Email makes up for its unglamorous image with impressive ROI, but to maintain its effectiveness marketers must heed these key pieces of guidance.
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Part of 'Intelligent 1:1 Customer Journeys', a content series sponsored by Salesforce
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29 APRIL 2019
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Three ways to make email marketing fit for the future
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The popularity of email as a key marketing tool tends to ebb and flow. New technologies grab the limelight as marketers experiment with chatbots, beacons, wearables and more. But, time and again, email proves its effectiveness as a core communication and sales tool.
According to the DMA, 73% of customers prefer to use email when communicating with companies. Its research also suggests that for every £1 spent on email marketing, the average return on investment is £42.24.
However, there is also ample opportunity to get email wrong. The challenges of omnichannel marketing mean it’s vital to get the right message to the right person at the right time. And it can be a surprisingly intricate process. In its 50 Best Practices for Email Marketers ebook, Salesforce has identified a framework to help marketers hone their email strategy for the omnichannel environment. Here are three of the key pieces of advice:
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“Email is frequently sent because it elicits a quick response. But you need to have a really clear idea of what success looks like.”
Nick Crawford, RSPB
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SOURCE: SALESFORCE, 'STATE OF MARKETING 2019'
By: Morag Cuddeford-Jones
Setting the correct goal for an email campaign is essential. These have to align with the aims of the organisation as a whole, improve upon what has gone before and constantly be measured against so they stay on track.
“Email is frequently sent because it elicits a quick response. But you need to have a really clear idea of what success looks like,” insists Nick Crawford, interim email and CRM channel manager at the RSPB.
In a data-driven sector, it can be tempting to set goals based on achieving numbers – open rates or click-throughs, for example. However, setting goals based on a desired customer outcome – more self-service online, improved first-time delivery rates – can be more useful and impactful.
“Often email is just used as a conversion channel or for broadcasting messages but I feel it can have so many other uses. It can be for service, sales, upselling – it doesn’t have to be focused on one particular thing. But above all, it needs to reflect the customer journey,” states Dixons Carphone’s head of CRM, Saul Lopes.
Cancer Research UK’s (CRUK) Sarah Pickersgill, head of marketing services and events marketing, describes the heavy lifting email has to perform for the charity: “We use email across all areas including acquisition, cross-sell and supporter journey. Initially we consider the kind of messages we want to send and when and where we want them to go. We will then look to use the right channel to do this whether it be email, offline, text or phone.”
For Alice Cornell, director of email deliverability at petition website Change.org, explains that email is used during a number of moments, but particularly for driving deeper activist engagement. “It drives 40% of revenue and 50% of our site activity. It is part of that ladder of engagement from a visitor’s first petition to becoming a fully active member.”
“GDPR shone a spotlight on transparency and consent in Europe. The overall impact has been positive.”
Alice Cornell, Change.org
1. Set goals
Jennifer Lagaly, SVP enterprise sales, Salesforce
£42.24
Average return for every £1 invested in email marketing
73%
of consumers prefer email as a channel for brand communications
Source: DMA
There is no getting away from the fact that email is also seen as one of the prime suspects when it comes to spam and misuse of customer data. Marketers recognise that, to maintain the precious relationship and trust built up with consumers, their use of email has to be unimpeachable. Salesforce’s ebook states that this involves gaining explicit permission, sending quality content but also knowing when to let the disengaged go.
Nearly a year on from the introduction of GDPR, marketers have welcomed the legislation. “The overall impact has been positive,” Cornell insists. “GDPR shone a spotlight on transparency and consent in Europe. We have always tried to be respectful with the frequency and cadence of our mail but on the whole, this hasn’t adversely impacted campaigns. I’m a bit of a fan. It was a scramble and palaver, but we started planning quite early and had team of people in place [to be ready].”
Crawford adds: “There is pressure from people who just want to see numbers. Reporting with insight that shows who hasn’t opened an email in six months is just as valuable. Stop sending emails to them – it’s not going to impact on revenue. GDPR has been the added ‘big stick’ to help promote good practice.”
Pickersgill insists on a high standard of compliance at CRUK: “By putting our supporters’ wishes at the heart of our marketing communications and contacting them only in the way they ask us, we are achieving a greater level of engagement, loyalty and quality of data. But this still required a substantial programme of work.”
For marketers who still question the value of paring down databases, Crawford refers once again to the average ROI. While such a large figure may tempt marketers to expand their send rate, Crawford advises thinking of it in terms of customer lifetime value. For every customer gained at this rate, think also of the potential customers lost through over-sending and poor targeting: “Don’t use, abuse and lose that customer – it’s a big loss,” he says.
2. Respect consumers’ trust
In the 50 Best Practices ebook, marketers are urged to consider the experience of email design – from the design of the actual text, to the design of the strategy – where it’s delivered, how often and for what purpose.
CRUK’s Pickersgill explains: “We follow deliverability best practice. For example, we consider the image-to-text ratio and set the ‘from’ name to Cancer Research UK, keep volumes as consistent as possible and use testing to optimise content.”
Understandably, email marketers don’t want to find themselves talked about in the same breath as clickbait, but there are lessons to be learned even from the denizens of the internet. Cornell explains: “One of the major mailbox providers told us: ‘You think you’re adhering to best practice but we’ve got news for you – spammers are better at delivery than you are.’ Spam is basically the mail you don’t want in your inbox. Design has a role to play and being branded and easily recognisable is crucial. We’ve got to make sure our mail is wanted and engaged with.”
With all this talk of spam, it’s interesting to discover that there are some occasions where marketers aren’t making enough of the email interaction. “Transactional emails are not used enough,” insists RSPB’s Crawford. “There has to be content to enrich the experience.”
Dixons Carphone’s Lopes agrees: “You can differentiate the brand, improve customer experience and manage customer expectations over next actions. That said, if it’s used to sell again, the customer will view it with suspicion.”
Lopes goes on to explain that he bought plants from online retailer, Patch.com, where the transaction email was followed up with an 11-day course via email about caring for his plants. “That was handled so well I’ll automatically end up buying more. Companies always undervalue this moment.”
Getting to the email sweet spot is a question of trial and error but, Lopes advises, marketers shouldn’t be too shy of getting in touch: “There are two ends of the scale – one where the business is so scared of overcommunicating and other brands who send email every day. They forget to segment based on engagement. Some are so disengaged there is no point, but there are others you can afford to increase the frequency.” ■
3. Design for life
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Part of 'Intelligent 1:1 Customer Journeys', a content series sponsored by Salesforce
Helping you achieve higher revenue, happier customers and lower costs.
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