ALAN’S- BAKERY, CONFECTIONERY & DELI -

Esme Carpenter

Table of Contents

About Alan’s……………………………………………………..3Business Objectives……………………………………………..4Target Audience…………………………………………………6Approach Strategy………………………………………………7Constant Contact vs. MailChimp……………………………...8Segmentation Capabilities……………………………………..9Pricing……………………………………………………...……10Reporting Capabilities………………………………………….11Interface Ease of Use…………………………………………..12Customer Service and Support………………………………13Other Features………………………………………………….14Comparison Summary…………………………………………15Final Recommendation………………………………………..16

About Alan’s

Alan’s Bakery, Confectionery & Deli is a renowned restaurant, providing fresh, locally-sourced menu items. The bakery has ten locations in Metro Atlanta. Providing a beautiful atmosphere, Alan’s offers customers superior restaurant dining, event catering, gorgeous wedding cakes and specialty bakery goods. Alan’s Bakery is famous for its esteemed wedding cakes, making brides’ dreams come true. Alan’s is a unique, creative bakery, so feel free to contact the main store for any inquiries.

Business Objectives

1. Compare Constant Contact and MailChimp to select the superior Email Service Provider based on:

- Segmentation Capabilities

- Pricing

- Reporting Capabilities

- Interface Ease of Use

- Customer Service and Support

- Other Features

2. Properly segment email subscribers by location and target audience

- VS -

Business Objectives

3. Develop an email marketing campaign to communicate:

- Menu specials of the day

- Reminders about catering options for 10+ people

- Targeted bridal emails with offers for wine & cake tasting parties

- VIP Invitations to “best customer events”

- Event catering (Christmas parties, summer picnics, office birthdays)

4. Ultimately drive growth for Alan’s Bakery by strategically communicating with email subscribers. Our goal is to create a strong base of loyal customers who will spread enthusiasm for Alan’s Bakery.

Target Audience

Our primary target audiences include: - Local residents- Brides (soon to be)- Affluent families- Suburban mothers

We will segment by:- Age- Gender- Type of customer (bride, mother,

business owner)- Geographic Location

Approach Strategy

We will strategically segment subscribers to send relevant information. Using email campaigns we will:

- Contact brides based on wedding month: 12 emails per campaign

- Contact the lunch crowd at each location: 2 emails weekly

- Contact specialty cake & bakery customers: anniversary and event reminders

Constant Contact vs. MailChimp

Now we will compare and contrast ConstantContact with MailChimp. I have researched in-depth to accurately gauge the offerings of theseEmail Service Providers. After carefulconsideration of each of the following attributesthat the two provide, I will submit a strategicrecommendation for Alan’s Bakery.

Segmentation Capabilities

Extensive built-in segmentation options (geographic areas, loyal customers, money spent, etc.)

Delivery by time zone: ensure subscribers receive emails when they are awake

Automation presets (save segments as static or auto-updating)

.

Strategically direct content to tailored segments (by past purchases, interests, location, etc.)

Limited, basic segmentation options

VERDICT: MailChimp! Given that Alan’s Bakery aims to segment specifically,MailChimp is definitely the winner. With this platform we can target ourcustomers successfully and ensure our emails are relevant to our subscribers.

Pricing

$875 per month

“Pay as you go” option from $0.005-$0.03 cents per email: could be of use in slower months

No upfront fees

$895 per month

60-day Free Trial

10% off to prepay for 6 months and 15% off to prepay for a year

No upfront fees

VERDICT: Constant Contact! The two are very close in price, but ConstantContact offers a notable 15% off pre-pay discount. Constant Contact also offers the

60-day Free Trial.

Reporting & Analytics

Tracks unique opens, clicks, compare results to industry averages, link performance, unsubscribes, campaign performance per hour and view top locations by opens

Access raw numbers for successful deliveries, forwards, and bounce rates

Tracks opens, clicks, spam reports, unsubscribes and bounces.

Compares unique open rates and contact growth by source (mobile device vs. desktop)

VERDICT: MailChimp! The obvious winner is MailChimp, as it offersmuch more advanced reporting options. As marketers, we strive to examine eachcampaign’s performance, so we must weigh analytic capabilities heavily.

Interface Ease of Use

Created with simplicity in mind

Modern, professional design templates

Fun, friendly, easy to use interface

Interface includes support for basic photo editing

Hundreds of professional looking email templates and designs

Easy to use interface: drag-and-drop tools, built-in image editor

VERDICT: MailChimp! Though both offer templates, MailChimp’s aremuch more modern and user-friendly. Simplicity combined with superbdesign makes MailChimp our interface winner.

Customer Service & Support

Live online chat and email support (but limited hours)

No call center for direct support by phone

Easily searchable knowledge base

Active social media responses

24/7 live support by phone, email and chat

Extensive searchable knowledge base (FAQs)

Active social media responses

Webinars and how-to videos

VERDICT: Constant Contact! Constant Contact is the clear customer supportwinner, offering 24/7 service by phone, email and chat. Additionally, their onlinewebinars would be extremely helpful in learning new tips and tricks,

Other Features

Fun, friendly company culture

Security and privacy taken seriously: centers are protected by both physical and electronic safeguards

Serious anti-spam policy

Code your own work using HTML to design your emails

Offers over 500 integrations and add-ons

Reliable, stable company culture

Security taken seriously: SSL encryption to protect the personal and credit card information

Serious anti-spam policy

Code your own template from scratch using HTML

Offers over 200 apps and integrations

VERDICT: It’s a tie! Both take security and anti-spam seriously. Both allow customdesign using HTML to code work. However, MailChimp does offer more apps.

Comparison Summary

Feature

Segmentation Capabilities

Pricing

Reporting Capabilities

Interface Ease of Use

Customer Service and Support

Other Features

Winner

Exhaustive segmentation options

Free trial & pre-pay discount

Advanced reporting & analytics

Modern, simple to use interface

24/7 customer support

Both have other beneficial features

Final Recommendation

For Alan’s Bakery, MailChimp is the clear email service winner! As the marketingdepartment, we value advanced segmentation and extensive reporting capabilities overpricing. The only draw would be that MailChimp lacks 24/7 customer service, but its easy touse interface makes up for that. Through MailChimp we can hone in and specificallysegment brides by wedding date, and customers by geographic location, loyalty, and moneyspent.. We can also specifically track our email campaigns and pivot in the case that they donot succeed as we hope. We can track unique opens, clicks, link performance,unsubscribes, forwards, bounce rates, campaign performance per hour and view toplocations by opens. Through MailChimp, we can drive growth for Alan’s Bakery, strategicallycommunicate with email subscribers, and foster a strong base of loyal customers.