Return On Email Subscriber

Return on Subscriber HQ’s are in Portland Oregon, which is home to the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers.  The Blazers are a team on the rise, and the community is buzzing over the prospect of this team leaving the “junk folder” and returning to the “inbox” (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Naturally, email marketing is an important part of the mix for building buzz and driving revenue for the upcoming season. The last thing you want to take away from this buzz is email rendering issues (how your email appears across multiple email clients) and a confusing conversion process.

This particular email, which highlights single game suite options, appears fine above the fold in Gmail.  But once you get into the options, the bullet points strike right through the content. Unfortunately, the calls-to-action are right below this.

Did this result in a complete failure for the Blazers?  Probably not. But it had to have a negative impact on conversion. Similar to looking at your watch in a movie, you are not fully engaged anymore.

Instead of breaking down why this email rendered incorrectly in Gmail, I wanted to talk about 5 simple tweaks to this email campaign that would increase click through and conversion.

1. Add a Call-to-Action Above the Fold
If the concept you are presenting doesn’t need a lot of education, like what a luxury suite is and why it is awesome, and the landing page has the same details, add a call-to-action above the fold. Something like “Check Availability” or “Learn More” in the top right under the header would get quite a few clicks

2. Is this the Best Photo for this Email?
Is this photo really selling the luxury box experience? It looks like an empty bar. How about an exciting view from the suite or a few guys high-fiving in the box? What about the arena going crazy or Greg Oden dunking? I can’t imagine this picture got too many people imagining themselves at the game or thinking about good times.

3. Reduce the Copy, Focus on the Value
There are a few really strong points in this big paragraph, including that tickets are close to sold out and that is a new offering. By cutting the reducing the copy and focusing on the big points, you can have the same impact while making the decision to click through happen faster.

4. Purchase? Reserve? Request more Info?
The end goal of this email is not a purchase or a reservation at all, it is a quote request form, a much less scary thing to do. If a subscriber can’t actually “Buy” or “Purchase” at the landing page, don’t use the words at all. They will scare off the timid and frustrate those who are ready. Also, Both “Executive Suite” and “Party Suite” link to the same location. Why give a choice? A simple “View Packages” will bring more volume to the landing page.

5. Eliminate Confusion on the Landing Page
There are no instructions on this landing page as to what will actually happen when this form is submitted. They are leaving it up to the user to decide what will happen.

Simple instructions on what providing information entails and having contact options like “Have someone call me” or “Email me the details” will give you a higher chance of getting the conversion, which ultimately is information to contact them.

Something else to add would be a contact phone number incase that subscriber to is ready to buy can get directly in touch with a ticketing rep.

I would be intersted to know your thoughts on this campaign?  Do you think it gets the job done just how it is?  Was there something I missed?

By the way, the Blazers are going to be fantastic this year. Get ready for a big year!