How To Use Email Personalization To Increase Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

3 ways to use personalized emails to get customers to buy more from you

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is a metric closely related to the profitability of a business.

It’s a measurement of customer loyalty and how well you’re catering to their needs so that they buy from you again and again.

Why’s that important?

The cost of acquiring a customer is much higher than that of retaining one. In addition, loyal customers are more likely to tell others about your products and services, thereby increasing your sales through word-of-mouth marketing.

It pays to invest in cultivating customer loyalty, which will help increase the amount they spend on your products or services over time.

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Thanks to its cost-effectiveness, personalized email marketing remains one of the best ways to cultivate customer loyalty.

Email marketing has a median ROI of 122%, which is over 4 times higher than other marketing formats. Meanwhile, the average order value from personalized emails is 5% higher and conversion rates are 6% higher, compared to those that aren’t personalized.

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So how do you use email personalization to increase customer lifetime value and encourage recurring purchases?

1. Optimize customer segments by CLV

You can segment your email list by profitability, such as not-profitable (20%), profitable (60%), and very-profitable customers (20%). This way, you can send personalized emails with the most relevant content and offers to increase purchases from each segment.

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For example, you can move customers in the “not-profitable” segment into the “profitable” segment with a special offer or cultivate relationships with your “profitable” or “very-profitable” groups so they’d stick around and buy more.

The goal is to move as many customers as possible into the “very profitable” category and increase the average CLV.

2. Reward customers for their loyalty

Offering rewards via personalized emails is a great way to add value to the relationships that customers have with your business and increase their CLV.

A research has shown that customers who make one purchase have a 27% chance of coming back. Meanwhile, second-time customers have a 54% chance of returning for a third purchase.

There are many ways to show your appreciation to your existing customers, by adding special discount codes, offering a free gift with purchase, sending an exclusive invite to an event, or giving them early access to a sale.

3. Upsell and cross-sell relevant products

Customers have very little tolerance for marketing messages that aren’t relevant to them. In a survey conducted by Accenture, 44% of consumers indicated that they’re frustrated when companies fail to deliver relevant, personalized shopping experiences and 41% of consumers have switched brands because of that.

By offering highly personalized product recommendations via email to existing customers based on their preferences and purchase histories, you can upsell and cross-sell items to entice them to buy more from you and increase their CLV.

For example, JustFab leverages interest and behavioral data to encourage repeat purchases through personalized email campaigns. These highly targeted recommendations increased email revenue by 39% and cut customer churn by 46%.

The foundation of effective email personalization

In order to personalize your emails effectively to increase customer lifetime value, you need a comprehensive customer database and the ability to organize the information for your email campaigns.

A robust data management platform (DMP) provides the solid foundation for processing all your customer information in a centralized location so you can extract actionable insights to increase your customer lifetime value.

Winter Is Coming: Is Your Menu Ready to Deliver Across Channels?

One of the greatest challenges as a restaurant owner is learning how to create prolonged customer engagement across channels that assists in maintaining consistent customer traffic despite fluctuations in weather. Customer engagement is a pivotal factor in determining a restaurant’s level of success: According to a recent study by Deloitte, customers value being engaged by a restaurant more than any other experiential metric. In fact, 34 percent of customers reported that engagement — which is defined in this study as when the restaurant interacts with the customer in a “friendly, authentic, and hospitable way” as the most important factor in determining whether or not they are satisfied with their visit to a dining establishment.

The change in seasons presents an opportunity for you to engage customers through implementing changes in your menu and services which will lead to renewed customer interest across channels, enabling your company to maintain margins even during the most challenging winter months.

Prioritize omnichannel delivery

In order to build your business during cold season, you will need to take into account how consumer behavior differs as the temperature drops. Customers order higher amounts of food delivery in cases of extreme weather and food delivery platforms such as Grubhub see an increase in growth during cold weather months. Home delivery is a growing segment for restaurants, leading CNBC to predict a 79 percent increase in home food delivery by 2020. As a result, you must be prepared to cater to seasonal consumer demand for home delivery with a seamless omnichannel presence across channels.

By streamlining your business’s mobile functions and focusing your marketing efforts on promoting your local affiliations on social media, you’ll be prepared to cater to the growing demand for home delivery.

Opportunity for mobile expansion

A recent study by the National Restaurant Association found that 46 percent of smartphone users use their phones to order food at least once a month. Increasing customer demand for smartphone-optimized food delivery has led to rapid growth of custom delivery service platforms such as Grubhub. Even more notably, 60 percent of Grubhub’s over 3 billion dollars in annual local revenue is generated through orders on mobile devices.

Grubhub’s expansion highlights the growing opportunity for restaurateurs to reduce revenue loss through the outsourcing of restaurant functions such as food delivery to outside enterprises. Keep sales in-house by strengthening your company’s omnichannel functions to increase sales that might otherwise have been lost due to consumer buying patterns and restaurant delivery startups.

Promote affiliation with local growers

Consistent output on social media is essential to maintaining customer engagement during times when the temperature prohibits them from visiting your physical restaurant. Promote your connection with local growers and Farmers’ Markets in order to expand your restaurant’s visibility on social media. According to a 2016 survey by the National Restaurant Association, 57 percent of adults prefer restaurants that serve locally-sourced food. In light of this evidence, there is a substantial opportunity for restaurateurs to grow business during off-seasons by partnering with local growers and creating hashtag campaigns to drive restaurant traffic.

Collaborating with local companies also gives you that ability to market your business through #shoplocal social media campaigns. For example, restaurants in Boston, Massachusetts collaborated to create the Boston Local Food Festival. At the outdoor festival, members of the community can experience local food and support small businesses, as well as meeting local growers and fisherpeople from Boston’s wharf. Look into online marketing software platforms such as BuzzSumo and Sprout Social to assist in identifying the right hashtags to market your company’s local affiliations.

In addition to publicizing partnerships with local growers, participate in events such as American Express’s Small Business Saturday to promote your restaurant’s affiliation with your local community. Small Business Saturday facilitates omnichannel marketing for small businesses and restaurants by offering retailers customizable social media materials, website banners, and in-store signage to promote the annual shopping event held on November 25th.

Are you interested in learning more about how to create an omnichannel customer experience and increase engagement? Read how NectarOM increased TGI Fridays in-app conversions by 35% here

Get Ready: 3 Customer Personalization Trends to Look Out For

When it comes to a brand’s relationship with its audience, it’s all about customer personalization. Customer personalization allows companies to better relate to their customer’s needs and give them a deeper connection to a company. Customer personalization bridges the gap between online experiences and in-person interactions with customers.

Consumers are looking for more ways to connect with a brand, and companies are looking for more ways to increase revenue and track marketing efforts. This makes 2017 the year to focus on personalization. Here are a few customer personalization trends guiding the online experience in 2017:

 

Enhancing Online Brand Experience

Online shopping is by no means a new concept, but brands are currently working to better connect with consumers online. Common ways to personalize, and therefore enhance, the online brand experience include dynamic content and personalized recommendations. By tracking what consumers look for on a site, companies can personalize the way their site interacts with each customer. This gives everyone a unique experience and encourages them to come back.

One prime example of a personalized online consumer experience is Amazon. Each time a shopper looks at one product, they are then showed similar products, things people have bought, and more. This is all done with the intent of guiding a customer to make a more informed decision.

 

Optimized Messaging with Customer Data

The average person spends just a few seconds on a page before they decide whether or not to stay. This short attention span makes the content you show them that much more crucial. It’s in those few milliseconds that personalization can make a huge impact.

To do this, companies need to gather the right information about each person who visits their site, so they can better target their efforts to catch that person’s eye. There are multiple methods companies can use to gather data to help with customer personalization. This includes proprietary scoring, targeting algorithms, and more. These processes can help track a person’s every interaction with your brand other similar online brands to provide a personalized experience. Even if someone is a new user to a site, companies with the proper algorithms in place can look at their personal history to improve the content it shows.

Companies such as NectarOM simplify the data collection process to help companies better target messaging and in turn see higher customer engagement that increases overall sales.

 

Geo-Targeting Marketing

We as a culture are constantly sharing information online, and brands need to take advantage of it. More and more people are becoming comfortable sharing their location online. This allows companies to target content based on a person’s location. Geo-targeted marketing – also referred to as proximity marketing – allows companies to combine online and offline for an improved, cohesive customer experience.

Proximity marketing allows a company to feed the customer their message at a time when they are most likely to take action, based on their location. Proximity marketing uses technology such as chips in products, enabled location services on a smartphone, and in-store WiFi to better reach its customers.

Personalization is imperative for any company that wants to reach its customers online. People aren’t looking for a company that just shows them what they have to offer. Instead, people want to buy from brands that pay attention to them and provide them with custom-tailored content. When it comes to personalization across all channels, companies like NectarOM make simpler to reach customers and increase revenue.

Engaging High-Value Customers for High-Value Results

Many companies are shifting their focus to engage customers with higher value and profitability. The goal of engaging high-value customers (HVCs) is to nurture them into becoming loyal power shoppers. Increasing loyalty to a brand this way ensures retention and lifetime value of customers.

HVCs drive a significant portion of a company’s revenues. These customers are not only intensely loyal to a brand, but help promote the brand and its influence as well. Engaging and satisfying these high-value customers will put a company on a path toward greater success.

What Is a High-Value Customer?

Confusing high volume and high-value customers can be easy. However, high volume customers and high-value customers are two different target markets.

High volume customers are those who interact with a brand frequently. Although they may engage with the brand often, it doesn’t necessarily mean that these customers are the most valuable. Often with high volume customers, a brand will see a surge in activity for short periods of time. However, once the excitement fades, so does customer engagement.

High-value customers are those who buy for a reason. These customers look at products, services, and brands as a way to meet a need and satisfy a drive such as status, health or lifestyle. HVCs are customers who are loyal to a brand or company, even in times of financial duress. They will return to a brand and product even when a cheaper alternative is available. For HVCs, the cost is not a priority, and are more focused on having their unique needs addressed. HVCs are also brand promoters and influencers. These are the customers who will share the brand within their social networks.

Focusing specifically on high VALUE customers reflects an understanding of the power that these consumers have. Identifying who the high value customers are and tailoring marketing schemes to satiate these consumers, keeps them happy and ensures the brands’ profit margins.

  1. Evolve With Customers

Customer habits change and evolve. In turn, the way consumers interact with brands has evolved as well. Instead of fighting this evolution, brands should adapt and keep up with their customers. Part of this evolution includes the introduction of new goods and services and outlets, like online shopping. This development means customers are interested in a wide variety of items at all times. A shift towards items outside a consumer’s regular purchase pattern can indicate consumers are turning into HVCs. Dramatic changes in how customers buy items and spend money can also indicate greater trust and loyalty with a brand. Once the customer has extended the olive branch toward a brand, it is very likely they will shift into the high-value customer category.

  1. Pay Attention

The data provided by a customer’s recent activity can predict if a customer is high value or becoming high value. Data points such as high clickthrough rate, frequent site visits, and large purchases can indicate a customer as a high-value customer. One way to monitor customer involvement and identify high-value customers is through a  triggered marketing campaign. Triggered marketing includes a continuous stream of messages sent to customers based on their shopping activity, browsing history, purchases, etc. Triggered marketing indicates to customers that a brand knows its customers.

  1. Loyalty Rewards

Loyalty programs are teeming with information about members. Everything from brand preferences and item category to price sensitivity can be found in loyalty member data. Harnessing loyalty data helps brands personalize more towards HVCs. Knowing where, when, why, and how customers engage with a brand, can empower companies to create personalized experiences across multiple channels.

Loyalty programs also remove the barrier between customers and their next purchase. These loyalty programs make customers feel like “power users.” Their actions directly correlate to the experience found with a brand and company.

High-value customers make up the untapped bread and butter for many businesses. Understanding the behavior patterns of high-value customers enables brands to engage and target this niche group of customers. Providing high-value customers with the attention they desire keeps them engaged with the brand and propels companies to further success.

 

How 3 Top Brands are Using Personalization

These days, customers want to feel that they’re being heard and understood by their favorite brands. In fact, 73% of consumers want a more personalized shopping experience. Personalization allows brands to create a unique experience for their customers — in turn, demonstrating that they are being heard, and hopefully contribute to increased sales volume.

And, it is working. According to a study done by Infosys, 86% of consumers are influenced by personalization when making shopping decisions. Consumers are motivated to purchase more when they are made to feel relevant.

Thus, personalization has become increasingly important for brands and their success. Let’s take a look at three brands that are succeeding by bringing personalization into the consumer journey.

Burberry

This 156-year-old brand has pioneered a different kind of personalization for customers. Partnering up with Pinterest, Burberry has given customers a way to build personalized boards with product content provided by Burberry.

The “Cat Lashes” promo initiative offers a personalized experience for customers based on their makeup preferences. Users take a quick questionnaire and get personalized makeup looks and tips through a personalized Pinterest board. Burberry promotes their Cat Lashes Mascara through the Pinterest boards. The personalized boards also offer tips on how to create relevant looks for each customer while also using the Cat Lashes Mascara.

According to an internal study, 42% of consumers have bought products based on promoted pins they saw on Pinterest. Burberry’s “Cat Lashes” initiative is, therefore, capitalizing on Pinterest’s broad consumer base. The personalized boards serve as a promotional hub for the Cat Lashes Mascara, as well as related and relevant Burberry products.

GILT

Gilt.com was listed in Fast Company’s Top 25 Innovative Companies in 2010and ranked first in fashion that year. How did a company, which launched in 2007, garner so much success in just five years? The reason is that the online retailer personalizes sales and promotions for each customer and app user.

The luxury flash sales site has installed a personalized user page online and on the mobile app. This personalization feature is called “Your Personal Sale,” and goes beyond the daily e-mails a shopper receives. The personalized sales, generated by an algorithm, takes into consideration a customer’s entire shopping experience. Based on factors such as purchase history, geographic location, browsing behavior, and personal preferences, “Your Personal Sale” finds fresh items and deals daily. Personalization goes one step further, with Gilt.com also considering size, categories, and brands that customers frequently engage with. Each personalized sale lasts 24 hours, after which a new set of deals and sales are presented. According to CIO Steve Jacobs, personalized sales are “the next phase of the flash sale model.” The company leverages the sense of discovery the app provides, “tailoring [the] shopping experience just for them.”

Gilt.com brings personalization to the online fashion and retail platform and makes a conscious effort to tailor products to its customers. According to  Jacobs, “people are coming back more frequently, and they’re excited to see what’s in their sale tomorrow.” Personalized sales pushed the online retailer to be valued at roughly $1 billion just after five years of launching. Gilt’s personalization strategy has propelled the e-commerce company to enormous success.

Spotify

The online music platform Spotify is the leading music streaming host, despite competitors like iTunes and Google Play.

The introduction of personalized playlists has distinguished Spotify from other streaming sources.

One of these personalized playlist functions is “Discover Weekly.” Discover Weekly is a service which personalizes to each listener’s taste across a variety of genres. A personal playlist of 30 songs is curated and released each Monday based on listening habits. The music streaming service has also launched the “Release Radar” feature. Every Friday, the two-hour playlist is updated with newly released music from artists and bands a listener frequents. In addition, listeners who curate their playlists receive personalized suggestions on their playlists as well. The streaming service learns from personal preferences, songs skipped and replayed, and even looks at micro-genre music preferences to curate the best suggestions for each listener.

Spotify’s lead engineer and algorithm creator Edward Newett says, “we’re trying to show that Spotify understands users better than anyone else.” Within the first 10 months of launching, Discover Weekly saw 5 billion song plays. Senior product owner Matt Ogle says Discover Weekly’s success has “completely changed” the way Spotify interacts with consumers. The great success with user personalization has also increased consumer loyalty. Spotify boasts 40 million paid subscribers, compared to Apple Music’s 20 million paid subscribers.

Personalization is key to a brand’s success and transforms the customer experience. The focus on personalization allows many of these companies to grow as customers engage with brands more and more. With personalization on the rise, it will be interesting to see how industries implement various personalization tactics into their customers’ experiences.

Neiman Marcus: Omnichannel Strategies to Bridge the Gap

Integrating Brick-&-Mortar and Digital  

Technological advancements are redefining the way customers interact with retailers.

Customers now expect much more from brands they love, and omnichannel strategies are driving development within marketing departments to meet these expectations. A plethora of companies and retailers have introduced a seamless shopping experience across mediums by implementing omnichannel marketing strategies. From brick-and-mortar to website to mobile app, shopping has become a fully integrated experience, thanks to omnichannel.

Last week we dove into the Nordstrom’s world and reviewed the different ways the retailers use omnichannel to enhance the customer experience. Today, we are continuing this and looking at how luxury retailer Neiman Marcus is integrating brick-and-mortar with digital to create a heightened customer experience.

Mobile App

Despite having only 42 brick-and-mortar stores, compared to most luxury retailers with anywhere from 60 to 100 stores, Neiman Marcus is still the biggest luxury retailer in the world.The 42 brick-and-mortar stores play host to a large number of fashionable and high-end items. According to CEO Karen Katz, however, the luxury retailer has a “robust selection of products online that [they] don’t have room for in [the] brick-and-mortar store.” Consequently, Neiman Marcus’ efforts to bridge the gap between the products available virtually and physically, have given way to a successful mobile app. The mobile app serves as a larger commerce platform, as well as, a conduit for customer engagement with Neiman Marcus by making shopping easy and convenient for customers.

Customers have a way to shop on-the-go and find more products that cannot be found in Neiman Marcus stores. In-store associates are equipped with tablets featuring the app and help customers quickly find products online and offline. Sales associates are also encouraged to direct customers to browse through the online and mobile stores. Customers can access these same sales associates via text, email, phone call, or FaceTime while on the app. Neiman Marcus also has a solution for finding any item, from anywhere, within minutes. The mobile app has introduced a new feature called “Snap. Find. Shop.”. The feature allows shoppers to take photos of clothing and accessories they see at any store, and the app will find the exact or similar product on the Neiman Marcus mobile store. The mobile app provides customers with a smooth blend of online and brick-and-mortar services, heightening the customer experience.

Virtual Dressing Room

Another way Neiman Marcus digitally transformed the in-store experience is by adding digital dressing rooms. The retailer deployed the “Memory Mirror,” a device which enables shoppers to digitally compare outfits and items of clothing while in the physical store. Acting as a large video screen and camera, the Memory Mirror allows customers to see outfits from 360 degrees. The mirror is password-protected and connected to shoppers’ Neiman Marcus account. Customers log into the mirror and can browse outfits they previously tried on and captured in 360-degree, eight-second videos. These “try-on videos” can be saved to the customer’s mobile device, emailed, and shared on social media. Shoppers can also compare clothing options side-by-side, as the mirror remembers what the customer has already tried on. This initiative enables customers to experience flawless digital integration and increased interaction with Neiman Marcus. The Memory Mirror is a complementary blend of brick-and-mortar and digital shopping.

Neiman Marcus relies equally on mobile and brick-and-mortar stores. The seamless incorporation of online and offline has kept customers highly engaged with the retailer. The customer-centric philosophy has propelled Neiman Marcus into implementing innovative and different omnichannel strategies. Neiman Marcus has truly made the digital shopping experience and physical shopping experience seamless. 

Tune in next week as we take a look at the third and final retailer in our omnichannel trilogy – Kohl’s.

How Omnichannel Retailers Are Changing the Marketing Game

Starbucks, Sephora, and Disney’s Omnichannel Approach

 

The good old days of customers coming from one channel are over.  With the rapid rise of social and mobile channels as valuable marketing platforms, omnichannel business strategy has become necessary approach for a successful brand.  While it is easy to understand “Why?” the “How?” is less clear.

Before we can discuss what techniques are being used to optimize omnichannel marketing, we need to take a look at what omnichannel marketing really means. Omnichannel is an approach to sales that utilizes multiple channels and outlets of shopping. The primary goal is to create a seamless customer shopping experience, whether the individual is shopping on a mobile device, desktop, or in a physical store. 

Now that we have established a what omnichannel is, let’s take a look at how three companies use it to their advantage.

Starbucks

Starbucks is an omnichannel expert

The Starbucks Rewards program is a perfect example of omnichannel marketing in practice. Starbucks is one of the biggest coffee retailers in the world. Their market reach is incredible, and they have harnessed the power of omnichannel to leverage that huge customer base. The Starbucks Rewards system uses an omnichannel approach to make the coffee buying experience more convenient for customers.  Customers can use the rewards card to make purchases without taking out their wallets and to also reload the rewards balance online, in-store, by telephone, or by mobile app. All changes to rewards accounts immediately update across all channels.  Thanks to the omnichannel approach, Starbucks customers can satisfy their caffeine cravings at any time, on any channel.

 

Online bags can become actual bags when purchasing in-store

Sephora

The makeup retailer has also changed the way consumers interact with products. Sephora utilizes the omnichannel shopping process to create an enjoyable experience for customers. Sephora has implemented the “My Beauty Bag” program to allow customers to manage their beauty products and see purchase history. The “My Beauty Bag” program makes it easy and accessible for Sephora customers to add items to their shopping carts, peruse their browsing history, make savings on purchases, and re-order items. Sephora’s rewards program also allows members to use their Beauty Bags on their mobile device, computer, and send digital gifts.

While making in-store purchases, customers can use the Sephora app to complement the brick and mortar shopping experience. Sephora is also changing the in-store experience as well, by introducing the Beauty Tip Workshop. Customers now have the opportunity to access their Beauty Bags, see recommended items and looks, and make purchases based on the items shown in the store. Sephora is expertly using omnichannel to revolutionize the cosmetic shopping experience.

Disney

Disney brings omnichannel to the world on tourism and retail. The magic of Disney is brought to multiple channels thanks to their approach. Disney’s process pays attention to even the smallest of details to make a flawless and consistent shopping environment across channels. When booking a trip through Disney’s website or app, customers have access to the My Disney Experience tool to help plan the logistics of the trip. From dining options, to park attractions, to securing passes, the My Disney tool helps customers plan for the entire trip. Once customers get to the amusement park, the Disney mobile app can locate the attractions and performances across the park and gives an estimated waiting time for each attraction and show.

Disney takes the magic even further with the implementation of the Magic Band program. These wristbands not only act as theme park entrance passes, but also act as hotel room keys, Fast Pass check in, food ordering tools, and photo storage devices. These wristbands also include personalized surprises for each band holder. Disney uses omnichannel to make traveling a connected, all-in-one experience.

 

Omnichannel initiatives like these enable brands to create the ideal customer experience across all channels. Starbucks, Sephora, and Disney approaches are great examples of brand’s solving for the ever-evolving needs of the digital age.

How Marketing Personalization Increases Customer Loyalty

What Kind Of Data Do You Need To Be Tracking To Meet Your Conversion Goals?

Who are the best kind of customers? The ones that never complain and keep buying from you and tell everyone they love you. You know the type.

They’re the loyal ones.

If you’re trying to grow a solid brand, loyalty should be on your radar. There are multiple definitions of what loyalty means to businesses. While loyalty programs, such as points, miles, coupons, are great, the type of loyalty you want from your customers is blind devotion, and refusal to look elsewhere. The problem is: loyalty is hard to obtain. It takes a lot of work and effort to gain trust, and along the way one slip-up could negatively impact all that hard work. It’s a very delicate process, there’s no question about it, but if done right the benefits far outweigh the drawback.

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Take Apple fanboys for example. There weren’t nearly as many of them around 20 years ago, but now there are tons, and Apple is the most profitable company in the world.

Coincidence?

I don’t think so. They are the best kind of loyal customers, willing to pay a premium for products and line up for days before they’re even out. These aren’t exclusive models either, and, on paper, they’re comparable to ones can be bought for nearly half the price. But people continue to buy from them. Why? These are customers that are loyal because they like the entire process, from the lineup to unboxing.

Gaining this type of loyalty is hard, but with businesses having the ability to capture more data, personalizing content is an easy way to start fostering a loyal customer. Let’s explore three aspects of personalization that you shouldn’t ignore.

1 – Profiles & Behaviors

Data can reveal a lot about someone: where they are, what browser they’re using, what links they clicked and what kind of device they’re on. It’s a marketer’s dream, and this information can, and should be used to help you increase your conversion.

In general, there are two types of data: explicit or implicit.

Explicit signals are hard facts: This user was on an iPhone in Canada, and clicked three links and visited the site four times.

Implicit signals are what you can deduce from the hard facts: It looks like this user was browsing items. Since he’s from Canada, he’s less likely to purchase than an American; but, since he’s clicked three links and been to the site four times, he has a high chance of buying.

Turning implicit signals, which come in the form of data, into explicit signals and determining how you can initiate the sale can be a daunting task. NectarOM can simplify things and help automate this process in real time.

 

Customer profile

Once you have begun tracking your data, your next goal should be to create virtual profiles of your customers by combining data from multiple sources.

A profile describes a particular segment of customers with as much information as possible. This should include info like:

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These are just a few examples of points you can use to build your own persona. When you have a clearer picture of your ideal customer, the next step is to describe them and turn them into real people. Only once you have a profile of your customer can you start creating a plan to market to them. There’s no point wasting your time on strategies that might work.

How somebody is interacting with your content can tell you a lot about who they are and how they will interact with your brand. Generally speaking, mobile use accounts for a lot of search traffic as well as browsing, while computer/laptop traffic accounts for the majority of purchases.

 

2 – Test & Learn Strategies

What a simple world it would be if all leads came from the same place. You could focus all your marketing efforts on one thing and then clean up! But this is real life, and people are complicated. Different people hang out on various sites and can experience a brand in a variety of ways. One may prefer your Twitter feed, and another may frequent your site. Where they access your brand influences what they buy.

You can use this knowledge to your advantage by sending unique channel offers. For example, we all know Instagram is ideal for sharing images, so depending on what kind of images your audience’s feed is filled with, you could make something that blends in and barely looks like an ad. In this example from Qaloring, it’s not clear that they’re selling anything, and all you see is a woman in exercise clothes.

loyalty in marketing imagePeople on Twitter are usually looking for some interesting news, delivered in the iconic 140 characters or less and is a great place to promote your product with a catchy headline that gets people curious. Looking at the example from Ideapod; they play to people’s egos and drum up a bit of intrigue.
indeapod imageAm I smart? Heck yes! *click*

It can also be used to easily tag influencers in the industry to try and drum up some buzz for your product.

Facebook is a mix of the two, allowing more headlines but also a lot of space for an image. This ad from Jetsetter gets right to the point with a clear offer and beautiful picture.
facebook post image

Giving messages that relate to how people like to interact with a brand is the key to success. Make sure you’re not only thinking about the marketing campaign but how people will interact with your campaign over all sorts of channels and devices that you’re choosing to run it on. The more specific and targeted your campaign is, the better it will perform.

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3 – Automated Activation

Knowing all of this information is great, and any business owner should be doing everything they can to leverage this wealth of data that is at their disposal, but if you aren’t using or tracking this information, then you’re wasting your time. We here at NectarOM have an orientation toward action and apply marketing automation, predictive analytics and trigger based communications. Our system allows you to put this data to work. That way you can create detailed user profiles and implement laser precision campaigns.

No matter what your business model is, trigger based messages can help foster loyalty and increase your ROI. Making each customer feel special by delivering content based on their actions is a surefire way to keep them coming back.

With e-commerce, you’re always in the trenches, so to speak, looking forward to that sale and email notification coming through. Automated personalization has been proven to help with cart abandonment, by sending a follow-up email a day or so later. This can help bring people back to the state of mind where they were about to purchase, and could seal the deal.

As a corporate marketer, you’re more concerned with activating users because it’s necessary for continued subscription and a long term relationship. Sending a series of tips during a trial period, and capping it off with a ‘last chance, the trial is expiring’ email is a great place to start, and sure to get a conversation going with customers looking for an extension.

In a brick-and-mortar setting, clienteling, or providing a personal touch to shoppers can go a long way to building loyalty. This is usually achieved by using software to learn about customers preferences, behaviors, and purchases, and then having sales reps connect with customers in meaningful ways.

 

The Loyalty Effect In Action

At the highest level, getting all these systems in place can create machine-learning recommendations, which, if you can attain, mean a constant stream of business. Just look at what Netflix is up to:

“A study from Wharton cited that Netflix reported 60% of its sales came from machine-learning recommendations, and 35% of Amazon sales came from system-generated suggestions. Regarding increasing engagement, Venture Beat reports that personalized email subject lines can increase open rates by up to 41%.”

With industry leaders like Netflix heavily pursuing customization and machine-learning, it needs to be on your radar of things to implement. By keeping your messages relevant and personalize, you’ll be able to not only see the benefits in the form of increased revenue but will be able to keep your customers loyal – and more importantly, coming back.

This stuff can get complicated, and there are a lot of plates spinning in the air. But by focusing on your ideal customers and giving them personal attention, you’ll be able to keep them around. For businesses looking to deliver automated personalized omni channel experience book a free consultation with us here at NectarOM to discuss a strategy for your business.

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Avoiding Common Email Automation Mistakes

Almost every company uses automation to send emails in today’s day and age. Every morning, I wake up to dozens of emails from retailers comprised of newsletters and special offers.

For the most part, I love sifting through these emails. However, as a marketing automation enthusiast, there are some aspects of email automation that can drive me crazy if done incorrectly. Below, I have determined four of my biggest automation pet peeves.

Boring subject linesSubject Line Email Automation

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover… However, this doesn’t always resonate with email recipients. Even marketers with the best email content can be at a disadvantage when not using catchy subject lines in their messages.

Amidst dozens of emails, a recipient’s eyes can easily glaze over a boring subject line. Subject lines should promote new products, relevant offers, special discounts, or use the recipient’s name to stand out among other emails.

In the example to the right, notice Nordstrom had sent me a “relevant” email about sandals after I had shopped for sandals on their website the day before. NM Last Call advertised a noteworthy sale to draw me in. J. Crew emphasized a “new” offer and special discount of free shipping to attract me. Note that Amazon Local did not utilize any of these tactics to grab my attention, and their message remained unopened and ignored.

Sent at the wrong time

Just because a software sends out automated emails, companies must still be conscientious of when they are distributing marketing messages.

Nordstrom Friday Evening EmailMost companies send out emails first thing in the morning – and for good reason.

While there is no set rule that marketers must stick to mornings when sending out emails, there are certain times marketers should avoid sending messages. For example, consider this email I received from Nordstrom. Nordstrom sent me this email at 6:30 Friday afternoon. This is one of the worst times to send me a marketing email, as I have likely finished work for the weekend and am probably enjoying a happy hour or dinner with friends. The only reason I opened this email was because I was looking at messages sent during poor times  for this blog post.

Friday evening is not the only bad time to send emails. Weeknights during “dinner time” will likely hold a low open rate. However, emails sent between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekdays will yield higher open rates, according to experts.

 

Incorrect personalization

Nothing aggravates me more than wasting my time opening an email with irrelevant offers. This holds true in the past couple months I’ve been a member of Banana Republic’s reward program.

Banana Republic's Men's Email
One of Banana’s many “male-centered” emails I always receive.

Every time I receive an email from Banana Republic, I receive emails about men’s clothing. I find this strange because every time I have shopped at Banana I have only ever bought clothes from the women’s section. However, every email I receive always includes information about their latest additions in their men’s line with little or no regard to women’s clothing. For some unknown reason, I think Banana Republic assumes I am a male.

Banana’s automation tendencies were amusing at first, but now I get annoyed whenever I see their irrelevant emails. Now, I rarely open any of their messages unless the subject line references some special discount.

While personalization can be a huge marketing asset, incorrect personalization can cause major problems. About 75% of consumers get frustrated when receiving irrelevant content. Avoid upsetting your target audience by personalizing with correct data.

Changing personal information is a hassle

While incorrect personalization is dangerous, mistakes can happen. In the case that consumers receive irrelevant content, the process to change personal information should be easy and convenient.

Consumers that must navigate through an entire website just to change a small personal detail (like their gender at Banana Republic), may be turned off at the thought of spending extra time on a website. Updating personal information should be simple. If changing profile details is too difficult, don’t be surprised if your email unsubscribe rate is uncomfortably high.

Wrapping it up…

While automation can be a big time saver, make sure your company is doing it effectively! The above mistakes can be harmful to your company’s growth, but making small fixes to your automation strategy is simple. Learn how to keep your automation easy and effective.

Managing Multiple Channels with Automation

There’s no doubt regarding the effectiveness of marketing automation. Automation makes communicating with customers easy and has the potential to yield impressive results.

However, automation can be a nuisance for customers if not used appropriately. Automation fails when marketers present irrelevant, incorrect, or outdated content. At its worst, marketing automation can actually make a business lose customers.

Automation can be a little tricky, and automation across multiple channels can be tough. But a little extra effort can turn into a big payoff – a seamless, omnichannel marketing automation experience can be a marketer’s best friend.

So, what’s the point of marketing automation?

The end goal in most marketing automation campaigns is to drive traffic to the business’s website. E-commerce sales are steadily increasing, and the best way to make sales online is by increasing traffic to a website. Automated marketing provides relevant content for the right customers at the appropriate time. With automation tools, a marketer can create a personalized, 1:1 shopping experience without having to constantly attend to a customer’s needs.

Businesses who want to give shoppers an easy, convenient e-commerce experience should utilize automation via website, email, social media and call centers.

The Digital World:

Websites

Nearly every business that makes sales online uses some type of automation in their website. Website automation has a wide range of uses and may interact directly and indirectly with a customer.

Customers may experience automation through a business’s search engine, shopping cart, or user registration. Automation systems can also handle mundane, behind-the-scenes technical tasks like data backup.

Forever21's search engine predicts what you're searching for, and automatically directs you to the right product
Forever21’s search engine predicts what you’re searching for, and automatically directs you to the right product

The most important assets in website automation are leading pages. Emails, social media, and other web pages will often contain links to a site’s landing page. Landing pages are specifically designed to generate leads, as these links direct customers to a product page or collect customer data. Employing leading pages increases the likelihood for a completely seamless multi-channel automation experience.

Email

Marketers should be strong advocates for email automation. This channel has particularly high potential and a variety of different opportunities to market.

As previously mentioned, landing pages play a large role in email automation. Businesses can send customers emails with relevant products a customer may be interested in, and prompt a sale by providing a link to the products’ landing page. Businesses can also send “Happy Birthday” discounts or information about sales, with links to their site.

Banana Repulic's Embark confirmation email
Banana Repulic’s Embark confirmation email

Businesses can also connect brick-and-mortar experiences with digital. For example, Banana Republic sends emails to its newly registered members, welcoming them to their Embark program. Seconds after I registered with Embark, I received the following email from Banana:

This automated email confirmed that my membership with Embark. A few days later, I received another email from Banana’s Embark with information about in-store sales. I had officially connected with Banana in-store and online via email. And, even though I was not actually with a Banana Republic associate, I was still able to access relevant information at my leisure.

Social

Social media can be a strong asset for marketers using automation. The workout class provider ClassPass is one strong player in the social media marketing game. ClassPass provides a variety of yoga and pilates classes to members, and markets through automated social media ads.

ClassPass posts links to landing pages in their Twitter or Facebook feeds, sharing new promotions and products with their followers. Links within these posts lead ClassPass’s followers to more information about their offerings and a link to purchase workout classes.

ClassPass promotes new location
ClassPass promotes their new location via Twitter

ClassPass advertises to individuals that don’t necessarily follow them on social media, but may be potential clients using Facebook’s paid advertisement feature. Before I had heard of ClassPass, the following sponsored ad popped up on my Facebook feed.

Classpass

As a pilates-loving woman living in a city with ClassPass locations, this advertisement was perfect for me. Using my gender, location and interests, Facebook and ClassPass targeted me as a possible client in the workout-class demographic. My personal information determined that I would likely be interested in ClassPass’s products.

Both types of social media advertisements are particularly effective for ClassPass, because they reach the consumer when he or she is likely not preoccupied with other tasks. As most people access social media in their free time, ClassPass’s potential customers have the time to explore the webpage and consider new purchases.

Call Center

Although phone calls are not digital, company call centers also play a role in the e-commerce experience. When a customer wants more information about a product or a shopping experience goes awry, he or she can call the customer service line.

In years past, a seamless website-call center experience was nonexistent. However, with technological advances, call centers contribute to easy, seamless shopping. Call centers have quick access to customer data from past purchases and personal information, and can pull up detailed information about a customer’s shopping experience in seconds.

If a customer has a complaint about their most recent purchase, a call center can verify purchases and help the customer with a touch of a button. If a customer is looking for more information about an out-of-stock product, the call center may be able to recommend other products based on similar shoppers’ preferences. And if a customer needs to be redirected to a different department, information can be shared with the new company rep digitally, quickly, and easily. A call center’s automated material is key in providing a personalized experience for customers.

While adjusting marketing automation strategies may require a little extra time and effort, businesses should keep eyes on the prize: an increase in customer interest, product awareness, and ROI. And, as experts believe that marketing automation will gain popularity, marketers should be quick to employ an automation strategy.