Case Study: Ideas to Improve Digital Marketing to Customers

I'm an Expert Consumer :)

I just recently purchased from a retailer online and will use this as an example to share a couple simple ideas on how to improve digital marketing and customer experience.

And while I am singling out a retailer in this case, it is by no means an attack on them or meant to shun them. Almost every retailer does the same things. These are simply ideas —feedback, if you will — to a brand that has the potential to earn more from my wallet.

Here's the scenario: On Thursday, I bought over $50 worth of hats from LIDS online.

First, let me say what they did well. Lids offers a great product selection at reasonable prices. On this particular day, I was in bargain shopping mode; I found some great deals on a few clearance items.

Their offer of free shipping at $50 definitely increased by order size, as I ended up buying future birthday gifts for my kids' friends parties-to-come. Also, their incentive to join their Premium Access Pass program offered great value (20% off), so I joined. Good offers!

So, I'm now a LIDS customer and a loyalty member. ??

Now, here are 2 mistakes (or room for improvement):

1. Re-targeting ads are following me around the web, showcasing all the hats that I just bought (waste of ad dollars)
2. On Saturday (two-days post purchase), I get an email for "30% off MLB & NHL Clearance items". ...too soon?

Re-Targeting Ads

From the moment I purchased, I started to see LIDS ads following me around the web showcasing the very hats that I purchased. This is very obvious waste. And I continue to see the ads through today (Monday). How much budget can be saved and/or allocated elsewhere?

What is strange, as well, is that I never saw these re-targeting ads prior to my purchase (I had browsed around the site a few times in the days prior). My guess is that LIDS has a rule for items added to the shopping cart, but they don't adjust the rule when transaction is completed.

I mean, at least if you're going to re-target me, make it something relevant. How about a future coupon if I submit a review? How about telling me how many points I earned and/or how many more would get me X (a free hat?)? How about just a "Thank you"; how many retailers have you seen do that with a re-target ad after purchase?

At the end of the day, I think it would be optimal to save the budget and not re-target me at this stage, while I'm still waiting for my order to arrive.

In future, LIDS can re-target me with recommended products (perhaps, that I haven't recently purchase).

Email Marketing

Two days after my very first purchase from LIDS, I received an email with an offer for 30% off MLB and NHL items. I still haven't received my items (and yes, that is a re-targeted ad in my email, while filtered on emails from LIDS. And yes, those are amongst the items I purchased. And yes, I like faulty lids (aka visors) better). :-)

Now, if LIDS has studied their consumer patterns and the data showed that many people buy more within 2 days of purchasing, then by all means offer away. However, I doubt this is the case.

Is LIDS going to follow the footsteps of other poor email marketers? We shall see over time; remember, I'm a new customer. But this isn't a good start.

Remember this post about "Poor Email Marketing", where the Venetian keeps sending me the same 25% off offer every week with a rotation of images? That's a fast way to lose engagement and increase your Un-subscribers.

So when is the optimal time to send a subsequent offer? This is where I would look at machine learning. Based on the segmentation of the customers that the Data Science puts me in, what is my expected Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)? What is my expected yearly value and/or estimated frequency of purchase given what I bought and how much I've spent to date?

Or, if you're going to send me an offer, at least personalize it or make it more relevant. In my previous site visits (and there were several), I searched and browsed for "Toronto Maple Leafs" hats multiple times, viewing multiple product pages. I never searched for anything baseball. It's all in the data, why not use it?

And again, referring to that post on email, not every email needs to have an offer. I think it would be great persuasion and brand marketing to engage on a Pathos level. I believe VERY, VERY few use this in their email marketing. REI does a little bit, but I think it's too far and in-between too many offer emails.

How about hosting a contest for your customers to send photos of their "LIDS collection"?Take the winning ones and use them as aspirational images with story that makes me want to build out my collection. Or visit celebrity closets and showcase their lids.

I continue to get emails about my shipping status, which I appreciate. If you're going to provide generic offers, maybe they should be "snuck into" these. That wouldn't seem pushy, since it's not the main message.

Maybe it's just me, but sending me a direct offer for something non-relevant to me immediately after I just purchased a good amount of product leaves a bitter taste.

Aside from the shipping updates, the next email should be a thank you and that can be within a review request and then the data should advise on when and how often to send future offers. I don't know how interesting stories (Pathos messages) would work with the LIDS audience, but I think it would be an interesting experiment.

Anyway, that was my experience and a few ideas on how I think the digital marketing experience can be improved for customers.

I'd love to hear all your ideas as well.

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