It’s no secret that email is an extremely powerful marketing tool. In fact, email marketing and automation continue to be the most dominant marketing channel of them all - with a greater ROI than any of the others.
However, sending too many (or too few) messages, irrelevant content, or poorly-timed emails can cost you customers. Email marketing is only effective when you send the right message, to the right person, at the right time.
Since setting up a fully comprehensive email campaign can seem daunting at first, we broke down the science behind creating carefully crafted campaigns.
1. Gauge the Value
Before anything else, determine the value, purpose, or goal of your campaign.
Your campaign goals must focus around your key driving KPIs. While opens and clicks are important email marketing metrics, they don’t truly represent your goal. If you are bringing in transactions, focus on revenue lift. If you are clearing inventory, measure the number of units sold, and at what discount.
Whatever your goals are, make sure you take the time to list them out. This way, you can always have a point of reference to compare to when analyzing the results of your campaign.
2. Determine your Target
Your customer base undoubtedly contains multiple categories of clearly distinct populations. The fact is, not all customers are created equally - nor should they be treated as such. Simply speaking the customer’s language and catering to their needs is a significant step toward a successful conversion.
To achieve your campaign goals, use your data to select your target via Advanced Segments or have BuyerGenomics autonomously select your target for you through AutoPilot.
The most actionable customer data points you can use to create your segments are:
- Past Purchase History and Cadence (Customer Value and Buyer LifeCycle)
- On-Site Engagement (Products Browsed and Current Cart)
- Geographic/Demographic (Income, Age, and Region
- Psychographic (Lifestyles, Interests, and Hobbies)
- Behavioral (Products and Categories Purchased and Discount Propensity)
Thorough transactional and lifestage development allows marketers to identify the natural pockets of opportunity for each customer efficiently - eliminating unnecessary noise.
3. Formulate your Message
You’ve determined your target in step 2 - now it’s time to actually talk to them.
Delivering relevant and personalized messages is crucial for maximizing the value of your marketing spend.
Talk to the Customer, not the List
Speaking to each customer individually holds a great amount of weight. Treat your email campaign as if it were going to just one person - not a mass of 10,000.
Personalization is key, so maintain a conversation with them
Engage your customers based on their behavior. If they click, respond with a personalized follow-up. If they add any items into their cart but don’t check out, let them know what they’re missing.
Always keep in mind who you are targeting. For example, your most valuable buyers (MVBs) drive your revenue. Show off the quality of your product or give them special access - they don’t need discounts to buy again.
A/B Test
You may not initially know the best way to interact with different parts of your customer base. You can obtain this knowledge through A/B testing.
Send two different subject lines to a subset of your customer base. Then, analyze which one resonates the best - or allow BuyerGenomics to determine the best creative.
Call to Action
Every marketing email must ultimately culminate in a Call to Action - the hook that drives a consumer to purchase.
When crafting your message, always keep in mind your campaign goals and priorities. Success is not measured by opens and clicks alone, but rather by the revenue gained or products sold.
4. Set Your Cadence
Now that you’ve chosen your target and crafted your message, you need to choose the right time to send.
A carefully crafted message accomplishes little if your target never sees it, and the top of the inbox is a competitive piece of real estate. If you miss the mark and send your email just a few hours off from the ideal timeframe, you will easily wind up 50 emails down the list.
Determine What Time to Send (Not What Time Your Customers Open)
A common pitfall when determining the optimal time to send your message is basing it on when your customers interact with your messages. Instead, base your send time on when you send your emails - not when your customers open or click them.
For example, you might have a high conversion rate on Saturday, but that doesn’t mean they converted on a Saturday email. Your customers might need a rumination period. An email sent on Thursday may result in a higher conversion rate on Saturday than an email that was actually sent on Saturday.
Leverage Machine Intelligence to Time your Messages
When your customer is either on the cusp of a purchase or on the verge of fading in loyalty, a simple nudge can make the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity. Machine intelligence can predict exactly when those opportunities arise.
These behaviors make up a portion of your customers’ Buyer Lifecycle. BuyerGenomics AutoPilot autonomously tracks and takes action whenever customers move each stage as this change occurs. Since it isn’t feasible for you yourself to oversee each movement and deploy the messages as they happen, BuyerGenomics does it for you.
5. Review Your Results
Always strive to close the loop on your marketing by testing and learning over time.
Use these insightful metrics to review the success of your campaign:
- Gauge efficiency by measuring revenue per thousand emails.
- Analyze which items your customers purchased or browsed on-site.
- Compare your results against your key driving KPIs.
Combined, these metrics divulge how well your campaign truly performed, and help you gauge both customer behavior and intent. You can then apply these learnings to your future campaigns to further exceed your goals.
Conclusion
Ultimately, your emails serve as the voice and face of your brand. Proper usage of this powerful channel drives revenue and distinguishes your brand from the rest.
By following these best practices and developing intelligently personalized email campaigns, not only will you increase both your revenue and efficiency, you will gain a leg up on the competition who lag behind with rudimentary “batch and blast” methods.