A Look at Lifecycle Email Marketing

Are you sending email marketing campaigns at the right times?

Email marketers have a few campaign approaches.

They can send to their entire file as a bulk email. This is typically done for specific one-off products, services or events.

The other method focuses on a deeper relationship between sender and recipient. This relationship often begins with a welcome email after the email recipient opts into the email list. From this point on, each name on the email file is a relationship that is nurtured based on the activities and buying habits of each recipient.

The latter approach is referred to as email lifecycle marketing, and can be quite effective in reaching your core audience members with the tendency to spend money on your brand.

Today, let’s take a closer look at lifecycle email marketing and what it can mean for email marketers.

Current email actions vs. lifecycle email marketing

How do you determine the life span of an email recipient? Kara Trivunovic, Senior Director of Strategic Services for StrongMail, discussed how lifecycle email marketing helps understand the user experience in this article. “The ability to map out the various points of entry, discernable and common behaviors/interactions, innate renewals or refill opportunities, moments or timing of common disengagement or abandonment, and seasonality are the first step in deriving success with your life-cycle communications,” she said.

No single lifecycle email strategy will work for every company. For instance, B2B and B2C companies have different audiences, which would be a clear reason why different strategies would be needed for each. Only you and your organization can determine what type of lifecycle email strategy would suit your audience and content the best. However, there are a few tips that should be considered while developing your strategy.

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Seven parts of the lifecycle email strategy that could incorporate emails

Timing is an important part of the email relationship. You want to send emails at the most opportune time, while not overstepping boundaries by sending too many emails. Here are a few moments when sending an email would be appropriate, and often times appreciated.

-As a subscription is started. When users opt into your email list, it is your first chance to make a good impression. Thank them for interest in your content and inform them of what your website contains and what they can expect from their subscription.

-After a purchase is made. Contact the buyer with a confirmation note so the transaction is documented. Proceed to thank your buyers for their business and offer further communication if they have questions or comments.

-Shipping information or delivery. If a physical product is involved, inform the buyer when the item is shipped, or email to make sure delivery was made accurately. In such an email you can remind them to check shipping details if they are available.

-After a customer service call. If an audience member contacted your business and had a positive conversation with a representative, they likely have a higher regard for your organization at that time and your company is on the top of their mind. Sending an email aligned with content of interest could lead to a sale.

-Follow up communication after a purchase. At this juncture, you can thank your customers for their business and ask for reviews or comments relating to the quality of the product, service, live event or sales process.

-User inactivity. With the amount of email messages people receive, it’s not surprising that some email newsletters or marketing messages get neglected. Send an email reminder to people who have engaged with your emails in three to six months. It may be enough to remind them of your content.

-Opt-out email. When users opt out of your list, you can send them a final email, asking why they decided to leave. If you get a response, it may be help correct certain actions to retain more subscribers in the future.

Are you already implementing a comprehensive lifecycle email marketing strategy? Please share your insight in the comments below, so the Mequoda community can learn more about your first-hand experiences.