The Web Marketing Association is proud to present this 2025 Internet Advertising Competition Award for
Outstanding Achievement in Internet Advertising.
DMI PARTNERS & APPLEGATE
APPLEGATE AND DMI PARTNERS: FLEXING A VIRAL INFLUENCER CAMPAIGN INTO MEATY EMAIL GROWTH
Best Consumer Goods Email Message Campaign, Best Food Industry Email Message Campaign
DMi Partners first began working with leading natural and organic meat purveyor Applegate in 2023. At the beginning of the engagement, the brand was experiencing poor deliverability from Gmail restrictions, which curtailed the effectiveness and scope of our email campaigns. The deliverability issues suppressed Applegate’s open rate, which measured 18.4% when DMi took over campaign management. In order to boost their deliverability rates, DMi sent emails only to engagers and included any Gmail addresses that had opened any Applegate emails. Once deliverability was fixed, we expanded our reach to a larger engaged audience until we reached the 180-day engaged group. That list contains our most frequently engaging users while maintaining a 99% deliverability rate, which provided a strong audience base for an email campaign leveraging the clever wordplay and social clout of Applegate’s Meathead initiative, featuring influencer Tyler Cameron. DMi worked with Applegate to send two emails to the 180-day engaged list in January 2024, which was warranted by the strong performance from the initial email and the seasonal interest in nutrition related to New Year’s resolutions. The results were eye-popping: the first send produced an Open Rate of 70.2% (a 28.5% increase over Applegate’s average) and a Click Rate that topped Applegate’s average by 25%; the second produced an Open Rate of 66% (22% above average) and a Click Rate of 16% above average.
Contributors:
| Sr. E-commerce & Digital Marketing Coordinator, Applegate: | Ileana Lazo |
| Associate Digital Marketing Manager, Applegate: | Brianne Mellody |
| VP of E-commerce & Digital Marketing, Applegate: | Rob O'Donnell |
| Email Marketing Specialist, DMi Partners: | Ameenah Abdur-Raheem |
| Email Marketing Specialist, DMi Partners: | Karleigh Kieffer |
DMI PARTNERS
Location: United States
About the Agency:
DMi Partners is a full-service performance marketing agency working with today’s leading consumer, B2B, and e-commerce brands like Henkel, Sargento, Smithfield Foods, Vineyard Vines, Anthropologie, and SKIMS. The agency's innovative email and affiliate management leads a best-in-class suite of digital services, including SEO, paid search, e-commerce, branding and interactive, social media marketing, and advanced marketing analytics designed to engage target audiences to drive revenue. Founded in 2003, DMi Partners today has more than 100 clients and 85 team members across the country, including Philadelphia, California, Georgia, and Florida. Staffed by big-agency talent and offering the personal attention and agility of a boutique, DMi Partners has been recognized for managing award-winning campaigns and a proven track record of delivering the highest quality marketing strategy, execution and results. Contact us at info@dmipartners.com.