How CardsPlug collected more than 100,000 email subscribers
CardsPlug has carved a unique niche in the personalized gift market by offering custom real-life football cards. Founded in 2017, the company aims to make every football fan feel like a professional player by immortalizing them on their very own football card. With a focus on high-quality materials and a fully personalized design, CardsPlug has managed to delight over 200,000 football enthusiasts around the world.
Revenue
Email subscribers
The specifics of the product and expectations
CardsPlug has elevated the concept of sports memorabilia by offering custom football cards that resonate deeply with the personal narratives of football fans globally. Their products are not just cards; they are a celebration of individual stories and achievements, carefully crafted to mirror the quality and feel of professional player cards. The company's commitment to quality is evident in their choice of durable materials and meticulous attention to detail, ensuring each card is a premium product worthy of display.
Customers approach CardsPlug with the expectation of a seamless blend of authenticity and personalization. They look forward to owning or gifting a unique piece that is at once a collector's item and a personal artefact. The ability to personalize not just the appearance, but also the statistics on the card, allows fans to engage with the fantasy of football on a new level.
The company's success hinges on its understanding of these customer expectations and its ability to consistently deliver products that meet them. As they continue to build their brand, the integration of tools like Personizely is a strategic step towards enhancing customer interaction and satisfaction. Personizely's widgets could serve as a bridge, converting the enthusiasm for a bespoke product into actionable engagements that could potentially lead to sales and a loyal customer base.
The approach and strategy
CardsPlug's strategic approach to leveraging Personizely's widgets is a testament to their understanding of their audience's engagement patterns, especially during significant holidays and throughout the year. Recognizing the heightened enthusiasm around major football events and seasonal holidays, CardsPlug implements targeted list-building widgets offering enticing discounts ranging from 25% to 35% to capture the festive momentum. These promotions are strategically timed during peak shopping periods like Black Friday, Christmas, Cyber Monday, and Halloween, effectively turning these occasions into prime opportunities for customer engagement and sales boosts.
Beyond these peak times, CardsPlug maintains a consistent engagement strategy by deploying a general list-building widget that offers a more modest discount of 10-15%. This evergreen approach ensures that CardsPlug remains in constant conversation with its audience, nurturing a community of football fans and card collectors who find value in the personalised products offered. This dual strategy—capitalizing on the high energy of holiday seasons with substantial discounts and sustaining engagement with a steady promotional offer—demonstrates CardsPlug's nuanced understanding of its market dynamics and customer behaviour.
This methodology not only enhances CardsPlug's ability to grow its email list by attracting both new and returning customers but also solidifies its brand presence as a go-to destination for personalized football memorabilia. By marrying the excitement of football with the personal touch of customized cards, CardsPlug ensures a year-round engagement with its audience, bolstered by strategic promotions that cater to the varied interests and buying patterns of its global customer base.
Examples
CardsPlug's use of Personizely widgets demonstrates a targeted approach to seasonal marketing and customer engagement:
Showcasing a personalized discount of 30%, with an added incentive for an extra saving, this widget captures the urgency of the Black Friday sale and motivates immediate action, ensuring customers are aware of the limited-time nature of the offer. A 35% discount offer dominates the Christmas widget, drawing on the festive spirit to encourage gift purchases. The design is vibrant, featuring seasonal graphics that invoke the holiday's warmth and excitement. Outside of these peak seasons, a more constant 25% off widget serves as an evergreen promotion, ensuring steady customer engagement and ongoing list-building efforts.
Each widget is carefully designed not only to attract but also to convert, with a clear call to action that capitalizes on the seasonal sentiment while building the company's email list for future marketing initiatives.
BlackFriday Promo
CardsPlug's Black Friday widget was a strategic triumph, leveraging Personizely's targeted engagement capabilities. Designed to captivate visitors with a striking 30% discount and an exclusive additional 5% off for VIP list subscribers, the widget was engineered to maximize lead capture and direct sales during the busiest shopping period of the year. The inclusion of a guaranteed Christmas delivery promise further incentivized immediate action.
The widget was judiciously set to display after visitors had been on the page for 5 seconds, a sweet spot that captured user interest without being obtrusive. It also employed smart display rules, pausing for a day once viewed and ceasing display after conversion, to prevent visitor fatigue and enhance user experience.
Results:
Created: October 30, 2023
Views: 188,295
Widget CVR (conversion rate): 27%
Revenue: £222,961.83 ( approx: $281,250)
Goals hit: 5,540
Goal CVR: 2.9%
Christmas Promo
The Christmas widget, imbued with the festive spirit, was a masterstroke in their holiday marketing arsenal. Offering a robust 35% discount, the widget was thoughtfully timed to engage shoppers who lingered on the page, effectively capturing the heightened holiday shopping enthusiasm.
The strategic use of display rules — stopping after a conversion and pausing after initial exposure — ensured that the promotional message was delivered effectively without over-saturating the customer experience.
The figures below not only showcase the widget's success in driving engagement and sales but also underscore the effectiveness of CardsPlug's targeted approach during one of the most lucrative seasons for retail.
Results:
Created: November 30, 2023
Views: 192,423
Widget CVR (conversion rate): 24%
Revenue: £245,505.1 (approx $309,750)
Goals hit: 6,203
Goal CVR: 3.2%
General Promo
For the general promotional period outside of the main holiday events, CardsPlug deployed two widgets, one optimized for desktop and the other for mobile users, offering a consistent 25% discount. This approach ensured that all visitors, regardless of their device, received a uniform promotional experience tailored to their browsing environment.
These widgets functioned effectively throughout the year, securing ongoing engagement and consistent revenue, demonstrating CardsPlug's ability to maintain customer interest and conversion outside of peak shopping seasons.
Results:
Created: February 9th, 2023
Views: 68,414
Widget CVR (conversion rate): Desktop 3% / Mobile 5%
Revenue: £29,894.50 (approx. $37,700)
Goals hit: Desktop 125 / Mobile 579
Goal CVR: Desktop 0.7% / Mobile 1.1%
What can we learn here?
CardsPlug's use of Personizely widgets during key sales periods teaches us the effectiveness of targeted discounts in driving customer engagement and sales. By timing their offers around holidays and optimizing for different devices, they maximized reach and conversions. The careful management of display rules to avoid overexposure ensured a positive user experience. The success of these strategies is evidenced by the impressive revenue and conversion rates achieved, underscoring the importance of strategic planning in digital marketing.