US-based T-shirt company Threadless  has announced it increased revenue from its email marketing efforts by 120 per cent, year-on-year, with targeted content and promotions to segments of its international online community.  

Powered by global marketing solutions provider ExactTarget and promoted on the Threadless website, the retailer posted the gain following a 2009 revision of its email marketing effort that expanded the programme to include more targeted campaigns driven by user-defined content and preferences.

Cam Balzer, vice-president of marketing, Threadless, said: "Threadless is about fostering our community of users, supporting their creativity and delivering the most unique, high-quality products selected by our community. By increasing the customisation and functionality of our communications program, we’re able to better serve our community members, learn from each user, improve the overall Threadless experience and ultimately drive sales."

As part of its email revamp, Threadless launched a ‘Welcome Email’ program which introduces users to an optimised online preference centre that allows consumers to control and personalise the information they receive from Threadless. The company also sends targeted coupons to new buyers to encourage repeat purchases and collects customer insights through ExactTarget-powered email customer satisfaction surveys.

In addition to email alerts, promotional messages and surveys, Threadless also posts daily Twitter updates and Facebook status updates to stay engaged with its community of designers, bloggers and buyers. The company currently has more than 1.5 million followers on Twitter from its corporate Twitter handle: @Threadless.

Tim Kopp, ExactTarget’s chief marketing officer, said: "Threadless is great example of how targeted online communications can increase customer satisfaction and generate new sales. Using ExactTarget’s interactive marketing platform, Threadless is among our growing community of sophisticated online marketers powering millions of messages a day that are mission critical to creating authentic conversations with customers that drive engagement and deliver sales in markets around the globe."

Celebrating its tenth year, Threadless has an ongoing open-call for T-shirt design submissions from its worldwide community of more than 80,000 artists and designers. The Threadless community of more than 1.3 million members vote regularly on their favourite design submissions with the best and coolest designs selected for printing and sale by the Threadless online retail store.