How Mented Cosmetics Optimizes Their Text Messaging Program Through Segmentation

Challenge

Mented was looking for a new, owned channel to diversify their revenue stream. “Diversification is really important for Mented. I didn’t want to depend on one or two channels to be the bulk of our revenue stream,” said Chandra Cooks, Head of Marketing at Mented Cosmetics. The brand also needed this new marketing channel to have robust segmentation capabilities that would allow them to send highly relevant content tailored to each of their subscribers.

I wanted to personalize our subscribers’ experience to give them the attention they deserve. In the past, our audience may not have seen themselves in images from cosmetics brands or known what a shade would look like for them. Because we focus on creating beautiful shades for their skin tone, it’s especially important that we give our subscribers tailored, relevant information.”
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– Chandra Cooks, Head of Marketing, Mented Cosmetics

Solution

By leveraging the segmentation builder within Attentive’s text messaging platform, Mented creates individualized, memorable experiences throughout the subscriber lifecycle based on actions a subscriber has taken, including:

• VIPs who have spent a set dollar amount
• Engaged and unengaged subscribers who have interacted with the channel within a given number of days
• Shoppers who have made a purchase within a given time period
• Subscribers who have viewed a specific product page
• Subscribers who live in a given geographic area

Strategy

Using Attentive’s segmentation tools, Mented creates various segments based on behavioral data that allows them to send relevant, engaging messages to their subscribers. Mented’s mature segmentation strategy helps the brand build relationships with their audience and celebrate their most loyal subscribers. For example, the brand frequently incentivizes their VIPs—subscribers who have spent $70+—by giving them early access to sales and bonus offers, such as product launches and free shipping with their orders. A few days later, Mented sends a similar offer to their broader audience, excluding VIPs from that outreach. “We want to condition our VIP list to quickly act on what we’re sending them because it’s a limited-time offer that they won’t be able to take advantage of once we send it to our general audience,” said Cooks. “Sending these offers via text messaging ensures that our VIP audience will see them immediately.”  

Another strategy Mented has deployed is segmenting subscribers based on their level of engagement with the brand’s text messages. If a subscriber has not clicked on a message in the last 90 days, they are automatically added to an unengaged list. “I wanted to understand the percentage of engaged subscribers vs. unengaged subscribers and figure out how we should be messaging to each of these audiences,” said Cooks. “Should we figure out how to get them from unengaged to engaged? Should we think about how often we send messages to this unengaged list?”

To more clearly see how their engaged vs. unengaged audience is interacting with messages, Mented sent the same message to both segments. Unsurprisingly, subscribers who had interacted with the channel within the last 90 days drove more revenue. However, the unengaged list still drove a 13.1% CVR, showing that previously unengaged subscribers are still interested in receiving text messages from the brand.

Mented also segments messages based on a subscriber’s location. Using geo-targeting, Mented sends localized offers and alerts to subscribers, letting them know about upcoming events or promotions taking place near them. “Pre-COVID-19, local events were a big part of our strategy,” mentioned Cooks. “We used our text messaging channel to target each of these audiences by location not only to let them know this event was happening, but to also remind them that it was happening the day of.”

Results

Mented’s text messaging program has driven an 18.6x+ ROI. Over the past 10 months, Mented has scaled their list of subscribers by 159%+. “We’ve been super happy with our results since partnering with Attentive. If you aren’t already working with them, what are you waiting for?!” asked Cooks.

When it comes to individual campaign messages sent, geo-targeted text messages consistently drive high CTRs, reaching up to 17.9%. By targeting their VIP segment, Mented is able to connect with their most engaged audience, driving a 3x increase in CTRs and a 2x increase in CVRs compared to non-VIP subscribers.

“It took a lot of testing and iterations to create a mature segmentation strategy. Sometimes we’ll test a message and find a clear winner, but we don’t just stick with that winner. Instead, we test several times,” explained Cooks. “Because our subscriber list is growing so quickly, it’s likely that our audience’s habits could shift, and we don’t want to lose out on any opportunity to evolve our messaging.”