JamBase Monetizes its Email Program

Last week, DMNews carried a great article describing how live music promoter, JamBase, is monetizing its email program by running ads inside the emails that alert fans when and where their favorite artists are performing. I think my friend, Andy Gadiel, and his gang may be on to something big here.
For brands that have been smart about building a quality email subscriber database, they now have a great way to capitalize on their efforts by offering advertisers a unique opportunity to reach a very qualified – and loyal – audience.
In case you got an early start on the Thanksgiving holiday, and missed it, here’s an excerpt:

“For online music site JamBase, monetizing e-mails just got easier. Since its ad network partner, Google Ad Manager, and its e-mail service provider (ESP), ExactTarget, integrated into one platform last week, JamBase is now running ads inside of its e-mails.

The new ExactTarget offering, deemed Live Ads, an integration with Google Ad Manager and Dart for Publishers, is helpful for a brand which usually finances its e-mails through sponsorships. The e-commerce site is a destination for music fans to learn all about upcoming concerts and music events. Fans who opt in to receive e-mails get updates about concerts coming to their area and information about bands they like.

Normally, the e-mails are paid for by the concert promoter, but this has caused a challenge when the promoter of a customer's favorite band did not sponsor an e-mail. To address this issue, last year the brand launched New Show Alerts, so that customers could always get an e-mail alert about a show for their favorite band no matter if the promoter was paying for the spot or not. But now, thanks to the new ExactTarget offering, JamBase is able to keep the consumer happy and finance their promotions.

“Because of [ExactTarget's] integration with Google Ad Manager, we can include ads in those e-mails so it solves the problem of who will pay for the e-mail,” said Andy Gadiel, founder/president of JamBase. “It helps us keep providing the service to help customers keep up to date with the music that they love.”

Hope to See You at NCDM
If you’re looking for an “executive primer” on email marketing, I highly recommend you sign up for the special pre-conference workshop that my friend and colleague Jeanne Jennings of JeanneJennings.com will lead at the upcoming National Center for Database Marketing Conference (NCDM) in Orlando. Our seminar, “Insider Tips for Making Your Email Marketing Efforts More Effective – and More Profitable” will be held on Monday, December 8th from 9:10 AM to 11:50 AM.

If you have not yet registered for NCDM, there’s still time and there are plenty of registration options to fit your needs. To register, just go to the NCDM registration page on the NCDM 2008 website where you can also download the complete NCDM 2008 Conference Brochure.

Dear Retailers:

We can’t see your images in your emails.

We can’t see your 20%-off merchandise or special offers. We can’t see your holiday sweaters, or dresses, or suits, or toys.

Why? It is because your emails are made entirely out of images, and due to image suppression at the bulk of receiving email clients and ISPs your emails look blank, imageless, and don’t reflect the brand you hope to portray.

Want to increase your holiday sales for 2008? Start by optimizing your emails using the principals of what we call “performance-based design.” How? Head on over to the ExactTarget design blog and learn about their recommendations for email marketing design best practices. Also, check out their latest whitepaper: Email Marketing Design: The New Essentials.

The key to the success of your email program this fall will be about making an impact in the inbox that is relevant to each subscriber’s wants and needs…not about sending more email.

Sincerely,

Your Once Loyal Customer (Please give me a reason to buy from you)

If you’re an online marketer and were not able to be in Las Vegas for Shop.org's 2008 Annual Summit, you missed a great presentation by Sheldon Gilbert, founder and CEO of Proclivity Systems, on how to use email to boost online sales and reduce customer attrition.

Sheldon offered seven tips that represent little things you can do that can have a big impact on your bottom line. I liked Sheldon’s ideas so much, I wanted to share them with you, so here they are:

1. Remind Customers about What They Already Want: Send a monthly e-mail of their 'abandoned products' and introduce cross-sell items, as well as use their shopping car as a default wish list.
2. Spread the Love: Thank customers for spreading the word with a 'your friend has received your e-mail' note. Personalize the experience for the customer and introduce a new offer.
3. Mix and Match with Precision: Use the 'thank you for your order' confirmation e-mail as a cross-selling vehicle. If 60 percent of the people who have bought X sweater have also purchased Y scarf, send an advertisement for the scarf to everyone who has bought the sweater.
4. Build Your Brand: Leverage the 'under the fold' portion of the e-mail. Educate customers about products by including a 'style guide,' or descriptions on how to use or accessorize.
5. Know Who Your High-Rollers Are: Identify segments that exhibit disproportionate buying power and start marketing to those groups immediately.
6. Never Say Never: Feature new and top-selling products, through 'null search results.' Just because a customer can't find a particular item on a company's Web site doesn't mean they aren't interested in that brand.
7. People are Only as Faithful as Their Options: Allow your customers to opt-down and select a lower frequency of e-mails instead of completely opting-out. Save the cost of marketing to recoup lost subscribers.

Sheldon is one of those guys who is simply a great common-sense thinker when it comes to using email to make money. You can pick up more ideas like Sheldon’s in ExactTarget's new Field Guide to Triggered Email. It’s full of easy to execute applications of triggered email like shopping cart abandonment, transaction confirmation, customer feedback, and product replenishment notification to help you get more juice for the squeeze from your e-commerce web site.

Since I began working at ExactTarget about 3 years ago, the week leading up to my birthday has become a bit brighter. Why? Because several of the email programs I've subscribed to asked for my birthday during opt-in -- and they actually use that information to deliver special information and offers just for me!

For instance, last week I got a coupon via email from Qdoba -- my favorite restaurant ever. "Happy Birthday -- Have a Burrito on Us!" the subject line read. "Sweet!" I thought. I quickly flagged the message in my inbox and reminded myself to print it over the weekend.

After about three separate attempts to print the coupon (technically my fault, not theirs), I happily drove to my neighborhood burrito heaven to enjoy my free birthday meal. As I pulled into the parking space, I dug the coupon out of my bag and unfolded it to quickly scan it and make sure it printed out alright.

"...we'll make any of our signature burritos or any other entree for you, FREE, when you purchase any other burrito or entree at regular price."

Wait...what? I squinted at the message. Blast.

I have to purchase another meal to get my free burrito?! Considering I was getting dinner for one -- me -- that wasn't really what I wanted to hear. I can barely eat one massive burrito, let alone TWO. Why does someone else have to be there to warrant me celebrating my birthday?

Not wanting to waste food I couldn't eat -- but also not wanting to go without the meal I'd been craving -- I finally refolded the coupon, walked in, and bought my meal outright. There goes nine bucks. Happy birthday me...

Just saying -- the Q was my favorite restaurant. And still is. But by misjudging the subject line and not reading the details on my email coupon, I got disappointed. Technically my fault? Yup, I should have read the offer more closely.

But in comparison -- take the email I got from Cold Stone Creamery around the same time.

Subject line: "Happy Birthday from Cold Stone Creamery." Message: "...your Birthday Club membership rewards you with a FREE Creation." The email encouraged me to hit up their website, log-in, and print off my coupon. I promptly clicked the link and...realized I didn't remember my website password. But no worries -- with one simple click, Cold Stone triggered a password confirmation email to remind me. I quickly logged in, confirmed my "Preferred Store" location, and hit print.

With the Qdoba incident still fresh in my mind, I fearfully glanced at the printed coupon. Was there a hidden clause? Did I have to buy 19 tubs of ice cream to earn my "free" treat? No! "This coupon is good for one FREE Like It Create Your Own Creation (TM) served in a cup." It was that simple.

Now that's a happy birthday gift I'll remember this year :)

Nicole
Marketing Communications Associate