Cooking.com is partnering with e-mail services firm StrongMail Systems to run its e-mail marketing programs.
Under the agreement, StrongMail will power e-mail for Cooking.com, as well as for the managed e-commerce sites that Cooking.com operates on behalf of other brands, including Starbucks, The Food Network and General Mills. Cooking.com sends out store e-mails for all of these brands.
Before working with StrongMail, Cooking.com had been using its own in-house system, but was looking for an e-mail service provider to help with deliverability challenges and to implement sophisticated targeting and reporting.
“We just came to the point that we needed a better delivery system and enhanced reporting capabilities,” said Kieran Hannon, CMO at Cooking.com. “The need of the e-mail system to handle this growth is the No. 1 factor for deciding on StrongMail. We’re targeting different customer segments.”
With the new partnership, Cooking.com aims to expand its e-mail program and do more targeting and personalization. Cooking.com e-mails out two newsletters a week: Food for Thought, a recipes e-mail, and “Shopping Newsletter,” with information about new products and sales. It also sends a hybrid e-mail to some customers that includes product information combined with recipes.
Hannon expects the biggest impact of the new e-mail system to come during the fourth quarter.
“We send nearly 100 million e-mails during the holiday season, so this is going to really help us with the deliverability” of those e-mails, he said.
