Welcome to the Inkredible 5. As 2015 comes to a close, we want to highlight five stand-out email campaigns by brands that used contextual marketing to go above and beyond in the inbox this year. In this edition, we showcase contextual emails from Betfair, The Chicago Tribune, Marie Curie, McDonald’s and Ticketmaster. We hope these emails not only delight and inspire, but demonstrate what’s possible when you use next-level emails to market in the moment. Adam Stambleck VP of Client Experience Movable Ink
Betfair, the world’s largest internet betting exchange, relies heavily on email to engage customers. To stay ahead of the competition and create a compelling customer experience, the UK company uses personalized campaigns. This email displays the recipient’s name on a customized scoreboard to make users feel like part of the action and encourage their participation.
“We have tested personalized images in a number of different communications, mainly using the name of the customer or their bespoke bonus amount in an inventive way. In all cases, we’ve seen an uplift in click through rate, with the average across all examples being 43%.” Adam Palmerini Senior Marketing Manager Betfair
Marketing in the moment isn’t news to the Chicago Tribune. As one of the United States’ largest media organizations, the Chicago Tribune is a trusted resource for those who want to receive the latest breaking news and information across all platforms. In order to match the fast pace of the news cycle, their team uses a web crop to ensure the latest headlines and top trending stories are always available in their readers’ inboxes. Additionally, they include social sharing buttons that deep-link into the reader’s mobile social app, allowing for easy, one-click sharing. When headlines are updated, so are the pre-populated social posts. Since incorporating these features, the click rate has more than doubled, and engagement has significantly increased.
“We are seeing great engagement across the markets, with the click rate more than double similar email products. Our markets are very happy with the results and with the subsequent page view consumption we are seeing. We can definitely say that this email has better engagement than other similar mailings.� Amanda Paxson Marketing Manager Chicago Tribune
Marie Curie wanted to increase donations from its email appeals by activating more of their high open, low conversion mobile audience. They created a campaign that went beyond how email looks on mobile, and optimized it based on user interaction. The email detected each recipient’s device at moment of open. If it was opened on a desktop, the call-to-action solicited an online donation. If opened on a mobile device, it prompted readers to donate via text message. A click of a button in the email opened a pre-populated text message — all the reader had to do was press send. No mobile site experience and no credit card required!
“a seamless experience”
“As people have embraced mobile devices, we’ve shifted our email strategy to ensure our messages are as relevant and effective as possible. Movable Ink helps us create a seamless experience - no fiddly mobile sites! We are so thrilled with the results and are excited to build off the momentum of this campaign.” Chris Pook Senior eCRM Manager Marie Curie
To celebrate the MTV Video Music Awards, Ticketmaster put the voting power in their subscribers’ hands. They launched a campaign targeting subscribers who recently purchased tickets for one of the nominated artist’s concerts, and asked them to predict who would win an award. Once a vote was cast, a results page displayed how others were voting. The open rate of the email exceeded Ticketmaster’s average by 182% and had a zero percent unsubscribe rate.
“The proof is in the data – Ticketmaster’s innovative use of gamification to progressively profile their audience proves that when you give people value and context, they will engage with you in meaningful ways.” Chris Kopyar Senior Account Manager Movable Ink
The McDonald’s Australia email marketing team was looking to engage their subscribers without relying on static user data. This particular newsletter is truly contextual — updating each time it’s opened. Using geo-targeting, the email offers in-themoment weather information and a map to the nearest locations. Menus are swapped based on time of open — replacing the breakfast menu with a lunch menu when breakfast is no longer available. Additionally, several images are tested using Movable Ink’s creative optimization feature, which uses A/B testing for component effectiveness, and then updates the newsletter with the winning components in real time.
“personalized experience”
“By using data gathered at the moment-of-open, McDonald’s was able to serve up an irresistibly appetizing and personalized experience to each subscriber.” Craig Clayton Senior Account Manager Movable Ink
Founded in 2010, Movable Ink pioneered the application of contextual experiences to email. Movable Ink clients can use any email service provider to deliver dynamic content that changes, in real-time, according to the context of each individual consumer. More than 300 innovative brands including The Wall Street Journal, eBay, Finish Line and Saks Fifth Avenue use Movable Ink to Market in the Moment and optimize their email campaigns to drive ROI. The company is headquartered in New York City with offices in London and San Francisco. For more information, visit movableink.com.
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Is Your Brand Inkredible? To nominate an agile email marketing campaign for the next edition of “The Inkredible Five,� email us at ink5@movableink.com.