Ace Brand Place Tips & Tricks (Dream & Send)

1. Ace Brand Place Tips & Tricks (Dream & Send)

2. Quick Tips • All areas in the template that are populated with %% marks, means the data will populate based on the data file pulled in the site. • All images in the template you can make clickable. In the customization step, there is a field called “Hero Image Link.” It is prefilled with www.acehardware.com but you can edit it. • At the bottom of every email you can customize the social links: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest • Ace Rewards Segmentation: Start choosing specific customers you want to send emails to instead of sending it to everyone that you have on file. We created the most used criteria’s for you on the site in these categories: Ace Brand, General, Ace Paint, Lawn & Garden, and Lawn & Garden/Outdoors

3. Email: Date/Time Good times to send emails: Monday and Wednesday between 8-10 am and 4-8 pm Good times to send “social” emails: Lunch time, 7 pm – 9 pm in the evening. Frequency of sending emails: 1 a week is good, 2-3 month is better but anything under is not enough.

4. Local Email Planner ACENET> Consumer Marketing > Local > Ace Brand Place > Local Email Planner

5. Subject Line Tips Top 5 Tips when creating a Subject Line for an Email • Emails are scanned so headlines should stand out and grab customers attention. • Avoid SPAM words (Free, Save Big Money, Save $, Billion Dollars, For Free) • ALL CAPS, excessive punctuation, symbols, misleading content • Communicate what’s in it for them if they open. Create motivation to open now. • Today Only, Special Offer Ends Tomorrow, Just a few days left to save, Breaking News from Ace Hardware • Consumers like to feel special so try including the word “Exclusive” in the subject line.

6. Subject Lines are valuable space. Use Important words first (between 5-8 words). Most email clients have a 75 character limit.

7. If you sent an email by mistake it’s okay to send an Oops, we’re sorry email. It actually increases the open rate but customers do not like to be fooled so only use this if you have to.

8. Ace Brand Place DigiMag • Local Creative Ideas • Custom Creative Email examples • Seasonal: Spring/Summer/Fall/ Winter ideas • Other: Natural Disasters/Primo Brands/Additional Vendors/Niches/Store News/Kids Events/Local Events/Holidays • Paths: • Acenet> Consumer Marketing > Local > Ace Brand Place (should be added within the next few weeks) • Ace Brand Place > Resources

9. How to best utilize the Digimag • Use the easy to follow Help button to navigate through the Digimag. • Zoom, scroll or search the documents. • You can click the highlighted links on the calendar page to jump to any schedule listed. • Use the white page number box to jump back and forth to any page. • Use the thumbnail view to search for a specific page. • Print select pages or all as needed. • You can download and save the Digimag as a PDF. • You can add sticky notes to a page for a reminder. • Share via Email – keeping in mind this is proprietary information.

10. Ace Brand Place Tips & Tricks Session (Orlando Show) • Path to register: ACENET > Company > Conventions > Registration and Housing. When you log back in, there’s usually a place to access adding training sessions to their Registration. • Or call Wyndham-Jade at 800-722-9806 as well • To get tickets for the classes in the mail, register by August 9th… from that point retailers can still register online until September 3rd, and after that – only on-site.

11. Helpful Resources • Ace Brand Place page on ACENET • Find Local Email Planner • Training Video’s • Template Updates • Ace Way of Retailing Documents in Retailer Library on ACENET • Log On to Ace Brand Place for the First Time • Order Customizable Supplies from Ace Brand Place • Order Emails from Ace Brand Place • Order Newspaper Ads from Ace Brand Place • Order Non-Customized supplies from ace Brand Place • Order Postcards from Ace brand Place • Order Radio Ads from Ace Brand Place • Order TV Spots from Ace Brand Place • Resource Center on Ace Brand Place