August 2011 Reactivation Drive: Our 2012 Directory – opt in, or opt out?

This campaign is a great example of a simple campaign winning customers over. It achieved a 30% open rate and 13% click through rate. Overall the campaign boosted conversions for the e-catalogue proving email is a good channel to drive online sales.

Company Details

Name: Classic Cottages
Designed and developed by: Classic Cottages Team
Website: www.classic.co.uk

Campaign details

Subject line: Our 2012 Directory – opt in, or opt out?
Open rate: 38%
Click rate: 22%

Context

This campaign was run as an exercise to configure subscriber preferences about receiving a printed copy of their annual directory. It also served as a data cleansing exercise.

Objectives

• Gauge interest in printed directory.
• Save costs on DM and reduce carbon footprint.
• Cleanse and update data.

What makes this a performing campaign?

The scope for reach has changed in recent times in the light of digital. Today it is more about how many of the right people you can reach with your marketing, as opposed to the number of people you can reach with your message. It is about quality not quantity. For this reason, Classic Cottages gave their subscribers the opportunity to voice whether they would like to receive their annual printed directory, or not. Their open rate on a list of 24,428 was 38% and the click through rate was 22%. This is a performing campaign as it demonstrates how giving your customers the opportunity
to tell you what they want is the best way to engage them. It also shows an innovative way to reduce spend and make sure you are targeting your most engaged audience.

What about the creative, copy and campaign elements?

• The subject elicits a response as it asks them a question. This intrigues the recipient and will have impacted the open rate.
• The creative is visually appealing causing the recipient to want to see what it is about.
• The copy is light and cleverly written talking about the difference between online and book lovers. It also talks about wanting to reflect their personal choices.

What about sending to non-openers?

Many are sceptical of sending to non-openers as they don’t want to upset people who might have read and converted through the preview pane. Upon recommendation from Adestra, Classic Cottages resent the campaign to those who had not opened. From this resend a further 1,120 people opted out of receiving the annual directory – almost as high as the first send which was 1,996. This proves you can re-engage people with a re-send to non-openers.

The Results

Out of 24,428 subscribers 3,116 opted out of receiving the printed directory which will save Classic Cottages in the region of £3,000 in printing and postage costs, plus the campaign has had a huge impact on their carbon footprint.

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