alan's (5)
- 1. ALAN'S EMAIL SERVICE PROVIDER RECOMMENDATION MAIL CHIMP VS. CONSTANT CONTACT JANUARY 2017 210 Peachtree St NW, Atlanta, GA 30303 • www.alansconfections.com Prepared by Maggie Johnson, Marketing Analyst
- 2. AGENDA introduction objectives target audience strategies & tactics segmentation price analytics customer service & other features comparison summary final recommendation
- 3. INTRODUCTION As the leading upscale bakery, deli, and confectionary in the Metro Atlanta area, Alan's strives to uphold their reputation of quality, reliability, and friendly service by regularly engaging with customers through both digital and traditional channels. In an effort to drive repeat business, be top-of-mind for brides, and increase catering orders, Alan's has decided to implement an email marketing campaign through which customers will stay informed about menu specials, catering options, tasting parties, and VIP events. As the digital marketing analyst for Alan's, I have been tasked with recommending an Email Service Provider to carry out our email marketing campaign. Included in this report is a comprehensive overview of both Mail Chimp and Constant Contact and concludes with my final recommendation for an Email Service Provider.
- 4. OBJECTIVES DRIVE REPEAT BUSINESS BE A TOP-OF-MIND WEDDING CAKE DESIGNER FOR ATLANTA BRIDES INCREASE CATERING ORDERS
- 5. SOCCER MOM SUSAN TARGET AUDIENCE As a stay at home mom, Susan, likes to treat herself by going out to lunch with her tennis girls twice a week. When she isn't eating at Alan's, she's most likely drinking a green smoothie or she is at Panera. BRIDE-TO-BE BECCA Bride-to-Be Becca is newly engaged and fast on the wedding planning train. Her dream wedding Pinterest board is quickly filling up as she fantasizes about her big day. Oh, and she just said yes to the $5,000 wedding dress at the Great Bridal Expo! LUNCH BREAK LAUREN Lunch Break Lauren just landed her dream job at Deloitte Atlanta. Lauren and her work wives like to grab lunch together a few times a week. They can't even with the ATL lunch rush, so they usually only go to restaurants they can walk to. When they aren't taking their lunch break at Alan's, they are probs at Panera or Chipotle. Oh, and she is in charge of office catering.
- 6. STRATEGIES & TACTICS BLAST EMAILS TO LUNCH CROWD 2X/ WEEK (~200K) SEGMENT BRIDES BASED ON WEDDING MONTH, SEND OUT EMAILS 12X/ YEAR SEND PERSONALIZED EMAILS TO PAST CUSTOMERS REMINDING THEM OF THE ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR SPECIAL OCCASION
- 7. FEATURES
- 8. SEGMENTATION Ability to segment subscribers by groups Send relevant content (August brides vs. January brides) Subscribers can sign up for groups & Alan's can segment with internal data Includes pre-built segments based on signup date, engagement levels, purchase history, or demographics Save and auto-update segments
- 9. SEGMENTATION Ability to segment subscribers by tagging Use tags to group subscribers based on interests, customer status, location, wedding date, etc. Create email lists Add custom fields to contact information
- 11. EASY TO USE FEATURES & DESIGN Drag-and-drop designer Multi-user collaboration options Code your own template Design inspiration examples Mobile responsive Pre-designed templates
- 12. EASY TO USE FEATURES & DESIGN Customizable templates Intuitive drag-and-drop experience Visually impactful calls- to-action that drive engagement PDF to Email allows users to upload a pre- designed PDF and turn it into an editable email Mobile responsive design Social integration
- 13. ANALYTICS Track performance Interactive graphs Monitor trends Subscriber activity report Revenue report A/B Testing Opens by location Track bounces Manage unsubscribes Industry comparison Customize printable reports Track email domain performance a/b testing
- 14. ANALYTICS Engagement report Compare campaigns Click tracking heat map Mobile open rate Constant Contact App to track marketing on-the-go
- 15. CUSTOMER SERVICE & OTHER FEATURES Marketing automation Mobile apps to manage reports and send campaigns Robust e-commerce integration Google Analytics compatible Integration with other apps and services Omnivore- Abuse prevention initiative scans contact list to prevent bounces and bad addresses Knowledge Base Support Site provides step-by-step guides (even a guide to transition from Constant Contact!)
- 16. CUSTOMER SERVICE & OTHER FEATURES Online webinars and local training seminars Marketing blog with tips & advice Online tutorials Published contact info Email Template Design Help team will help design a custom template Mobile apps to manage campaigns on-the-go Support page for industry specific email tips Google Analytics compatible
- 17. COMPARISON SUMMARY SEGMENTATION PRICE EASY TO USE FEAT. & DESIGN CUSTOMER SERVICE & OTHER FEATURES ANALYTICS MailChimp's segmentation features are more user-friendly and time-saving than Constant Contact. Not only does MailChimp allow users to save the segments, but it auto- updates info regularly. With analytics being essential to continual improvement, it is important that Alan's selects the Email Service Provider with the most robust analytics and reporting package. Both MailChimp and Constant Contact integrate with Google Analytics, which is a plus. However, MailChimp's A/B testing capabilities matched with their extensive reports and graphs make them the better provider for analytics and reporting. The monthly cost for roughly 200k subscribers at MailChimp is about $20 less than that of Constant Contact. MailChimp offers several easy-to-use features and design options that Constant Contact does not. Although they both utilize a drag- and-drop interface, MailChimp allows for more customization options that will help Alan's show their brand in the best possible light. In regards to customer service, Constant Contact comes out on top. With extensive support pages, published contact info, webinars, and local training seminars, Constant Contact goes above and beyond in making sure their customers are satisfied. When it comes to additional features, though, MailChimp does it best. Unlike Constant Contact, MailChimp is reaching towards marketing automation and ecommerce integration in order to provide subscribers with the most personalized and relevant content.
- 18. WHO TAKES THE CAKE? THANK YOU! FINAL RECOMMENDATION As a first step in building out Alan's new email marketing campaign, I recommend MailChimp to be our Email Service Provider. After conducting a comprehensive review of Constant Contact and MailChimp, I believe that MailChimp will be the best tool to carry out our strategies and tactics in order to meet our business objectives of bringing Soccer Mom Susan in several times a month, being a top- of-mind wedding cake designer for Bride-to-Be Becca, and reminding Lunch Break Lauren to order Alan's catering for Deloitte's monthly planning meetings. With MailChimp's ease of use and wide array of features, it will help Alan's engage regularly with our customers and reflect our brand in the best and most professional light.