Spring is finally upon us! Warm weather, fresh air, and a flood of emails from our favorite retailers telling us all about their new spring line. Yet the stark reality is most of these emails won’t even be read, let alone acted upon. According to Mailchimp, the open rate for emails from retailers is only 20%, and the click-through rate is just a little over 2%.
So, how do you increase open rates and CTRs on your spring email campaigns to drive revenue to your business? You could try blasting the same link multiple times, or including a call to action button. You could segment your customers and deliver content based on their behavioral profile. Or, you can take it one step further by getting rid of your spring mass email campaigns, and opt for targeted lifecycle marketing campaigns.
Lifecycle marketing is knowing and influencing the path that a customer takes from prospect, to single purchase, all the way to best customer. Although each customer’s lifecycle is different, and there are many different milestones, we are going to focus on three campaigns that can help increase your revenue:
- Prospect. A customer has not made a purchase yet, but has signed up for emails and is looking around on your website. At this stage, you want to engage them in a Prospect Welcome Campaign. You send them a series of emails welcoming them to the brand, asking them to provide information about themselves, and educating them enough to want to make their first purchase.
- 1x Purchaser to 2x Purchaser. A customer has made one purchase, and your goal is to encourage them make a second purchase. Offering them a discount at the pinnacle point when they are ready to make their next purchase will help nudge them along. It is also important to keep your customer informed about your brand between purchases, so you provide them with relevant content and product recommendations to learn more about your brand.
- Best Customer. Best customers are the 3-5% of your customers that consistently and frequently purchase from you with shorter lag days, and they have a high lifetime value. Research has shown that these are the customers that drive the most revenue. By targeting them at the right time in their buying cycle, you help them continue to make purchases. Any upcoming events, product announcements or special sales would be a valuable message to drive the next purchase. You also want to continue to recognize best customers for their loyalty, by sending them surprise and delight offers, such as a no strings attached gift cards to your store, once a year.
Lifecycle Marketing In Action:
Take Jane, for example. Jane is excited to give her wardrobe a refresh now that the spring clothes are in stores. She is shopping around online, and notices a dress she likes from a retailer. She signs up for their emails, and gets a triggered welcome response, giving her more information about the different products they offer. With this information in hand, Jane goes into the store, browses the different departments, and makes her first purchase; the dress she saw online.
Based on what we know Jane, she is most likely shopping for herself. So, we wouldn’t email her about a spring sale on children’s sneakers. Instead, we could show Jane a dress that is a similar style, or if she doesn’t respond to that, pair of sandals that match her new dress. Lifecycle marketing campaigns aren’t based on the newest products, but rather the right content and offers a customer needs to move them to their next purchase.
We know that implementing a lifecycle marketing campaign will require changing ones mindset about how you engage with customers and prospects, but we also know that the ROI is much higher. Our client, Johnson and Murphy, saw a 50% lift in cross-category purchases just by implementing a Best Customer surprise and delight campaign, one part of a complete lifecycle marketing campaign.
Interested in learning more about the impact of lifecycle marketing? Check out our Lifecycle Revenue Calculator, which calculates the impact that just a 1% increase in customer conversion will have on your business. Additionally, you will be given a report that defines strategic opportunities to increase your customer lifetime value through lifecycle marketing.
