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Email Promotions that Deliver Results
I have covered the elements of effective email promotions in
several past issues of Hints & Tips.
This time, let's take a look at a holiday promotion that
not only exemplifies those elements, but even better delivered
a click through rate of more than 22%.
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Hats off to hats.com!
In just 12 short months, fledgling headwear e-tailer,
hats.com, has earned a great reputation thanks to its
world-class selection of hats and outstanding customer
service.
The hats.com team scores a "hat trick," building their
sizeable house list through:
- Customer acquisition campaigns sent via opt-in
rental lists to targeted prospects.
The regularly
scheduled campaigns include both promotions on specific
items, and incentives encouraging member registration
(e.g. a $5.00 coupon or a free hats.com cap).
- Member registration on the hats.com website.
Registered members of hats.com are seduced by membership
privileges like the ability to easily keep track of
their favorite headwear brands and styles and the
convenience of a faster and easier check out process.
Members also receive new product announcements and
members-only sales and discounts.
- Search engine registration and paid placement.
By virtue of the no-nonsense domain name, hats.com, a
certain amount of site traffic is fortuitously
inevitable. hats.com also utilizes paid placement on
search engines to help drive traffic on targeted
keywords.
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hats.com reaches out to its house list with email
promotions once or twice per month.
"Email marketing allows us to stay in touch with
our current customers as well as bring in new ones,"
said Vice President, Matthew Costello. "With each email
promotion we send out, we see a 30-50% increase in site
traffic and sales for at least a week after the delivery
date."
Lets take a closer look at a hats.com holiday promotion
to see why - in addition to a targeted, permission-based
list and a good offer - this is an email promotion worth
imitating. |
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"Subject:" line
"Shop Now and Save at hats.com!"
It is short and to the point while conveying a benefit
and incorporating the recognized hats.com brand.
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Format
hats.com sends its email promotions in HTML, AOL and
text, but achieves a better response rate with HTML. The
holiday promotion is uncluttered and makes good use of
white space. It is inviting, easy-to-read and easy to
click-through. Coordinated holiday colors and attractive,
professional graphics promote the 4 featured products.
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Copy
The small sections of text are professionally written
and easy to read with copious opportunities for
click-throughs.
"The most famous of all the Kangol Caps, this hat
has been seen around the world on some of the most
famous heads in the entertainment industry."
The copy also contains a clear call-to-action and a
sense of urgency achieved with the deadline for coupon
redemption.
"Don't miss out, you can SAVE $5.00 on your next
purchase at hats.com. Simply use the following coupon
code: 122601 at order checkout. It's quick, easy and a
GREAT deal! Coupon expires 12/31/01 so don't delay!"
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Links
Everything is linked including each call-to-action, all
descriptive text, the company logo and graphics. And, each
graphic is directly linked to the specific product page on
the hats.com website featuring that product. |
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Testing
hats.com always pays close attention to reporting
information on its campaigns carefully monitoring opens,
unsubscribes, and click throughs. They track the click
through numbers on each individual link to determine what
specific products appeal to their audience the most.
hats.com uses this valuable insight to increase the
success of their campaigns over time. |
One last thing to remember is that while holidays are
popular times to send promotions, the ones you send
"off-season" may be even more successful simply because fewer
promotions arrive in those off-peak times of the year. You may
need to clear excess inventory, or boost sales, appointments
and traffic in your slow months. So, let your own business
objectives determine the timing of your promotions.
If you apply these best practices to your own email
promotions and fail to see a lift in response rates, I'll eat
my hat!
P.S. Don't forget to check out
hats.com
for everyone with a head! Whether you want to declare your
loyalty to your team, add your signature to your style, top
off that perfect outfit or protect yourself from the sun and
extreme weather conditions, they have got you covered.
Email
Marketing Video Tutorials Show you how to plan, create, and send
successful newsletters.
Read Email Marketing Tips
and Lessons written by Michelle Keegan, Constant
Contact's Email Marketing Diva.
Learn E-Marketing Lingo from the
glossary of Email
Marketing terms.
| by Michelle Keegan, Constant Contact's Email
Marketing Diva(TM) |
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