Despite the perception of email as a more traditional and antiquated tactic, it remains one of the best digital marketing channels for return on investment. Having a direct channel where you’re able to deliver a targeted and personalized message is invaluable and while it isn’t free of contention with other visual stimuli, it can be argued that this is less crowded than a social feed.
Arguably more important, email is one of the few direct channels where you have an ongoing relationship and easy access to customer data. Compared to social platforms like Facebook, there is an element of guesswork where you can craft a targeted campaign but can never be fully certain it will reach everyone intended.
There is a myriad of tools and practices out there to leverage to enhance your email efforts, but as a general rule of thumb, successful campaigns hinge on their ability to engage, educate and empower.
Let’s take a look at a few success stories and how they’re implementing these three Es:
M.M LaFleur’s ‘M Dash’
M.M. LaFleur, the brand revolutionizing workwear, utilizes minimalist designs and personal stylists with a direct-to-consumer model that marries simplicity with bespoke service to fill the growing void in luxury shopping.
Beyond promoting and selling clothing, the fashion startup utilizes its platform to achieve a might broader goal: career growth and empowerment.
The M Dash, LaFleur’s digital magazine, offers a wide range of career and life-related content aimed to inform and inspire. Pieces include actionable career advice, personal essays with insightful testimonials, and profiles of inspiring professional women that integrate best practices and tips.
One example includes the series “So, What Do You Do?” which features women in unique career paths spanning entrepreneurs, executives, artists, and scientists who share what they do, how they do it, and why they’ve chosen their current gigs. Additional pieces published recently have explored tips for reinventing your resume, how to have healthy conflict in the workplace, and how to navigate working with a team made up of different generations.
In the spirit of forging a community of women with a purpose, LaFleur’s email strategy extends beyond a communication intended to advertise its shopping destination and products. Rather, these newsletters address important questions like “what’s in it for me?” By delivering useful, interesting, and applicable pieces of information, the brand is able to align more effectively with this niche focus, build sustainable customer loyalty, and distinguish itself from competitors in the space.
Robinhood’s Acquisition of MarketSnacks
Robinhood, a no-fee trading stock trading startup launched in 2015 looked to millennial-focused MarketSnacks to help its goal of becoming a one-stop-shop for young, aspiring investors.
Marking its first acquisition, the merger enabled Robinhood to gain exposure to MarketSnack’s existing user base of more than 6 million as well as the general public. More specifically, the company’s newsletter rebranded to “Robinhood Snacks.”
The revamped email aims to share information with a light-hearted tone while exploring topics ranging from initial public offerings to acquisitions and quarterly earnings. The overarching goal with this specific tone is to translate financial news in layman’s terms — even if they don’t work on Wall Street.
“Robinhood’s done an amazing job at breaking down barriers of financial services and financial products, but users still need good information to participate and be well-informed, explained MarketSnacks co-founder Nick Martell in a recent Forbes piece. “To us, this exit is a testament to the power of combining a tech company’s resources with the trust and value of a media platform.”
An important distinction with the decision and overall email strategy is the fact that this isn’t simply a publication launch. Robinhood saw an opportunity to deliver a significant value proposition to both existing and future Robinhood customers that would translate into long-term success.
The other interesting part of the deal is that Robinhood also scooped up MarketSnacks podcast as part of the deal, which offers a breakdown of the top three business stories of the day in 15 minutes.
Digiday’s Vertical Approach
Eight years ago Digiday was founded with the mission of helping publishers navigate unchartered waters, mainly digital technology and how it would influence their business practices. Generally speaking, exploring the modernization of media and marketing and how digital is driving this journey.
Fast forward to today, the outlet has branched out, adopting its email strategy with a vertical newsletter dedicated exclusively to a niche audience in an industry facing a similar change: fashion and luxury.
Launched in 2016, Glossy aims to explore how tech is upending brands and retailers in this space through editorial content including emails that explore how consumers and their shopping behaviors are evolving and being challenging the industry and at the same time introducing new business opportunities.
More frequently, Digiday introduced Modern Retail, yet another vertical publication digging into the story behind retail’s reinvention covering stories that analyze the growth of giants like Amazon, Walmart, and Target, as well as how upstarts are paving the way for themselves.
The moral here? With this approach, Digiday can cater to both its broader readership and additional niche audiences that are craving specific content around certain industries. In short, a textbook case of having your cake and eating it too.
With competition to build brands and acquire users growing fiercer by the day, it’s time to rethink strategies for securing engagement. As these examples have shown, mixing up your email efforts can turn a traditional form of marketing into something new and radical that ultimately becomes a business game-changer.
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