A company has discovered they have a growing list of customer emails, yet no strategy on how to take full advantage of it. This is a very common story for businesses new to the world of email marketing, but just by having this list in possession, they’re one step closer to a successful campaign.
Before putting together a new campaign, it’s crucial to segment pre-existing lists by qualifying attributes or demographics to make sure emails are reaching the right customers at the right time. Why? In 2015, 77% of email marketing ROI came from segmented, targeted, and triggered campaigns. Here are five ways to utilize an existing list of contacts to enhance customer relationships and lead nurturing through email.
1. Persona
What exactly are personas? Personas are fictional, generalized representations of real people. They are best used to better understand potential customers based on varying demographics and psychographics and help businesses classify their different target groups. Most businesses gather this data from a combination of market research and existing customer studies. To ensure the greatest conversions and click-through rates, it’s best to tailor campaigns to each persona.
2. Past Purchases
By keeping data regarding past purchases, it’s possible to trigger upsell opportunities for those who’ve purchased from a business before. By identifying their key purchases, businesses can then offer them similar or complementary products in specific, targeted emails. This requires keeping records up-to-date and accurate, but because this targeting method is far more specific, the return can be much better than a randomized email marketing campaign.
3. Organization & Industry
If a company is selling in a B2B world, it’s crucial to understand the organization type and industry of each email recipient. By targeting specific organizations and industries, content can be tailored to promote certain products or services that fit the exact demographic. If a company has products that often serve a few key organization types, they may be the most common targets for email marketing campaigns. This shouldn’t result in ignoring infrequent industry purchasers, but rather allow businesses to target them with a different message than frequent purchasers. These organizations may vary from franchises to non-profits to e-commerce and everything in between. One step above an organization, includes looking at the industry of each organization and distilling purchase trends.
If figuring out key segments is challenging or data is inconsistent, consulting a marketing specialist who can help sift through the data and define target groups is a reliable option for lasting results. The most important part of any email marketing campaign is making sure an email ends up in the right inbox and solicits action or engagement, so doing the homework to make it right will have a significant return.