New - Five Must-Try Automated Email Drip Campaigns

Five Must-Try Automated Email Drip CampaignsBy Megan OuelletDirector of MarketingListrak, LLCOctober 23, 2009

Marketing budgets in 2009 saw a shift away from traditional advertising channels as the recession has forcedmarketers to do more with less. Budgets for passive advertising in television, print, direct mail, and radio havebeen shifted towards engaging, interactive, and cheaper media such as email and social media marketing as organizationsfocused less on branding and more on lead generation and customer loyalty.As the economy recovers in 2010, marketingbudgets will remain lean the first half of the year. Arecent study by Marketing Charts found that emailmarketing will remain the number one medium in2010. More emphasis will be placed in areas thatare not only easily measured, but are also flexibleand controllable so changes can be made quickly inreaction to market trends.Marketers will also continue to move away fromgeneric, one-to-many messages and will fine-tunetheir strategies to focus on targeted one-to-onemessaging. The diagram on the right shows thatthe audience is most engaged when campaigns aretargeted and relevant, and email drip campaigns topthe chart.Figure 1 - Marketing channels measured by audienceengagement and message relevancySocial media is still getting a lot of attention andmany marketers are looking to increase their spends in this area next year. However, the diagram shows that social mediacampaigns have high levels of engagement but low levels of relevancy as the audience is broad, not targeted. That’s thedanger of one-to-many messaging. Social media also falls short as a promotional channel so marketers are strugglingto generate revenue from these initiatives. In 2010, email will still deliver the highest ROI and response of any marketingchannel as long as the campaigns are targeted and delivered at the right time.Listrak, a premier provider of enterprise engagement marketing solutions and services, has published the following whitepaper discussing how you can automate email drip campaigns to engage your audience in the most relevant, highestreturning campaigns possible. You can use drip campaigns to create specific paths for your subscribers to follow asthey move through the sales process. You’ll shorten your sales cycle while increasing the quality of each lead that getspassed to your sales team.www.listrak.com 1-877-362-4556 Fax: 717-627-6087

Automate Drip Campaigns and Closed Loop Marketing campaignsDrip campaigns are automated email messages sent to subscribers ona scheduled basis. It can be as simple as sending a welcome messageupon subscription and then sending periodic updates. These campaignsare delivered consistently until the recipient unsubscribes.Watch Listrak’s webinar ondemand to learn how to setup automated drip campaignsfor the holiday season.Automated drip campaigns work best when you have one clear objective.Campaigns can be sent daily, weekly, or monthly and can be used to keepyour brand top of mind when the subscribers are ready to take action.B2B companies can set up drip campaigns for white paper delivery,quarterly release updates, specialized holiday campaigns, monthly invoices or annual subscription notices, or anythingthat keeps their subscribers informed and interested in their organization.Figure 2 - Example of an automated renewal notice email conversation in Listrak Conductor But the real power lies in the ability to create closed loop marketing messages. The concept is simple – communicatea message to a group of subscribers and then send your next message based on their reactions and responses.Subscribers who click on a specific link in the message get one email, the ones who click on a different link get another,and the ones who do nothing get yet another. This takes drip campaigns to the next level as it goes beyond branding andmoves into the sales realm. Instead of just pushing content out you design specific paths to lead subscribers throughthe sales cycle based on their behavior and needs. This concept might be new to email marketers but everything needsto be done differently in 2010. Consumers are more sophisticated and if you don’t nurture each lead effectively, you’lllose the sale.www.listrak.com 1-877-362-4556 Fax: 717-627-6087

According to Forrester Research’s US InteractiveMarketing Forecast 2009-2014, marketers are takingon a more strategic leadership role in organizationsbecause of their close connection to customers andprospects. Transactional emails are on the rise asemail marketers are finding ways to boost sluggishsales. Automated closed loop marketing campaignsare helping them accomplish this goal.These campaigns are event triggered messagesthat allow you to communicate with each subscriber individually based on his or her behavior and response. Becausethe messages are related to a specific action taken by the recipient, the conversations are natural and progressive, notsporadic and interruptive.For example, a retailer can launch an ecommercecampaign offering 10% off orders purchased onlinethat includes links to its men’s, women’s, and kid’sdepartments. If the recipient clicks on the linkto view women’s items, she will be sent a followup email featuring work wear, weekend wear, andaccessories. The emails get more targeted to herspecific needs as she moves through the cycle. Youcan even include links to product reviews, shoppingcart abandonment messages, sales confirmations,value-added cross selling promotions, etc.Figure 1 - Automated closed loop marketing campaignB2B companies can use the same approach forconversation in Listrak Conductor their sales funnels. For example, if a websitevisitor downloads a white paper, you can send an email with an article on the same topic, then an invite to a webinar,case studies on how your organization helped other clients with the same business issues, and you can even schedule aproduct demonstration. At this point, the sales team receives a highly qualified lead that is interested and ready to buy.www.listrak.com 1-877-362-4556 Fax: 717-627-6087

Five Must-Try Campaign IdeasDrip campaigns and closed loop marketing campaigns are far more complex than eNewsletters, but the returns are fargreater. Here are some campaign ideas that you can try:1.2.Educational funnel – Instead of just sending your subscribers a copy of your white papers, podcasts, blogs, etc.,as you publish them, create specific funnels based on different topics. For example, a document managementcompany could create a funnel for document imaging, another for enterprise reporting, a third for documentworkflow across organizations, etc. When someone downloads a white paper on workflow, the company could senda follow up email with a link to a workflow webinar, then another email with information on their enterprise workflowsolution, and a final email offering a workflow analysis. At this point the sales team receives a notification on thelead, instead of being notified that someone downloaded a white paper. The leads are nurtured along the right pathand are qualified before they reach the sales team.Event marketing – Instead of just sending your entire list email after email regarding your event, build differentcampaigns based on the actions of your subscribers. Subscribers who register for your event can be sent specificshow updates, special offers for related information, social links to share the information with their networks, postshow follow ups, etc. Subscribers who do not register can be sent special offers to try to get them to register andspecial offers to purchase presentations or other content after the event.3.Product videos and reviews – Everyone loves to share their opinions after making a purchase, and shoppers loveto read reviews and watch product videos while shopping online. Customer-generated content adds authenticity toyour products and services and shoppers are relying on it to help them make purchasing decisions. This contentshouldn’t just sit out on your website – you can use it in your closed loop marketing email campaigns to share theinformation with subscribers at the right point in the sales cycle. Product videos and reviews can shorten the salescycle and now, when every sale matters, you don’t have to wait for visitors to discover this information on yourwebsites. In his “The ROI of Email Relevance, 2009” report, David Daniels of Forrester Research cited that Bathand Body Works increased average order values by 10% and increased sales per visitor nearly 12% with its “YourReviews are In” email campaign. It’s a proven method that works.4.Sales follow up – Marketers know that subscriber relationships don’t end at the point of purchase. But if youcontinue to send the same types of emails that you send to non-customers, you won’t build strong, lastingrelationships or promote customer advocacy. Your customers are special and they need to feel appreciated. After asale, send follow up messages requesting videos of them using the products or forms to submit a review, ask themto share their experiences with the networks, and, above all, let them know how valuable this information is to you.5.Value-added sales campaigns – It’s easier to sell to your customers than it is to nurture new prospects throughthe sales cycle. When a customer makes a purchase, you can begin a value added cross sell campaign offeringrelated or complementary products. You can also offer unrelated products that were purchased by other customers,i.e. “customers who purchased X also purchased Y.” Finally, if you know your product’s shelf-life, you can followup with a replenishable campaign, such as the one Listrak created for one of its etail clients. Based on the averagetime it takes for consumers to deplete the supply of the items purchased, the etailer follows up with a “time toreorder” email offer. These campaigns make it easy for customers to make a purchase so there is no excuse not toimplement them.www.listrak.com 1-877-362-4556 Fax: 717-627-6087