Breaking Through The Clutter of Email Marketing

Throughout the day, I am flooded with tons of advertising emails, the majority of which I do not even care to open. What makes some marketing emails worth my time, while others find their way into my spam folder?

Lucky Brand

I am a bit of a shopaholic, so I get countless emails from stores I have purchased from over the years. However, Lucky's latest email really peaked my interest.

Lucky has done this to me before: in order to get a discount, one must open the email and discover what discount they were awarded. Playing to my competitive nature, I felt the need to open to email and discover my prize!

Eurostar

I am absolutely obsessed with traveling. After studying abroad in London, I receive countless emails from across the pond that are virtually pointless for me. However, with the knowledge that this email would not benefit me in any way, I still had to open Eurostar's email to me.

Not only did I love the cheeky subject line, but in a few words they were able to capitalize on the romanticized nature of both of these cities. I read this email as I attempted to validate a trip to Europe (which, sadly, I could not on a college budget).

Tatty Devine

Tatty Devine is a jewelry brand based in London that I was in love with while abroad; so much so that my gifts for all of my friends were personalized Tatty Devine necklaces!

Something I love about this brand is how fun they are. Although a free gift is always tempting, the fact that they wrote "Freee" is completely on brand for them. It put a smile on my face as I was scrolling through my emails, which is the best way to create a strong brand relationship.

Native Advertising: The Good, The Bad, and the Pointless

I personally am a big fan of native advertising. When I'm bored and fooling around online, I tend to end up scrolling through Buzzfeed lists looking for a laugh. I have seen a variety of really well-executed native advertising strategies on this site, as well as some that could use some help.

The Good: 10 Cocktail and Snack Pairings You Wish You Had Thought of First by Stoli

Buzzfeed is my go-to site for a few topics: cats, puns, and ridiculously unhealthy food. It makes sense for a brand to capitalize on this because they already have a captive audience.

So imagine my excitement when the first image I saw upon opening the list was this: 

Stoli, understanding Buzzfeed's audience, created an entire article focused on pairing their cocktails with insanely indulgent foods that BF readers love. Not only did I get my daily dose of #foodporn, but I learned of the diversity in Stoli's brand line!

The Bad: Will Ferrell Will Do Anything To Get You To Vote by Obama for America

Really, Obama's marketing team? I know you're trying to reach a younger demographic, but Buzzfeed is NOT associated with journalistic integrity. You can do better than this.

The Pointless: 10 How-To's for the Perfect Pin-Up Style by Guess

I'm a total nerd for vintage style. Therefore, when I saw this article by Guess, I was super excited to see their advice to achieve the pin-up look. However, Guess completely wasted an opportunity to advertise via Buzzfeed.

Guess gives some good (well, mediocre) advice on this style, yet they completely miss the opportunity to show how Guess' clothing and accessories are on-trend. If Guess had shown some of their own clothing, I may be more inspired to go and purchase something from Guess.

Flying High: Amazon's Drone Delivery System

After a hyped-up 60-Minutes interview with Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Twitter has been abuzz with news of the new Drone delivery system. And with good reason: this innovation may change the face of online commerce forever.

The drones will deliver small packages to users within 30 minutes. This development, which may be completed in 4-5 years, will make ordering from Amazon more convenient than ever.

What does this mean for marketers? First of all, advertising space on Amazon will be more coveted than ever; more users will be drawn to use the site because the drone system will make shopping online just as desirable as shopping in-person. Many people will spend more than a half hour to get to a shopping location, and in that same amount of time a person can now stay at home and receive their item.

Also, sites other than Amazon will need to step up their marketing game. Many items are purchasable through Amazon, which could render smaller companies' sites unprofitable. To compete with Amazon, brands will need to draw upon other product benefits as no other web company can rival Amazon's convenience.

It's All About the Crop: Pictures in Web Advertising

Native advertising is one of the newest trends in digital marketing. By creating content that subtly (or sometimes, not so subtly) advertises a brand, marketers are able to advertise their product while entertaining the consumer. However, updates on social media pages are complicating this process.

Ad Age shared a study on how some brands are missing opportunities on social media because of their inability to appropriately crop pictures for a given medium.

Poorly-executed Twitter image:

Samsung missed the mark on this one because you can clearly see there is copy above the image, but it was not cropped appropriately for Twitter. This picture becomes another image lost in the shuffle of Twitter.

Well-executed Twitter image:

car2go Denver nailed this image because the user can clearly see the benefit of clicking the link. The copy is clear, concise, and enticing.

I enjoyed this article because I never considered the implications of a poor crop job in Twitter marketing. It's amazing how the tiniest edit can change the success of an online campaign.

Wikipedia Content: Moral or Not?

The principles of Wikinomics asserts that openness, which allows individuals to create content, is evident in the Web 2.0 model. Collaboration on the web has led to a variety of sites, including social media pages and Wikipedia. However, when can this user-created content be considered dishonest?

This issue is discussed in a Digiday article: PR managers are editing Wikipedia pages to show their brands in the best light. However, this form of astroturfing can be an unrealistic representation of an organization, which can be viewed as immoral.

There are two sides to this argument: on the one hand, one of the primary responsibilities of PR managers is to portray their brands positively. Sites such as Wikipedia are conducive to user-generated content, so why not create content that portrays a company in a positive light?

However, there is an inherent sense of responsibility with this content- readers generally believe the content written to be true, so it is expected that those who create content are being honest.

After this discovery, the Wikimedia Foundation has promised to try to stop these actions from occurring. However, this daunting task sounds near impossible- with an ever-growing number of articles on Wikipedia, it is difficult to fathom that the foundation can separate the honest information from the dishonest.

Hopefully, now that this information is more public, the foundation can make strides towards revealing true information.

Email Marketing Case Study: Share Joy with Starbucks

As a total Starbucks addict (don't believe me? Check out my last blog post!), I am part of a twenty-something subculture that thrives on new and seasonal Starbucks drinks. Needless to say, when Christmas rolls around, myself and many other coffee junkies are thrilled by the latest drinks, snacks, and decorations that flood Starbucks' nationwide. When Starbucks decides to introduce a promotional campaign, it basically sends the Starbucks obsessed into a caffeine-induced spiral.

A few days ago, I received an email advertising the Starbucks Share Joy campaign. The concept behind the promotion: between November 13th and 17th, consumers will receive two handcrafted holiday beverages for the price of one, including the Gingerbread Latte, the Caramel Brulee Latte, and the Peppermint Latte.

The email also contained other seasonal offerings:

How to share your fabulous #redcup on Instagram,

Information on the seasonal Christmas Blend.

Details on holiday treats (#OmgYumCranberryBlissBar).

How to send holiday egifts,

Info about the Verisimo coffee system,

And how to receive text updates about holiday deals!

The target of the email campaign is Loyalty Card Members, as these wonderful emails are sent to only them. Starbucks loyalty membership has two tiers: green, which can be obtained after purchasing 5 Starbucks drinks on a card, or gold, which is achieved by gaining 30+ stars per year on a card.

The primary Starbucks purchasers are upper-middle class men and women aged 25-45, but the loyalty program skews slightly younger (18-45). This may be due to the more modern concept of a loyalty program and the mobile integration, which comes naturally to a younger demographic.

Starbucks, being a competent and established company, easily follows Constant Contact's guidelines for effective email marketing. However, most notably, Starbucks excels with #3: send relevant content that has value for recipients. Since they are only sending these emails to people in the loyalty program, there is a high chance that these people have been waiting patiently for Starbucks' seasonal drinks and will take advantage of the promotion.

Another way in which Starbucks' email marketing campaign is effective is their ability to drive referrals. The buy one, get one free campaign will drive in repeat users, but there is an increased chance that those people will bring in non-Starbucks drinkers. After they enjoy a fantastic seasonal beverage, there is a chance they will return to the store on their own time.

Also, one of the most difficult aspects of a digital campaign is an effective email title. Starbucks manages to attract consumers through clever, yet concise language.

Overall, Starbucks has excelled at turning an often annoying, intrusive marketing tactic into an opportunity to share their product with their most loyal consumers.

Mobile Marketing Case Study: Starbucks App

What was once a humble local coffee shop in Seattle, Starbucks has quickly expanded to become the largest coffeehouse company in the world. Boasting hot and cold beverages, whole-bean coffee, full-leaf teas, pastries, and snacks, Starbucks has become associated with an upscale cafe experience. As technology began to shift, Starbucks needed to innovate in order to remain the leader in the field.

And with that, the Starbucks App was born.

How does it work? The Starbucks App is like a Starbucks Card, store locator, e-gift giver, and rewards tracker all wrapped into one.

Users can...

• Reload and manage their Starbucks Card. With a few taps on the screen, users can reload money onto their pre-existing Starbucks card or apply a physical card's worth onto the app.
• Locate the nearest Starbucks. Using GPS technology, the app can recognize the closest Starbucks to any location.
• Give Starbucks cards to their friends. Within a few clicks, users can send highly customizable cyber cards to their friends.
• Track their stars. Starbucks' star rewards system gives users stars for each purchase, which are redeemable for free drinks and foods. Users can see how many free items they have accumulated and when they will be receiving their next perk.

Who is using it? A lot of people, apparently! As of July 2013, it was reported that over 10% of transactions were made over the Starbucks app. If you consider how many stores their are worldwide, and how many consistent customers they have (many of which go more than once in a day), that is a lot of mobile purchasing.

The Starbucks app is used mostly by men and women aged 24 to 34. An interesting study revealed that although most mobile payment apps are primarily used by men, the Starbucks app is used by 54% women. This proves that the app is intuitive even for those unfamiliar with mobile commerce.

Is it effective? Absolutely.

As an obsessor of all things Starbucks, this app has truly revolutionized the way I interact with the brand. Plus, and I didn't even know this would be possible, the app makes me go to Starbucks even more. Why? Because I reload my card with just a few clicks, it doesn't feel like I'm spending excessive amounts of cash on my coffee habit. It's incredibly dangerous, but incredibly effective.

Don't believe me? The 10%+ of payments made via the app should speak for itself. In case that doesn't, it was reported in January of 2013 that over 7 Million users were signed up for the app. In that same study, they reported 2.1 Million payments were made through the app per week.

In conclusion, the Starbucks App fuels the user to stay a loyal customer, much like the caffeine in Starbucks' coffee fuels the world.