Email Evolution: Develop Your Customers Before They Become Extinct
Darwin’s theory of evolution is based on the premise that all life is related. Simply put everything is derived from one common ancestor. As time progresses the simple single celled organism becomes increasingly more complex and differentiates based on dynamic environmental factors. Today’s marketing landscape is the product of this Darwinian theory of evolution framed in a dynamic digital marketing space.
In the past we would compile these massive lists from various customer touch points, or for our risk averse colleagues, even purchase them. Then with the stroke of a single key (or perhaps many key strokes) blast away everyone in our list in the hopes of creating a sale. This “Buy Buy Buy” strategy worked then, but now with the increasing complexity of the email marketing terrain a sort of natural selection is occurring. The once massive horde of emails that were getting through is becoming thinned out by email service providers, email preferences and other distractions consumers face. Distractions, created from sheer email volume, to social media outlets, and even when our marketing / sales teams are ignoring what the customer wants, are obstacles that marketers are slowly wising up to.
Like in any relationship the key is to listen. Whether it’s a first date or you are married with children it is vital to listen and respond effectively. Basing your marketing and sales campaigns on actual real time dynamic behavioral data allows us to veer away from the time honored data driven metrics and hone in on conversion driven data. Vanity metrics like the number of email opens or your contact list may be outwardly impressive, but personally I would trade 1,000 email opens for 10 purchases any day. Revenue is the driving force of any business and in the end of the day the main bottom line that matters above all is revenue.
Focusing on creating email marketing campaigns that listen to the customer based on their viewing patterns or engagement allows us to listen to the conversation the customer is trying to have with us. Like evolution, big changes don’t generally happen overnight both in the email marketing terrain and in the customer experience. Customers need to be nurtured along their journey from simply being intrigued to then guided to their research stage. With most marketing strategies, when a customer arrives at the research stage it is customary to bombard them with a “Buy Buy Buy” e-mail. This works…sometimes…. but most of the time it can actually scare off would be customers. Imagine being approached by a used car salesman who isn’t listening to what you want, but rather trying to upsell you on a car you can’t afford or don’t even want. Or perhaps he’s trying to unload a clunker on you. Like every customer we want our voice to be heard. You’ve got a pushy salesman who isn’t listening or responding. So what do we all do in this situation?
We leave.
Engaging the customer with relevant content that they want will reduce unsubscribes, increase sales opportunities and enhance their experience. We all want to be heard whether that is verbally, digitally or through other expressive means.
Let the customer experience the product on their terms and only then feed them the information they want to hear, not force-feeding them what you want to say. Segment your contact lists based on their desires, not yours. Let the customer transition from the research phase of their experience to an engaged customer who is ready to buy.
With each tidbit of relevant content you end up slowly guiding the customer to the register where they can purchase your fantastic product or service. In a sense, educating prospects becomes marketing and sale’s priority to nurture these leads. Not only have you created more revenue with this process, but also a customer experience that feels like they are not simply a cog in a revenue building machine. Enhancing the customer experience will optimally enhance referrals, positive reviews and of course future upsell opportunities.
Utilizing behavioral segmentation based on dynamic data driven personalization is a big step in creating a customer centric approach that is not only effective, but also scalable. This behavioral data, when applied immediately versus some time later, provides a powerful tool to help foster meaningful customer engagements and relationship. This approach destroys the “frenemies” notion between sales and marketing as sales will be obtaining more qualified leads and resulting in higher ROIs.
Sales loves marketing, marketing loves sales. In order to survive and ideally thrive in this evolving landscape companies need to be increasingly more agile to the changes, adaptable to the terrain and strategically aligned with their customers. The solution to all this sounds like it could be overly complicated, expensive, untimely and very difficult to implement due to integration issues. This Darwinian-esque email evolution truly does create a complexity that wasn’t there before, but a complete customer solution doesn’t necessarily have to be any of those or a daunting experience. Think beyond reputation management and focus on customer experience management. In this email terrain it’s not about the volume of emails, but the quality of those lists and the engagements it produces.
It’s all about finding the solution that works for you and personally I believe marketing automation to be that solution, but don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourselves.