Silverpop gets email marketing program on track

The Company
Since 1992, Magnets USA has experienced steady growth by offering the best magnetic marketing materials and services. With a reputation for prompt, accurate and reliable service, the company is a favored provider in the real estate industry for magnetic calendars, sports schedules, bookmarks and more.

The Challenge
When it began its email marketing efforts, despite using an email service provider, the company realized it was on its own when it came to learning the technology and best practices. According to Robert Lusk, marketing manager for Magnets USA, there were more than a few hurdles. "We lacked the time and resources to properly train, and we were naive about the management and maintenance of in-house and acquired lists." As a result, Magnets USA lacked proper control over its program and neglected many marketing best practices regarding permission, frequency and opt-outs.

"Ultimately, our mistakes caught up with us, and eventually we were blacklisted by a number of ISPs," said Lusk. "Clearly, we weren't seeing the results we wanted, and felt we really needed help."

The Solution
Not only did Magnets USA turn to Silverpop for its email marketing solution, the company also chose to participate in Silverpop's SureProgram. Offering self-service clients extra guidance and support, the program provides as-needed access to Silverpop's full-service account management capabilities.

Magnets USA received personal training on strategies, tactics, best practices, and product interface from a team of implementation and email deliverability specialists. "Silverpop helped us in so many ways. They provided an efficient mechanism for collecting, storing and acting on opt-out information, even across disparate lists," explained Lusk.

Magnets USA implemented new standards for message development, customer preference management, opt-outs and list maintenance to better engage its customers. With these standards, it created an email follow-up program notifying customers of monthly direct mail flyers. The combination of direct mail and email follow-up to prompt an order had an immediate impact on conversions.

The Results
With the Silverpop solution, deliverability rates often reach 98 percent and unsubscribe rates are as low as 0.02 percent. Magnets USA commonly sees order volumes increase by 50 percent to 100 percent following monthly promotional messages.

"With Silverpop," Lusk said, "it was kind of like buying a Ferrari and getting Mario Andretti to show you how to drive it. The combination of a powerful machine and detailed instructions on how to operate it made a world of difference for us."

Magnets USA is expanding its use of email to take advantage of Silverpop's transactional email capabilities. In addition to order confirmation and shipping notification messages, Magnets USA is using transactional email in its product personalization process to eliminate human work steps, speed up order-to-delivery cycles and increase customer satisfaction.