Consumers are increasingly researching and buying from mobile devices, and they are shopping earlier and making last minute purchases using gift cards and via multiple channels, so solidifying your email plans and programs early is especially important in 2014. In this session, Loren McDonald, Vice President of Industry Relations, Silverpop, an IBM Company, and Meredith Gertz, Email Marketing Manager, Fabric.com, an Amazon Company, share ideas and tactics to help ensure that online retailers get the most out of their email marketing programs during the critical holiday shopping season. You’ll come away with actionable holiday promo next steps to easily integrate into your existing holiday marketing plan. Discussion topics include: Developing a holiday-specific welcome program Segmentation and frequency considerations Optimizing emails for mobile conversions Revising templates with information about details such as shipping, return policy, and gift cards Designing emails to better enable mobile navigation and browsing Using content and personality to increase engagement Creating high-converting gift card programs Launching post-purchase programs How to integrate your holiday subscribers into your regular non-holiday communication stream

1. Email Marketing Campaigns and
Tactics to Maximize 2014 Holiday
Revenue
Meredith Gertz, Fabric.com
@fabricdotcom
Loren McDonald, Silverpop, an IBM Company
@LorenMcDonald

2. Agenda
Shopping /
Mobile
Data
Email
Tactics
Takeaways
/ Q&A
Today’s Agenda

3. Mobile Shopping
& Email Data

4. The Smartphone Paradox 66% higher than
tablet rate
43% of tablet
rate
28% of tablet
Less rate
browsing
time/page
views

5. Source: Litmus, Jan 2014

6. 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.

7. Agenda
Shopping /
Mobile
Data
8 Email
Tactics
Takeaways
/ Q&A
Agenda – Email Tactics

8. #1. Make Your Emails Mobile
Friendly
Especially for Remarketing Emails

9. 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

10. Are your emails touch-friendly?
Old mouse New mouse

11. More than just “design” – Think “context”

12. The Simple Difference – Responsive Emails
Desktop Mobile

13. Responsive
Desktop
Responsive
Mobile

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

15. Heat map lessons:
• Shoppers look for
discounts first
• CTA beneath it gets
higher
conversion/lower
bounce rate
Website/emails
use same button

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

17. Typical Welcome Email Approach
Immediate
3-7 days
7-14 days
Immediate
Stand alone
Email # 1
Email # 2
Email # 3
3-part series

18. 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

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

20. Holiday pounding …

21. 200+ annually
4 per week
1 every 1.8 days
@LorenMcDonald

22. Jan 2
Dec 25
51
emails
Nov 18
1 week before
Thanksgiving
Day
37
emails
T-Day
To
XMAS
50
emails
44 days

23. Every time an email goes ka-ching an retail marketer
gets her wings!
Every time an email dings, an email marketer gets her wings!

24. Broadcast:
•Black Friday
•Cyber Monday
•General Promotions
Targeted:
•Past purchasers
•Gift card purchasers
•Never purchased
Onboarding
•New holiday subscribers
welcome
•Onboarding track
•Cart/Browse abandonment
Purchasers
Remarketing
•Order confirmation
•Upsell/Cross sell
•Post-purchase care
•Resends
Targeting &
Cadence
Possibilities

25. 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?

26. 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.

27. 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

28. Lapsed Customer: Increase Engagement– KAF
Ideas
- Drop-down menu (dolls)
- Put into automated program
based on response

29. • “Thanks” sent
on Thanksgiving
Day
• “You are part of
the Fabric.com
family”
• Generates LOTS
of positive
feedback

31. 12 Days of December – 12/14 to 12/25

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

33. #4. Holiday Onboarding /
Holiday Shopping
Reminders

34. Welcome and remind in season

35. - 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.

36. Content to Consider Including
Expect Increased frequency
Frequency options if you want less
Change preferences
Reassure simplicity of holiday shopping experience
Email-only specials
Information about:
Shipping schedules How to return items Gift-cards Call-center hours

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

39. Clean, Simple With Primary CTA that “Pops”

40. Highlight in
navigation, body
copy, CTAs and
footer – key holiday
shopper concerns:
Shipping Options – Return Policy – Gift Cards – 1-888-555.1212
• Shipping
options and
deadlines
• Return policy
• Gift cards
• Etc.

41. Shipping Deadlines and Options

42. #6. Add Gift Card
Promotions
Capture the Last Minute Shoppers

43. Promote Gift Cards as an Easy Alternative

45. #7. Remarketing / Reminder
Emails
Browse & Cart Abandonment

46. Holiday Shoppers … Sniffing Around

47. Gift Cards – Browse Remarketing Program
Browse, but don’t buy within 24 hours
• Receive reminder
• Sent daily for 12 days before
Christmas

48. Cart abandonment remarketing
will become even more
important in the era of mobile
shopping.
Think about it…

49. Desktop centric
Lots going on
Simpler, more
mobile friendly

50. Smartphone Cart Abandoners – Ideas to Test
Test timing – within an
hour vs a few hours later
Mobile friendly or
responsive
Add alternative payment
process copy

51. • Shipping options
• Return policies
• Gift cards
• Payment options
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.

52. #8. Post-Purchase Customer
Satisfaction
Reduce Returns, Gain Long-Term
Customers

53. Ensure a good post-purchase experience…
53

54. Post-purchase emails – help your CS team with FAQs
54

55. Ski boots: Hard to fit online …

56. 56

57. 57

58. 57% Open rate
26% CTR
45% CTOR

59. Agenda
Mobile /
Shopping
Data
8 Email
Tactics
Takeaways
/ Q&A
Agenda –Takeaways / Q & A

60. Email
Tactics
Determine your
holiday
cadence
approach
Go responsive
or mobile-friendly
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

61. Contact Information
Loren McDonald
VP, Industry Relations
Silverpop, an IBM Company
@LorenMcDonald
Meredith Gertz
Email Marketing Manager
Fabric.com
@fabricdotcom

62. silverpop.com
silverpop.com/marketing-resources
www.slideshare.net/silverpop
Twitter.com/silverpop
Facebook.com/silverpop
The Silverpop Digital Marketing Platform