How DSW Delivers Against Critical Marketing Objectives

SUMMARY
As part of its long-standing partnership with Quikly, DSW achieved the following results in under
one week:• 51,000 new email subscribers to the DSW database• 17,000 new Instagram followers• 1,000 incremental mobile app installs each day• 4,300 transactions that had a measurable impact on sales
Additionally, the campaign created a viral effectwith over 21,000 shares during the week!

THE BACKGROUND…when many brands

When it comes to omnichannel, DSW’s

were still trying tomarketing team is on top of its game.
And it’s been there.
Back when many brands were still trying tounderstand how to grab a hold of this growing
trend, DSW was winning omnichannel awards.
The brand gave credit for this recognition to“strategic investments in people, process andtechnology,” and it’s still strategic with each ofunderstand how tograb a hold of thisgrowing trend, DSW
was winningomnichannel awards.

those investments today.
This is the story of one of them.

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THE CHALLENGEDSW set a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” around one of the key channels that makes up its omnichannel
experience: Social media.
The goal?
To hit the one-million follower mark on Instagram. (This would be a solid stretch from the brand’s
follower count at the time, which sat at about 495,000.)
Instagram is an especially relevant channel within DSW’s omnichannel experience, because it directly ties
back to the brand’s mission of inspiring self-expression.
That’s exactly what Maria Wollenburg, Manager of Social Media and Content at DSW, focuses on when
she’s engaging with the brand’s fans and followers on Instagram each day. “Our intent is to build astronger community and connection with our customers,” she said.
And a million followers would be one significant community. Step one, though, was to get to 500,000
followers — to hit the halfway mark.
It was up to Maria to figure out how.

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THE SOLUTION“As part of the goal-setting process at the end of the year, I said, ‘If we’re even getting remotely
close to this goal, we need to activate a partner like Quikly,’ ” Maria explained.
She’d already worked with Quikly, as part of its long-standing partnership with DSW, to engage
consumers around co-branded campaigns. These campaigns helped to drive acquisition into DSW’s
loyalty program and to increase its app downloads, so she knew that Quikly could also help to drive highquality social followers. By tapping into consumer psychology, Quikly’s marketing technology would
motivate potential customers who were genuinely interested in DSW to follow the brand on Instagram —and with urgency.
So, together, Maria and Quikly stood up an activation that was focused on this priority of accelerating
Instagram followers. It leveraged a limited set of rewards and built up anticipation toward those rewards
being released.
Here’s how it worked:

MESSAGESnow

The DSW Giveaway isNOW LIVE! Claim Now:
SECRET LINK

Earn Time Now!
Take actions below to earn a heads up!
+5
MIN

Download Mobile App+3

Follow On Instagram+3

Refer Friends

MIN

MIN

8:00

Earned Heads Up

THE INCENTIVE

HOW TO WIN

BONUS

DSW launched a campaign using Quikly, whereconsumers were told that a limited set of gift cards
and offers would be releasing soon.

Participants simply needed to click a special
claim link when the prizes were released. Thefastest to click claimed the biggest reward.

Participants could receive a “heads up” before therewards were released to increase their chance ofwinning. They simply needed to take key actions,like follow DSW on Instagram.

The entire experience was designed and hosted by Quikly, keeping it turnkey for the DSW team.
It was also branded entirely as a DSW experience. “Quikly’s a great solution when you can have apartner that makes it feel like you’ve never left the DSW site,” Maria added.

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“ When we activate a

Quikly campaign, ourfollower growth rates
increase immediatelyand exponentially. It's
exciting to see thedramatic results. ”

Maria Wollenburg
Manager of Social Media and Content

THE RESULTS
Together, DSW and Quikly surpassed the 500,000-follower goal before the 5-day campaign even ended.
They generated:• 51,000 new email subscribers to the DSW database• 17,000 new Instagram followers• 1,000 incremental mobile app installs each day• 4,300 transactions that had a measurable impact on sales
Today, as part of its ongoing partnership with Quikly, DSW launches similar social activations on a regularbasis. The two will continue to work toward hitting the remainder of DSW’s one-million Instagram
follower goal.

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FUTURE PLANS
Throughout its partnership with Quikly, DSW has
been able to successfully deliver against criticalmarketing objectives. Along with social
acquisition, DSW has been able to accelerateacquisition growth across email, loyalty, mobile
app and SMS.
And it will continue to do so as the partnershipmoves forward.
“The Quikly team wants to make sure we’rehitting all of our goals,” Maria said. “I appreciate

Earn Time Now!

that they know what we need to do to bringthese campaigns to life on our end.”

Take actions below to earn a heads up!
+5

Along with socialacquisition, DSW
has been able toaccelerate acquisition
growth across email,loyalty, mobile, appand SMS.

MIN

+3

MIN

+3

MIN

Download Mobile App

Follow On Instagram

Refer Friends

8:00
Earned Heads Up

ABOUT QUIKLYQuikly is the leader in urgency marketing. Marketers leverage the Quikly platform and expertise to
motivate consumer actions and create excitement and fear of missing out around branded promotions.
In turn, marketers generate incremental revenue and reduce customer acquisition costs.
Interested In Learning More? Say Hello!
quikly.com

DSW CASE STUDY@quikly5