The bike industry is one of the latest ones to experience significant growth as a DTC segment. Why? With a high AOV but potentially low repeat rates, the main market players didn’t think DTC channels were a fit. But this changed completely with innovative bike options, subscriptions models, new functional products, and the new wave of electric bikes customers. In essence, they are transforming the way cyclists explore and elevate their rides with high-quality bikes.
The question arises: How do these brands tailor their digital marketing strategies to effectively showcase their bikes? This bike industry digital marketing playbook, presented by Panoramata.co, aims to delve into and compare the digital marketing tactics employed by leading bike brands. We will evaluate their use of email marketing, advertising campaigns, and customer acquisition methods. Our objective is to offer valuable insights and present a comprehensive guide to navigate the dynamic terrain of bike ecommerce marketing.
Newsletters Examples & Email Marketing Best Practices
In the upcoming sections, we will explore the email marketing strategies and tactics employed by bike brands.
Seize marketing opportunities and big holidays with high discounts
Always capitalize on marketing opportunities or huge holidays to send discounts via email to your subscribers. This benefits your brand by driving sales and winning first-time customers, plus it creates a sense of exclusivity and encourages engagement. Also, with a high AOV, this allows you to promote (relatively) high discounts in value, which will catch your audience’s attention.
For example, during the Black Friday, most bike brands provide attractive discounts, thereby demonstrating their appreciation and willingness to reward their customers.
Compare yourself vs. competitors
Sending emails that emphasize your superiority in customer benefits compared to major competitors in the bike industry has several benefits. It builds trust, highlights your unique value, and positions your brand as a top choice, attracting and retaining satisfied customers. Aventon consistently sends emails comparing its customer-oriented benefits to those of its competitors.
Engage subscribers by showcasing all the choices they have (new colors, models, etc.)
Sending emails featuring your bikes in new colors or introducing fresh models to subscribers benefits your brand by keeping subscribers engaged and informed. It sparks interest, promotes product discovery, and encourages excitement, fostering a strong connection with bike enthusiasts.
Brompton Bicycle regularly promotes new and old bike colors, in their emails. On the other hand, RIDE1UP frequently communicates updates about their new bike models through email.
Share informative content (bike-related news, riding tips, safety advice, etc.)
Informative content emails will benefit your brand by establishing authority and forging trust. It positions you as a knowledgeable and reliable source.
One of the best brands sending these kind of emails are Rad Power Bikes and Promption Bicycle. You can include a range of valuable content such as practical riding tips for diverse terrains, maintenance guides to ensure optimal bike performance, safety precautions for a secure riding experience, etc.
Direct people to visit your retail stores and connect them with your sales team
Inviting customers to visit your stores via email offers a chance to connect them with your products and your sales team. By doing this, you enhance their shopping experience, provide expert advice, encourage brand loyalty, and produce more sales.
Take the bike brand Cowboy as inspiration. Upon the opening of their Brussels store, they sent an email inviting subscribers to visit. The email offered the option to book a test ride and provided a discount on any black bike. In a follow-up email, they focused on connecting customers with the brand’s experts and offered a test ride of any Cowboy bike, which they deliver directly to the customer's location along with a free Cowboy cap.
Organize contests
Emails inviting subscribers to participate in your giveaways benefits your brand in several ways. It increases subscriber engagement, fosters a sense of community, and generates excitement.
In the example of Aventon, participants have the chance to win a Tesla car, $15,000, and daily prizes.
Similarly, Rad Power Bikes has their e-bike model RadRunner 2 and numerous other prizes for grabs in their giveaway
Send content that fits the season
Season-specific emails show your customers that your brand cares about them and tailors the content according to their current needs.
The Pro‘s Closet‘s two seasonally-appropriate emails are good examples. The first email focused on summer, providing tips for riding comfortably in the heat, while the second centered on winter, offering advice for an enjoyable ride during the cold season.
Let your audience know they can reach you anytime
Highlighting that you are available when your customers need help builds trust in your target audience. By addressing inquiries promptly and ensuring your audience knows you are available, you strengthen brand-customer relationships and enhance the customer experience.
In the first email example from Retrospec sent during the back-to-school period, they offered a detailed list of back-to-school recommendations and at the end of the email, redirected customers to the personalized product finder on their website. The second email from Ride1UP was sent during Black Friday. They invited customers to call their support team for guidance and promoted their financing option Affirm.
Marketing Automations & Flows
The Best Welcome Flow by Cannondale
Cannondale sends four emails in their welcome flow. In the first email, they introduce their brand’s innovation and customer-centric approach. In the second email, they claim to offer bikes for any riding context. In the third email, similar to the first one, they again highlight again their creativity andcustomer focus. They also showcase various contexts with the appropriate bike. In the final email, they emphasize their engineering proficiency and excellent aftersales service.
- Thank the potential customer for their subscription.
- Highlight your great customer-centric approach (offering help, giveaways, and regular updates and news).
- If applicable to your brand, showcase your bike models and what contexts and kinds of people they‘re suitable for.
- Share informative content related to bikes.
- In case you are manufacturing bikes and/or bike parts, highlight your engineering expertise.
- Showcase your aftersales service such as repair or bike enhancement. If you can offer this service for customers who have other bike brands, it's beneficial to highlight it.
In the first email of their welcome flow, they show their gratitude for the subscription, introduce their brand, and highlight their customer-centric approach, promising giveaways, updates, and info about new releases. In the second email three days after, they promise to adeptly fulfill any customer-specific needs and preferences to perfection.
In the third email six days after, they resend the copy in the first email highlighting their gratitude and customer focus. After, they provide bike buying guides, enticing users to read the articles on their website about the various bikes they have. In the final email four days after the previous one, they mention they can repair or upgrade bikes, too, even non-Cannondale bikes. This highlights their engineering expertise and great aftersales service. They also link to available gear for the subscriber’s perusal.
The Best Abandoned Checkout Flow
In the first email, they bring up the abandoned cart and showcase excellent customer service by providing assistance through SMS with experts. They highlight their exceptional customer service, offering expert assistance via SMS. One day later, they offer a payment facility through Affirm (Buy Now, Pay Later). The third email presents a limited-time offer of $100 off and free shipping for orders over $100, emphasizing the Affirm payment option again. The final email urgently reminds the subscriber of the $100 discount and free shipping perk. All the four emails conclude by reiterating the brand’s value proposition and availability via live chat.
- Highlight exceptional customer service by having experts available through various channels such as phone call, live chat, and SMS.
- Provide payment options such as split payments for budget-conscious customers and, if possible, offer this service without additional fees
- Offer enticing discounts combined with urgent copy.
- Share your value proposition in all your lost checkout flow emails’ signature.
In the second email one day after, they introduce Affirm as a payment facility option (Buy Now, Pay Later). In the third email one day after, they have a $100 off offer “only good for 48 hours!" and free shipping for orders over 100$. They again mention their financing option through Affirm.
In the last email one day after the previous one, they remind the subscriber about the discount and free shipping offer and create urgency through the copy "Only 24 hours left to get 100$ off".
Advertising for Bike Brands: Best Practices for Social Ads
We studied dozens of ads from bike brands to uncover their ad strategies. The next sections highlight five brands to give you ideas for your own strategy:
- Spotlight the practical advantages of your products.
- Showcase reviews from satisfied bike riders.
- Highlight the expertise of your product development team.
- If it’s applicable to your brand:
- Present a variety of colors and models.
- Exhibit your brand's commitment to sustainability.
Highlight the bike’s practical features and cost-effectiveness
Emphasizing the benefits and unique practical features of your bikes is an effective strategy to employ in your advertisements.
As an example, the brand Retrospec regularly highlights the benefits of their bikes for kids and adults.
In the ads presented here, Retrospec promotes a bike for kids. They make a smart move in this video ad when they mention that the bike contains adjustable components and the kid will grow with it. This will attract budget-conscious parents because it conveys that their kids can use the same bike for several years.
Showcase variety through new colors and models
Showcasing several new bike colors and models in ads will benefit your brand by capturing attention and appealing to diverse contexts, needs, and preferences. It entices potential customers by showing the vibrant choices available which in turn encourages interest in your latest bike offerings.
Ride1UP emphasizes new bike models in many of its ads while Rad Power Bikes consistently promotes fresh colors in their advertisements.
Showcase your brand’s sustainable practices
Showcasing your commitment to eco-friendly practices is always beneficial to any brand whatever the industry. It helps you attract more environmentally-conscious customers, build a positive brand image, and contribute to a greener future.
In the bike industry, Brompton Bicycle is a good example to follow as they continuously highlight their discounted renewed bikes. It reflects their dedication to the environment and provides affordable options to their audience.
Feature reviews from bike riders
Aventon is a bike brand that frequently features customer photos along with their testimonials, showcasing the various experiences of riders with their bikes.
This type of ad provides authenticity and builds trust. It showcases real stories that draw in potential customers by demonstrating the satisfaction customers have with their bikes.
Show your expertise by emphasizing the proficiency of your team
Showcasing your brand team through your ads, including bike industry experts such as mechanics, bike enthusiasts, bike shop owners, and cycling experts, will cultivate an image of professionalism and quality.
You reassure the audience and encourage them to trust your products when they see that they are manufactured by experts and cycling enthusiasts. Furthermore, you can remove hesitations in buyers by highlighting your aftersales service.
RIDE1UP is one of the bike brands that exemplify this point as shown in the ad screenshots below.
