Driving Owned Media and App Engagement With Email Marketing

Key Takeaways

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Focus Allocation — Email Marketing:
‍Smaller streaming services such as Hulu and YouTube TV focus their email marketing on user acquisition, while larger streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix focus their emails on encouraging re-engagement with the platforms. 
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Email Tactic — Personalization: The most effective email marketing tactic for re-engaging current users with leading streaming platforms is personalized content recommendation emails. Almost all email marketing campaigns from streaming leaders includes some element of segmentation or personalization.

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In March, email send volume for top streaming brands went on a slight upward trend. In June, however, email volume has started decreasing, at -23% MoM, returning to numbers similar to January and February.

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The same trend is seen in email web traffic, with a large uptick in web traffic from email starting in March. In June, email web traffic numbers have gone back down, by -8% MoM.

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Breaking down emails by campaign type, here are the four most prominent categories of emails sent by each competitor:

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Personalized “recommendation” emails generally perform the best out of any email type.

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These categories also map out the basic customer journey framework favoured by these OTT giants. 

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Of the 4 competitors, Hulu and YouTube spend the most effort on the acquisition phase of the customer journey.

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Hulu has several different campaigns are centered around getting customers to sign up to their service, including:

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YouTube TV follows a similar tactic, adding an additional campaign that targets their existing paid audience.

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On the other hand, Netflix and Disney+ spend majority of their efforts on customer engagement with personalized email content.

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Netflix’s recommendation journey begins as soon as viewers begin watching content on their platform.

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As viewers continue their viewing journey, Netflix follows up with additional recommendations based on what the viewer has watched.

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To keep viewers engaged and returning to their platform, Netflix also heavily promotes their new arrivals, with a personalized twist.

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While Disney+ also sends out a sizeable amount of recommendation emails, they lack the personalization that Netflix has.

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Lastly, with retention, most brands have dedicated a sizeable amount to retaining customers and keeping them on the platform.

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To retain customers, Disney+ sends out a reminder of their ongoing bundling offer to encourage re-subscription.

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For some customers, Hulu sends out an exclusive promotion that gives them $3 off per month off their subscription plan if they come back to the platform.

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One of the more unique tactics Hulu uses is their “birthday” email. For subscribers who have canceled, they send out an offer for a free month of access.

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Netflix chooses to re-engage customers by letting their extensive list of titles as a major selling point, rather than offering free trials or pricing promotions.