For some, reading glasses are a hallmark of getting older, associated with one’s grandmother picking up a pair up at the drugstore. Readers.com, founded in 2006, is on a mission to dispel that notion.
“We strive to make reading glasses into a fashion statement like sunglasses and jewelry are.” Sammi Coppedge, Public Relations Specialist at One Click Ventures. “We want to empower people and make them feel good about the fact that they’re using reading glasses.”
Readers.com provides 700+ unique styles of reading glasses in hard-to-find lens powers and types, at affordable prices. Adding new styles each month, Readers.com has a simple mission, which is to help people see more clearly so they can live a happier life.
We talk to Sammi for more.
Can you tell us a little bit about Readers.com’s target audience?
We don’t want people to think we’re “your grandmother’s reading glasses”. Our target audience is primarily baby boomers, and they’re unique in that they’re people who might typically feel neglected by digital marketers.
So much of digital marketing today is aimed at either millennials or even Gen Z, so this idea of inclusion is really attractive to them. They don’t want to be marketed to in a way that makes them feel like they’re buying the products because they’re aging. They don’t feel old, they’re a segment with really active lives.
What does customer loyalty look like for Readers.com?
We see a lot of repeat customers because they love the selection we have. We have customers who have reading glasses for every room in the house. Or they match them to their outfits, with different colors or different ones for holidays.
We have a really talented customer happiness team, and that’s always been a huge component of our brand. We get customers who mail gifts to us because they’re so happy with their conversation with the team.
I’m proud to be a part of a brand that really cares about people. We care about our customers and all the things we do for them and their community. That’s a great thing for a company and all of the people it touches.
What is currently driving your marketing focus?
We are constantly focused on finding new ways to stand out from our competition. The market is oversaturated, so we want to reinforce the Readers.com brand and the need for the product.
This is one of the reasons that Criteo is so great in helping us reengage visitors. People might consider buying reading glasses on our site, but they might log out or just not think about it for a while. It’s important to have several touchpoints with customers or potential customers.
How did you start working with Criteo?
This was before I started. Criteo came highly recommended by all the other growth marketers that we spoke to. Then, we A/B tested Criteo against two other competitors and Criteo’s results were far and away the best, so Criteo was clearly the vendor of choice from that point forward.
We’ve been with Criteo for about 5+ years now and have continuously been pleased with the results.
How does Criteo fit into your marketing mix?
Criteo helps with multiple touchpoints and reinforcing the products. Just being able to grab our customer’s attention again drives a lot of revenue for us. We know that once we can get someone to our site, and get them to purchase our products, that there’s a highly likely chance they’ll be a repeat customer.
We find Criteo’s ad platform very easy to use. There’s a lot of helpful data on there. ROAS is big for us so we monitor every day to see how each campaign did from the day prior. The platform is easy and quick to pull that info.
Have there been any interesting learnings from the data?
Generally, we’ve been surprised at the times of the year that drive traffic, outside of the major holidays and events. Our Criteo Account Strategist, Regan, has done a good job of communicating those unexpected instances to us. She was also great by helping us during Prime Week, which can be an intimidating time for digital marketers.
How do you currently use data in your overall marketing strategy?
Data is really big for understanding our customers. We use data from all of our different platforms to understand who our customers are, what their interests are, and make sure we are targeting them in a way that is going to interest them.
We’ve had findings from the data that have helped us reach our customers in new ways. For example, we found out that a lot of our social media fans are into certain hobbies. From that, I was able to reach out to bloggers and magazines in those segments, and secure stories and reviews for us.
Mobile purchasing is becoming big for us, so we’re rolling out Apple Pay on our website. We’re always finding a way to reach our customers, since as people age, we’re seeing new generations that come into our target audience.
Are there any trends that you’re thinking about?
We have to continuously evaluate the way we’re reaching people. Our segment is going to continue to change as people age into our target audience. We’re going to start to see people who need reading glasses who grew up in a different time and have different ways of wanting to be connected to.
Do you have advice for others?
Continuously experiment and try new ideas. There are so many ways to reach people. In the world we live in, we’re constantly being bombarded with marketing and ads all of the time, so you have to test new things. Sometimes something you wouldn’t expect to be beneficial can end up being life-changing for the company.
