Stylus Case Study: How to Boost Email Channel Revenue by 200%

About the Project

Stylus.ua is a universal online store offering small and large household appliances, gadgets, and accessories. Our colleagues from Promodo shared a case study on how they achieved a threefold increase in profits by developing an email channel.

Task

Conversions at every stage of the sales funnel, a high customer retention rate, and repeat sales are the results of a well-tuned email marketing strategy for the company. The project's main goal was to increase profit from the email channel. Additionally, the following tasks were set:

• Automating communication with subscribers
• Implementing an omnichannel approach
• Increasing subscriber engagement

The deadline for completion was one year.

Solution

Stage One

Previously, the company could not achieve the expected results from the email channel and establish customer loyalty.

To fix this, the following approach was used:

The work started with analyzing the situation and its causes. During the audit, the team identified a number of issues:

• The absence of a unified structure for emails and content that would contribute to attracting and retaining subscribers.
• The company's email marketing relied solely on promo campaigns.
• Lack of segmentation led to database fatigue; only 20% constituted the active subscriber base.

The very beginning: A new email design 

The initial step involved creating a new master template as the foundation for all promotional mailings. Split testing was conducted to determine the optimal menu, and click maps were analyzed.

To maintain the Stylus.ua brand style, the same design used on the website was applied to the product cards. This approach ensured recognizable mailings and fostered greater trust among customers.

Only loyal customers were selected for the sample to test the new product cards.

The team considered the target audience’s age: for young people aged 18-25, the newsletters were bright and colorful, while for the older segment, they were more informative and laconic.

Welcome chain for communication with new subscribers

We developed a three-part welcome email series for Stylus.ua.

1. An offer to get acquainted and read reviews from other customers:

2. An offer to join social networks to learn about new products and promos:

3. An email with a link to the page with the most attractive promotions:

Launching a welcome series of emails helped increase revenue by 150%.

Segmentation of subscribers

Guided by the rule of successful email marketing — sending the right message to the right people at the right time — the team proceeded to analyze the subscriber base and segment it. The base for the active audience for promotional emails was identified. It was divided into micro-segments based on age, gender, and preferences.

Results

Due to reduced funds spent on promo mailings, the team obtained additional costs for developing trigger workflows, connecting upselling mechanisms, cross-selling, and personal recommendations.

Reactivation of inactive members

The campaign aimed to stimulate the base for interaction and stir up the passive users. Two approaches were applied. For one of them, a personal discount was assigned as a trigger.

The second reactivation email included a survey to encourage subscribers to interact and increase engagement.

Based on the results, the work with the users who responded was continued, and the inactive ones were removed from the subscription list.

In the Yespo system, you can identify a group of non-readers and non-purchasers over a certain period of time with the help of conditional groups or RFM analysis.

As a result, we managed to resume communication with 5% of inactive subscribers.

Regular promotional emails

By sending emails exclusively to active subscribers, the company reallocated the budget and increased the number of mailings to 12 per month. A bright design, a well-thought-out content plan, and audience segmentation brought Stylus.ua +90% of its profits.

Triggered emails view

From the very beginning, users received one email about an abandoned cart or a view. These chains were expanded into three messages.

Results

Results of the first stage of work

The team commenced work right after the audit in the 4th quarter of 2017, and by the beginning of 2018, they managed to showcase the following outcomes:

• Increased overall channel revenue by 95%.
• Achieved a 100% increase in the number of sessions as a result of mailings.

Stage Two

1st and 2nd quarters

Expansion of the subscriber base

Following the positive outcomes in the previous period, active expansion of the contact base started. For this purpose:

• A callback widget was added and configured to perform based on visited pages and user geolocation.
• A lead magnet, the Roulette, was tested on a separate landing page. Users had three attempts; a discount promo code was offered as a reward for winning.

A discount is a universal trigger that helps to attract subscribers who are ready for conscious further communication.

As a result, the subscriber base increased by 10%.

A/B testing of sending times and unsubscribe forms

The right sending time is very important for getting a high CTR and converting subscribers into customers. The optimal time for sending emails was determined using split testing. It turned out to be the time period from 17:00 to 20:00.

In addition to attracting new subscribers and increasing sales from emails, it was important to devote time to retaining users. For this purpose, a branded landing page was created, which a person is directed to if they want to unsubscribe from the newsletter.

To motivate people to stay, they were given a personalized discount. If they decided to unsubscribe, it was important to find out the reason for unsubscribing for further analysis. For this purpose, a survey was added at the bottom of the page.

Results

Overall results for the 1st and 2nd quarters

Month by month, the key performance indicators of email marketing continued to grow. By the end of the second stage, the team achieved:

• 8% increase in transactions
• 18% increase in website sessions

3rd and 4th quarters

Implementation of an omnichannel approach

The development of online sales allowed the collection of not only email addresses but also the phone numbers of the target audience. This database was successfully monetized using SMS and Viber campaigns.

Web push notifications were sent for communication with website visitors, with a minimum of two mailings per month.

Results

In general, the company's profit after implementing omnichannel campaigns increased by 10%.

Advanced segmentation

Yespo can track customer actions and collect clients' preferences for further advanced segmentation. This solution allows for refining trigger campaigns and adding a block with personalized recommendations based on viewed items.

Gamification

After successful testing of the Roulette lead magnet in the online store, this approach was also used in emails.

On the website, it helped to collect new contacts more actively, and in emails, it increased engagement.

Analyzing the previous experience of collecting contacts through the Roulette landing, the team made adjustments and launched a similar widget before Black Friday. As earlier, users had three attempts, plus an additional one for providing a friend's email address.

Results

Third Work Stage

Thematic promotional campaigns

The 1st quarter of the year was rich for news feeds, one dedicated to Saint Patrick's Day. An activity launched was a puzzle quest. In this series of emails, recipients needed to find keys and enter them on a landing page. Those who entered the correct key received a promo code, while those who made mistakes landed on a discounts page for consolation.

This quest generated an additional 15% in revenue.

Results

What the company achieved throughout the work period:

• Developed a new email design.
• Implemented an automated welcome series.
• Segmented the contact database.
• Conducted reactivation campaigns for inactive segments.
• Ran regular promo campaigns using gamification.
• Improved trigger campaigns.
• Enhanced methods for collecting subscribers.
• Conducted A/B tests.
• Launched an omnichannel communication workflow.
• Implemented advanced segmentation and recommendation blocks in emails.

The comprehensive work on increasing the subscriber base, reactivating inactive contacts, segmentation, and thoughtful planning of promo campaigns led to the outcomes below.

Results

Conclusions

To achieve increased profits from the email channel, consider implementing these solutions:

• Develop a comprehensive approach to email strategy: working with a contacts base and workflows for reactivating old clients, supporting communication with new ones, etc.
• Pay proper attention to promotional mailings, as they are one of the best ways to communicate with your customers.
• Utilize all the features of the Yespo CDP, such as advanced segmentation.
• Aim to engage customers with innovative approaches like gamification.

Approaching the creation of a comprehensive email strategy will boost profits, and leveraging Yespo will aid in automating email marketing processes.

To get a personalized consultation, our expert will introduce you to the capabilities of the Yespo platform and explain how you can use it to grow your business.