Summary
According to ecommerce-guide.com, PETCO e-commerce director Heather Blank is an "email guru" who uses quality over quantity to get the most out of (and expand) her consumer email list.
Original source:
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/advertising/article.php/3517606
Details
As the director of e-commerce marketing for pet-related products and services giant PETCO, Blank is well-steeped in the all-important skill of growing an e-mail list --- and using that list as effectively as possible.
PETCO, as one of the country's largest animal food and supplies retailers, has a well-developed e-tail presence.
The site opened for business in 2000, and now sells everything from t-shirts for dogs to care kits for pet Gecko lizards.
With this wide a selection --- which means all kinds of pet owners --- PETCO could use a broad-brush approach in building its e-mail list, but Blank said she believes in a carefully targeted effort to harvest new e-mail addresses.
"We're not, for instance, going on large ad networks and running contests to win a Ford Explorer, because that could be just anybody," she says.
"We're trying to target niche pet sites, or partner with organizations around pet ownership."
One of the key techniques the site uses to build its e-mail list is a coupon offer.
Every user who gives his or her e-mail address is awarded a $10 coupon for PETCO products.
The site makes it clear that pet-related information, not just sales offers, will be included in company mailings.
Throughout the PETCO site are solicitations to sign up for a specialized newsletter, "with animal care information, exclusive offers and more."
Making It Personal Many shoppers don't give their e-mail address because they're afraid they'll get a blizzard of ads from the company that don't relate to their individual desires.
PETCO handles this by personalizing its mailings.
PETCO has created e-mail templates, which are filled with different offers --- personalized --- based on factors like each consumer's purchase history.
E-mails are personalized based on a list of variables ranging from pet type, combination of pet type, purchase frequency, and five possible shopping offers.
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has published numerous courses on preparedness and survival, including financial preparedness, emergency food supplies, urban survival and tactical self-defense. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also a noted pioneer in the email marketing software industry, having been the first to launch an HTML email newsletter technology that has grown to become a standard in the industry. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. Known by his callsign, the 'Health Ranger,' Adams posts his missions statements, health statistics and health photos at www.HealthRanger.org
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Sunday, July 17, 2005
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