CASE STUDY: How Flexcar Gets a 72% Marketing Email Newsletter Open Rate
If your company operates in multiple locations, or has multiple product lines, or multiple buyer demographics, then you really should be considering publishing several different email newsletters. But, who has time? Flexcar decided instead to create one ultra- personalized newsletter that adjusts itself to each subscriber. That may sound complicated (and expensive) but it's really not. Check out this Case Study to learn how you can duplicate their success on a sound budget:
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1) CASE STUDY: Flexcar
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CHALLENGE: With a tiny "multi-hundred" ad budget, Flexcar auto rental service desperately needed a cheap solution to spur usage and to help the Company grow more quickly.
Director of Marketing John Williams was already having print newsletter stuffed in with every printed bill that was mailed to customers whenever they used the service. The tactic saved on postage and envelope printing, but the general content didn't reflect Flexcar's brand of being flexible for individuals' needs.
Plus, only about 50% of the consumers who'd signed up on Flexcar's site to become members then went on to actively rent cars through the service. So these bill-stuffer newsletters only reached about half the people in Flexcar's opt-in database.
Williams decided an email newsletter was his best bet to reach everyone without busting the budget.
But a generic mass-send newsletter wouldn't do. "We needed a personalized tool that would be valuable to each customer." Williams explains. "Each subscriber had to be able to easily customize the content and frequency of their newsletter. After all, what's the use of news of an available Flexcar in Seattle to someone in LA?
Plus, he figured the more personally relevant a newsletter he could send to each member, the greater the likelihood members would be inspired to forward issues to friends.
When your advertising budget is itsy-bitsy, you grab every straw of viral marketing you can get.
CAMPAIGN: Williams didn't have the hiring budget or spare time to create this highly personalized newsletter in-house. "I needed something I could run as a one-man show," he says.
He was also highly aware that marketers sending mass email broadcasts from in-house are frequently filtered out by ISPs these days. "S*pam filters don't allow private companies to send member blasts."
But finding a vendor that was willing to work with a small company on a budget took some research. Williams notes, "Most of the email marketing firms I looked at handle complex, large scale operations with thousands and thousands of customers, and they charge a minimum or $5k to $10k per month." Finally he found the right vendor for his needs (link below.)
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Useful links:
- The service Flexcar uses to create and
distribute FlexNotes, and to manage the subscriber database is TailoredMail:
http://www.tailoredmail.com
- Sign-up form for personalized FlexNotes
http://www.tailoredmail.com/flexcar/
- Sample of a FlexNotes newsletter issue, plus an actual response to their
"instant feedback" form:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/flexnotes/ad.html
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Next Williams had to decide how much personalization to offer readers. He chose four levels:
-> Level 1: By name Both the salutation and ending of each issue addresses the member by their first name.
-> Level 2: By location Instead of just assuming that a member would want information about specials and news in the region indicated by their street address, Williams went the extra mile and made the sign-up form flexible so members can ask for information in more than one zip code.
If new members request an area that's not currently served, instead of flashing a "no service" error, the sign up form politely offers them the ability to be notified when the service comes to their area.
-> Level 3: By HTML vs Text Many marketers forget that the HTML vs text debate is not just a matter of what format an email user can receive, but also what format they prefer to receive. Williams made sure he asked, and that HTML was described clearly in the question for those who might not know what it means.
-> Level 4: By Content Topics Subscribers have their choice of 10 different topics, such as "News articles about Flexcar" and "News specific to the Bay Area Region (Including special deals on Flexcar vehicles)".
Again, note that Williams is not assuming you want information about a particular region based on your mailing address. You must request it, and can pick whatever region you'd like.
-> Level 5: By Frequency Picking newsletter frequency is tough for most marketers. Too frequent and readers stop opening your messages, too seldom and readers forget you exist. Williams decided to offer sign-ups their choice of two frequencies, "Monthly" and "As soon as new information is available."
However in reality, he decided to limit the "as soon as" frequency to about every two weeks. He explains, "I didn't want managers in the various regional offices to turn it into a crutch and send a member blast every time a special popped up" thus risking the chance that open rates might drop dramatically.
Once Williams decided on the personalization, he took three further steps prior to launching the newsletter:
Step 1: Getting internal feedback
Williams sent a sample issue to Flexcar's general managers in three regions. "I wanted to get their input to make sure I wasn't missing primary things about the grass roots level of how these things work," he explains.
After getting back emailed comments, he took it one step further and held a series of conference calls with the managers to dig into their ideas further. Turns out the managers' biggest worry about the new newsletter was, 'How will members in my region be able to contact us easily?'
So, everyone decided to add a big clickable "Give Feedback" button to the end of each issue. (Link to sample below.) Users clicking on the button get a very simple pop-up form that asks for their comment, and asks for their email if they want to get an emailed response. The feedback is then automatically directed to the manager in their region, plus a copy is sent to headquarters.
Step 2: Adding a Strong Privacy Statement
Williams added the words, "Flexcar does not share this information with anyone ever" at the very start of the newsletter subscription form.
Step 3: Adding More Links to the Sign Up Form
Instead of counting on a box in the member registration process to collect 100% of subscribers, Williams got more aggressive with the offer by adding links to the sign up form from all of the site's major pages. This way visitors who didn't want to go all the way and become full members quite yet could still get the newsletter (and hopefully become persuaded to become full members later.)
RESULTS: A remarkable 72% of subscribers open an average issue and a recent special announcing the new Miata had an open rate of more than 90% (We know of few other newsletter publishers who could boast of numbers like these.)
The newsletter's active readership has parlayed into more sales - - since its launch members rent on average 15% more hours of car use. (Flexcar rents by the hour instead of by the day.)
The newsletter is as viral as Williams had hoped, more than 30% of new Flexcar customers come from member referrals often because someone got a forwarded issue.
More than 22% of readers have used the Feedback button at some time (link to a sample of an actual reader feedback below.)
After reviewing initial reader feedback, Williams changed the order that content appeared in the newsletter. "Customers said they were less interested in news on Flexcar and more interested in vehicle updates and things pertinent to their regions. Now the information specific to their region is the first thing they read and then we scale it down into more generic Flexcar info."
Interestingly, when given the choice, many people did want to get news on car rentals in more than one region. The numbers are:
60% wanted Seattle car info
16% wanted Portland OR car info
66% wanted LA car info
17% wanted DC Metro car info
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159%
Of the other types of information choices offered, here's what readers wanted:
97% New Flexcar Programs & Enhancements (the only
pre-checked option)
97% To hear about New Vehicles in Your Neighborhood
86% Tips on How to Maximize Flexcar Membership
71% News Articles about Flexcar
69% To Participate in Flexcar Fairs and Events
68% News Articles on Transportation Issues
Adding the subscription link to other places than just the member registration form was a big success. Currently 31% of opt-ins are not members yet. So, if growing your list is important, definitely put your offer in more places on your site!
Useful links:
Want to know more about personalized newsletters?
Here's a Case Study we did on how Franklin Covey is using a similar very
personalized newsletter to improve sales:
http://www.b2bmarketingbiz.com/barrier.cfm?currentID=1842
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