The First 2 Weeks – Luxury Cars: Part 1 of 2
Posted by Nic Winters on October 9th, 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.
For this edition of The First 2 Weeks, we have chosen 3 competitors in the luxury car segment: Jaguar, Mercedes, and Porsche.
OPT-IN PROCESS
All 3 competitors did well regarding opt-in promotion on their websites, as the no scrolling was required to opt-in. Mercedes places a standard opt-in entry field area in a prominent location at the top right of the page, while Porsche requires a little more searching as the link doesn’t stand out in the bottom left with a message that doesn’t exactly scream email – “Dialog and Newsletter”. Jaguar takes it a step further by promoting opt-in in 2 areas, both on the left and bottom.
The opt-in page for Porsche is very simplistic, only asking for your salutation, first name, and last name – but all are required. One great feature about the Porsche opt-in process is an intermediary page you see before arriving at this form, which explains what you can expect and includes a link to the latest newsletter. Jaguar and Mercedes both provide the ability to specify the car models you are interested in (a great piece of data for future email segmentation). However, this and many other fields on the Jaguar form are required – something that may reduce the number of interested parties looking for a simple opt-in. They do capitalize on this opportunity though, as they even ask about your current vehicle and when you plan to purchase again.
WELCOME MESSAGE
Of these 3 competitors, only Porsche sent a welcome message. Their text email arrived around 2 minutes after the opt-in – a very timely response to begin the email relationship. The message serves just one purpose – to confirm your subscription, as Porsche utilizes a double opt-in list. The all text email lacks branding and the style one might associate with a luxury auto manufacturer, but obviously nothing is lost with images disabled in this key message to confirm your subscription. Porsche also used a very generic subject line of “Newsletter Subscription” – not exactly the friendly greeting in my inbox that I expected. Their off-putting from name matches the cold subject line – as “no-reply@porsche.de” also doesn’t extend a warm welcome.
Even with these faults… at least I know that Porsche received my opt-in and I’m officially on their list – something that isn’t so clear with their 2 competitors.
Watch for Part 2 in the coming weeks in which we will evaluate campaigns sent beyond the welcome message and preference editing options.
