colora colours its communication with inspiring, advisory email marketing

Those who want to paint, should think about colora

We should be in our customers’ thoughts at the right moment

Being mentioned together with their product, being top of mind is the ultimate target of many companies. colora responds to this by being a ‘paint advisor’ in addition to being a shop. “We offer high-quality paint, of course. We even have our own colours,” Kimberly says. “But we really stand out by helping our customers and by giving them advice.”

New customers and seasoned do-it-yourselfers easily find their way around in the colora shops, where they receive the best advice. “This unique service also applies to our online communication. Our emails via Flexmail are an important part of this. Whoever is on our mailing list, will receive painting tips, step-by-step plans or answers to frequently asked painting questions.”

And that is not all. colora speaks about email ‘waves’, which they use to present their actions, such as promotion weeks or colour advice actions. “We have been linking our newsletters more and more to themes lately, such as the outdoor season, so that we can inspire our customers with useful tips and tricks,” Kimberly says. “This prevents our emails from being a mixed bag of topics. The right combination of information and inspiration is key.”



It is remarkable that the various colora products are not explicitly focused on in these emails. “That’s correct. First and foremost we want to support our customers in their paint project – with inspiration and advice to begin with. We think it is a good way to give our online sales and our sales in the shops a boost,” Kimberly explains.

Separate emails to the professional

Our e-letters to professionals are action-oriented and at a product level

If the company communicates at a product level, the marketing team does so using e-letters from BOSS Paints to professional painters. “In these e-letters, the focus is rather on our products and novelties,” Kimberly says.

“The topics in these emails to professionals differ from those in the emails we send to our private customers. They include interviews with fellow professionals for example, just to show what beautiful things you can make with our products.”

Loyal to Flexmail

When we have questions or problems, we can always rely on Flexmail standing by with personal contact

We at colora know full well that reliable email marketing software is just as important as an excellent painter. Not surprisingly, the paint company has been loyal to Flexmail for a decade. Especially the outstanding support and the personal contact are very important to the company.

“For this reason we have used your platform since the days your business was called Addemar,” Kimberly says. “Our emails are an important part of our content strategy. Customers can have themselves registered in the shops, or they leave their email address on the website.”

At colora, we send newsletters every two weeks. This frequency is sometimes increased due to their waves. The customer database consists of three major groups: Flanders, Wallonia and the Netherlands. Although the marketing team does not use segmentation in a detailed manner, many colora emails have a local character, according to Kimberly.

“Now take for example our events. When a certain shop organises a specific workshop, we send an email from that shop to the clients who shop there. We personalise these mails with a picture from the shop or from the team who works there. That way, our clients know immediately which shop it is about.”

Don’t be afraid to experiment

We are still in the process of looking around and trying new things

Thanks to the useful reporting tools in Flexmail, the people at colora are not afraid to experiment with their email communication. Kimberly: “Our email content has to be consistent with our customers’ interests. So every now and then you have to try something new. Via Flexmail, we can see which items have been clicked often and which open rates are lagging behind. Emails we send in the afternoon, often have the highest scores.”

Although they sometimes test something new, they want to use automation more often with Flexmail in the near future. “It saves you a lot of time, for manual follow-ups and sending everything manually would be extremely time-consuming. This also frees up time to work on segmentation and personalisation.”

you save time, and you let Flexmail do the hard work. It leads to increased output and better results!

Kimberly’s tip on email marketing:

Send emails that are useful to your target group

You have a lot to tell as a company, so you have a lot to communicate too. But do your (new) customers – your target group – look forward to it? It is a question you should always ask yourself as a marketeer, Kimberly says.

“Find out what your customers are really looking for, what they need, and how you can respond to this as a company. Try to keep your content digestible and simple. It is no use to make things more difficult than necessary. What you want to convey should be clear, to the point and relevant. With every email we send, this is essential.”