The Territory Ahead Case Study

Customer	The Territory Ahead
Industry	Online and Brick-and-Mortar Apparel, Retail
Email type	Marketing Promotional
Service	CertifiedEmail

 

About The Territory Ahead

The Territory Ahead is a premier multi-channel retailer that specializes in men’s and women’s casual clothing. Since The Territory Ahead first established their company in 1988, their mission has been to design and develop their clothing in-house, focusing on lifestyle rather than fashion trends. Through their direct mail catalogs, retail stores and website, they promote fun and adventure by blending compelling outdoor imagery, clever editorial and their own eclectic brand of men’s and women’s clothing. The Territory Ahead is part of Cornerstone Brands, Inc. (CBI), a subsidiary of HSNi.

Challenges The Territory Ahead Faced

Email is one of The Territory Ahead’s most effective marketing channels. However, they wanted to improve their business ROI but faced the following obstacles; deliverability: their messages were being delivered into the bulk folder instead of the inbox, ensuring images and links are visible, and guaranteeing their messages would stand out from the crowd.

• First, The Territory Ahead had some problems getting their email messages delivered to the recipient’s inbox. Through inbox monitoring, The Territory Ahead discovered some email campaigns were being sent to the bulk folder. This can be caused by many factors including inconsistent white list handling, unreliable deliverability and rigid spam filters at the ISPs.
• Next, in these tough economic times, marketing budgets have dwindled. It is more important than ever that each marketing dollar is used as effectively as possible. Since most ISPs and mailbox providers block images and links by default as a measure against spam and phishing, marketing investments were being wasted.
• Finally, The Territory Ahead needed a way to have their email messages opened and stand out from all other messages in the mailbox. As email marketers and competitors were ramping up for the holiday season, recipients were seeing fuller inboxes than ever before. The Territory Ahead needed a way to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

The CertifiedEmail Solution

Example The Territory Ahead CertifiedEmail

At the recommendation of their email service provider, Responsys, The Territory Ahead decided to perform a four week A/B split test of CertifiedEmail in October 2009. As one of Goodmail’s leading partners, Responsys has integrated the CertifiedEmail service into their email servers, enabling fast and easy deployment to their customers. The Territory Ahead is currently enjoying the many benefits of CertifiedEmail and is using the service for their promotional emails.

Impressive Results

After using Goodmail’s CertifiedEmail service, The Territory Ahead saw the following results:

• Open-rate increased dramatically by 28%
• Click-through-rate increased 27%
• Order rate increased 11%
• Revenue-per-email increased 15%
• For every dollar spent on CertifiedEmail, The Territory Ahead received $18 in incremental revenue.

Goals Achieved With CertifiedEmail

• Deliverability into the major ISPs and email providers
  CertifiedEmail messages automatically get delivered into the inbox due to Goodmail’s contractual agreement with the ISPs for assured delivery and bypassing content spam filters. CertifiedEmail messages are safe and secure and follow Goodmail’s strict accreditation and usages policies.
• Ensuring images and links are visible and not blocked
  Like most companies, The Territory Ahead needs to keep the attention of its email recipients with images and graphics. With CertifiedEmail, our ISPs and mailbox providers turn your images on by default. Recipients now see your compelling visual as soon as they open your message.
• Standing out from the crowd in the inbox
  Studies show that Goodmail’s Blue Trust Seal improves your open rate and with a 28% increase, The Territory Ahead was no different. The Blue Trust Seal not only allows recipients to open your message with confidence but increases visibility and trust of your brand and message.