The Apprentice 2: Great Email Marketing Tips from Reality TV?

Not one known for subtlety, Donald Trump recently informed contestants of The Apprentice 2 that they'd be meeting him at New York's famed Tavern on the Green to hear all about his latest business challenge. The following morning, team members assembled in the restaurant's garden (a popular spot for high-profile weddings) where they looked grim as Trump described their assignment: transform an empty Manhattan storefront into an impromptu bridal shop and hold an exclusive four-hour wedding gown sale. The team earning the greatest profits would win.

A Last-Minute Campaign

With just one day of lead-time, advertising the sale posed a huge challenge. Team Apex hightailed it to Grand Central Station where they distributed pink promotional flyers to rush hour commuters. Rival Team Mosaic took a more high-tech approach by contacting the sales staff of TheKnot.com—a resource and planning site for soon-to-be-wed couples.

There, Mosaic learned they could spend $1,000 to rent ZIP code-level and wedding-date-specific email addresses from registrants who'd said they wouldn't mind receiving occasional offers from third-party vendors. Deciding it was worth it, they shelled out the money and a promotional email went out to 23,000 New York-area "Knotties."

Arriving at the makeshift bridal shop the following day, Team Mosaic was thrilled to find a line of over 40 women stretching down the block. They sold 27 wedding gowns in four hours, netting a profit of $12,800. Apex sold just two gowns for a profit of about $1,000.

What They Did Right

Email list rental is back.  Because they offer free, in-demand content, sites like The Knot, Epicurious, Monster Jobs, and MSNBC never stopped asking for an above-average amount of personal information from new registrants, and believe it or not—every day, thousands of those folks still agree to receive relevant offers from third-party vendors. Mosaic’s success is proof that marketers may want to revisit the issue of renting lists from reputable sites—preferably those that don’t make their users uncheck a box in order to avoid receiving third-party messages.

Less is the new more. Instead of conducting a traditional "blast" to a huge quantity of addresses, Team Mosaic found the sweet spot by using ZIP code and wedding date information. Not only would a less targeted campaign have generated fewer sales, it probably would have been perceived as spam by recipients outside the team's narrow target market—a surefire way to wreak instant brand-harm in the real world.

Real value gets a real response. Team Mosaic's campaign was impeccably targeted, but its other major strength was delivering something of genuine value: discontinued designer wedding dresses at a deep discount—a rarity in the wedding industry. This exciting sales angle produced genuine buzz around the event, as well as customers who were actually willing to wait in line before the store opened.

Email is perfect for local promotions. Like Team Mosaic, local businesses and franchises can take advantage of the trend toward list segmentation by selecting email addresses by ZIP code. Alternatively, local businesses can benefit from advertising in reputable locally angled email publications such as Variety's Stylephile newsletter—a bulletin of store openings and sample sales in New York and Los Angeles.

Email is perfect for event marketing. The frazzled contestants on The Apprentice had just one day of lead-time to promote their sale, but what if they'd had a few weeks or more? Whether it's a traditional or a virtual event, a hard-and-fast date is a golden opportunity to build out a thoughtful advance campaign. Generate a sense of excitement with a "Save the Date" announcement or occasional updates on how the event is taking shape ("New Vera Wang merchandise just added"). Be sure to include only items of real interest to the recipient, and never overmail. Marketer M. H. McIntosh says that for him, three is the magic number: one message well in advance of the event, another message two or three weeks out, and a final last minute reminder.

A Happy Ending

For their 12-to-1 landslide victory, Team Mosaic was rewarded with a $50,000 shopping spree at Graff—the British jewelers from whom Trump recently purchased an engagement ring for fiancée Melania Knauss. Executives at The Knot counted themselves big winners too: the site received 3,600 new registrations and was flooded with requests from wedding vendors wanting to conduct email marketing campaigns.

Contact us at editor@lyris.com to share your ideas. We may include it in the next issue of Making Mail Work!

Shannon Coulter is a Marketing Manager at Lyris Technologies.