Case Study: Ignition Mail
Ignition Mail is a fantastic looking MailBuild rebrand from Australian design firm Engine Active. We chatted with Engine Active's Michael Troy about why they decided to use MailBuild and uncovered a great strategy for cost effectively marketing the service to potential customers.
Why did you decide to rebrand MailBuild?
"We actually tried to fault MailBuild, but we couldn't. You guys have obviously put a lot of thought into how the system would be used and re-branded."
EngineActive is a fairly young business, about a year old. While recently evaluating our business plan for the coming year. We identified a need to integrate a valuable yet passive, repeat service into our business model. A service that we could offer current and future clientele.
Our primary objective was simple – 'offer a service to our clients, that would add value to our business and in return, would pay our rent'.
We had no idea what this service would be at this stage. We knew it was critical that the service had to meet certain criteria.
- It had to be passive. Meaning there was to be little or no upkeep.
- It had to be a repeat service. The client had to come back for more - and often.
- It had to produce a net positive ROI (Return on investment). Rent and bill money!
We shopped around for something that would fit just right. We found a few services that looked promising, but when we did the financial projections and weighed up the pros and cons, they were not quite right. We did not want to settle for second best. It had to be the right fit or not at all. MailBuild was just that fit.
We actually tried to fault MailBuild, but we couldn't. You guys have obviously put a lot of thought into how the system would be used and re-branded. You covered all the bases. So MailBuild was the one!
We love the one page design of the site, how did you go about putting it together
Thanks! The one page layout was a very conscious and calculated decision. The reasoning behind the decision is really simple, yet quite powerful. The idea is that by keeping all of the content, selling points and FAQs on one page, it instantly and subconsciously communicated the actual product itself - that is, simplicity. It speaks volumes, it says to the client 'Hey, this is easy and simple to use, give it a try'.
This is of course in context with our brand and personality. It was an appropriate solution for us. We always kept in mind that if we could not get this all down nicely on one screen, then we had missed the point somewhere along the way. Keep it simple!
How are you planning on marketing this to your clients
"Our marketing strategy also fits into our initial idea of IgnitionMail being passive in just the right ways. We came up with the idea of the IgnitionMail 'partner program'."
Our marketing strategy also fits into our initial idea of IgnitionMail being passive in just the right ways. That is to say, we wanted IgnitionMail to drive itself in nearly all aspects, marketing being one of these. The less we had to invest our time and energy, the higher the return would be be. So we came up with the idea of the IgnitionMail 'partner program'.
The IgnitionMail partner program is really quite simple. The idea is that we first identify key clients. Key clients suitable for the program are clients who will use IgnitionMail often and who have reasonably sized subscriber lists. Another type of key client is a client who uses another email campaign solution and we use the partner program to encourage them to switch! We usually already have an established meaningful relationship with our key clients.
Next, we make them an offer they can't refuse! We offer them the use of the IgnitionMail service at cost price and in exchange we place a small unobtrusive banner advertisement at the foot of their email template and a small one line text link advertisement next to their subscriber form. Simple, and works like a charm. We will only ever advertise the services of EngineActive or IgnitionMail.
The beauty of this strategy is that we use our clients subscriber lists to advertise our services.
Related topics
- The different types of email marketing you can offer
- Ideas you can use when pitching to your clients
- How to charge for email marketing
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