Since we live in Utah (and not Salt Lake City specifically), if we’re out on a Sunday afternoon and want to get lunch, my wife and I are pretty much relegated to the national chain restaurants. As a result, we tend to frequent (probably once a month at most) Chili’s. Yesterday, my wife saw the below by our table, and told me “You have to blog about this.”
If you look at the bottom of the “table tent,” you’ll notice that there’s a call to action to join Chili’s email list. The copy there says “Join and we’ll send you cool offers — and donate $1 to St. Jude’s.” So from the looks of it, Chili’s can accomplish two things with this idea:
- 1. They can donate up to $1 million to St. Jude’s to fight childhood cancer. (The small print said up to $1 million.)
- 2. They can get potentially up to a million new email subscribers at a low cost and positive PR.
The Power of a Cause
Why is a cause like this a good entry point for email subscribers? Because everyone is passionate about something. Whether it’s cancer, Alzheimer’s, or MS (my personal cause), you will always find someone who wants to help out in some way.
Joining an email list is a relatively simple way for someone to contribute to a cause, and even better when it’s a free way to make a small difference.
In fact, my wife (who ever since I jumped into email marketing has become much more stingy in terms of subscribing to email newsletters and the like) said she would sign up for Chili’s email list because of the St. Jude’s cause.
Making a Difference While Earning Business
From a business perspective, Chili’s is spending $1 per customer to send coupons that could bring in thousands in repeat business. The $1 million potential “expense” goes to a great cause. The potential revenue gains don’t have a number specified.
Being Sensitive to the Cause
All that said, it’s important as email marketers to not ask for the email address in a way that’s detrimental to the cause you’re trying to promote. The cause must come first. That’s necessary for authenticity.
That’s why I’m pointing out the Chili’s example. I feel they did this properly. If you notice in the picture above, the email list request is the last option Chili’s presents. In a case like this, that level of priority seems appropriate.
Anyway, at the end of the day, I’ll be interested to see how many new email subscribers Chili’s gets out of this (and more importantly, how big of a donation is made to St. Jude’s as a result).
Just another idea to keep in mind as you think of ways to build your list.
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