6 Ways to Harness Data to Supercharge Your Email Campaigns

As a marketer, how would you rate your use of data?

 

A new study by Forbes Insights confirms that only a small portion (13%) of firms surveyed consider themselves leaders when it comes to managing their prospect and customer data. Only about a third (34%) possess a single, unified view of their customers across myriad data and email systems, and an even smaller portion (14%) have the ability to act on aggregated data insights. The report concludes that the reasons behind these numbers include siloed data unavailable to be shared, as well as companies who simply admit that they are just not able to leverage the data they have.

 

I’ve written recently about how marketers can unlock their existing data to improve marketing ROI. Taking it a step further, here are six ways to harness data to supercharge email engagement and success:

 

1. Acclimate your new customers and subscribers: Don’t assume that your new customers and subscribers are aware of your entire product line or add-on services – they certainly may not be. Be sure to welcome and guide them to additional resources, provide an overview of how your company is different or perhaps a link to a virtual tour video of your product suite. Think about what a new client would need to know about your offerings and provide it to them – in a fun and engaging way.

 

2. Use segmented data to create special offers: By segmenting your prospects and customers by their gender, age, geography, past purchases or other behaviors, you’ll be able to send hyper-relevant offers that enables instant connections, more engagement by your audience and ultimately higher revenue. (See my previous blog post on how to segment your customers for email success.)

 

3. Personalize product recommendations: Use previous purchases and current shopping activity (e.g. by tracking browsing on your site) along with abandoned carts to send personalize product recommendations, follow-ups and unique coupon codes to your prospects and customers.

 

4. Target prospects based on their position in the buying cycle: Create nurture campaigns for those prospects in the front of the sales pipeline who may have recently attended a webinar or downloaded a guide from your website. Send a link to product reviews to a prospect who may have expressed interest in your product by attending an online demo. Of course, those later in the sales cycle who are near purchase could be sent a discount or promotion code – or a meeting request -- to close the sale.

 

5. Take care of your best customers: According to industry data, your best customers make four times more purchases than your average customer and spend five times more per order. Reward them for their loyalty with a special discount, early access to new offerings or free shipping. You can also cross-sell them on add-on services or other products that may also improve their user experience.

 

6. Surprise your audience: Email your new customers a welcome note from your CEO, a simple thank you note or holiday greeting. Get ahead of their needs by reminding them of subscription end dates with offers to renew. Send them something for free – with no strings attached. In this day of crowded in-boxes and competition for short attention spans, surprising your customers every now and then will delight them to stay with your company over the long term.

 

Leveraging prospect and customer data to improve campaign results can be a complex challenge for even experienced marketers. But the benefits far outweigh the challenges. From relevant marketing campaigns, to perfectly timed offers and optimized, long-term revenue generation – you will be able to quickly justify the investment of your time and resources.

 

 

Outward Media’s accurate, targeted email data can help you achieve better email marketing ROI by targeting your best prospects – including millennials and other generations -- and, ultimately, converting more prospects into customers. Take a look at our case studies to find out more.