Alan's is a bakery/deli business with 10 locations that wants to improve its email marketing. MailChimp and Constant Contact were considered as email service providers. MailChimp was recommended due to its advanced segmentation features, easy to use interface, and strong reporting capabilities including mobile access to data. Its segmentation allows highly targeted emails while its interface simplifies design and reports provide insights into marketing performance.

1. Alan’s
By Ian Hatfield

2. Everything you need to know about Alan’s
▪ Deli/Bakery/Confectionery with 10 locations in the Metro Atlanta Area.
▪ Alan’s has developed a loyal customer base through it’s fresh, locally sourced,
beautiful breakfast and/or lunch items in an upscale yet informal experience.
▪ Catering services are also offered by Alan’s in which the shop will provide bagels and
coffees for a breakfast meeting or even a chef on site to prepare food for an event.
▪ Lastly, Alan’s is known for the quality of the cakes baked in the bakery on site.
These cakes are requested for birthdays, holidays, and brides will travel across town
to get a cake from Alan’s knowing that they can have anything they want.

3. How can an email program improve Alan’s marketing strategies?
▪ Inform customer of Menu Specials of the day.
▪ Allow prospective customers to place orders online.
▪ Remind consumers about catering options for 10+.
▪ Send special emails targeting brides with offers for wine/cake tasting parties.
▪ Invite VIPs to “best customer events”
▪ Offers to cater office Christmas parties, summer picnics, etc.

4. Business Objectives/Needs
▪ Purchase a reliable email program that can communicate information listed in
previous slide without getting caught in spam folders.
▪ This program should have segmentation capabilities, an easy-to-use interface, and
allow Alan’s marketers to track marketing efforts effectiveness from anywhere
with a strong analytics package.
▪ Additional features and pricing will also be considered in my recommendation.
▪ Develop a relationship with customers encouraging them to visit Alan’s for their
next special occasion because the shop keeps record of when a specialty cake was
purchased for an event.

5. Target Audience’s of Alan’s
Mid-day Munchers
▪ Value freshness of the ingredients,
quality of customer service, and
expedient location.
▪ Large portion of the lunch crowd is
businessmen and businesswomen who
want to indulge in a sandwich during
their brief break from work.
▪ Other portion of crowd is mothers with
younger children who want to eat at a
place where both her and her children
will enjoy.
Special Occasion Shoppers
▪ Value customizable options, personal
touch from the baker, short wait time
for finished product.
▪ This group is split into two main
groups:
▪ Brides who want the perfect specialty
cake on their wedding day.
▪ Other special occasion customers, those
who want to get a birthday cake for their
sister or a celebratory cake for your sons
Bar Mitzvah.

6. Segmentation
Constant Contact
▪ Editing software that allows your emails
to look like the business that your
customers know.
▪ Personalized emails allowing you to
build a connection with your customers.
▪ Audience stays in engaged through a
scheduled series of emails.
MailChimp *Winner*
▪ Allows you to create targeted
campaigns and learn what customers
are purchasing so you can send better
email.
▪ Segment your list based on data that’s
passed to your account through custom
API connection.
▪ Marketing automation which ensures
that your emails are getting to
subscribers based on interest, behavior,
and preferences.

8. Price
Constant Contact *Winner*
▪ First 60 days free with no credit card
required.
▪ Standard package: $20/month.
▪ Includes all standard features such as
customizable templates, social media
marketing and a mobile app.
▪ Expert advice.
▪ Premium package: $45/month.
▪ Includes all standard features plus “features
that go beyond email”.
▪ Some of these additional features include
email automation, event marketing, and
surveys and polls.
MailChimp
▪ Start up package: Free.
▪ < 2000 subscribers and you can send
12,000 emails per month free.
▪ Free reports and data insight and
accessibility to the template editor.
▪ Growing Business Package: varies based
on number of subscribers.
▪ Track everything through engagement
reports, data-driven tools help determine
optimal time to send.

10. Reporting
Constant Contact
▪ Watch sends, opens, clicks and more
through engagement reports.
▪ Click-tracking heat map helps you
understand which links got the most
clicks in comparison to others
▪ Check reports directly from your phone.
MailChimp *Winner*
▪ Monitor sales and website activity with
revenue reports.
▪ Multiple mobile apps that allow you to
check reports, add notes to a contact, or
send a campaign.
▪ Almost all data and functionality within
the app is accessible with an API key.

11. **MailChimp provides you with thorough data reports accessible from their mobile app**

12. Easy to use Interface
Constant Contact
▪ Drag-and-drop logo, texts, and images
into the reusable email template.
▪ Mobile app allows you to easily check
reports.
▪ Lots of predesigned templates to choose
from.
MailChimp *Winner*
▪ Drag, drop, replicate, and reorder
images and content directly into a
design template.
▪ In a few clicks you can add a
background image to any section of
your campaign.
▪ Predesigned templates that allow you to
add your message and change the
colors.

14. Customer Service/Support
Constant Contact *Winner*
▪ Seminars and training offered to help
you get started.
▪ Knowledgebase includes step-by-step
guides, how-to articles, and tutorials.
▪ A blog filled with insight, information,
and inspiration every small business
needs.
MailChimp
▪ Broken down by categories including
New to MailChimp?, Pricing, E-
Commerce, and Email Templates.
▪ Once you select one of the categories
you are directed into an article page
with several sub categories.
▪ Each page includes step-by-step
directions as well as pictures and
videos.

15. **Constant Contact’s support page with additional resources at the top of the page**

16. Other Features
Constant Contact
▪ In the Plus Package you can create
custom surveys and polls while tracking
results in real time.
▪ Email automation which allows you to
auto-respond with personalized
communications to contacts.
▪ Online Event Marketing which allows
you to engage customers with event
invitations and track registrations.
MailChimp *Winner*
▪ In the Profeature package you can
utilize Advanced Segmentation letting
you build complex static segments.
▪ Comparative data reports give you
flexibility to customize how you interact
with data and compare campaign
results over time.
▪ Multivariate Testing allows you to
create and test up to 8 different
campaigns at once.

17. **Revenue Report Page in MailChimp**

18. Comparison Summary
Constant Contact
▪ Affordable pricing including a very
reasonably priced premium package
which is substantially cheaper than
MailChimp when you factor in
subscribers.
▪ Customer Service/Support is extremely
helpful including training and seminars
for new members, an extensive knowledge
base filled with how-to articles and
tutorials, and even a blog jam-packed with
additional insight and information. Which
is way more useful than MailChimp’s
category by category breakdown.
MailChimp
▪ Offers advanced segmentation with email
automation so your emails are targeting
exactly who you want to send to which is
not offered by Constant Contact.
▪ Interface easier to use because of the
emphasis on using fewer clicks and
dropping and dragging pictures and text
where you want it.
▪ MailChimp’s reporting consists of data
reports that are all accessible from your
phone which is not the case in Constant
Contact.

19. Final Recommendations
Based on the features comparison I would recommend that Alan’s goes
with MailChimp as their email service provider. Aside from pricing and
customer service/support MailChimp dominates every other feature.
Their segmentation is unparalleled with advanced segmentation that
allows you target your customers with precision. An interface that is made
simple with help from many step-by-step explanation videos. The key
difference between Constant Contact and MailChimp is the extreme
advantage MailChimp had in reporting. Offering predicted demographics,
geolocation, and automation in addition to almost all reporting accessible
from your mobile device means you can track your marketing efforts from
anyplace at anytime. With even more features that assist in reporting, for
me this is no better choice than MailChimp.