Increasing Email Web Traffic by +104% Through Promotion Campaigns

Key Takeaways

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Email Tactic — Promotional Campaigns: Ford ran two promotional campaigns in August 2020, which led to a +104% increase in web traffic driven by email. The first promotional campaign offered Ford employee pricing (with price adjustments over $16K) and a $750 private offer. The Employee Pricing email campaign was a limited time offer which created a sense of urgency for consumers and encouraged them to click through to the website. 

Email Tactic  — Personalized Emails: For the “$750 Private Offer” campaign, each email was personalized with the consumer’s name and included copy that spoke directly to the recipient (i.e: “special offer chosen especially for you”). Personalized emails are highly relevant and help strengthen the overall customer experience. Consider including the recipient’s name in the subject line of the email to further increase open rates. 

Email Tactic  — Subject Line A/B Testing: Ford ran an A/B test for both of their promotional email campaigns. For the Employee Pricing campaign, Ford tested between different car categories such as SUVs, Trucks and Mustangs while for the $750 Private Offer campaign, Ford tested between English and French subject lines. 14% of recipients received a French email.

Email Tactic  — Ford Sends the Most Emails on Thursdays & Fridays: Ford sends out the most emails on Thursdays and Fridays, however read rates are the highest at 32% on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Continually optimize your email campaigns by A/B testing different days of the week with the same email creative.

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In August 2020, Ford.ca saw a +104% increase in web traffic driven by email.

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However, when looking at Ford’s overall email sending volume, they were not sending more emails than usual during August 2020.

Instead, in August 2020, Ford.ca ran two email promotions: Employee Pricing and a $750 Private Offer.

Both campaigns had similar send volumes just over 100K.

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The Employee Pricing Campaign featured 3 car models (Edge Titanium, Explorer Platinum and the 2020 F-150 Limited) from their SUV and Truck product lines.

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Ford clearly communicated the price adjustments available for each car model with a “Build Yours” CTA button.

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The Employee Pricing campaign was a limited time offer, creating a sense of urgency for consumers and encouraging them to click through to the website.

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The Employee Pricing Campaign implemented an A/B subject line test featuring different car categories such as SUVs, Trucks, and Mustangs.

Subject line with the word “Mustang” received a higher read rate (38% compared to 26%).

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For the “$750 Private Offer” campaign, each email was personalized with the consumer’s name and included copy that spoke directly to the recipient (i.e: “special offer chosen especially for you”).

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The $750 Private Offer Campaign implemented an A/B subject line test featuring an English and French subject lines. 14% of recipients received a French subject line.

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Throughout 2020, Ford ran 4 email promotions, with all campaigns focusing on their SUV and Truck product lines.

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Ford sends out the most emails on Thursdays and Fridays however read rates are the highest (32%) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays.

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