Blog

July 25, 2011

Customer Lifecycle Email Campaigns See Better Engagement

Many consumers prefer email as their primary contact method with brands and companies regarding sales, promotions and new products.

Companies that honor this request and strategically engage recipients at the right time have much to gain, according to findings from email marketing solution provider StrongMail.

Using automated email marketing, also known as “lifecycle email marketing,” marketers can set up a series of email campaigns that deploy messages upon user-triggered actions such as completing a purchase or downloading a trial. According to StrongMail, 46% of companies worldwide are currently taking advantage of lifecycle email marketing.

Among those, the majority leveraged it for welcome programs (78%), and about half used it to maintain client communication in post-purchase campaigns (45%) and to continue post-sales revenue generation with cross-sell and upsell programs (44%).

Undoubtedly, the ability to communicate with clients in tempo with user-initiated actions allows companies to target customers with more personalized messaging. In addition, marketing automation can streamline email marketing efforts and methodically grow customer lifetime revenue, permitting companies to free up their sales force to focus on new business.

More than half (57%) of those using marketing automation saw positive gains in campaign metrics like open rate, clicks, purchases and registrations. However, a large percentage (39%) were unsure of the impact on their email marketing efforts, perhaps suggesting these companies lacked measurement capabilities.

Still, StrongMail found 75% of respondents with lifecycle email marketing programs believed they outperformed traditional outbound marketing programs like general email blasts.

Specifically, respondents said these automated programs had positive effects on customer experience: 67% cited increased subscriber engagement and 54% reported increased customer satisfaction and retention.

Companies also cited revenue-specific benefits, including increased revenue and higher ROI. In addition, 38% said they were now able to send fewer but more profitable email messages, highlighting the ability for marketers to be more strategic in their email deployment, ultimately achieving more with less.

Although email lifecycle marketing can benefit marketers and sales teams alike, companies must remember to maintain a healthy balance of automated and authentic client communication to best ensure company dialogue speaks to a customer’s true intent—not just to their actions.

Email Marketing, News
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