BFCM: Spend Less for Better Email Marketing Performance

No matter how you feel about TikTok Shop, the platform’s offer to subsidize holiday discounts for the 2023 BFCM season has got to be tempting for DTC brands. With so much pressure on profit, finding margin is top of mind this holiday season. Almost all Americans are spending less this year, due to higher prices and stagnant wages, and competition for their limited dollars is fierce. 

In response to the current economic climate, some DTC brands are taking drastic measures like layoffs or permanent price reductions, while others are looking for alternative cost cutting options. Marketing, for example. A major cost center, but also a risky place to cut, because it’s responsible for driving revenue. 

Many brands spend the largest part of their marketing budget during the 4th quarter, since it’s a critical time to stay top of mind and relevant. And most have already got their BFCM owned and paid campaigns set and ready to kickoff, if they haven’t already started. 

But there are still places brands can cut costs this holiday season,
without putting revenue at risk. 

Even if campaigns are already set and creative has long been finalized, there’s hidden margin that’s immediately available to re-allocate to revenue-driving activities or give back to the bottom line. And it doesn’t require switching providers, or more than ten minutes of your time. Let’s take a look at how this has played out for leading DTC brands, and how it could play out for yours too.

doe lashes reduced their email marketing bill by 32%

Because of junk, spam, duplicate and unengaged accounts, doe’s email list had 68,000 contacts set to receive emails in the next month that weren’t going to make a purchase. By temporarily suppressing those accounts, the brand saved 32% on its monthly email marketing bill. Now, orita works behind the scenes to make sure the right email accounts are activated and suppressed at the right time for the most effective email marketing at the lowest cost. 

Italic reallocated 120k+ email sends to higher value customers

One loyal customer is worth more than 20 who are on the fence. That’s why Italic, who sends between 3-7 million marketing emails every month, decided to re-allocate its email marketing budget rather than downgrade their plan and take the savings. Now, more highly engaged customers receive a larger share of marketing emails, increasing the ROI of the platform. 

Skout Organic saved hours of time on list management every month month

Email is an important touchpoint for DTC brands, and having the right list is critical to saving money and increasing deliverability. Mark Collis, Chief Snacking Officer for Skout Organic, used to do this task himself. Now, Skout relies on orita to keep its marketing lists optimized and is confident that potential buyers aren’t being suppressed and that spend isn’t wanted on profiles that aren’t going to make a purchase. 

Holiday season exacerbates the problem

As brands prepare their email campaigns for the holiday season, they spend months growing their lists through pop-ups on their websites, quizzes and other creative methods. But holiday-season window shoppers aren’t necessarily going to convert. And a big list doesn’t always equate to a better list. Yes, there are more chances for the right shoppers to be there. But on the flip side, the more unengaged contacts there are, the lower the click & open rates will be. 

If your email doesn’t get in the inbox,
it wasn’t worth sending in the first place. 

During the holiday season there’s also an increase in bot and spam activity, including temporary or false emails from real shoppers signing up for discount codes. This can result in a lot of unnecessary spend, during a season when profit is critical. 

With the cost savings and increased deliverability available from an optimized email contact list, it’s one of the few activities a DTC brand can undertake to still make a difference this year. With orita, it takes less than 10-minutes to get set up and less than two weeks from sign-up to savings. Start your free trial today.