E-Newsletter Campaign | Strategy Development
"Our team at BGCBigs has been working with Strong Coffee Marketing on our Dream Home Lottery fundraiser and other projects for over 5 years. Strong Coffee Marketing helps us substantially throughout our campaign, which stands as our largest annual fundraiser. Their strategic direction, attention to detail, and close evaluation of campaign metrics makes for incredibly successful digital and email fundraising efforts year-after-year. We are always so grateful for their support of our campaign, and the direct difference their efforts make in helping thousands of children and youth in Edmonton and surrounding communities every single year."Darby Walton, Marketing and Stewardship Lead, BGCBigs
The Client: BGCBigs Dream Home & Win50 Lottery
For the past few years, BGC Big Brothers Big Sisters of Edmonton & Area (BGCBigs), a renowned Edmonton-based non-profit organization has been working with Strong Coffee Marketing to run an annual Big Brothers Big Sisters Dream Home & Win50 Lottery as a major fundraising initiative. The goal was to run a comprehensive e-newsletter campaign for the initiative that was structured, provided detailed tracking, run A/B tests to ultimate retain subscribers and drive incremental sales. Over the past four years, Strong Coffee Marketing has been working closely with BGCBigs on revenue generation tactics for this campaign.
Key Challenge
Running a complex e-newsletter campaign to 100,000+ subscribers aside, Strong Coffee also faced a challenging economic environment with inflation and macroeconomic uncertainties running rampant among consumers. Our job was to leverage the data we had to build a strategy that would make an impact and drive incremental sales through e-newsletter campaigns. Additionally, to add to the complexities, the transition to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) posed tracking uncertainties which needed to be overcome to ensure smooth tracking of the revenue generated from the e-mail campaign.
Objectives
This year provide to be a particularly challenging environment, which meant we had our work cut out for us with this campaign.
Objectives
- Copywrite, design, customize & launch 45+ E-newsletters to target audiences.
- Set up E-commerce tracking on Google Analytics 4 to ensure data is properly attributed to the correct sources.
- Set Up button and element tracking for future analysis.
- Track & drive ticket sales for the Dream Home Lottery through a structured e-newsletter campaigns.
- Engage effectively with a list of 100,000 subscribers and past-ticket purchasers.
- Design relevant content for ticketholders and non-ticketholders alike.
- Overcome market challenges and other lotteries in-market to maximize our visibility and reach with our audiences.
This year provide to be a particularly challenging environment, which meant we had our work cut out for us with this campaign.
Our Approach
In the face of economic uncertainty and increasing competition from other lotteries, Strong Coffee Marketing needed to design a flexible, data-driven e-newsletter strategy that would adapt to market conditions and maximize ticket sales. Our approach focused on making the most of the large subscriber base while being nimble and proactive in overcoming challenges.
E-Newsletter Campaign Development
We launched a series of over 45 e-newsletter deployments with a custom-designed template, tailored to boost engagement and click-through rates. Recognizing the need to drive urgency, we adjusted the frequency of our deployments as deadlines approached, ensuring we could increase volume without impacting unsubscribe rates—a critical factor in generating additional revenue near key milestones.
Tracking and Monitoring
To maintain flexibility, we monitored revenue daily. This allowed us to make quick adjustments when performance dipped, as seen during a slow January, which we traced back to a DMARC issue with our email provider. Swiftly resolving the problem prevented a significant impact on overall results. Additionally, we tested conversion tracking extensively before launch, ensuring accurate data from the outset.
Optimization and Adaptation
Our strategy also included analyzing previous years’ click behavior to optimize content placement and design within the newsletters. By customizing the layout based on historical data, we improved engagement. We employed countdown timers to create urgency and prompt immediate action, which contributed to higher conversion rates near deadlines.
Audience Segmentation
We closely monitored multi-channel funnels to capture the full picture of customer journeys. This helped us track conversions more accurately and allowed us to refine our segmentation efforts. When non-ticketholders made a purchase, we seamlessly transitioned them into the ticketholder segment, triggering new, relevant email flows to keep them engaged.
E-Newsletter Campaign Development
We launched a series of over 45 e-newsletter deployments with a custom-designed template, tailored to boost engagement and click-through rates. Recognizing the need to drive urgency, we adjusted the frequency of our deployments as deadlines approached, ensuring we could increase volume without impacting unsubscribe rates—a critical factor in generating additional revenue near key milestones.
Tracking and Monitoring
To maintain flexibility, we monitored revenue daily. This allowed us to make quick adjustments when performance dipped, as seen during a slow January, which we traced back to a DMARC issue with our email provider. Swiftly resolving the problem prevented a significant impact on overall results. Additionally, we tested conversion tracking extensively before launch, ensuring accurate data from the outset.
Optimization and Adaptation
Our strategy also included analyzing previous years’ click behavior to optimize content placement and design within the newsletters. By customizing the layout based on historical data, we improved engagement. We employed countdown timers to create urgency and prompt immediate action, which contributed to higher conversion rates near deadlines.
Audience Segmentation
We closely monitored multi-channel funnels to capture the full picture of customer journeys. This helped us track conversions more accurately and allowed us to refine our segmentation efforts. When non-ticketholders made a purchase, we seamlessly transitioned them into the ticketholder segment, triggering new, relevant email flows to keep them engaged.
The Results
0
E-Newsletter Deployments
0
E-Mail "Actions" Recorded
$0M
E-newsletter Revenue Generated
0%
Purchases With E-mail Touchpoint
0%
E-Mail Open Rates
0%
Subscriber List Increase
The Conclusion
The Dream Home Lottery e-newsletter campaign demonstrates the power of targeted email marketing in driving significant revenue, even in challenging environments. With a strategic focus on content optimization and detailed tracking, our e-newsletter campaign not only achieved impressive ticket sales but also provided valuable insights for future efforts. Despite economic and technical challenges, Strong Coffee Marketing was adaptive and responsive leading to Dream Home 44's success. This highlights the effectiveness of e-newsletters as a tool for engaging large subscriber bases and driving tangible results for non-profit fundraising initiatives.
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