Successful e-mail marketing relies on data and timing

Joel Book

Marketing supports two primary business objectives: business getting and business keeping. Fortunately for marketing professionals, e-mail has firmly established itself as the most cost-effective tool for accomplishing both objectives. To nurture leads and drive purchase, e-mail can provide information that aids the prospect's decision-making process. To retain customers, e-mail provides content that enhances the customer's product usage experience, drives repurchase and encourages customers to share their experience.

This year, companies will once again increase spending in e-mail marketing as an effort to attract, engage and retain customers. The difference between the companies that succeed or fail will be data, or more specifically, customer insight.

If we as an industry have learned anything about e-mail marketing, it's that content relevance and timing are the two biggest factors in driving response. The key to personalizing e-mail content to the needs of individual subscribers is data. When customer insight data is put into action, it can help determine what information or offer to deliver to an individual customer and when to deliver it, dramatically improving e-mail performance.

Companies that truly understand their customers possess the ability use that data to make smarter decisions about what information to provide a prospect. Combined with today's interactive marketing technology, marketers are able to deliver that information with perfect timing.

Try these 10 tips for improving e-mail marketing performance in the new year including better data and timing.

1. Website design should engage visitors.
   
   
2. Use search engine optimization (SEO) to attract prospective subscribers to your website.
   
   
3. Deploy direct response text (SMS) at events to make it easy for customers to opt-in to your e-mail program.
   
   
4. Send a welcome e-mail to each new subscriber and thank them for subscribing.
   
   
5. Create a subscriber “preference center,” where customers can provide personal information and interests.
   
   
6. Develop e-mail programs that deliver information and offers invitations that “serve” the customer.
   
   
7. Use e-mail to provide information that aids the customer's decision-making process.
   
   
8. Use e-mail to enhance the product usage experience.
   
   
9. Leverage social media within e-mail to further awareness of your product and to attract website visitors.
   
   
10. Automate e-mail communications by integrating e-mail technology with CRM and e-commerce systems.