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How to Maximize the Value of Your Email Marketing List

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With the phase-out of third-party cookies by Google and the restricting of Cookies on iOS 14, remarketing via ads is about to become trickier. Luckily, ads are not the only way to re-engage previous customers and website visitors. Email is a great tool for this – and is extremely inexpensive! If you want to create an intelligent email marketing strategy that will engage consumers and keep them loyal, then check out these steps for creating a tailored remarketing campaign that will make sales!

Step 1: Get Optins

The modern customer is uneasy about their data being collected, yet also expects personalized experiences online. Gathering data on your customers is essential to making personal and relevant emails, but it has to be done in a way that feels natural and not invasive. The best ways to collect email and personal data are:

  1. Discount Popups: Offer the customer something of value when they get to your website by offering a % discount in exchange for joining your newsletter. It’s best to keep this simple and ask for an email address only. 
  2. Resources: Provide useful resources and tools like product recommendation quizzes, custom quotes, assessments, whitepapers, templates, tutorials, demos, and more! Require that a user register in order to download. This is a great opportunity to gather more detailed information like their personal preferences, details about the company they work for (in the case of B2B products), or pain points they are looking to have addressed.
  3. Chat: Chat is an excellent tool for customers and potential customers to get questions answered, fast! Require that they input an email address and opt in to start the chat in order to grow your email list while providing support.
  4. Purchases: This one may seem obvious, but everyone who purchases from you should be asked to opt in to your newsletter. These are the best subscribers because they are usually most likely to purchase in the future and you have tons of great data on them. These subscribers have purchase frequency, product preferences, content viewed, and more associated with their email address, which is perfect for segmentation.

Step 2: Create Campaigns For Different Customer Behaviors

Behavioral data can be used to send the right email to the right customer at the right time. When analyzing your customer’s behavior, have your eyes open for opportunities. If you recognize that customers revisit certain product pages or put items in their cart, then reach out to them with an offer. If subscriptions tend to lapse, maybe a reminder is in order. Use your observations to inform your remarketing strategy. Here are some great ways to take advantage of email remarketing: 

Recover abandoned Carts – Your customer may have been comparison shopping, had some sticker shock, or simply became distracted! Regardless, they have proven that they are interested, so give them the slight nudge they need to commit. Send the email within an hour of abandonment when their interest is still fresh! Follow this up the next day with another reminder and possibly a slight discount to entice customers back to complete their purchase. 

Upsell & Cross-sell –  A week or two after purchase, approach your customers with more purchase suggestions that enhance their experience with your brand. Maybe there are other products that pair well with the one they already purchased. Or, if there are upgrades available, let them know! Send this email to catch your customer’s attention after they have had some time to enjoy their purchase and are hungry for more.

Reorder reminders – This is an excellent strategy that prevents customers from straying to competitors. Whether your business sells a subscription service or a consumable item, time these marketing emails to arrive right before the customer is expected to re-purchase. Instead of running out, remembering to order, and possibly purchasing from a competitor, they can take the path of least resistance and reorder ahead of time from you. Or, better yet, ask them to subscribe to get automatic deliveries!

Re-engagement–  You may “lose” customers from low engagement, but they are never truly lost if you have their email. Customers that haven’t made a purchase or visited your site in a while can be brought back. Create a drip campaign that confronts their lack of engagement in a friendly way. Personalize this email with their name and ask them what you can do to get your business back, offer a route to contact customer service, and remind them of the benefits you have provided them with in the past. Time it appropriately; usually 90 days or longer is appropriate depending on how quickly people typically purchase again.

Step 3: Follow These Best Practices

To get the most out of your email remarketing strategy, be sure to stick to these best practices for building email campaigns.

Automate Your Emails– Excellent timing and accurate targeting come from automation, so set up your email campaigns to have behavioral triggers. Plan out these emails as drip campaigns leading to a hard sell. Not only does automation save ongoing time, but it also ensures emails will be sent at the best time each day.

Use Segmentation- Whether retargeting or simply sending promotions, your ads should speak to your customers on a more personal level to keep content relevant and engaging. These segments can be based on industry, purchase history, customer lifetime value, time since last purchase,  life stage, or stage in the marketing funnel. Segmentation makes recipients feel valued and appreciated.

Be Mindful Of Frequency – Too many emails can have a boomerang effect on prospects and make that “unsubscribe” button look extra tempting. Make sure email subject lines are never repetitive or clickbaity, so the customer doesn’t feel bombarded. If you see a spike in unsubscribes, it usually means you should pull back on the frequency or change up your content.

Intercept Customer Complaints – Sometimes, a customer isn’t reordering due to an issue. Always make it easy for customers to contact customer service from email so you can fix it quickly! This is also your company’s chance to create a dialogue with undecided customers and answer any questions they may have.

Get the most out of your email marketing strategy! If you feel like your business needs help better managing (or creating) email marketing campaigns, let us know, and we would be happy to talk about your digital marketing strategy. Contact us at marketing@rightleftagency.com