Tactics to Use When Launching an Email Marketing Campaign - Case Studies

Written by SEO Consultant Lalit Sharma 

Email marketing is one of the new strategies that companies enlist to ensure that their Return on Investment, profitability and client base improves. Additionally, this form of marketing can be used to improve the branding of a company and ensure that your customer’s feel appreciated through continued rapport-building via email. Essentially, emails require personalizing to capture the recipient’s attention. In case your click through rates and metrics are not exactly where you want them to be, then it is time to look for new email marketing campaigns that will get you the results that you need. The following case studies portray tactics, lessons and strategies that marketers have used to achieve positive results that are long term.

Tactic one: Customers should be your number one focus

The Microsoft store enlisted email marketing using relevance to increase the sending rate by 300 percent and their email revenue by 600 percent. It was difficult for the Microsoft store to understand customers with a legacy of multiple systems that were separate. This was in the brick and motor stores as well as online stores.

Therefore, instead of waiting for dynamic, long-term infrastructure, the team made use of their current system to find out more about their clients and make use of the limited data to expand email revenue by a whopping 600 percent. This increase in email revenue reflected a new way to market their store and ensure that their clients are their focus. Therefore, an increase in customer focus led to an increase in email revenue through this new email marketing campaign. It won the MarketingSherpa Reader’s Choice Email Award in 2014; based on reviews by MarketingSherpa Blog readers. 

The opt-out rate for the Kentucky Derby’s customer-centric newsletter was 64 percent. The email marketing campaign sought to use some concrete data about the customer’s content choices instead of using assumptions. Therefore, the marketers sought out the customers’ preferred content choice and reduced the opt-out rate for receiving the newsletter. The content placed on the newsletter was only content that the customers wanted.

The B2B Company lifted sales by 200 percent through sending their clients emails messages that were personalized. The marketing team aimed at placing a face and name to the brand’s communication to combat the digital disconnect between technology and legal space. By sending monthly emails from the client relations vice president, the marketing team reduced the unsubscribe rate and increased sales by 200 Percent. Additionally, there was an increase in customer understanding and trust.

Tactic Two: Keep it Simple

The B2B company increase open rates by 48 percent by simplifying the content of emails sent to clients. The president and Chief operating officer, John Lavey said that, “Most of our lives we spend not as marketers, but as recipients of marketing.” Clients were experiencing email fatigue from newsletters received from his company. Therefore, they simplified the design and content of the newsletter and renamed it to represent a refocus on problem solving and idea cultivation.

Blogger Tim Feriss turned his blog into an email marketing success. He realized that through his blog posts, he had amassed hundreds of thousands of email addresses without ever sending out an email. Therefore, he began an email program that would give the lessons that he had acquired since he started building up an audience from his blog. This turned out to be a successful email marketing campaign. This type of content marketing utilized email marketing to increase revenue to his blog.

Tactic Three: Take Risks that are Creative but do not forget to test them

Through use of email marketing, Zumba Fitness made use of a personalized video that helped increase the clicks to open by 50 Percent. There was an annual instructor’s convention organized by Zumba Fitness approaching and the marketing team had to grab the attention of their email audience. Using this perfect opportunity, they inserted a personalized video into a launch email to accomplish an increase in click to open rate. The marketers gathered footage used in previous years and helped build subscriber names to the creative element. By doing so, Zumba Fitness managed to increase the number of subscribers who opened their emails by 50%.

DaVita Kidney Care used cold testing subject line symbols in order to increase the open rates for their health care company. The marketing took notice of symbols popping up in subject lines of their inboxes. They questioned whether these could cold test these symbols by starting a similar email program from their clients. Once tested, the open rates for the emails sent to clients increased, leading to increased client base and a better understanding of their client. The risk taken was worth it, once tested.

Using a GIF-centric email marketing campaign, Dell increased its revenue by 109 percent. Essentially, GIFs have changed the online experience in an exciting way. They enhance everything from websites, news stories, and even emails. The use of GIFs by Dell saw a 6 percent increase in open rate, a 42 percent increase in click rate, a 103 percent conversion increase and a 109 percent increase in revenue. During the product launch, a predetermined house file was sent to the US customer base and prospect customer base. As expected, the marketing team was astounded by the results.

When beginning a new marketing campaign, marketers and even those seeking the marketing services are worried as to whether it will work. The same is true with email marketing. As the case studies above portray, a lot of innovation is required to reduce client fatigue in opening up the emails in their inboxes. You have to focus on the client and find out what content they really need. Additionally, you need to simplify content in emails so that your client can get specific information that they require.

When emails are complicated and not offering what the client is looking for, the click to open rate is reduced and the company loses a client in the process. Finally, in case a marketing company has never tried a new marketing technique, it is necessary that they take the risk and test the technique. It is always good to take risks when it comes business.


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