Smart strategies for marketing

Transcription

1 Smart strategies for marketing An Experian white paper

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3 Table of contents About this paper...2 Rules of thumb for Back-to-School marketing...3 Back-to-School campaign timing...4 Timing and revenue...5 Timing by category...6 Back-to-School best practices...7 Sample Back-to-School s...8 Amplify your Back-to-School campaigns with display ads...10 Sample with display ads About Experian...12 An Experian white paper Page 1

4 About this paper As we noted in 2011, to a large degree, success in Back-to-School marketing comes down to timing. When is the best time to start your promotions? The answer, we ve found, lies in what you sell, the age groups your products are designed for, as well as the student s geography. The first campaigns can launch as early as May or June, and then really take off in July! To write this paper, we studied the Back-to-School campaigns of 99 brands, grouped into Apparel and Supplies categories. The Apparel category includes apparel, accessories and department store brands; the Supplies category includes books, school supplies, furniture and room décor. We mined through the data and creative executions to identify and share with you key and emerging trends, compelling strategies, tried and true best practices, as well as new techniques that can help you amplify your marketing efforts.. Page 2 Back-to-School countdown 2012: Smart strategies for marketing

5 Rules of thumb for Back-to-School marketing Back-to-School programs target parents of children entering kindergarten, all the way up to college students. Age group Products of interest Role in purchase Precipitation purchase Children (age 6 10) Books School supplies Apparel Influencer School prep Tween Teens Coeds Books School supplies Apparel Books School supplies Computers Apparel Décor Apparel Books School supplies Computers Furniture Room décor Influencer Influencer/ Purchaser Influencer/ Purchaser School prep Peer influence School prep Peer influence Moving to school Observations: Start of school varies by region, and nationwide spans a full calendar month. For instance, the school year began around Aug. 8 for public schools in the South, and around Sept. 8 in the Northeast. Back-to-School promotions, therefore, should have rolling schedules by geography. The academic calendar at the college and university level begins earlier than most public schools, making July the better time to market apparel and supplies to coeds. In regions where school begins after Labor Day, many families vacation the last week in August. While high out-of-office rates may make the week leading up to the start of school less ideal for some categories, the increased use of mobile marketing, both on phones and tablets, may lead to more shopping during vacations than we have previously seen. Retailers report a marked spike in apparel sales after start of school, indicating the influence of peers. s with offers in the subject line have stronger transaction rates than those without offers. The 2011 transaction rate with offers was 21 percent higher compared to subject lines without offers (0.075 percent with offers and percent without offers). An Experian white paper Page 3

6 Back-to-School campaign timing In 2010, we reported that Back-to-School mailings had started earlier, as evidenced by a greater percentage of mailings delivered in July Back-to- School transaction rates in 2010 were highest in August, however, so the timing of Back-to-School mailings shifted once again. This time, the percentage of July mailings fell below those last seen in More telling, August 2011 mailings accounted for 70 percent of the total campaigns, a hefty 25 percent increase over August % 70% 60% August is the month for Back-to-School mailings 70% 66% 55% 50% 40% 30% 20% 28% 34% 22% 10% 6% 11% 8% 0% July August September Page 4 Back-to-School countdown 2012: Smart strategies for marketing

7 Timing and revenue Taking a closer look at the timing of the Back-to-School mailings, we found that the first half of August is a critical time period for marketing to parents and other Back-to-School purchasers. The proof is measured in both volume of mailings sent and the revenue those mailings received. Why the first half of August? Success could be related to a number of factors, including: In regions where school begins after Labor Day, families may opt to shop prior to their end-of-summer vacations. In regions where school begins in August, brands may be benefiting from the peer-group influenced spike in shopping (children see what peers are wearing and ask their parents for similar items). This information can be used to drive your messages and offers. Back-to-School mailing volume and revenue peak in the first half of August 50% 42.7% 40% 30% 24.2% 20% 20.0% 10% 0% 4.4% 1st half of July 2nd half of July 1st half of August 2nd half of August 6% 1st half of September 8.6% 0.1% 2nd half of September % of volume % of revenue An Experian white paper Page 5

8 Timing by category The charts below compare the time of Back-to-School campaigns for the Apparel and Supplies categories. Both groups launch the bulk of their campaigns in August. However, the Supplies group launches 9 percent more campaigns in July than Apparel brands. The increase is largely driven by book sellers and companies focused on room décor in response to the earlier start date of universities and colleges. Apparel Back-to-School volume by month 2011 September 7% July 17% August 76% Supplies Back-to-School volume by month 2011 September 8% August 66% July 26% Page 6 Back-to-School countdown 2012: Smart strategies for marketing

9 Back-to-School campaign best practices Content Combinations of style and special offers deliver great results, especially when combined with photos of hot-selling and popular items. Expiration dates on the offers can help to motivate parents to purchase sooner rather than later, and free shipping is always a strong incentive. Subject lines References to style and offers are popular in Back-to-School subject lines and can help to generate high transaction rates. Subject lines that delivered strong transaction rates in 2011 include: Sneak Peek Go Back-To-School In Style! Reading, Writing, Arithmetic & Shoes! FREE Shipping Today Only! Get Your Back-to-School Shopping Done Today! Up to 40 percent Off Just in Time for Back-to-School! Back to School: Try a free sample pack on us! Comparing Back-to-School campaigns with and without offers in the subject line, we found that campaigns with an offer had higher transaction rates than those that did not include an offer. 0.10% Back-to-School campaigns with offers in the subject line had 21 percent higher transaction rates 0.08% 0.06% 0.06% 0.07% 0.04% 0.02% 0.00% Without offer With offer An Experian white paper Page 7

10 Sample Back-to-School s Subject Line: Kids Footwear up to 75% off + Exclusive 20% off Coupon! Shoes for both boys and girls let this hit the spot with both sales and style. Page 8 Back-to-School countdown 2012: Smart strategies for marketing

11 Subject line: Back to School: Try a Free Sample pack on us. Well-timed in the first week of August, Keurig notes that it s not just students who are returning to school. This entices students, parents and teachers with a free sample pack of coffee to start the school year. An Experian white paper Page 9

12 Amplify your Back-to-School campaigns with display ads Now that your strategy is set, we suggest introducing another highly effective marketing channel: online display advertising. Research has shown that the mix of and display campaigns can boost Web traffic by a factor of four. 1 Structure your marketing campaign to reach your customers and prospects via multiple channels, including and display. This will significantly improve your reach and increase the effectiveness of your marketing budget. Targeting platforms, such as Experian s Audience IQ SM, can help you accomplish this in a seamless manner. How does this work? Utilize your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) file to determine which segments receive which ads. In the meantime, the consumer either: (a) reads your or (b) doesn t open your . The consumer receives a display ad while they are surfing online. (a) If they read your , the display ad reinforces the campaign message. (b) If they didn t open your , you ve connected with the consumer via a display ad instead. 1 Page 10 Back-to-School countdown 2012: Smart strategies for marketing

13 Sample with display ad Integrate the same creative within and display ads to reinforce your brand s message. The conveys the two main messages of sale and backpack and the display ad reinforces the backpack theme. Left: Below: display ad An Experian white paper Page 11

14 About Experian Marketing Services Experian Marketing Services is a global provider of integrated consumer insight, targeting, data quality and cross channel marketing. We help organizations from around the world intelligently interact with today s dynamic, empowered and hyper-connected customers. By coordinating seamless interactions across all marketing channels, marketers are able to precisely plan and execute superior brand experiences that deepen customer loyalty, strengthen brand advocacy and maximize profits. For more information, please crosschannelmarketing@experian.com. About Experian Audience IQ Experian Audience IQ is a display advertising platform that allows advertisers to seamlessly integrate consumer data to drive targeted advertising. As a full-solution provider of advanced advertising, we enable cost-efficient audience targeting that goes beyond simple demographic and contextual targeting. With Experian Audience IQ, advertisers don t need to sacrifice audience quality for reach because we improve advertising effectiveness by reliably delivering an online addressable audience that exceeds millions of consumers. For more information, please AudienceIQSales@experian.com. Page 12 Back-to-School countdown 2012: Smart strategies for marketing

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16 Experian Marketing Services 955 American Lane Schaumburg, IL Experian Information Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. 04/2012