For more than 90 years, The ServiceMaster Company has been a leader in the residential and commercial service industry. They are committed to creating cleaner, healthier, safer environments for their customers wherever they are—at home, at work, or at play. Email is one of the company’s preferred channels for connecting with customers and driving business, so campaign performance and strong deliverability are critical to their success.
CHALLENGE
The marketing team at The ServiceMaster Company was tasked with increasing the overall effectiveness of their email campaigns, including key performance metrics like open rate and click rate. In addition, the company was looking to convert more leads through the email channel, increasing both revenue and email ROI. However, they faced a significant challenge with deliverability at Gmail. As is true for many marketers, Gmail users make up a significant portion of their email list, so poor inbox placement rate and high spam rate with Gmail was damaging the overall performance of their email program.
SOLUTION
By utilizing the resources available through the Return Path blog and client knowledge center, the marketing team was able to develop a better segmentation strategy, improve their send cadence, and implement more effective personalization tactics. With the help of the Return Path by Validity Managed Services team, they also performed an in-depth analysis of Gmail performance to uncover the root cause of their deliverability problems. The insights from the Return Path team confirmed their new email tactics aligned with best practices and standards, and their inbox placement results at Gmail were moving in the right direction.
“The dashboard and weekly reports from Validity provided the data insight I needed throughout the year.”
Janet McQuarrie
Email Marketing Strategist
RESULTS
Working with the Return Path team produced phenomenal results for The ServiceMaster Company. Inbox placement at Gmail went from 60 percent to over 90 percent, allowing the company to reach a much bigger segment of their subscribers. Across their entire email program, key performance metrics like unique open rate and unique clicks also showed double digit year-over-year improvement. The results were even more dramatic in their lead remarketing campaigns, which are critical to convert new leads to sales. For this audience, the increase in unique open rate and sales conversions reached triple digits—proving a direct link between successful email marketing and the company’s revenue.
“When I completed my year-end reporting for 2019, the success was shining everywhere. The biggest point of pride for me was knowing email was a sound marketing investment, generating significant YoY growth to the bottom line.”
Janet McQuarrie
Email Marketing Strategist