The From Line
Sending, Managing & Monetizing Email
Bacon of the Month Club for Valentine's Day? Or Panties of the Month?
Regardless of what you sell, your company may just have a big opportunity gift right under your noses. Continue reading for more on what the publishing industry did right and what we can learn from subscription-based business models...
Trend: The Return of Subscription-Based Business Models
Established by the publishing industry with magazines and Book of the Month Club, many retailers looking to break into an already-competitive market are turning to the subscription model. Rather than selling a single product and hoping for the customer to return for more, ecommerce sites such as Panty by Post, Men are Useless and Blue Bottle Coffee Company are hoping larger single receipts through subscription packages are the answer to bigger returns.
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Gold Lasso is noticing that larger big box retailers are responding to current economic conditions by reinstating long forgotten layaway programs just in time for the holiday season. Since many consumers have reduced credit lines, it will be imperative for pure online retailers that sell larger ticket items to offer similar programs and promote them aggressively to compete effectively for their respective market segments. With the continued squeeze in the consumer credit markets, layaway will be a lasting trend and one that will need to be embraced by online retailers as well.
We'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic! Let us know here or on our facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/GoldLasso
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Here we are, well into the last quarter of 2009, and holiday-related marketing campaigns are well underway. Many of Gold Lasso’s clients have begun promoting sale dates, coupon codes, clear outs, special event dates such as VIP access to online sales and other year-end online campaigns. Meanwhile, some still have not begun their end of year planning. Start now, it’s not too late. Here are some tips to help organize your e-marketing strategies:
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Coordinate online and offline promotions together to reinforce customer messages.
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Prepare special “backup plan” promotions that might be triggered by an event – snow in Florida promotions and inventory blowouts are just a few examples.
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Make it your New Year’s Resolution to be more engaging with your customers. Clearly and directly ask your customers to use social media by sharing info on Twitter or Facebook, forwarding to a friend or responding to a survey. Follow up with a thank you email or give financial incentives to those who share messages. (This feature can be tracked in eLoop standard campaign reporting.)
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Incorporate Auto Responders so people receive messages immediately after signups or customer purchases. This not only puts your name in front of the customer right away, but prompt emails encourage higher open rates and build better sender IP reputation.
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Keep pushing your messages all the way until last minute. It’s OK to send messages the day before Cyber Monday as well as on Cyber Monday. (The Monday following Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is associated with a significant increase in online sales. Cyber Monday is November 30. Mark your calendars!).
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Don’t only promote holiday shopping. Why not assemble messages for New Year’s – encourage customers to stock up on services or products for 2010 now.
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Busy staff? Why not incorporate RSS-to-Email functionality in campaign creation. One of our clients saved his office 20 hours of staff time by utilizing this feature in eLoop!
These are just a few of the many ways email marketing can be used to enhance your business this time of year. Remember to start sending emails now, send often, and send all the way until the end of the promotion for maximum results. For more information on how these features can be used, contact your eLoop Account Manager.
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Gold Lasso recently sponsored the Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study produced by the Email Experience Council and written and edited by Chad White. There are a lot of exciting new things that online retailers are doing with their opt-in subscription process. Below are some interesting findings in the study:
- Only 3% of major online retailers use a double opt-in subscription process.
- Only 92% of retailers have an email sign-up form or link on their homepage.
- More than 43% of retailers allow customers to sign up for email with one click from their homepage.
- The subscriber's name (31%) and zip code (18%) were the two most often required pieces of information.
Of these stats I find the first the most interesting and kind of disturbing. Since savvy email marketers know that double opt-in ensures the cleanest list, which leads to a quality reputation and high deliverability, why do only 3% of the largest online retailers engage in the practice? Has there been a study that proves consumers are too ignorant for a double opt-in process? This isn't 1999 and I'm fairly confident that consumers can handle this process.
Get a copy of the full report from the EEC
The full 37-page study presents a range of best practices and emerging best practices for your consideration, as well as a formerly popular practice that appears to be falling out of favor. It also includes numerous examples of creatives to help illustrate each point.
Visit the Whitepaper Room to download the full report, which is free for EEC platinum members, available at a discount to EEC gold and silver members, and available for $179 for non-members. Not a member? Learn more about becoming a member of the Email Experience Council.
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