Year after year, email is the best channel of communication when it comes to customer engagement and conversion. In fact, the results of Adobe's e-mail marketing research in 2018 show that more consumers prefer to interact with brands via email than through any other channels, and the DMA study shows that in email campaigns, the average return on investment (ROI) is 122%.
However, most of today's e-mail marketing is not as effective as it could be. Many emails are not intended for individuals and are not personalized with meaningful messages. Sending letters is also not always carried out at the time of the maximum possible response.
What happens to your e-mail marketing? We've identified five features that can help you determine if it's time to rethink your approach to e-mail marketing.
Sign №1: you're just sending emails, not engaging in a dialogue with customers
Customers are getting better and better at screening out bulk emails. However, customers are willing to interact with relevant content and they want to build relationships with companies that they like and that find the right approach to them. Entering into an appropriate dialogue with customers allows you to patiently develop your relationship and gradually push them to buy.
The first step to getting involved in the email distribution process is to plan your workflows. It is important to note here that workflows need to be adapted to customer actions, reactions and behaviors. That's where marketing automation comes in. Without automation, marketers are limited to campaigns with a fast mass mailing that does not allow them to provide relevant content to customers at the right time.
Sign №2: you are preparing e-mail lists manually
Marketers who prepare e-mails manually have to work much harder to develop relationships with customers than those who use marketing automation systems. Manual analysis of the data, create lists and set reminders in the calendar for the permanent simulation of personalized interaction with each client burdensome and time-consuming. In addition, without e-mail automation, marketers cannot easily set up a campaign to respond quickly to consumer behavior, for example, if a customer clicks to get more information about a product or service. Needless to say, "manual" e-mail marketing also limits the ability of marketers to scale any meaningful interaction with a customer.
Sign №3: Your e-mail marketing stands apart
It would be awkward to go live to a real customer and start a conversation without referring to the previous dialogue you had with them - but that's exactly what happens with most email newsletters. When e-mail marketing is fragmented, different departments of the same company risk sending emails with competing messages to the same customer.
Sign №4: Your segmentation and targeting aren't meeting your goal
This is perhaps the most important of the five features. The ability to micro-segment the database and target potential customers is an important part of any marketing campaign. The more targeted and relevant the message, the better the response rates and the higher the revenue. Good targeting today means using both demographic and "brand" filters. In other words, marketers need to know who the target is and, if necessary, which company it works for.
In addition, behavioral filters - for example, what web sites visited by the client, what keywords he clicks and what he says in social networks - are key metrics. It is also important to know where your customer is on the way to purchase. Is this a prospective client early on? Active lead? Interested customer? Without taking into account the segmentation of your customers by the purchase cycle, you will not be able to send them the right message at the right time. The study by MailChimp showed that marketers who segment your e-mail campaign, measure the opening of letters by 14.31% higher and the rate of clicks within emails to 110,51 % higher than marketers who do not.
Sign №5: You can't respond to the actions of customers in real-time
Visit your website. Filling in the web form. Changing the status of a potential client. All these points give you the opportunity to contact customers with the latest information at the right time. But this only works if you have the ability to respond to a customer's action immediately, such as sending an email or making a phone call. Thanks to the Lead Response Management Study, it was found that the reaction to the client's actions within five minutes after the moment of his interaction with your content can significantly increase the probability of turning this client into a full lead, while the delay reduces the chances by 400 %.
If your organization's e-mail marketing has any of the above features, it's time to invest in a new solution. Take your e-mail marketing to the next level using various automation tools.
Translation and adaptation of Lizzy Funk article.