Email Subscriber Lifecycle Strategies from the Swipe File

Track: Email Marketing

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Email Subscriber Lifecycle Strategies from the Swipe File

Chad White

Lead Research Analyst, ExactTarget Marketing Cloud

Author of Email Marketing Rules

@chadswhite

@ETswipefile

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“Mass marketers develop a product and try to find customers for that product. But 1:1 marketers develop a customer and try to find products for that customer.”

—Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Coauthors of The One to One Future

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To maximize the value of an email relationship, you need to cater to your subscribers’ needs and wants throughout their entire subscriber lifecycle.

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The subscriber lifecycle has 6 stages:

• Acquisition — signup processes through acquisition sources

• Onboarding — signup confirmation page and welcome email(s)

• Engagement — broadcast and seasonal emails

• Reengagement — win-back and other reengagement tactics

• Super-engagement — segmented, browse & cart abandonment, post-purchase, and other emails

• Transition — opt-out page, opt-out confirmation page, preference center, re-permission emails

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What we’ll cover during the next 40 minutes…

1 2 3

Acquisition

+

Onboarding

Engagement

+

Reengagement

+

Super-Engagement

Transition

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Chad White

• Lead Research Analyst at the ExactTarget Marketing Cloud

• Author of Email Marketing Rules (2nd Edition released 9/2/14)

• 10+ years covering email marketing and ecommerce as researcher and journalist

@chadswhite


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The Swipe File

• New examples of great digital marketing every weekEmail Swipe FileAudience Growth Swipe FileSocial Swipe FileMobile Swipe File

• Dozens of ExactTarget Marketing Cloud contributors from around the world

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The Acquisition Stage consists of the methods you use to get consumers to opt in to your email program, as well as the entirety of a confirmed opt-in process.

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A few Email Marketing Rules for Acquisition:

• Keep the signup process short

• Target acquisition sources close to your shopping and customer service operations

• Make your signup calls-to-actions prominent

• Make it clear that people are opting in

• Make calls-to-actions clear

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ExactTarget’s Retail Touchpoints Optimized report found…

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Zillow

• Signup call-to-action reaches mobile app users when they are engaged

• A value-add to Favorites List

• Simple Yes/No opt-in since they already have the user’s email address


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E-receipt

Krispy Kreme

• Prominent on box• Exposed to signup

CTA during and after consumption

• Easy-to-remember URL goes directly to email signup form

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E-receipt

Krispy Kreme

• Prominent on box• Exposed to signup

CTA during and after consumption

• Easy-to-remember URL goes directly to email signup form

• But long opt-in form

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Olive Garden

• Takes advantage of idle time in the restaurant

• 2 ways to expose guests to signup call-to-action

• 3 ways to sign up:• Via URL• Via text• Via QR code


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Olive Garden

• Another exposure post-meal

• Highlights signup incentive

• Provides a 4th way to subscribe: via paper form


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Home Depot

• Opt-in request piggybacks on e-receipt

• Above-the-fold placement of signup banner

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Noun Project

• Subscription activation email as part of a confirmed opt-in (COI) process

• Simple, direct message

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The Onboarding Stage consists of your opt-in confirmation page and your welcome email or welcome email series.

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A few Email Marketing Rules for Onboarding:

• Use opt-in confirmation page as a “pre-welcome”

• Send welcome emails immediately to maximize “signup honeymoon” effect

• Send a series of welcome emails

• Make your welcome emails seasonally relevant

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Brooks Brothers

• After collecting just an email address, the signup confirmation page asks for more info

• Includes “opt up” opportunity to receive emails from factory stores and blog


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ExactTarget’s Retail Touchpoints Optimized report found…

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ExactTarget’s State of Marketing report found…

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Pinterest

• Qualifying email is followed by…

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Pinterest


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Pinterest


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Pinterest


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Pinterest


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Pinterest



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Pinterest

• A 6-email welcome series over 6 days

• Each email is focused on one aspect of Pinterest for Business program


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Walmart

• Engages with seasonally relevant imagery and messaging

• Makes the most of seasonal subscribers


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The Engagement Stage consists of your baseline promotional mailstream—that is, your regularly scheduled broadcast emails plus seasonal fluctuations in frequency.

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A few Email Marketing Rules for Engagement:

• Design emails that render well across all platforms

• Use dynamic content and personalization to add targeted content to emails

• Offer subscribers non-promotional content and calls-to-action

• Send more emails when your customers are in market

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Percentage of B2C brands using mobile-friendly email designs

Oct. ’13 Dec. ’13. Feb. ’14. Apr. ’14 Jun. ’14 Aug. ’14 *Dec. ’14

22% 30% 30% 33% 41% 48% 70%

*prediction

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Reliant

• “Weekly Summary” emails about the homeowner’s energy usage

• Deeply personalized


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Reliant

• “Weekly Summary” emails about the homeowner’s energy usage

• Deeply personalized


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Hipmunk

• Uses B2B infographic tactic

• Educational rather than promotional

• Drives engagement with blog

• Shareworthy content


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Hipmunk

• Uses B2B infographic tactic

• Educational rather than promotional

• Drives engagement with blog

• Shareworthy content


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Predicted number of promotional emails retailers will send each of their subscribers

July Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan.

18 18 18 19 22 28 19

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The Reengagement Stage consists of messaging tactics designed to address subscribers who are inactive or are in danger of soon becoming inactive.

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A few Email Marketing Rules for Reengagement:

• Be thoughtful about defining inactivity

• Reengage with rich discounts and progressive profiling

• Send inactive subscribers emails less frequently

• Target inactives in other channels with win-back emails

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American Apparel

• Discount coupled with progressive profiling

• Simple, direct messaging


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American Apparel

• Requests info to power triggered messaging, segmentation, and personalization, BirthdayZip codeInterests


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Pinkberry

• Reengagement email

• In response to 3 months of mobile app inactivity


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While reengagement reduces the risks posed by inactives, Super-Engagement fosters more opportunities with active subscribers.

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A few Email Marketing Rules for Super-Engagement:

• Send more segmented messages

• Set up more triggered emails including browse and cart abandonment emails, birthday emails, post-purchase emails

• Give subscribers opportunities to “opt up” to receive emails on additional topics, as part of a loyalty program, or from sister brands

• Optimize transactional emails for upsells and cross-sells

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Lowe’s

• Progressive profiling

• Gauging seasonal interests

• Powers segmented messages


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ModCloth

• Signup anniversary email

• Sharable coupon

• Social sign-in call-to-action with promise of birthday email


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Crate & Barrel

• Post-purchase email

• Care instructions

• Cross-sells bar equipment and wine and cheese accessories


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Starbucks

• Loyalty program emails

• Milestone notification email

• Progressive profiling survey


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The purpose of the Transition Stage is to avoid unnecessary damage to your sender reputation and to attempt to retain the subscriber.

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A few Email Marketing Rules for Transition:

• Make it easy to opt out by following the “2-click unsubscribe rule”

• Try to address the reasons that people unsubscribeToo many emailsIrrelevant emailsWant to change email address

• Be gracious as people opt out

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Staples

• Follows 2-click unsubscribe rule

• Option to change address

• Option to opt down


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Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee• Uses

confirmation page to drive opt-overs to social media

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Mini USA

• Re-permission email

• On brand messaging

• Gives subscribers many options to click


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Mini





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Mini





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Questions?

Before I leave you with some final thoughts...

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I’m fascinated by email marketing metaphors.

I’ve heard people say email marketing is like…

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…theatre… dating… building a house… the Olympics… golf… baseball… fitness… marriage… raising a kid… a fire hose… craft beer branding… sex

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But my personal favorite is:

Email marketing is like a couples dance.

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In fact, the first mock cover for the 1st Edition of my book included cryptic, centuries-old dance instructions.

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The metaphor is apt because it has…

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• A beginning-middle-end• Norms built around styles• Social expectations• Practice leads to skill• Non-verbal communications


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I suck at dancing.

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I practiced a lot for the first dance with my wife at our wedding.

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And I wasn’t horrible.

My point is try to be a good partner so…

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…when you mess up and drop that first bite of cake down your partner’s dress

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…she’ll give you another chance.

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“Email Subscriber Lifecycle Strategies from the Swipe File”


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Date post:	17-Nov-2014
Category:	Marketing
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