In relational marketing, your database is crucial* – a message that can never be repeated enough! Whether it’s to maintain an impeccable sender reputation, or to have a quality list of potential or converted clients, your contact database is like gold.
When you first set up your database (DB), having the fields and rules definitions in tune with your strategies will dramatically improve how you manage and deploy future marketing campaigns.We recommend progressively developing marketing campaigns focused on Welcoming, Profile update, and Re-engagement of dormant or inactive contacts, to not only ensure the quality of your list is maintained, but especially for long-term contact retention.
These types of campaigns can be hard to implement in some cases, and the complexity of the process is sometimes difficult to grasp. If you need help, one of our expert team members can walk you through step by step on how to optimize your email marketing.
In the meantime, here are a few tips that will help to improve the ROI of your email marketing campaigns, and in addition, facilitate sound management of your database.
1. Keep a clean and up-to-date database
In addition to conducing the necessary efforts to obtain and maintain a good sender reputation, it is important to know where your contacts come from and to obtain explicit consents (in reference to Bill C-28). Do not hesitate to implement automated and sequential programs to reactivate your inactive (i.e. your contacts who have not opened/clicked in your posts for some time, usually 6 months or more) and thus purify your contact lists regularly.
2. Collect and measure everything
Each piece of information collected about your contacts is important, because it can provide avenues for opportunity. Even if the data is not useful in the immediate future, save the information for future campaigns and segmentations of your customers.
3. Customize your welcome email
Your subscribers come from different sources. That means it is necessary to communicate differently with each contact. How? By creating a welcome campaign that takes into account the specific needs of each type of customer. Lack of resources? Customize your welcome campaign to the typical customer who presents the highest conversion rate. A person’s loyalty to your brand depends on your speed to implement segmented campaigns and targeted messages. This is one of the keys to success to convert your customers/prospects over the long-term.
4. Collect email addresses at all possible entry points – online or in-store
After a purchase in-store or online, present your customers with the opportunity to provide their email address in order to receive their bill or their receipt directly in their email box. How? By offering an incentive to receive a discount or loyalty rewards points on the next purchase. Not only did you just collect a new email (a potential lead) but in addition, you have established a relationship with the customer with incentive. For other features or tactics, see our article – The 9 best places to collect contacts.
5. Use a little persuasion to create action with automated marketing programs
A discount on the next purchase or a limited lifetime gift card is simple gesture that can encourage opt-in and decision making. For customers who do not respond, send them a reminder message with an offer expiry date.
6. Invite your contacts to subscribe to your emails and/or to your mobile communications
This applies of course if you have in place mobile marketing programs such as SMS, MMS, flashcodes, QR codes, etc. Give people both choices. They will be more likely to chose one of them.
7. Increase subscriptions by explaining your value
When a contact gives you his email for another reason than to subscribe to your communications, this can quickly become an irritant if he receives your messages all the time. Design a follow up campaign with a messages such as, ‘Thank you for visiting our store today’ and include an option to subscribe for updates and why. Risky? Maybe, but healthy for your reputation, your CTR and conversion rates.
*This article corresponds more to the retail sector, but the General principles are easily adaptable to each industry.
