Secrets of email success part 2 1

Secrets of email success part 2 1

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  How to DriveHigher ROI from Your Email Subscribers(Part 2)Growing EngagementBy Lora Downie, Digital Analyst-Email Marketing, CatalystJuly 13, 2011
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  The Path TowardEngagement
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  From Relevancy toEngagementRelevancy held the stage as email marketing’s buzz word for almost half a decade. But today, the spotlight shines bright on engagement.But what is this thing marketers must innovate and ISPs are so determined to measure?
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  What is Engagement?4Involvement,participation, commitment…all synonyms for the enigmatic word, “engagement.”
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  How to GetSubscribers Engaged5Build a strategy on which every decision, whether it’s creative, technical, or usability-related, hinges on the answer to this question:
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  6“Does this driveinvolvement, participation and commitment from our subscribers?”
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  Engagement: In Action7Engagementis a response to a well-planned, perfectly timed message that drives immediate and long-term behaviors.It’s understanding a subscriber’s past, present and future behaviors and using them to shape your strategy.
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  Triggered Communications
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  Triggered Communications= OptimizedRevenue9Some would argue that promotional content sent to a broad audience drives revenue and engagement.This “strategy” leaves money on the table because you are only tapping into a small percentage of your subscribers’ needs.
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  Why is thisStrategy Overlooked?10“I don’t have the resources to dedicate to planning and executing triggered programs.”“I don’t have the right technology.”“I don’t know how I will benefit from it.”
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  The Power ofTriggered Email11According to ExactTarget, real-time triggered email produces 10x greater conversion than blast email communication.
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  Example: Remarketing12You knowwhere your prospect or customer was, what they’ve placed in the proverbial shopping cart.Now, direct their future behavior based on what you know and your business objectives.
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  Example: Remarketing13Triggered shoppingcart abandonment emailsTriggered reminder emailsTriggered anniversary emailsAccording to Exact Target, real-time triggered email produces 10x greater conversion than blast email communications
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  Measuring EngagementClicks, downloadsand social influence
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  The Devil’s inthe Details15Each marketer needs to decide which engagement metrics define his or her objectives, then weight them accordingly. Develop an engagement heuristic that factors these metrics and allows you to apply the formula to each subscriber record.
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  The Devil’s inthe Details16This window into your subscriber activity can be astounding, and it can chart the course for growth within your inactive and active subscriber segments.
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  Increasing EngagementLeverage yourunderstanding of engagement to drive increased activity
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  Step 11. Identifyyour disengaged, moderately engaged and highly engaged segments.
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  Step 2192. Younow have the data to make decisions about how to:Reengage the lost:reattract and extract learnings to be applied for future acquisition/engagement effortsReinvigorate the moderates: confirm their motives, breathe life into their emails with profile/behaviorally targeted contentMaximize the already-engaged: treat them like royalty, provide incentives for social sharing, personally request testimonials, offer sneak peaks into new products
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  Step 3203. Afteryou have a good handle on what an “engaged subscriber” looks like, then you can effectively tackle the job of growing your list by populating it with subscribers that resemble those highly engaged heavy-hitters.
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  Socialized Email MarketingHowto strategize cross-engagement
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  The Law ofEffect22Your subscribers, fans and followers are mostly savvy consumers. They have different objectives in social channels and email.Don’t repurpose content. Users will lose confidence in your ability to be relevant, and disengage.
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  The Law ofEffect23If you aren’t driving value in each channel and creating a congruent voice, they will notice. Engagement stretches beyond the inbox, and this cross-channel engagement can impact what’s going on in the inbox.
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  You Must Havea Content Strategy24Leveraging your email strategy in social channels and vice versa is an absolute must. This is why a content strategy is critical for every business today.
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  A Word Aboutthe FutureSure, email brings in the revenue today, but what will it look like five years from now?
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  The Future26We needto look no further than our palms to see it. IDC has reported that over 20% of all mobile phones are smartphones and they forecast smartphone shipments will grow by 55.4% this year.Your emails and landing pages must be mobile viewing-ready.
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  Have a question?Want to learn more?Email me at [email protected]. Be sure to download Part 1: Addressing Attrition and Part 3: Driving Growth.
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  About the Author28LoraDownie specializes in email program strategy, design strategy and best practices at Catalyst, a Rochester, NY-based direct and digital marketing agency. She is a certified MarketingSherpa email specialist and has been published twice in DM News’ Email Marketing Guide.