Contact: Sally Ross (January 10, 2013) – On Friday, The Parable Group released a summary of some of the 2013 key insights from their vast data warehouse. Print promotions have been the foundational marketing tactic for The Parable Group since 1985, and they continue to evolve alongside the upsurge of their newer digital marketing technologies. In 2013, over 2.3 million print promotions were mailed on behalf of print partner stores. The average customer response rate was 16.3%–nearly four times the national average of 4.25% as recorded in Response Rate Report by The Direct Marketing Association. The Parable Group 2013 Christmas Catalog response rate was 20.1%. “Double-digit response rates are only part of the story. Responders generated an average of 1.5 receipts per promotion period and spent more per transaction than non-responders—averaging $45.98 per promotion period in 2013,” said Jenni Smith, Mailing and Consumer Specialist for The Parable Group. Furthermore, The Parable Group data revealed that in 2013, top customers who received regular catalog mailings spent $430 in their local store over the course of the year. Over 250,000 unique SKUs were purchased by customers in 2013. Top categories for the year were books and Bibles, and bestselling products by category were: Jesus Calling (book), The Story (Bible), Burning Lights – Chris Tomlin (Music), Merry Larry & the True Light of Christmas (Movie), and The Beginner’s Bible (Kids Book). Digital marketing strategies to reach and engage the Christian consumer also saw tremendous success in 2013. The Parable Group sent 25.2 million emails to Christian consumers on behalf of Parable franchise stores and various other Christian partners—a 10% increase in emails sent for partners over 2012. Targeting technologies contributed to email open rates as high as 28%. “Targeting and personalization are becoming more and more of a must-have in the world of email marketing and yield higher open rates, greater click-through rates, and generate more revenue,” said Randy Ross, Marketing Specialist for The Parable Group. The Parable Group email and social marketing solution through SnapRetail saw an enormous increase in usage. In 2013, independent Christian retails sent 14.1 million consumer emails through SnapRetail—a 79% increase in emails sent over the same time period in 2012. Participating stores selected ready-to-use email templates including newsletters, special events, new arrivals, sales and holiday emails complete with messaging, as well as pre-designed ready- to-send vendor emails. In December, nearly 50% of all SnapRetail emails sent by Christian retailers were ready-to-send emails. Lastly, The Parable Group served 51.1 million online display ad impressions to the Christian market in 2013 across thousands of premium web and mobile sites. Of these impressions, 16.5 million were geo-targeted and served in local markets. The Parable Group ran online display advertising campaigns for a variety of clients including Harvest House, Howard Publishing, Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Worthy Publishing, Tyndale, Baker, Word Entertainment, and Parable Christian Stores. The Parable Group will launch the addition of video ad formats to their online display arsenal later this month. “We are constantly staying in tune with today’s emerging technology for online and mobile display advertising,” says Kyla Falkenhagen, Lead Business Analyst for The Parable Group. “We’ve been helping advertisers of all sizes leverage online display advertising easily and effectively to reach, engage, and convert customers in order to grow their business.” In 2013, The Parable Group served 188 unique store fronts across all marketing groups in various capacities, including: print data, email, email append, SnapRetail, online display advertising, online business claiming and eCommerce services. Stores can be part of any marketing group, or not affiliated with one at all, to receive services. “We know the Christian customer and we are honored to have leveraged our experience, unique customer data, and technology to help retailers and clientsmarket to them over 92 million times
For nearly 30 years The Parable Group has helped independent stores buy, promote and sell products using data, technology and marketing expertise in the Christian market. The Parable Group is a leading retail services provider specializing in print and digital marketing for independent Christian stores, and delivering innovative, industry-leading marketing solutions connecting products and services to Christian consumers. For more information, contact Sally Ross (sally.ross@parable.com) or visit www.parablegroup.com. The Parable Group is based in San Luis Obispo, CA . |
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