“One born every minute” is a saying recognised by many. 696,271 UK live births were recorded in 2016 alone (ONS, 2016), meaning that we actually see an average of 1.32 babies being born every minute, to be precise (not the same ring to it, I know..). With this ever-growing supply of babies and wide range of baby food on the UK supermarket shelves, it is of paramount importance for existing brands to seek new and innovative ways to drive customer retention and brand loyalty.
Chaffey, 2015
According to Groves (2009), Email marketing is an incredibly cost-effective way to establish and build relationships that drive business success. Although cheap and accessible, it is tricky for brands to create effective and useful content to build relationships with their customers and stand out from the crowded inbox. Baby food brands must unceasingly adopt new ways to use email to entice and excite their customer base: parents. “How on earth do you do that?” I hear you ask. Well, look no further:
PERSONALISED NEWSLETTERS
It is typical that upwards of 50% of customers feel emotionally unsubscribed to a brand despite being subscribed to their electronic mailing list (Chaffey, 2015). Baby food brands can help avoid this potentially fatal error by personalising their newsletters to the parent or child using the data the parent entered when opting-in. By using a double opt-in process instead of a single, a brands email list may take longer to compile but will be cleaner and have a more engaged audience which is ideal for baby food brands trying to capture the attention of new parents.
Ometria, 2017
This simple yet effective technique of personalising emails can help parents feel a greater sense of connectedness towards the brand which consequently drives loyalty (Ryan, 2017). UK baby food market leader, Ella’s Kitchen, use personalised messages to both the parent and child which makes the consumer feel more treasured and more willing to trust the brand as they “Become a friend” and not just another number on a list.
Ella’s Kitchen, 2017
It is very important to keep the baby food brand’s tone of voice consistent when speaking to parents as well as having similar visuals when marketing via email to ensure the consumer’s loyalty is not affected in any way (Carmen, 2010). At the point of opting in it is important for brands to obtain as much information as possible to target the most effective messages on email. BUT.. as new parents will be sensitive on even the most basic data of their child, the brand should make the parent fully aware of how this data will be used in newsletters etc to ensure loyalty is not lost further down the line.
DIGITAL COUPONS
Everybody loves a freebie. New parents who are feeling the pinch especially so. By integrating digital coupons into weekly or monthly newsletters, parents are more enticed to join the mailing list which is a great way of keeping them in the loop and building brand loyalty. Here’s another example from the baby food market leader on how to do this:
In this example, not only are the brand encouraging sign-ups to the email group with a clear free product, but have labelled it the “Lil foodies club” with savings which is more appealing to the parent. Whether this be a frequent occurrence or just a one-off when first joining the list, it can cause customers to feel a sense of gratitude towards the brand and could mean it’s the first tastes their baby will try and enjoy – win! Those parents just keep getting more loyal and loyal…
FOLLOWING THE BABY’S LIFE CYCLE
Depending on the data you obtain at the point of opting-in, baby food brands can target messages to parents depending on what stage their baby is at. Whether it be weaning tips or introduction to solid foods, brands can send these messages (combined with personalisation) to parent’s emails which allows them to be more involved with the brand. Hipp Organic, second largest baby food brand, offer a baby club which does just this. You can read more about it on their website here.
This is a very effective technique and addition to the standard email marketing found across other baby food brands and is sure to stand out in a parent’s cluttered inbox. The more relevant emails can be to the parent, the more connected they feel with the brand. The greater connectedness and loyalty to the brand, the greater the sales. Perfect.
If you are eager to learn more about the Do’s and Don’ts of Email marketing you can watch Google Business’ tutorial video here. So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and explore the wonders of email marketing!
REFERENCES
Carmen, P. & Al, P.N. 2010, “EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS: THE EASIEST PATH FROM ORGANIZATIONS TO CONSUMERS”, Annals of the University of Oradea: Business
Chaffey, D. & Ellis-Chadwick, F. 2015, Digital marketing, Sixth edn, Pearson, Upper Saddle River.
Groves, E. 2009, The Constant Contact guide to email marketing, Wiley, Hoboken, N.J.
ONS – Office for National Statistics (2017). Births in England and Wales – Office for National Statistics. [online] Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsand marriages / livebirths/bulletins/birthsummarytablesenglandandwales/2016 [Accessed 2 Jan. 2018].
Ryan, D. 2017, Understanding digital marketing: marketing strategies for engaging the digital generation, Fourth edn, KoganPage, London.