How is Red Wing Shoes doing in email marketing

Catherine Shi
Marketing in the Age of Digital
4 min readNov 4, 2023

Really important

It has to be said that this has broken my subjective thinking and impression. In the era of rapid development of social media and marketing, I almost lost email marketing! Facts and data have proven that email marketing is one of the most effective marketing channels, with over 347 billion sent and received emails per day worldwide and growing annually. Email marketing is still highly valued.

Let’s take a closer look at how Red Wing Shoes, which focuses on high-quality leather work boots and shoes, conducts email marketing.

Start with the experience

I quickly searched on Google and entered the official website of Red Wing Shoes. I swipe down the page while browsing the information on the homepage, and I can see a clear entrance. It can be mentioned that this entry exists on any page of the official website and is located in the same location. I just need to fill in my email address, and the webpage will show that I have successfully subscribed to the Red Wing Shoes email! This process is very easy, fast, and simple!

However, to my curiosity and surprise, I did not receive any emails immediately after registering, such as welcome emails, successful registration emails, etc. This made me wonder if I registered successfully or if I filled in the wrong email address.
Within a week of my registration, I received an email from Red Wing Shoes. Currently, the frequency of Red Wing Shoes sending emails is approximately once a week. Of course, this requires more time to observe, and the frequency may also increase during promotional holidays.

Talk about best practices use

What’s doing well:

1.Red Wing Shoes’ single email follows a single message. This email simply tells the last call of The Fall Footwear Event, motivating consumers to join the event. It avoids excessive information or calls to action that may make the audience feel confused or hesitant.

2. It looks very clear and simple. The email used short text, countdown motion pictures, and obvious coupon codes, which immediately let me know what the email was saying. In addition, the formatting of emails is also easy to read on all devices.

3. The email content is useful and helps trigger consumers to make purchases. It has to be said that the dynamic images of the countdown and the obvious coupon are very direct and useful.

4. Easy to subscribe to

5. The frequency of sending emails by the brand is appropriate, so I don’t feel like being announced.

Missing place:

  1. There is no welcome email to welcome new subscribers.
  2. Due to the fact that I only need to fill in my email to subscribe during registration, the email does not include personalized content or recommendations.

Some thoughts

Red Wing Shoes’ email marketing has done a great job in terms of email content, and I like this presentation method. This allowed me to quickly understand what message this email from the brand was conveying. In addition, the countdown motion chart and the directly provided coupon made me very moved and felt that I should immediately use this coupon to participate in the Fall Footwear Event!

However, I hope to have a welcome email. This allows me to know that I have indeed subscribed successfully and feel welcomed. Besides, I think that emails should have more personalized content or recommendations, such as reaching consumers based on name, location, past purchase history, etc., which can help improve click-through rates. Red Wing Shoes can also increase exposure and click-through rates by encouraging consumers to forward or share emails in their emails. For example, by referring new members, consumers can receive rewards. This will involve more new consumers.

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