Alan’sBy Ian Hatfield

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

**Revenue Report Page in MailChimp**

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’scategory 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.

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.