Our graphical site conversion analyses cover a broad range of suppliers from budget packages to niche luxury. This time we thought it would be useful to compare two suppliers side by side to show you exactly how the graphical style can speak differently to different target markets. For this purpose, we have invented two ski holiday providers, one dealing in luxury and the other catering to the budget demographic, and have shown how an e-shot for each might look to cater to their respective clientele.

Firstly, I should point out that we haven’t completely forgotten our own advice here. The examples we have created are of the typical ‘special offer’ emails. While we
still advocate the approach of using email marketing to develop relationships with your clients by providing useful and informative articles (advice on the top 10 ski destinations, safety tips, etc.), we do feel that the occasional “special offer” message does have a useful place in an ongoing email marketing program.

So, on to the two pieces themselves. As you can see, they stand apart quite clearly. One looks cheap and the other feels luxurious. However, this is not a case of good graphics for quality products and cheap graphics for low cost products. As we’ve mentioned before, companies like Argos and Woolworths actually spend a huge amount of money making themselves appear cheap – something of a necessary irony to compete.

The budget ski operator has some of the clear graphic features expected of a low cost holiday: it’s bright, simple and straightforward. There are plenty of prominently placed prices that look competitive (after all, that is very much the USP of this type of company), special offers for students and pictures that imply that anyone is welcome to enjoy the resorts. As well as images of a brightly dressed snowboarder and a group of friends enjoying the slopes, you can read a lot into the implied pricing by what is NOT there: no pictures of stunning snow covered peaks, no intimate chalets and cosy lodges. In short, the graphic concept for this newsletter is all about the price, not the experience.

This is in stark contrast to our luxury example. As you can see, the images are of decadent luxury – cosy chalets, remote powdery white ski slopes and gourmet cuisine. Again, you can read a lot from what is not displayed – the fact that no prices are mentioned is not a mistake on our part: when you’re dealing with this kind of luxury, our target market is less concerned with getting a bargain and can deal with the bill later – the whole newsletter should be about offering the experience and not the price.

By showing these two side by side, we hope we’ve given you some idea of how to “graphically speak” to the market you’re best suited to. There’s nothing wrong with either, and both graphics are of a high standard (even if we say so ourselves!), but mix the two, or appeal to the wrong demographic, and you will have a far harder time completing the sale.

If you would like to volunteer your site up for assessment in our upcoming newsletters, please contact us on marketing@leadgenerators.co.uk