Email marketing is one of the most effective ways for businesses to drive customer engagement. But what does an outstanding marketing campaign look like? Intuit Mailchimp, in partnership with Fast Company, set out to recognize the best in email marketing with the Forward Awards, which celebrate Mailchimp customers that have taken their campaigns to the next level in creative and innovative ways.
The awards honor businesses spanning a variety of sizes and industries in four categories: Outstanding Personalization, Best Revenue-Driving Campaign, Most Engaged Audience, and Marketing Innovator of the Year.
“What the winners have in common is that they’re skilled in crafting personalized, compelling messages to reach their audiences,” says Ken Chestnut, Intuit Mailchimp’s chief ecosystem officer. “Each of the winners leveraged Mailchimp’s powerful AI capabilities to deliver tailored messages to the right people, at the right time.”
10-11-24 | BY FASTCO WORKS
commissioned by
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The 2024 Forward Award winners participated in a panel discussion, entitled “Forward Thinking,” hosted by Fast Company and Intuit Mailchimp. Click here to watch the participants discuss the innovative strategies and key learnings that have led to their marketing success.
And the winner is . . .
Intuit Mailchimp and Fast Company honor the most innovative
and successful email marketing campaigns of the past year
Want to buy a burly off-road camper, a unique vintage-style watch, or a killer set of bookshelf speakers, but don’t know where to start? Gear Patrol has you covered. The site delivers readers with highly researched, expertly curated recommendations on a wide range of products.
In a bid to give readers even more useful content—and draw them closer to the brand—the Gear Patrol team recently launched an ambitious email series of educational courses called Library of Pursuits. These courses teach readers about topics such as building a personal training regime and becoming a bourbon expert.
Working with Intuit Mailchimp’s Customer Journey Builder, Gear Patrol created a sophisticated strategy to segment users and customize courses for each individual. “Our content team drew inspiration from other brands using customer journeys to engage customers,” says Gear Patrol’s Caitlyn Shaw. “It allowed us to bring that inspiration to life simply and effectively.”
Caitlyn Shaw, director of growth strategy
and development, Gear Patrol
Marketing Innovator
of the Year
Capitalizing on the sport’s meteoric rise, Happy People Pickleball is a blog and online store specializing in custom apparel and accessories. CEO Brigette Windheim wanted to launch a campaign that would use the company’s newsletter to share enthusiasm for the sport, strengthen brand identity, and drive sustainable growth.
“While social media and blog posts offer a broad reach, email allows us to cultivate deeper relationships and deliver targeted content through audience segmentation, direct communication, and preferred timing,” Windheim says.
Mailchimp’s user-friendly email design and customization editor made it easy for Windheim to create visually appealing emails and consistent branding through duplication. Her aim was to grow the newsletter’s subscriber base by 20% and increase sales by 15%.
After just a month, the campaign blew those goals out of the water, with 60% increases in both new subscribers and revenue.
Brigette Windheim, CEO,
Happy People Pickleball
Best Revenue-Driving Campaign
COMPLETION RATE, GEAR
PATROL LIBRARY OF
PURSUITS CAMPAIGN
87%
INCREASE IN NEW SUBSCRIBERS AND REVENUE, HAPPY PEOPLE PICKLEBALL CAMPAIGN
60%
CLICK-THROUGH RATE,
WESTFIELD CREATIVE CAMPAIGN
15%
(Industry average: 2.62%)
Open Rate, Zach
Thomas Campaign
62.2%
(Industry average: 35.63%)
“When you go into someone’s inbox, it’s almost like going into someone’s living room,” says Emily Ryan, cofounder of Westfield Creative,** a boutique marketing agency that specializes in helping brands grow via email and automation.
Ryan would know. For more than four years, she has sent out her “9 Things Sunday” newsletter to a highly curated list of creatives and small-business owners. Each email includes nine links to content that Ryan sees as useful, fun, and inspiring. “I always hoped people would open my email on a Sunday morning, like they would a Sunday newspaper, and just enjoy the experience of reading it,” she says.
Starting from scratch, Ryan has grown her list to more than 1,300 subscribers. The vast majority of them open the email, and about 15% click on the links inside. “Over the years,” she says, “I’ve learned what types of content make people click or reply, and I try to craft copy in a way that always leaves people curious and wanting to click to read more.”
**Westfield Creative is a Mailchimp Pro Partner in addition to a Forward Awards winner.
Emily Ryan, cofounder,
Westfield Creative
Most Engaged
Audience
The NASA Solar System Ambassadors* program, created by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, uses more than 1,400 volunteers across the U.S. to stoke excitement for space exploration. Design and business strategist Zach Thomas is one of them. Last fall, to highlight the many asteroid events visible from Earth, Thomas sent more than 1,000 leaders and influencers email postcards “from” asteroids hurtling through space.
Using generative AI, he created images of himself on the enormous space rocks. Each email also included information about the asteroid, along with other resources and links to space exploration events. The campaign had a 62.2% open rate and an 8.4% click-through rate—both higher than the industry averages of 35.63% and 2.62%, respectively.
“The postcards were a personal invitation to get curious about space, to have fun, and to aspire for things that are difficult or seemingly impossible,” Thomas says.
*This content is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or approved by NASA, and any references to NASA are for informational purposes only.
Zach Thomas, volunteer,
Solar System Ambassadors Program
Outstanding Personalization