4 tips for your VIP email campaign.

A lot of agencies would tell you not to give big discounts to already loyal customers, they would tell you to focus on the re-engagement campaigns, the winning of the customers who have not engaged high in your RFM model.
(RFM model- Is a clever way to segment and measure the recency, frequency, monetary of each prospect in your mailing list, to reduce the risk of non-VIPs landing in your best customer program).

How to initiate VIP campaigns.

These are the customers in your list, that are deemed highly active, and have a high engagement with your company. Brand loyalty is everything to a business, and the more you have, the stable your revenue will be.

1) Love at first sight?
You can't rely on your emails to be like love at first sight, just as your customers should not just be reliant on your brand logo popping up in their inbox to gain their attention. Instead, it is what you say in the subject line, as that is the first thing they will judge your message on, be relevant and be personal. No-one likes generic emails. Perhaps start with "Thank you".

2) Personalise.
If you have never heard of WYSIWYG, or smarty codes, don't worry, you probably have, it is just many email vendors on the market call it something else. Basically, a good way of showing your gratitude for their custom, is by personalising the recipient's name, and sign off the email from someone in the company.
Also, why not write the email as though it was coming from you personally, "you, I/we,".

3) Your email template.
I would highly recommend that you re-design your email templates for this message. Make it stand out from the rest, make it feel warm, and them special. It makes the message you are sending look less generic, and less of a broadcast. Tip: Do A/B Testing to ensure the best one is sent out.

4) Make your content dynamic.
If you opt for a more standard template, make sure you include modules that suggest purchases, i.e. £50 gift card. It might sound like a lot, but if you calculate each customer to spend in a lifetime £650,000 with you, then £50 doesn't seem all that much, plus it would increase not only brand loyalty, but how much they spend with you.

If you would like any more hints and tips about your marketing campaigns, feel free to ask me on Twitter: SarahLouiseTalb.

That which is measured is improved: 3 ways to micro-segment your customers.

That which is measured is improved: 3 ways to micro-segment your customers.: If you are a savvy modern marketer, then you know the importance of 1-2-1 marketing, and how it can increase ROI. However, for those of you...

3 ways to micro-segment your customers.

If you are a savvy modern marketer, then you know the importance of 1-2-1 marketing, and how it can increase ROI.
However, for those of you who may not understand, I will quickly brief you.

1-2-1 marketing can be achieved once a healthy email list is constructed, (please see previous posts), then the emails can be sent aiming at a specific segment, i.e. Demographic, age, last purchase and so on.
The way your audience connects to these email campaigns will determine if they have a high relevance/response factor re-assuring that you are sending the right campaigns.
Over time, you will have figured what segment responds well to what content, ensuring a higher ROI as a result.

These micro-segments are audience specific segments, and should be based on the behavioral and demographic attributes that are most important to your business.
An example, specific offerings and product categories; the recency and frequency of how well your audience are interacting with each campaign, to ensure improvements can be made, and also an easy assessment can be made as to what stage of the life-cycle the customer is at, (Lead scoring).

When implementing a sophisticated marketing automation platform, ensure you also implement the right high-level rules to classify your customers' behavior, this will ensure for a high engagement rate, if you would like more advice on setting up rules, feel free to email me at sarah91louise@gmail.com.

 Here are 3 ways you can better your segmenting:

1) Segment based on categories.
It is incredibly important to monitor what your consumer is showing interests in, and by doing so, you should set up your segments based on product category. Here is why. If you have a customer who shows 80% interest in women's fashion, the content you are wanting to show her in your monthly newsletters, wont be interesting to her, if it features men's clothes/ football equipment.

2) Segment based on frequency .
If you are on the market for a new printer, You are probably browsing on more than just one online retailer.
Most of these retailers will not know who you are, however there could be one or two that do, and this is from the last time you went online and made a purchase, or signed up for any special offers in preparation for this moment, and perhaps they cookied you.

Since you have been giving them a strong sign that you are ready to buy, you will be automatically removed from the warm lead, to hot lead segment. The benefits of this would be, that under the right platform, you could send a campaign to the individual, which could have a rule set-up to send a "15% off discount when buying online using this code/link" allowing a more personal online shopping experience for your customer.

3) Segment based on life-cycle.
Using purchase history, or interactive (lead scoring) data, can also prove positive when segmenting your customers into a life-cycle stage. The benefits of the information collected here, are the specially tailored offers that can be created, to help promotions that builds brand relationships.

An example: You wouldn't want to send special discount codes to customers you know shop frequently online with you. Instead, you can send them incentives to re-engage with customers who have not shown activity to up to 6 months.

As the micro-segments build and become more specific and targeted, it can then leave room for marketers to provide great content, and relevant timely promotions.
If you need help or advice setting these up, or which vendor would be best suited, contacted me through:
Twitter: SarahLouiseTalb
or email: sarah91louise@gmail.com

Good luck in your campaigns!

How do you use your email marketing to your advantage?

First of all, you are going to have to work a little harder for your email addresses. Please don't think that buying an email list will help bring in quality contacts, thinking like that, is like trying to throw spaghetti at a wall and hoping it will stick.

Tip: Manage client expectations, give them something they will be happy to see. Start with:
-Welcome email.
-Informative emails.
-Special emails in order to win back repeat custom.
-Viral effect- Send this code to a friend, if they purchase within a month, you get 20% off your next shop.
-Membership advantages.

These are just a few easy to set-up email campaigns.

A few ways you can optimise your database:
1) Harness social media, to attract new customers and prospects.
2) Use special events to drive in opt-ins.
3) Optimise your website and content growth to maximise list growth.

If you would like any extra help or advice, drop an email and I will be happy to help.
sarah.talbot@copernica.com

5 Email Marketing Ideas You Should Implement Today

5 Email Ideas You Should Implement Today!

What is important when adopting a higher marketing program is ensuring that a higher level of marketing is put into practice, this will help the quality of the email life cycle for your business, from acquisition to retention. Here are just five campaign ideas with a whole new twist on the old traditions you should implement today.

1) It's more than just a "Welcome" Email.

Just like in the real world, first impressions are everything. As soon as you get a new subscriber it is important to establish a common interest with them. It is a relationship with the brand you want to create, a strong loyal customer retention, so you are going to have to find out more about your customer and personalise to their individual needs and wants.
 If you are able to track where they browse through your website (i.e shoes section), and they sign up to your newsletter yet do not buy anything, you have important information to target them with already. (For more information click here to read all about Data, Content and social media: By Walter Van Der Scheer).

The last thing you want to do is send an introductory email without being armed with the relevant information targeted to their specific needs, this could lose their interest straight away and move on to the next website.

2) Optimise Opt-Ins

You would be surprised by how many companies choose to have their opt-ins at the bottom of their site. Logically, In order to increase the amount of people who opt in to your newsletters, there must first be a reasonable amount of opt-ins made available, within eye sight of your audience.

A popular trend in the industry right now is to incorporate popovers onto your website, This is when as soon as a visitor lands on your page, or shortly after, a pop-up appears asking if they would like to stay up to date with the latest news and offers by asking them sign up. As popular as this is it can be invasive to certain types of audiences. However because it is intrusive in the first place, it has the effectiveness that can acquire good results if implemented correctly.
If you would like to know more about this speak to one of our partners.  

3) Remarket your abandoned carts

This is a campaign that is popular with many businesses, however it is important to keep up with the advancement in technology and industry techniques to ensure you are ahead of competitors, and here is how;

-Web tracking:

-Trigger remarketing: When a subscriber visits a key page or section of your web site use that information to update that persons profile automatically, to ensure the relevant content is sent in future. Trigger marketing is when a customer purchases a product and triggers an automated marketing campaign, depending on the trigger and cause leading to the action to concur.

4) Make it a better birthday for your customer.

What typically happens when implementing a birthday email campaign is this: You capture birth-date, create email with an offer, set up the trigger and wait for the results. 

Now we can do better than that, with Copernica we can personalise the birthday campaigns with dynamic content and a series of emails. Consider including recently browsed items in the content or, recommendations based on previous purchases and wish lists. 

It helps be more relevant and even encourages them to gift themselves from your store! 

-Don't just stop at Birthdays! Also consider "special date" campaigns: purchase anniversaries, subscriber/membership anniversaries or other events that can trigger happy buying memories. The possibilities are endless with Copernica.

5) Segment based on behaviour

Sending an email that's completely irrelevant to the recipient is the easiest way to get a quick "Delete".

An example of one of our partner’s ecommerce clients that successfully segment their campaigns based on data, is one that is related to LiveLink New Media and their client CPL.

CPL is a market leader in solid fuel manufacturing and distribution. One of CPL’s ecommerce sites Coals2U, was using Campaign Monitor and as a result suffering from a decline in subscribers and poor conversions.

Solution: Copernica was integrated with the website and there the results began to show.
Segments such as setting up multi-step campaigns to engage with customers with the relevant types of promotions. One campaign in particular was aimed at the segment who had not bought for 30 days, 45 days and 60 days. This meant that the right message was being sent to the right person at the right time, using the right channel. Livelink also set up other automated marketing campaigns to maximise sales from abandoned baskets, abandoned checkouts ect..

The result:
In six months CPL was delighted with the results, as thanks to Livelink and Copernica visits increased to the Coals2U website by 190%, increasing sales by 155%.

In addition, 35% of customers completed satisfaction surveys, a profitable 8% conversion from abandoned checkout, 14% conversion on anniversary of purchase, and 40% conversion on loyalty emails.

Introduction: Marketers meet 2014!

Marketing has always been a way in which marketers can communicate customers to its brands, however it has not always been simple to appeal to their target audience and to which channel they would do it in.

The problem established, was which segment did the brand want to send it offers to? and how could they do that in the best possible way? The results ended up showing that a very small percentage of people were actually experiencing what the brand had to offer.

2014 will be the year marketers move forward with this revaluation.  

1) Use behavioral marketing.

Being able to monitor what an individual person does on your website will differ from person to person. However with Copernica you can automatically collect relevant, real-time data on that person to which it will enrich their profile, doing this will help determine what relevant piece of content you wish to send them in order to make the prospect reach their next step in the customer life-cycle. 

2014: will be the year of the digital marketing technology! 

With the right technology in place, you can capture a range of customers behavior and reactions to a businesses brand.

No matter where they are you can capture what they do and how they interact with your marketing content, via email, website, mobile app, social media sites, plus the new customer experience of the smart watches!

At Copernica this year, we're so excited to see how innovative our customers/ partners are, especially with the initiatives we have all seen in the past year alone!

The development of plug ins that have been created to ensure a brand creates awareness to its audience has been nothing but quality and innovative.

2) Explore the different Channels that are available. 

Being flexible with your communications can help analyse what appeals to your customers best, imagine being able to collect/capture which cross-device best suits each customer, and each profile is enriched to create an engaging story each one different but targeted. Take that data and use it to create an amazing customer experience, just start with one channel, whether it be your mobile app or your facebook page, then personalize it to cater to their wants and needs. 

A tip/ use the data captured to create a personalized content and use it to engage your customers by either helping, fun or by being insightful.

3) Cross-Channel and Cross-Address your audience.

I think most of us by now know how popular androids/smart phones are and how important apps can to a brand.

Instead of thinking how to we get the best responses, why not try to take the backwards approach. 

Ask not what they can do to increase your ROI, but what you can do to improve their experience with the brand. 

Help establish a connection (something in common), nurture them to the brand in question whether it be B2C or B2B, 

You will make 100 times more money from loyal customers than the ones who are one off buyers. 

It is not always quantity of customers that helps a business thrive but the quality in which they arrive. If you do not yet have a loyalty scheme in place then do so. 

I am not going to give out all of my best material...

So if you like what you read, and wish to have help in forming a 2014 strategy let me know.

Contact me on 0161 822 2558 or sarah.talbot@copernica.com

Appreciation of automation.

The number one goal for B2B marketers is to consistently build up a customer relationship with your prospects.

There are many ways you can measure this, one is lead nurturing: by supplying them with valuable content that could in the decision making stage move the process forward. When emailing prospects it is important to grab their attention from the first minute of them showing interest on your site, using clever emails to personalize not only to the prospect but the prospects needs/interests, this will give you a competitive advantage by sending them a well-informed email which would ideally help them form a more favorable perception of your business. 

 Because it is becoming more important than ever to offer a personalized customer service over the internet, because it would  be near impossible to sit there replying to every single question and inquiry by hand, automated marketing campaigns are the way forward. 

This will help to address any problems that may arise when making a decision to buy, once the prospect has made it into the 'Sale ready' segment and passed on to the sales rep, it is easy to loose some of the communication.

What once applied to the prospect at first does not apply once they have made the next few steps in to the customer life-cycle, and the (now) customer knows it. 

The next goal is to shorten the sales cycle each time the prospect buys, Here is a link to explain how email marketing can boost your eCommerce sales.

If you would like anymore information regarding Copernica, and how you can implement new marketing campaigns in time for the new year contact: sarah.talbot@copernica.com  or check out our website www.copernica.com