As the close of 2016 draws ever closer, Liveclicker celebrates email campaigns that used contextual marketing techniques to stand out in the inbox during Q3. RealTime Email Innovators highlights three brands that bring real-time email innovation to the next level by taking advantage of technology that updates at the moment-of-open with engaging, interactive experiences, including LiveImages, LiveMaps, LiveTimers, and LiveVideos.

1. INNOVATORS
RealTime Email

2. As the close of 2016 draws ever closer, Liveclicker
celebrates email campaigns that used contextual
marketing techniques to stand out in the inbox
during Q3. RealTime Email Innovators highlights
three brands that bring real-time email innovation
to the next level by taking advantage of technology
that updates at the moment-of-open with engaging,
interactive experiences, including LiveImages,
LiveMaps, LiveTimers, and LiveVideos.

3. Chico’s
Chico’s primarily sells exclusively designed, private branded clothing for
women featuring a combination of great style and on-trend, expressive
and one-of-a-kind designs to yield a wardrobe that is fashionable, unique,
relaxed, figure-flattering and comfortable. Chico’s currently operates more
than 600 boutiques and over 100 outlets across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto
Rico. Chico’s also publishes a monthly catalog and offers round-the-clock
shopping at Chicos.com.
Chico’s wanted to create urgency and drive sales by offering three, separate,
timed deals throughout a single day. To achieve this, the email marketing
team sent one message containing contextual marketing technology that
revealed real-time, relevant content at the time of open – instead of
crowding customers’inboxes with multiple emails. The email real estate
highlighted one of the three separate offers and changed throughout the
day depending on open time. This technique encouraged customers to
re-open the email to take advantage of each offer, as it was revealed.
Further, this allowed customers to opt into reminders when a new offer
was available. Once each sale was over, the deals were swapped out for
an ongoing offer. This approach provided an innovative way to engage
customers over time within a traditionally static email medium. The
customer reaction, all-day engagement, and willingness to sign up for
reminder emails speak volumes. Chico’s was able to create a fun experience
for the customer while driving the top line.
The "3 Deals 1 Day" campaign encouraged many subscribers to re-open the
email throughout the day, resulting in a total open rate of 37.5% and a total
click-through rate of 7.5%. This highly engaging promotion primed customers
to shop throughout the day, with many making multiple transactions.
Subscribers also had the option to receive additional emails throughout the
day as the deals changed by opting into email reminders through the original
email. The subscribers who opted into the additional email reminders exhibited
massive engagement with those emails — achieving a stunning 92.3% unique
click-through rate — and were far more likely to make multiple transactions
throughout the day. 2x the conversion rate of an average campaign!
Results
INNOVATORS
RealTime Email

4. Stella & Dot
An Inc. 500 Fastest-Growing Company, Stella & Dot is a San
Francisco based social selling business that creates flexible
entrepreneurial opportunities for women. A part of STELLA
& DOT Family of Brands (Stella & Dot, KEEP Collective and
EVER Skincare), Stella & Dot has helped sell over $1 billion
in boutique-style jewelry and accessories; earning over
$300 million for more than 50,000 independent business
owners in 6 countries. Stella & Dot was also featured in the
New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, on the View, The
Today Show and in countless fashion magazines like
InStyle, Glamour, and People.
Earlier in 2016, Stella & Dot looked for a new way to tell
independent jewelry makers about its KEEP Designer
program while also promoting its new KEEP Collective
jewelry line. The goal was to creatively combine new
products with the Designer program offerings in its
next email. Using LiveImages, Stella & Dot was able to
personalize the hero image of each email with the
recipient's first name - adding immediate context to
the call-to-action. Email recipients responded en masse
to the personalized content.
Testing the performance of RealTime Email content vs. that of
previous email campaigns, Stella & Dot doubled click-through
activity in the hero image section of its email using personalized
LiveImages. Another email was sent to test contextual images
within the secondary call-to-action, further down the email
template; LiveImages boosted engagement 50% compared to
other similar secondary images.
Results
INNOVATORS
RealTime Email

5. Cineplex
Entertainment
Cineplex is one of Canada’s leading entertainment
companies and operates one of the most modern
and fully digitized motion picture theatre circuits
in the world. A top-tier Canadian brand, Cineplex
operates numerous businesses including theatrical
exhibition, food service, amusement gaming, alter-
native programming (Cineplex Events), Cineplex
Media, Cineplex Digital Media, and the online sale
of home entertainment content through
CineplexStore.com and mobile device applications.
Cineplex is also a joint venture partner in SCENE –
Canada’s largest entertainment loyalty program.
This year, Cineplex began using Liveclicker’s
RealTime Email to test contextual elements in its
campaigns, seeking email functionality its current
service provider did not offer. Using LiveImages,
LiveMaps, LiveTimers and LiveVideos, Cineplex
blended different content approaches for A/B
testing. Static and contextual elements were
positioned against one another to find the best
email content for upcoming movie releases and
SCENE membership promotions. Over 80 campaigns
were sent using RealTime Email during a 7-month
period to validate findings.
After the tests, the results were clear. The addition
of RealTime Email improved ticket sales via email over
68%. By integrating contextual elements, Cineplex
was able to sell over 29,000 more tickets versus its
traditional approach!
Results
INNOVATORS
RealTime Email