Capitalizing on Individuality
The Jelly Belly jellybean was created back in 1976 by David Klein as a gourmet alternative to the traditional jellybean. At the time, the shear distinctiveness of the product was enough to propel its marketing efforts to the next level – and despite its high price per-pound, Jelly Belly jellybeans became a rock star in the candy industry. (Rogers, 2011). With over 50 flavors of jellybeans (and counting) the product offerings are as unique as the individuals who are purchasing them.
Fast forward a few decades, and the website for the revolutionary candy of the 1970s had not kept up with the times. In 2007, Jelly Belly hired a new eCommerce Marketing Manager, Jason Marrone, who capitalized on the opportunity to use web metrics to turn the company’s dated ecommerce platform into a personalized sales machine. The company began using a solution (MyBuys) which mined behavior including order history, site-navigation and cart abandonment activity to create customized recommendations. Personalized recommendations were also implemented via email alerts (to users who opted-in) to follow-up with information on products of interest based on a customer’s past activities. Customers on the email list receive information on sales, discounts and special offerings that are of most interest to them. The website’s search function was also improved to allow for searching by color, flavor category, package size, etc. and the intelligent search design logs information to increase the relevance of the search results. (Smith, 2009).
On a personal note, I recently used the site to design favors for a friend’s “Spice it Up” themed bridal shower. I found having the ability to search by “taste” (in this case, hot and spicy) and color (red and orange to match the themed décor) allowed me to track down the PERFECT beans in a matter of minutes: Sizzling Cinnamon and Chili Mango. About a decade ago, I had to spend in excess of 30 minutes on their site, trying to track down my father’s favorite Jelly Belly treat, Champagne Bubbles.
The site improvements garnered major results for Jelly Belly. Highlights include:
- Site transaction volume up by 26 percent
- Traffic up by 25 percent (due to improved SEO)
- Email alerts are garnering conversion rates of 11 percent
- Orders on email alerts have an order value which is 27 percent higher than standard website purchases.
- Nearly 16 percent of the users act on onsite, personalized recommendations
- The order value for customers responding to a recommendation is nearly 23 percent higher than those who do not. (Smith, 2009).
Going Mobile
Jelly Belly also used analytics data to drive its decision to create a mobile-optimized website in 2010. They found that 10 percent of their website traffic was coming from mobile devices, but conversions on mobile devices were low. According to Jason Marrone, who was the eCommerce Marketing Manager for Jelly belly when the mobile site launched, they saw an increase in conversions, a decrease in bounces and an improvement in their overall order value.
Room for Improvement
The above mentioned website updates were made back in 2008, and though the updates made huge improvements to the site’s functionality, Jelly Belly is about ready for another facelift.
One way the company can improve its website is by using customized URLs through their email marketing program to deliver highly targeted custom landing pages to their customers. According to Jason Ellis, president of the cross-media marketing solutions company, the e.f. group “Customized URLs lead prospects to personalized web landing pages with information relevant to the prospects and provides an opportunity to begin information-rich dialogue with potential customers through a variety of media, including direct mail, email, and text messages. Implemented effectively, these tools allow clients to hone their marketing messages and increase response rates, sometimes by 30 percent or more.” (MarketWatch, 2012).
Another way the site can improve is by integrating more (or at least some) social aspects. There is an icon for Facebook, but no areas for people to share their product preferences easily to their Facebook pages, no visible links to their YouTube account (despite the fact that they do have a YouTube account) and no Twitter account (or at least not one that I could find) and no blog. They could even do well with their own recipe board on Pinterest or video contests through Vimeo.
It seems that Jelly Belly is not alone in their delayed adoption of social media. According to a study by InSites Consulting, only 11 percent of companies in the United States have “fully integrated social media into existing business programs.” (Belleghem, 2012).
Jelly Belly has just barely scratched the surface with social media marketing. With an integrated social media strategy and an investment of effort, I estimate that they could see another surge in web traffic and a large improvement in search engine optimization.
References
Rogers, J. (2011, October 30). David Klein, Former Mr. Jelly Belly, Looks For A Comeback. Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/30/david-klein-mr-jelly-bell_n_1066126.html
Smith, K. (2009, July 28). Marketing Case Study: How a User-Focused Website Boosted Sales at Jelly Belly. MarketingProfs: Marketing Resources and Strategies for Marketing Professionals. Retrieved July 6, 2012, from http://www.marketingprofs.com/casestudy/150
Finacchario, P. (2010, August 12). Jelly Belly ups conversion, bounce rates with smartphone shoppers. Mobile Commerce Daily. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2010/08/12/jelly-belly-converts-more-smartphone-shoppers-with-mobile-optimized-site
The e.f. group lands UTSA Alumni Program business with record-breaking retention results- variable messaging and personalized cross-media works! - MarketWatch. (2012, June 15). MarketWatch. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-ef-group-lands-utsa-alumni-program-business-with-record-breaking-retention-results-variable-messaging-and-personalized-cross-media-works-2012-06-15
Belleghem, S. V. (2012, June 28). Social Media - Brands Failing to Tap Potential of Social Media. MarketingProfs: Marketing Resources and Strategies for Marketing Professionals. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2012/8295/brands-failing-to-tap-potential-of-social-media#ixzz1zUCsq9aH
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