With a return on investment of $36 earned for every $1 spent on an ad, it’s no surprise that emails are one of the most effective communication methods. But despite its accessibility and ability to deliver favorable marketing results, some email marketers often rely on that ROI metric alone when launching email campaigns.
Bad choice. To truly succeed with your email marketing campaigns, as a marketer, you need to create and maintain email experiences that your segmented audiences want to be a part of.
This topic shaped many conversations during MailCon 2022 in Las Vegas, including the talk titled “Don’t Just Send Emails, Create Marketing Automation Experiences” by Laughlin Constable’s Director of Marketing, Jenny Maglio, and Senior Marketing Automation Specialist Cathleen LaFond.
The following is a breakdown of what Maglio and LaFond covered.
The Session: Creating Marketing Automation Experiences
The duo started their session with a quote they applied throughout their talk: “The last, best experience that anyone has anywhere becomes the minimum expectation for the experience they want everywhere.”
The duo delved into why treating sales emails as just “sales” is a decision that takes one down a dangerous path of bad emails. Their solution was simple — to turn email sales content into experiences because positive experiences facilitate deeper connections, inspire audiences, and ultimately deliver positive results like sales and long-term commitment.
Introducing their four pillars of “Great Brand Experiences,” Maglio and LaFond developed the ultimate strategies that help shape brand presence and affiliation in an email.
A good email should check off all of the following boxes.
Pillar 1: It Fits the Audience
Over 90% of customers expect consistent interactions across all marketing channels. That means that customers want companies to send them email offerings that are suitable and personalized to their needs and interests. This can be done in many ways, but starting by creating audience profiles and personas and making segmented lists will deliver the fastest conversion results.
Implementing this with an omnichannel presence will deliver even more customer satisfaction because people won’t necessarily have to go through their emails to find what your company offers. Instead, they can see your content and offerings through various channels and touchpoints, like your blog or social media outlets.
Pillar 2: It Speaks to the Audience and Adds Value
If your email campaign looks and sounds like a sales pitch (even though most emails have a sales aspect), know that your receiving audience will be instantly disengaged and uninterested in your products.
You will get much higher interaction and engagement when you go with experiences that add value for your customer. A good campaign won’t only educate your audience or help them save money, but it will also validate their decision to join your subscriber list.
Pillar 3: It is Relevant to Your List
Tying this point back to the last two pillars, one can only conclude that understanding the target audience and their needs is the first step to a successful campaign. If you create unique campaigns specific to a segmented audience, you need to ensure that all forms of communication with the segmented list follow their category.
Pillar 4: It is Trusted
Some 80% of Netflix views come from personalized recommendations. The fact that Netflix can serve up things they know their viewers like indicates that the company has a rich profile on their subscribers. What’s impressive is that Netflix doesn’t exploit that information, but they use it to benefit their audience by suggesting video content that they will like.
This is the exact model you want to use in email— to gain data about audience likes, habits, and interests of your audience, then send them recommendations that will matter to them.
Using data to your advantage and creating smooth experiences that customers value and trust will help you gain long-term commitment and conversions. The ultimate goal here is to help your email clients trust your brand’s offerings the way Netflix subscribers trust the recommendations they get when they login to the platform.
Remember that the whole experience starts and ends with your brand, so that’s what should permeate every corner of the email experience.
How Can These Pillars Be Implemented With Marketing Automation?
- Pick a platform that speaks your language – i.e., provides exact solutions to your pain points
- Integrate all of your automation technology
- Use data to track your KPI participation
- Create and distribute content that matters
Take the Email Experience a Step Further with MailCon’s 5 Strategies:
- Design emails that people want to read (interactive design and great content)
- Use video-in-email to tell your story
- Use polls, surveys, and quizzes to engage with your audience
- Know when to send your emails
- Always keep it short and simple
Do you want to learn about the latest email and omnichannel marketing trends? Stay tuned and connected with MailCon for great content and industry insights.
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