Reggie's articles appearing in Target Marketing Magazine Spruce it Up - Big ideas to give your email program traction October 2009 Direct marketers are incrementalists. We know what works, and we test our controls against various creative and offer permutations to improve results and come up with a winning formula. This disciplined approach has served us well. However, unless you find that breakthrough creative or offer, you may be stuck making incremental changes to your marketing program. In addition, your communications and testing may be based on controls established years ago. It’s time to think big and think outside the box – at least with your email program. Of course, email makes it easy to test, so you still can be an incrementalist if you wish to apply rigid testing procedures. Alternatively, you can make some wholesale changes to the way you communicate. Here are some ideas to think about to revitalize your email program. Challenge the clutter – create an e-newsletter
Too many marketers have decided that the only way to motivate customers is through sales, discounts and gift offers. You will not stand out in a crowded inbox with your free shipping offer or your 15% off offer – instead your recipients are likely to view your email campaign as one of the many emails offering the same thing.
Think about supplementing your regular promotional emails with a monthly email newsletter. This varies your cadence and provides you with the opportunity to provide value-added content that will resonate with your audience, tips and hints that focus on your best-selling products, and even the opportunity for recipients to share their thoughts, photos, and more.
Make it a two-way conversation
Email marketing is push marketing and your calls-to-action are designed to bring interested recipients to your website. But, to make the most of Internet marketing, you need to be cognizant that this is a “two-way street.”
If you have customer reviews on your website, use triggered messaging to encourage purchasers to rate and review products. Numerous research studies have shown that reviews are a major incentive in the buying process. A recent study by Opinion Research Corporation found that 84% of Americans are influenced by online customer reviews.
Create promotions that involve your customers and also allow them to have some fun on your site. Develop ways for your recipients to share their thoughts through simple one-question polls in your emails, surveys and fun quizzes. You make recipients feel special when you ask for their feedback.
Vary the view
Your email communications need to have a consistent look and feel; but that does not mean you are locked into one format. Your designers should develop your basic template along with variations such as a postcard, two-column designs with the smaller column on both the right and left, and a longer form design. For example, a discount or sale template, a product template (for both one product and multiple products), a newsletter with a table of contents, and more.
Pull the trigger
You also should plan for at least three new triggered messages. The beauty of triggered messaging is that they are relevant to recipients and they drive response. The best triggers are based on something you know about them or an action they recently took.
The first place I would start is with an abandoned shopping cart series. This will give you the ability to capture between 5% and 15% of sales that are otherwise lost. Then, review your order confirmation emails to be sure that you include a cross-sell opportunity. According to Jupiter Research, 40-percent of marketers who employ this technique see a 5% response.
Consider specialized triggers such as a birthday message. Many e-commerce sites ask for birth date during the registration process and then provide a discount in the email. It is virtually guaranteed that someone who receives a birthday email from you will open and read the message. In addition, it will make them feel closer to your brand.
Other ideas for triggered messaging include: behavioral emails for those who clicked and browsed but did not buy, up-sells based on purchase activity, back-in-stock notices for those who registered on the site for these alerts, sales reactivation efforts for those who have purchased in the past but not recently, and rate and review emails.
Exploit social media
Facebook, Twitter and other social sites are a great way to involve and engage your customers. There are many ways that marketers can take advantage of this new phenomenon.
- Incorporate social networking logos in either the header or footer of your email template. Marketers can be simplistic and only link to Facebook and Twitter, or they can be quite complex and encourage sharing to Digg, Delicious, YouTube and other sites. If you have aggressively embraced multiple social media sites, you might want to use a simple “share” icon.
- Send solo emails promoting your presence on social media sites. Many email marketers send special emails to all recipients encouraging them to partake in their social community. As an inducement, some offer a coupon for those who become fans or create a unique promotion.
- Capture data. If you do require registration, be sure to ask for email address.
On Facebook, complete the "Info" tab, and include a link to your site and perhaps a link to your e-mail sign-up page. Also consider an "Offers" tab. On Twitter, use keywords in your description so others can see and follow you.
Here’s wishing you success with a revitalized email program!
Regina Brady is president of Reggie Brady Marketing Solutions, a direct and email marketing consultancy. She can be reached at (203) 838-8138 or reggie@reggiebrady.com.
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