The Melting Pot Email Review: Is It Effective, or Does It Leave a Lot to Be Desired?

The Melting Pot Email Review: Is it effective, or does it leave a lot to be desired?

Melting Pot Email Grade: [D]

Subject Line & Preheader

2

Preview Pane

3

Eye Path

2

Clarity of Message

2

Call to Action

1

Offer & Urgency

2

Congruency

2
Email grades are based on a 5-point scale: A = 5, B = 4, C = 3, D = 2, F = 1

June 12, 2018 –

Organization Overview

The Melting Pot is a chain of franchised fondue restaurants affiliated with the Tampa, Florida–based Front Burner Brands restaurant management company. Since its founding in 1975, The Melting Pot has offered its unique fondue dining experience, currently boasting more than 120 restaurants in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and the United Arab Emirates. The menu includes cheese fondues, salads, a choice of fondue cooking styles, signature dipping sauces, and chocolate fondue desserts.

Does the Sexually Suggestive Subject Line Pique Enough Curiosity to Drive Opens?

“Experience the Passion and be Full of Desire”

This was the subject line of an email that was sent to a customer of The Melting Pot who had signed up to receive promotional emails from the restaurant. Although it may have been designed to pique curiosity in recipients, the use of the sexually- suggestive subject line seems a bit odd for this restaurant, even for a Valentine’s Day promotion.

The email was sent a couple of weeks before Valentine’s Day, on January 30, and the preheader mentions the holiday: “Celebrate the ones you love this Valentines[sic] Day at The Melting Pot.” The preheader helps make some sense of the subject line; however, it likely didn’t help drive opens.

Preview Pane and Eye Path Could Be Stronger

The preview pane without images could be stronger. The primary email copy and calls to action are included; however, the variety of alternative text used in the images was not descriptive. For example, “Promotional Partner Logo” and “Event 1 Image” characterize the types of alternative text used.

The eye path for this email also could be stronger. The recipient’s eye is initially drawn to the cute photo of the cuddling fondue pots beneath a liquid chocolate heart, then to the headline “VALENTINES DAY” (with a missing apostrophe) and subhead (“FEBRUARY 14th | $85.95 PER PERSON”), and then to the call-to-action button. However, there’s a distracting, shaded-pink rectangle with no apparent function situated between the email copy and call-to-action button. In addition, the bottom section of the email would be easier to read if it were left justified.

The Primary Message Is Clear, But What Action to Take Isn’t

Once the email is opened, the primary message was clear: The Melting Pot was offering a special Valentine’s Day dining experience for $85.95 per person, as described in the headline and subhead. Additional information about what was included in the special offer was explained in the body copy.

But some of the details on what action to take are confusing. The last line before the call to action says:

“No online reservations accepted 2/14. Please call 215-343-0895”

In addition to omitting the period at the end of the last sentence, it’s unclear whether no online reservations are accepted “on” or “for” February 14. Typically, The Melting Pot does book tables online.

Weak Call to Action and Congruency Lacking Between Subject Line and Email

Although the call-to-action button is prominent, the copy “VIEW DETAILS” likely didn’t get many clicks. The cost of the Valentine’s Day meal is listed, but there’s no offer or urgency provided to encourage recipients to click the button. Using copy such as “Call Now!” or “Reserve Your Table Now!” with additional text near the call to action that creates urgency (e.g., a limited number of reservations available or offering an incentive to act quickly) would be clearer and motivate recipients to act.

As far as congruency between the subject line and the email, there was no copy in the email message that followed through.

The Melting Pot fondue restaurant delivers an entertaining and delicious dining experience. However, we found several areas in this email that fell short in effectively promoting the restaurant’s special Valentine’s Day dinner.

Disclaimer: FulcrumTech does not have access to the performance data relating to this promotional email, so any tests performed on this email can’t be reflected in FulcrumTech’s commentary.

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