Lifecycle Marketing Made Easy with Conversation Manager

Time and again, we have seen that marketing based on either a customer's stage in the buying process or based on specific behaviors will deliver higher response rates and ROI. But for email marketers, setting up these types of lifecycle marketing programs can be complicated, and usually involve several internal teams, including IT, and several vendors, like an ESP and web analytics provider. But there are now tools available, like Conversation Manager from e-Dialog, that puts the power into the marketer's hands and lets them build their own sequences and automated triggered messages. 

Without a doubt, the welcome message is the top must-have trigger for email marketers. I find it very surprising however, that so many retailers lack a single welcome message or even a welcome series. Industry research has shown that welcome emails get four times as many opens and seven times as many clicks. 

I recently signed up for emails from Rent the Runway and I really liked their welcome sequence. I think because their business is unique, they need to explain how the service works, and they use the welcome sequence to do that.

In the first message, they give a clear view of what's in it for me. I can get complete outfits for special occasions, I can get advice from experts, and I can join a community of like-minded fashionistas!

 

 

In the second email, they answer some common questions new members have, like how to get the right size, and how to know the dress will arrive in time for the event.

 

 

In the third touch in the series, they offer more ways to keep up to date and in the know, by highlighting their Facebook page, customer reviews, and company news. 

 

Setting up a welcome sequence like this one is easy with Conversation Manager. It allows for timed sequences, as well as branching based on whether or not an initial email was opened or clicked or not. Conversation Manager is now available to all e-Dialog clients; just contact your account team for access and training. If you'd like to learn more about Conversation Manager, visit www.e-dialog.com/conversationmanager to view a demo.

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications specialist

e-Dialog, @eDialogLiz

Getting to the Point at Point of Sale

At this time of year, with consumers heading into the mall for some serious shopping, retailers are looking to capitalize on that warm body in-store by promoting their online programs and collecting email addresses at the register. This can be a good idea, if it is well-planned and well-executed. Handled the wrong way, it may not even be worth doing. You must keep in mind upfront costs, backend costs, and the true value of the resulting email address.

Retailers will often give an incentive on the spot to entice customers to provide an email address at checkout, like $5 off their purchase. This makes sense, since the $5 in this example to acquire a valid email address is a good value in the long run. But depending on how you actually collect that email address, you might be throwing $5 out the window. For instance, using a guest book where the shopper scrawls the email in the midst of their rush to complete the purchase and not hold up the line of people behind them is probably not the best approach. It leaves too much room for human error when the customer is filling out the form, or when it is entered into your CRM system at the end of the night - particularly since a lot of people's handwriting is less than legible these days. A better method is when the cashier enters the email directly into your POS system, confirming the address back to the consumer as they enter it.

Even better, think about how and when the incentive is delivered. To increase the chances of getting a valid email address, structure the program so that the incentive is delivered via email, to be used on the next visit. This is also a perfect opportunity to ask for a confirmed opt-in (i.e., "To get your coupon and to receive marketing messages click here"). While confirmed opt-in may sound scary, it validates the email address and interest of your customer to participate in your online marketing. More importantly, it effectively eliminates any possibility of hitting spam traps, which are often part of the backend costs of POS acquisition programs.

Building incentives for your customers is only half of the equation. How you motivate your employees is equally important. Don't build programs based on total number of email addresses collected each shift. Your employees can easily be tempted to make their quota by fabricating addresses, some of which might actually belong to a real person who will flag your email as spam, or have now been made into spam traps by an ISP. Employee incentives should only be based on the number of deliverable and confirmed email addresses collected.

Offering an incentive to customers or employees comes at a cost, which you can estimate up front based on your acquisition goals. But there are other costs to keep in mind. One is data auditing. You'll want to make sure you catch common errors in addresses like misspelled domains or missing dots in dotcom. An easy way to do this with online data collection is to add a real-time validator to your enrollment applications. This is easy to do and usually not very expensive. This will not only make corrections on they fly, but it can also be configured to catch your current customers who are already in your system.

Another hidden cost to consider is the time spent in the checkout process overall. Depending on how time-consuming it is to collect email addresses, it could mean fewer transactions per hour, and some shoppers might even abandon their purchase if the line doesn't move quickly enough. So be sure to train employees well, and perhaps set guidelines to keep the line moving.

Once the email address has been added to your database, the work is not done. Don't add these new addresses to your latest promotional message stream right away. It is important to nurture the new subscribers and keep them engaged past the holiday in order to make the acquisition efforts worthwhile. So make sure the first email you send delivers the incentive you promised, but also sells your email program. Outline that the reward they just received for signing up is only the first of many great things coming their way. If you can do that, hopefully that first point of sale won't be the last.

 

Rick Buck, vice president of Privacy and ISP relations, e-Dialog, @eDialogRick

 

This post was originally published by ClickZ.

 

Triggers: Easier Than You Think

As more and more companies develop email marketing programs and the consumer inbox becomes more cluttered, it becomes increasingly important to ensure that your company's email stands out in the crowd.

While there are a number of complex/sophisticated strategies that can be employed to achieve the level of relevance necessary to maximize the probability of an email getting opened, it can be argued that the most important focuses on behavioral triggers.

The decision to include triggers in your contact strategy should be an easy one:

• They’re relevant
• 
  
• They’re automated (set it and forget it!)
• 
  
• They’re effective – relevant to time and consumers’ frame of mind
• 
  
• They’re not complicated
• 
  
• They get results

For many companies, it's not a matter of IF, but more a question of HOW.  The top 3 reasons for not launching triggered messages are consistently the same:

1. I can't get management support
2. 
   
3. I don't have the resources
4. 
   
5. I don't know what what program to start with

Though legitimate concerns, these roadblocks are not so insurmountable as they seem.

Getting Management Support
As is the case with most business decisions, management will likely need data to support/justify creating a new program.  Information on triggered message performance is not hard to come by.  Your ESP should have a wealth of information including the standard email metrics and ROI measures. Explain the importance of relevance and event-based messaging as a tool for increasing the ROI of your programs. Make sure they understand that the recommended process will require an investment of time and resources, but deliver substantial ROI. Performance metrics, along with the relatively low-cost assessment, should enable you to get the buy-in you need.

Securing the Resources
Though different triggers require varying levels of time/effort, getting a trigger built can be easier than you think.  Launching a simple trigger generally requires minimal resources:

Database Programmer (7-10 hours)
HTML Developer(3 hours)
Marketing Coordinator (2 hours)

Many, if not all of these functions are available within most organizations.

Choosing the Right Program
With so many triggers to choose from, where do you start?  That is a very good question, the answer to which varies based on a number of things including the availability of resources, level of data at your disposal, and budget.  As a general rule of thumb, the more complex the requirements, the greater the level of effort required.  That being said, triggers don't have to be complex to be effective.  The chart below reflects a number of the most common triggers and the associated LOE/Performance Multiplier.

 
 
While some of the triggered programs on this chart require a greater initial investment (i.e. abandoned shopping cart which could require integration with a Web Analytics solution), there are many which require a much lower level of effort relative to the business impact (Birthday, Welcome Message, Post Purchase).  These are low-hanging fruit and an excellent starting point for your forray into the world of triggered messaging.

 

While many organizations have already incorporated event-based triggers in their email marketing strategy, there are still quite a few that have not.  The reasons provided for not doing so are the same time and time again.  Through careful planning, establishing management support, securing modest resources and choosing the program that works best out of the gate, any organization can enjoy the returns that can only triggers can deliver.

 

Ben Gerstner, e-Dialog

 

Break The Mold--Think BEYOND "Above The Fold"

As we rate and review clients’ acquisition score cards, we preach the good word on moving email enrollment to a prominent spot above the fold on the website, but is that really the best that we can do? To be fair, ecommerce teams do put up a solid argument to occupy that same real estate with more customer-centric site search or social plugins. So what now? Does email sign up get demoted to the footer? Or maybe for the adventurous, a test homepage kicker? I think not--and neither does Neiman Marcus.

I’ve been paying close attention to their recent beta site re-launch, Facebook chatter about the release and supporting emails sharing, “we heard you, check out the enhancements, and continue to tell us more.” This retailer is clearly focused on a path of self-improvement and using the “customer voice” to catalyze change (thanks ForeSee or Bizrate)…or just doing a great job at socializing that the NM customer experience is top of mind.

To support these changes,  Neiman Marcus is testing or has launched a very smart email acquisition strategy and it’s directly on the product page--a pop up!

 

Why is this so great?  This is the synergy of 2 very successful acquisition tactics at play.

1) Pop Up

In testing opt-in strategies for a multi-channel retailer, this strategy yielded a 3X increase in email opt-ins during a 30-day test. Also, a pop up doesn’t deter the customer from a specific product page. A customer’s site experience is unaffected if they choose to X out.

2) Product Detail Targeting

Asking for email centimeters away from an exclusive product that a customer is browsing. You get them right where you want them: looking at YOUR content!

 

Now to optimize this, add some flash to the call to action/sprinkle in an offer and voila: Asking a customer to share a crucial piece of information can bridge the gap between browse and buy!

 

If not now-then make an offer later down the line. At that point, if you know the exact product that drove the email sign up, why not serve up a welcome offer with this specific browsed product & toss in free shipping to sweeten the deal!

Moral of the story….as retailers become more aggressive, customers become savvier, and the inbox continues to crowd—what will your brand do to stand out and get the opt in?   

 

Anna McCarthy, Strategy, Client Services, e-Dialog

The Art of Email: Our New Series

In 2010, we analyzed email campaigns from four amusement parks across the country. This year, we're looking at the email marketing efforts of four major museums: The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, The Art Institute of Chicago, and The Getty Museum in Los Angeles. 

 

Of course, the first step is to register for email from these four organizations, and the experience varied widely. This first site I visited was the MoMA. The site itself has several large content areas but at first glance, it's not easy to figure out how to sign up for email. Only when I scrolled down did I see a link for e-news, next to the social media icons. Once I clicked through, the form was very simple, asking for my email address, first name, last name and zip code. They offer a choice of 11 different newsletters including a monthly overview, family programs, and online store news, and include a short description of each. I also liked that they clearly stated they do not share or sell my information and included a link to their privacy policy. They also sent a welcome message very quickly, a best practice no matter the industry.  

 

The next museum site I visited was the Museum of Fine Arts. Again, like MoMA, the MFA uses the majority of the screen space for video promoting current exhibits. However, unlike MoMA, the MFA has a top navigation bar with a link titled "Connect with us." Once you click on that link, it expands within the header and provides icons for email and social channels.

 

When you click on the envelope icon, it takes you to their email registration page. It requires first, last, city, zip, country and email address. Postal address is optional. They also include a link to their privacy policy. 

 

Once you submit, a welcome message is sent immediately, which provides a link to a preference center. Instead of offering specific newsletters, like MoMA, the MFA asks you to select from a list of attributes about who you are (a student, a museum member, an educator), what interests you (art in the collection, events, lectures), and what group communications (community programs, MFA fund), you want to hear about. 

 

 

The next museum I checked out was the Art Institute of Chicago. I loved that the site had a large box at the lower right specifically for email sign up. 

 

Again, I got a welcome message in a pretty timely manner, and it nicely laid out expectations for frequency (the end of every month) and content, included whitelisting information, a link to my profile and preference center, a request to spread the word with friends, and finally links to a couple of videos that can help when planning a visit to the museum!

 

 

Finally, I visited the web site for the Getty Museum to check out their email signup options. The Getty has a link in their top navigation called "Connect with Us" which opens a pop up with options including Flickr, their blog, YouTube, email and more. Their e-newsletters page was set up differently than the others I looked at. They have a separate sign up for each newsletter, and there are 7 of them, including exhibitions and events, one for educators, and one about books. One nice touch is linking to the current issue of each, as well as past issues, so you can get an idea of which ones you want to subscribe to. 

 

One thing the Getty did differently from the other museums was to use a double opt-in method. Once I submitted my info, the web site told me I would need to confirm, and I got a message right away asking me to confirm my subscription by replying to their email. That's fine, but after I confirmed, I got back a blank email with the subject line "Re: e-newsletter." If you're going to use double opt-in, make sure you actually confirm the subscription. 

 

Stay tuned for my next installment which will cover the various emails received for the month of April!

 

Liz Lynch, senior marketing communications associate, e-Dialog

Returns and Exchanges: A Great Customer Experience Is Key, No Matter the Channel(s)

One may ask, what do new moms who are on maternity leave in the dead of winter do every day?  Well, I can tell you what they do at least one day of the week - walk the mall. We pack our strollers with diaper bag essentials and walk round and round hoping to melt away some of the baby weight and dream of spring.  In addition to the above, during my mall walks I became acutely aware of the do's and don'ts of customer service as I had less time to focus (worrying the baby may belt out crying at any minute) and due to lack of sleep, patience did not come naturally.

In taking a break from the email/working world I began to take more notice of the in-store/POS experience and overall customer service nuances.  Case in point - Bare Escentuals (because shopping for clothes is the last thing you want to do after having a baby, but makeup is a whole different story).  Upon entering the store I was greeted by a sales associate who offered to help find what I was looking for.  However, I wasn’t  quite sure what I was looking for, but the next thing I knew I was sitting down at the counter getting a full makeover.  Now, being a new mom, time is of the essence, so I was pleasantly surprised when the whole process (from washing my face to applying full makeup) took about 15 minutes.  By the end of the session my basket was full with all my beauty essentials.  When the sales associate then politely asked if I had shopped in the store before, I let her know it was my first time.  She then turned to the computer behind her and began typing away asking for my information (name, email, etc…) and explaining the perks of the beauty stamp card, for every $10 you spend you receive a stamp, after 10 stamps you get $10.00 off your next purchase (in-store only).  I am handed a re-usable Bare Escentuals bag and leave feeling like a million bucks.  

But the most refreshing part is when I went back to the store the next week (yes, I said we new moms visit the mall weekly).   While checking out the sales associates didn't ask "Can I get your email address?" or "Can I get your phone number?" (nothing makes my skin crawl more then when I am a repeat customer and asked for the 10th time if I would like to give my email address even though I have already have and been receiving marketing emails for the past year!) Instead the question is "Have you shopped here before?"  Upon giving my name my account was pulled up, no questions were asked, just some simple small talk, fresh stamps to my beauty card, and I was on my merry way.

Not only was the in-store experience enjoyable, but I received a timely welcome message via email followed by promotional emails.  The emails are a great mix of product placement, offers, new products, and editorial.    The frequency seems just right, I receive about 1-2 messages a week, enough to keep me engaged, but not overwhelm me.  A suggestion to make their messages even more relevant is to use the rich purchase data they have to inform segmentation and email content.

 
 

Overall, the moral of the story is to make sure the the POS experience is seamless, conversational, and familiar.  Empower sales associates to treat customers like guests and not just someone who is buying something -- start a relationship with your customers, don't just facilitate a transaction, customer data is king. And don't forget to focus on moms as most of the time we are aimlessly walking the mall looking for something to grab our attention!

 

JoAnne Pacor, account manager, e-Dialog

Theme Park E-mail Critique: Welcome Messages

In my last post, I described the e-mail registration process for four well-known theme parks. Today I'm going to talk about what happened after I hit submit and the welcome messages I received.

 

The good news is that I got welcome messages from all four parks almost immediately. So right off the bat they all get a thumbs up. However, some of the welcome messages were better than others and all of them have room for improvement.

 

Let's start with the Six Flags welcome message.

 

First, the good things:

• It's branded to be consistent with the Six Flags website.
  
  
• It includes whitelisting info and unsubscribe info.

Things that could be added:

• It could be personalized by adding my name and/or identifying the park I selected as my favorite.
  
  
• It would be great to get info on frequency. Will I get e-mails daily, weekly, or whenever Six Flags has something to say?
  
  
• The From Name was guestcenter. This is generic and would be better if it were Six Flags.

 

Next, let's look at Knott's Berry Farm.

 

Good things:

• It gives good info on what the content of the e-mails will be.
  
  
• They cross-promote their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
  
  
• It includes info on how to edit your profile.

 

Things that could improve:

• The message includes the Knott's Berry Farm logo, but the rest is text, so the branding and consumer experience is low.
  
  
• The From Name is Lyris ListManager, not Knott's Berry Farm, which may confuse some recipients.

The next welcome message is from Busch Gardens.

Good things:

• It confirms which park I selected to receive updates on.
  
  
• It includes info on how to unsubscribe.
  
  
• It gives a reminder that information is available 24/7 on the park websites.

What could be changed:

• The From Name is Seaworld Parks and Entertainment, and the subject line was "Welcome to our Worlds of Discovery." I signed up for e-mail from Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and when I saw this in my inbox, it took a second to remember that it is part of the SeaWorld family of parks.
  
  
• The header is a nice graphic, but the rest of the e-mail is text. Even if the e-mail is not targeted based on park, there is an opportunity to include more images that convey the park experience better.

And finally, the Dollywood welcome message:

The good things:

• The From Name was Dollywood and the subject line was 'Welcome to the Dollywood Enewsletter." I knew exactly who this message was from and opened it immediately.
  
  
• They used the pre-header space to confirm that I had signed up for the official Dollywood enewsletter. Even if I have images off, I will see the text. They also provide a hosted link.
  
  
• The e-mail has images of people having fun in the top left header. This is the first place my eye went to when I opened the e-mail.
  
  
• They include whitelisting info, and details on how to create an account in order to improve my experience with the Dollywood website.
  
  
• They cross-sell by including info on the park, including festivals, special offers and links to plan my visit. This is very important, because studies show that welcome messages have open rates that are much higher than promotional messages. It makes sense to take advantage of the high level of interest and push for a conversion right away.

What could be improved:

• Dollywood's welcome message had a few places where the text did not render correctly, probably where quotation marks were used, so a little QA is needed there.
  
  They could custom publish my name, rather than Valued Guest.

So overall, these parks are ahead of the game simply by sending a triggered welcome message. But there are still improvements to be made in order for these messages to convey the best customer experience.

What do you think? I would love to see some examples of welcome messages that you think get it right.

MOEments of Engagement: Strategies for Successful Welcome Messages

As mentioned in my previous post, lifecycle messages occur fairly naturally, as they closely follow customer interactions.  The concept is simple and no doubt, you’ve heard it before: customers go through certain stages in their purchasing life.  While your product, brand, or market determines the timing of each stage, the stages themselves remain fairly consistent.  We have identified each stage as a Moment of Engagement (MOE), or touch point where you can reach out to customers and help expand your relationships with them. 

   

Customer lifecycles can be long and complex.  For now, we can concentrate on the three fundamental stages that are the basic building blocks of lifecycle management: welcome, post-purchase, and lapsed.  I will discuss these stages in a series of three blog posts, kicking off today with the welcome message. 

   

The Welcome Message

It is certainly fair to say how you welcome customers is one of the most important things to consider, as it is the beginning of your e-mail relationship.  Listening to your subscribers is the first step in a successful e-mail program.  Someone who has just subscribed is giving a clear message: “I’m here! I’m interested! Now what do you have for me?”  These are your next best customers so show them your brand’s best side.  Here are some essential considerations as well as some advanced tactics you should consider:

 

 

Who: Brand new subscribers, signed up without purchase

Goal: Educate and guide to first purchase

Timing: Soon! Ideally instant, but within the hour or the next morning may still be  acceptable, depending on the nature of your business and your customer.

 

 

Essentials to consider   

Rich creative: Make sure your new customers receive a lasting first impression of your brand.  A simple text e-mail no longer makes the cut.  Not only will it be lost in the noise but it will also fail to serve as an effective introduction to your brand. Use great imagery and a design that communicates your key branding.

Comprehensive information: Some products are simple, but if you are welcoming someone to a loyalty program, or if your product demands understanding, now is the time to communicate it.  Give the customer something he will value and keep: membership number, sizing guide, information on important dates. Consider navigation bars at the top of the e-mail.  These are popular links, and often receive clicks long after mailing. 

 

Advanced tactics

The real purpose of a Welcome message is not just to say hello, rather it is to get your audience to make a first purchase, as soon as possible.  For most products, if a customer buys three times within a certain time period, the likelihood of straying is dramatically reduced.  The smartest thing you can do at this stage is to create a Welcome sequence of three, even four messages, guiding the customer to this point.    

 

Consider setting up a Welcome sequence similar to this:

     
  
 
  
The timing of this trigger is important, which is another reason not to drop new customers into your regular cadence just yet.  Certainly you’ll need to adapt the timelines to suit your product, and if you’re particularly specialized you might want to add a fourth step for a follow up by your call center.  It might sound like a lot of effort, but remember: if you can move customers into the post-purchase cycle before they have a chance to stray, you might have them for life.   

 

In my next post, I’ll move on to the post-purchase stage.  Active shopping is very important, but customers who have just made a purchase can be identified easily.  You are probably already mailing confirmation details, so this is something of a low-hanging fruit, which we will delve deeper into next time.