iNetVideo

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Challenge

iNetVideo offers a wide range of DVD and Blu-ray movies, games and music, and is known for being the online source to buy “Entertainment for Less.” Their customers run the gamut and encompass anyone looking for a great value from a quality media provider. Because of their diverse customer base, email marketing is an integral part of their sales strategy - everyone has an email address! Email is responsible for driving 20% of iNetVideo’s overall revenue, so they needed to ensure that their email program was primed for optimal performance.

One of the keys to driving revenue through email marketing is being able to quantifiably assess what works and what doesn’t, and make adjustments accordingly. Companies that do this continually see improvements in overall results, as each adjustment improves their emails and provides a learning opportunity for the next campaign. iNetVideo was not doing this type of assessment, and they knew that their email campaigns could perform better.

Solution

A/B testing, which sets a baseline control and then tests the performance of single variables like copy or graphics, was suggested in order to optimize iNetVideo’s email campaigns. iNetVideo’s previous email service provider did not provide the ability to do A/B testing, making it impossible for them to maximize conversions from their emails. This was one of the factors prompting the move to Bronto, where they could perform A/B testing and utilize Bronto’s detailed reporting to drive improvements.

First, they began with subject line testing, sending different variations to subsets of their mailing list with the goal of improving open rates. Then, they moved on to testing content positioning, in an effort to tailor email messages to particular segments of their email list. Finally, the actual placement of visuals and content within emails was tested – for example, testing to see if it was best to lead with a Blu-ray or Xbox image at the top.

Occasionally, iNetVideo conducts A/B testing by sending variant emails to a percentage of their list and then sending the highest performing email from the test to the remainder of the list. More often, they send 3-4 variations of an email to their entire list to determine which one performs best and then apply the learning to their next campaigns.

Outcome

iNetVideo, through an ongoing program of testing and improvement, has improved the email triple crown: open rates, conversions and revenue. By focusing on subject line testing of their blog newsletter, they were able to double their email open rate. Conversions are now higher than before they began A/B testing and email marketing has become one of the highest conversion channels for iNetVideo, surpassing even search and advertising. The average conversion rate for iNetVideo’s email is 2.75%, about 37% higher than their overall conversion rate from all other sources.

Revenue lift and an increase in conversions are the primary reasons why iNetVideo enjoys working with Bronto, but they also value the personalized support from the Bronto team. Alaa Hassan, iNetVideo’s Vice President, says “One thing we love is the live chat support. We’ve found this very powerful, very valuable. We can be in the middle of launching a campaign and need an answer right away and we get that from Bronto.” Hassan also values the personalized attention of their Bronto account manager. “We were told we would have a dedicated rep,” he says, “and Bronto has truly stood by this.”

iNetVideo intends to build on the initial success they’ve had with another round of improvements to their email marketing programs, primarily with list management. Email subscribers are being acquired through several different channels, so Hassan would like to develop a streamlined system for moving them into a common database with category segmentation. An improved process would allow them to better target messages by customizing campaigns based on subscriber behaviors and preferences. That kind of personalized content can make all the difference in subscriber engagement, since everyone likes to feel that they are receiving information that’s tailored to them.