Consumers have different needs and expectations at each stage of the email subscriber lifecycle—from acquisition and onboarding, through a range of engagement and re-engagement tactics, to the end of an email relationship. In this session, Chad White, the Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s Lead Research Analyst and author of "Email Marketing Rules," will share advice on how to optimize each stage, illustrating his recommendations with real-life examples from Marketing Cloud’s Swipe File on Pinterest. Get inspired and come away with great email marketing ideas to steal, test, and make your own.
Master the art of Social Selling to increase sales by fostering relationships...
Email Subscriber Lifecycle Strategies from the Swipe File
1. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
#CNX14
Email Subscriber Lifecycle Strategies
from the Swipe File
Chad White
Lead Research Analyst, ExactTarget Marketing Cloud
Author of Email Marketing Rules
@chadswhite
@ETswipefile
pinterest.com/ExactTarget
2. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
“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
3. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
To maximize the value of an
email relationship, you need to
cater to your subscribers’ needs
and wants throughout their
entire subscriber lifecycle.
4. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
6. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
What we’ll cover during the next 40 minutes…
1 2 3
Acquisition
+
Onboarding
Engagement
+
Reengagement
+
Super-
Engagement
Transition
7. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
8. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
The Swipe File
• New examples of great digital
marketing every week
Email Swipe File
Audience Growth Swipe File
Social Swipe File
Mobile Swipe File
• Dozens of ExactTarget Marketing
Cloud contributors from around
the world
@chadswhite
9. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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.
10. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
@chadswhite
12. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
13. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
14. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
15. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
16. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Olive Garden
• Another
exposure
post-meal
• Highlights
signup
incentive
• Provides a 4th
way to
subscribe: via
paper form
17. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Home
Depot
• Opt-in
request
piggybacks
on e-receipt
• Above-the-fold
placement
of signup
banner
@chadswhite
18. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Noun Project
• Subscription
activation
email as part
of a confirmed
opt-in (COI)
process
• Simple, direct
message
@chadswhite
19. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
The Onboarding Stage
consists of your opt-in
confirmation page and your
welcome email or welcome
email series.
20. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
@chadswhite
21. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
30. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Pinterest
• A 6-email
welcome
series over 6
days
• Each email is
focused on
one aspect of
Pinterest for
Business
program
31. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Walmart
• Engages with
seasonally relevant
imagery and
messaging
• Makes the most
of seasonal
subscribers
32. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
The Engagement Stage consists
of your baseline promotional
mailstream—that is, your regularly
scheduled broadcast emails
plus seasonal fluctuations in
frequency.
33. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
@chadswhite
35. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Reliant
• “Weekly Summary”
emails about the
homeowner’s
energy usage
• Deeply personalized
36. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Reliant
• “Weekly Summary”
emails about the
homeowner’s
energy usage
• Deeply personalized
37. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Hipmunk
• Uses B2B infographic
tactic
• Educational rather than
promotional
• Drives engagement
with blog
• Shareworthy content
38. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Hipmunk
• Uses B2B infographic
tactic
• Educational rather than
promotional
• Drives engagement
with blog
• Shareworthy content
39. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
40. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
The Reengagement Stage
consists of messaging tactics
designed to address subscribers
who are inactive or are in
danger of soon becoming
inactive.
41. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
@chadswhite
43. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
American Apparel
• Discount coupled
with progressive
profiling
• Simple, direct
messaging
44. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
American Apparel
• Requests info to
power triggered
messaging,
segmentation, and
personalization,
Birthday
Zip code
Interests
46. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Pinkberry
• Reengagement email
• In response to 3
months of mobile app
inactivity
47. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
While reengagement reduces
the risks posed by inactives,
Super-Engagement fosters
more opportunities with
active subscribers.
48. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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
53. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
The purpose of the Transition
Stage is to avoid unnecessary
damage to your sender
reputation and to attempt to
retain the subscriber.
54. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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 unsubscribe
Too many emails
Irrelevant emails
Want to change email address
• Be gracious as people opt out
@chadswhite
55. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Staples
• Follows 2-
click
unsubscribe
rule
• Option to
change
address
• Option to opt
down
56. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Democratic
Congressional
Campaign
Committee
• Uses
confirmation
page to drive
opt-overs to
social media
@chadswhite
57. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Mini USA
• Re-permission email
• On brand messaging
• Gives subscribers
many options to click
58. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Mini
• Re-permission email
• On brand messaging
• Gives subscribers
many options to click
59. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Mini
• Re-permission email
• On brand messaging
• Gives subscribers
many options to click
61. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
Before I leave you with some
final thoughts...
Questions?
@chadswhite
62. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
I’m fascinated by email
marketing metaphors.
I’ve heard people say email
marketing is like…
63. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
…theatre… dating… building a
house… the Olympics… golf…
baseball… fitness… marriage…
raising a kid… a fire hose…
craft beer branding… sex
64. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
But my personal favorite is:
Email marketing is like a
couples dance.
@chadswhite
65. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
In fact, the first mock
cover for the 1st
Edition of my book
included cryptic,
centuries-old dance
instructions.
@chadswhite
66. @chadswhite
Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
The metaphor is apt because it has…
• A beginning-middle-end
• Norms built around styles
• Social expectations
• Practice leads to skill
• Non-verbal communications
72. Track: Email Marketing
#CNX14
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