight  in  navigation,  body  copy,  CTAs  and  

footer  –  key  holiday  shopper  concerns:  

•  Shipping  options  and  deadlines  

•  Return  policy  •  Gift  cards  

•  Etc.  

Shipping  Deadlines  and  Options  

#6.  Add  Gift  Card  Promotions  

Capture  the  Last  Minute  Shoppers  

Promote  Gift  Cards  as  an  Easy  Alternative  

#7.  Remarketing  /  Reminder  Emails  

Browse  &  Cart  Abandonment    

Holiday Shoppers … Sniffing Around  

Gift  Cards  –  Browse  Remarketing  Program  

Browse,  but  don’t  buy  within  24  hours  •  Receive  reminder  

•  Sent  daily  for  12  days  before  Christmas  

Browse,  but  don’t  buy  within  24  hours  •  Receive  reminder  

•  Sent  daily  for  12  days  before  Christmas  

Cart  abandonment  remarketing  will  become  even  more  

important  in  the  era  of  mobile  shopping.  

 Think  about  it…  

Desktop  centric  Lots  going  on  

Simpler,  more  mobile  friendly  

Smartphone  Cart  Abandoners  –  Ideas  to  Test  

Add  alternative  payment  process  copy  

Mobile  friendly  or  responsive  

Test  timing  –  within  an  hour  vs  a  few  hours  later  

Just  a  reminder  –  while  you  were  doing  your  holiday  Shopping  Bag.  You  left  a  few  things  in  your  Shopping  Bag.  We  know  it  is  a  busy  time  of  year,  so  why  not  check  out  a  few  more  gifts  off  you  list  and  complete  your  order  now?  

Add holiday theme and content.  

•  Shipping  options  •  Return  policies  

•  Gift  cards  •  Payment  options  

#8.  Post-­‐Purchase  Customer  Satisfaction  

Reduce  Returns,  Gain  Long-­‐Term  Customers  

55  

Ensure a good post-purchase experience…  

Post-­‐purchase  emails  –  help  your  CS  team  with  FAQs  

56  

evo.com  was  seeing  many  returns  of  ski  boots  and  lots  of  calls  to  their  call  center  for  buyers  not  knowing  how  to  fit  their  boots  …  

58

Lots  of  content  existed  on  evo.com:  

-­‐  How  to  Videos  -­‐  How  to  copy  

Lots  of  content  existed  on  evo.com:  

-­‐  How  to  videos  -­‐  How  to  copy  

59

3-­‐part  email  series  that  starts  

7  days  after  purchase  

-­‐  57%  Open  rate  -­‐  26%  CTR  -­‐  45%  CTOR  -­‐  Calls  to  call  

center  down  -­‐  Returns  of  

boots  down  

Other  Post-­‐Purchase  Ideas  …  

Email  to  update  preferences  

“If  you  bought  as  a  gift”  –  rewards  program,  etc  

Bounceback  offers  

Recommendation  emails  

Product  review  requests  

Agenda  

Mobile  /  Shopping  

Data  

8  Email  Tactics  

Takeaways  /  Q&A  

Agenda  –  Takeaways  /  Q  &  A  

Email  Tactics  

Go  responsive  or  mobile-­‐friendly  

Determine  your  holiday  cadence  

approach  

Deploy  browse  &  cart  

reminders  

Make  it  super  easy  to  buy  

Understand  the  holiday  context  –  shipping,  gift  cards,  returns  

Ensure  a  great  purchase/post-­‐

purchase  experience  

Takeaways  /  Action  Steps  

Q  &  A  /  Contact  Information  

Loren  McDonald  VP,  Industry  Relations  Silverpop,  an  IBM  Company  lmcdonal@us.ibm.com  @LorenMcDonald  

Meredith  Gertz  Email  Marketing  Manager  Fabric.com  meredith.gertz@fabric.com  @fabricdotcom    

silverpop.com        ©  2014  Copyright  Silverpop.  All  rights  reserved.    

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