In the times of crowded inboxes, you need to stand out or audiences will slip away
Rewarding consumers for supporting your brand is a positive step in customer relations.
And with the constant bombardment of email messages, offering rewards to previous customers may help develop a deeper relationship.
Last week, I reported on StrongMail’s new free report that discusses post-purchase programs, which help create a successful email lifecycle marketing guide.
For those who didn’t take a closer look at the report, I wanted to cover another important topic that it mentions: the process of creating a lifecycle reward email.
The four suggestions come from the report, and I provide extra insight on each.
Four tips for email reward campaigns
Tip #1: Determine appropriate time interval and send email – After a customer makes a purchase, you will need to send them the reward email. The time frame for doing so should be tested to determine the best response rate. Testing different time frames will provide you with the most effective time period.
Tip #2: Present the special offer – After you’ve determined the time frame you want to work with, send the customer an offer that will spur interest in making another purchase. Ideally, this offer will incorporate some form of discount on a product aligned with the customer’s interests.
Tip #3: Test offer – This entire process will incorporate multiple testing instances. The first one is with the time interval for sending the reward email, and the second involves testing the offer itself. After sending the reward email, monitor the actions taken by the recipients; are they taking advantage of the reward offer? If not, you may need to reconsider the offer and present something more desirable in future mailings.
Tip #4: Focus your offer – For best results, you need to create the offer to be very focused. Do not incorporate a lot of content or any confusing material. The main point of this mailing is to thank the customer and spur their interest in another purchase. Include a simple graphic, language thanking them for your support and showcasing your appreciation, and make the special offer unavoidable.
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Success through reward campaigns
By now, you may be wondering how effective reward campaigns can be.
StrongMail’s report briefly described a case study, providing that information. The company detailed was Cooking.com, who experienced significant results from their reward campaign.
Cooking.com sends a reward email after a customer’s last purchase. The reward email expresses the company’s gratitude towards the customer and offers them $25 off a purchase of $75 or more.
According to the report, “While the cumulative open and click-through rates for the campaign were similar to its median, conversion rates rose dramatically to 183% above media.”
Pretty impressive, huh?
To make it even better, the campaign’s revenue was 241% higher than the median revenue for email campaigns, generating “a $20 lift in average order size.”
Have you executed email reward campaigns? Have you experienced similar results, or are you still working out the kinks? I’d love to get your insight in the comments below.
And don’t forget to check out StrongMail’s “The Ultimate Lifecycle Email Marketing Guide: Post-Purchase Programs”. This free report includes a wealth of knowledge on designing effective post-purchase programs for your lifecycle email marketing campaigns.
