Unify Your Data

Thomas Larson, Omnichannel and Customer Experience Product Manager for Lucky Brand, led the way, talking about a project that he had just finished. Data integration is crucial for this multichannel brand with 251 stores and a robust online business. Lucky Brand receives data from multiple sources, such as email, social media and their website. He said it’s critical it to be able to unify all of that into one repository.

Having a detailed and thorough structure for your data allows marketers to more easily segment by customer type and better reach the consumer with the proper messaging at their preferred time and on their preferred device.

Focus on the People

Next up was Mark DeCausmeaker, Director of Multi-Channel Sales for REEDS Jewelers. I met Mark a year ago and found him to be a passionate advocate of trying new campaigns and then measuring results. He still is, but at the event, he talked about the value of working closely with an account manager. “An AM is like a good spouse, reminding you of about what they told you.’’

Mark gave the attendees a quick synopsis of what he’s been working on since 2010. When he first started working with Bronto, 75% of their list was unengaged. By implementing a reengagement campaign, they were able to recover nearly 25% of their customers in just six weeks. The move also reduced the cost of their email spend by half, and by the end of the first month, they’d already turned a net profit. Over the last seven years, Mark has periodically engaged Bronto’s managed services group to help get new campaigns rolling. The results have been impressive: REEDS has seen a 22x increase in email-related sales and an 8x increase in the overall value of email to their business.

Pair Innovation and Personalisation

The third presenter of the day was James Brown, Digital Marketing Director for TTI Floor Care. James talked about lifecycle marketing and how to create steps to complement the buying process and customer workflow.

He said it’s crucial to secure the moment of opportunity and understand the customer profile in order to improve workflow efficiency. By using Bronto for his workflows, he’s been able to optimize many business processes through rigorous testing.

He has also seen great success with his email campaigns via Bronto’s Browse Recovery app. Since implementing the app, emails have seen a 93% higher open rate and a 60% higher conversion rate than standard emails. Mark also mentioned that he’s seen 3-4X more conversions with Cart Recovery vs. the promotional emails he used to send.

He also discussed the importance of innovation and how pairing new ideas with maximum efficiency leads to a stronger brand voice, and ultimately, more success in the marketplace. Read more about what TTI is doing with email, and stay tuned for our upcoming video with James shot while we were here in Durham.

Take the Leap

Matt Grimm, Director of Ecommerce for RST Brands, took the stage last. I’ve met Matt a couple of times. He is the nicest fellow and does a great job of sharing his email marketing story by starting out with the company’s origins. They were strictly a wholesaler of outdoor furniture that wanted to add direct-to-consumer sales.

To get started, they set up a direct mail program to begin building a list of leads. They gathered additional emails through a warranty program and included a note in each package they shipped that encouraged customers to go to their website and provide an email address. With such a highly engaged group, the company saw a nearly 67% open rate, 37% click-through rate and almost 14% conversion rate.

Next came the welcome series for this group of new subscribers. Due to the complexity of their products, they used this series as a way to introduce customers to their merchandise and its features – yet another opportunity to engage and showcase the brand’s transparency.

With the influx of traffic generated by these efforts, Matt’s focus then turned to segmentation of this group for unique, tailored campaigns. Even during the off season, when sales normally flat-line, these segments resulted in 137% more sales year over year.

And with Bronto’s help, his team took things one step further. The Browse Recovery and Cart Recovery apps helped him complete the entire sales cycle from initial lead through to purchase, and led to massive year-over-year growth for RST Brands.