The First 2 Weeks – Retail Office Supplies: Part 2 of 2
Posted by Nic Winters on June 30th, 2009
Welcome again to The First 2 Weeks, where we analyze 3 competitors’ email marketing strategies when it is most crucial… the opt-in process, welcome message, and first few campaigns as these marketers attempt to establish relationships with subscribers.
In our previous edition we evaluated the opt-in process and welcome messages for 3 competitors in the office supplies retail segment: OfficeMax, Office Depot, and Staples. In part 2 we will now investigate campaigns sent beyond the welcome email and preference editing options.
INITIAL CAMPAIGNS
Both OfficeMax and Staples sent out additional campaigns beyond the welcome email within the first 2 weeks, but there was a vast difference in timing and quantity. OfficeMax capitalized on the interest of a new subscriber by sending 3 emails (days 6, 8, & 13) spread throughout this timeframe while OfficeMax only sent 1 email that arrived on day 14. Both are much more aggressive strategies than that employed by Office Depot, which didn’t send a welcome message until beyond 2 weeks and the first additional message not arriving until day 22.
Emails sent by all 3 competitors had forward to a friend links and view in a browser links. However, Office Depot did not have a reminder to ensure delivery by adding to them to your address book – while their competitors not only had this notice, but also a link to instructions. OfficeMax once again stood out from the crowd, as they had a link to a mobile device version at the top of their messages. Staples also has a great feature at the base of their emails which displays the email address that is subscribed. As noted in past reviews, this can assist in reducing a subscriber’s confusion in cases of old email addresses that have been forwarded, etc.
OfficeMax has done a decent job of employing alt tags on images so that all is not lost when images are off. However, they employed an ever better technique within small sections of some emails (like this pricing section displaying deals on printers) – utilizing text as opposed to relying totally on images. However, in that same email this technique could have been applied to the main content item, using text and background colors/images to achieve the same look and feel without resulting in blank section relying only on alt tags with images off.
Another example of a partial application of this technique was found in the 1 message we received from Office Depot. The have used text and background color in the $20 off $100 section, but this same technique could have also been applied to the left half of the area just below that section to achieve the same look and feel seen here with images on.
EMAIL PREFERENCE OPTIONS
All 3 competitors excel in this area of email marketing. Each of these companies has included links to allow you to update your email preferences. While Staples preference center is very limited (offering only options to update email address and change format from HTML to text) the other 2 competitors offer a wider variety of options. OfficeMax features an “Update your Profile” link in their emails which leads to a page where you can update information such as birthdate, zip code, and most importantly which emails you would like to receive (Special Offers and/or Weekly Store Ads). Office Depot offers both a “Change Email Address” link and another link at the base of the email allowing you to reduce the number of emails you receive (the landing page offers a reduction to 1 email every 2 weeks).
Watch for our next edition in the coming weeks in which we will evaluate the campaigns of 3 new competitors!
