CRM Email Marketing
8 Great Campaign Ideas to Win & Keep Customers
Email marketing is a robust tactic for attracting new customers; McKinsey found it converts to sales at a rate of 40 times greater than social media. It is also the backbone of most lead nurturing strategies. And lead nurturing is essential for educating and building relationships with the estimated 50% of your leads that are not yet ready to buy…
Until now, customer relationship marketing (CRM) and email marketing were two separate apps existing in different worlds. Today, CRM email marketing brings them together, helping overcome the obstacles to the success of email marketing.
According to the experts, recipients open only 16 to 24% of emails. Also, only 3% click through one of the email links to a website, landing page or blog. In some ways, email is a gamble. If you were playing roulette, you’d be more likely to win four times in a row than you would be to send an email that inspires your prospect to click through. CRM email marketing helps you put the odds in your favor and create campaigns that engage and convert.
Targeted Email Marketing Campaign Ideas to Win & Keep Customers
What are the best ways to create emails that customers want to open, read and click? Here are eight CRM email marketing examples that have proven to work.
#1 Use the News for Nurturing
People love to be up on the latest news. So when you find out about industry developments relevant to your audience, it’s a perfect excuse to send an email.
What’s the best way to use the news?
- Personalize emails by telling recipients that you read an article and immediately thought about them (this assumes the content is relevant to them)
- Include a link to the article and add your thoughts, showing your finger is on the pulse of the market
- Having given your prospect relevant, valuable information, close your email by offering your assistance in taking advantage of the opportunity or combating the challenge noted in the news article
#2 Stay in Touch with Tools and Templates
If you can make your prospects’ and customers’ lives easier, you’ll be a hero.
Luckily, there’s an easy way to do this. Send them tools and templates that help them get their jobs done more rapidly and successfully. No, you don’t have to slave away to create anything yourself. Instead, you curate tools and templates created by other organizations. Because you and your company are up on the latest developments, prospects will begin to see you as industry experts and thought leaders.
#3 Create Personalized E-Newsletters
Most customers do not open an e-newsletter that’s designed for an entire list. So, trying to be all things to all people does not work.
If, however, you personalize an e-newsletter based on an individual’s interests, it’ll grab their attention and be likely to get them hooked.
To do this, you need to:
- Segment your list based on their demographics and interests
- Create an email template
- Change the template’s introduction and photographs to meet each segment’s needs
- Customize the subject line to increase open rates and even click-through rates
#4 Perform Annual Reviews
Use emails to offer customers an annual review of their experience with your solution or product. If you have annual renewals of subscriptions or contracts, schedule your reviews two months before renewal dates.
In the email, ask a few questions to pique customers’ curiosity about what they might learn in the review. Not only does this make it more likely that they will want to complete the review, but it will also make the time you spend with them more productive.
Of course, to conduct the review you’ll need to go beyond e-communications. Do it in-person or over the phone. Use open-ended questions—ones that start with where, what, why, when and how. These require more than one-word answers, drawing customers into the conversation and enabling you to learn as much as possible about whether customers are satisfied and getting the most out of your solution.
Perhaps you can help them increase their success. You may be able to introduce them to product features of which they are not taking full advantage. Alternatively, you may discover opportunities for up-selling and cross-selling. Whatever you discuss, however, it should revolve around helping your clients solve problems and take advantage of opportunities.
#5 Design a Referral Program
Referrals are a powerful way to build your business. So offering a referral program can be a win-win-win situation for you, your customers and the prospects they refer to you.
Your referral program can include discount prices as well as offering add-on services for free. Mention the discounts and freebies in your email subject lines to increase open rates. And to encourage action and create a sense of urgency, put a deadline on the program.
#6 Say Happy Birthday
Here’s something to be happy about…birthdays.
With everyone sending warm wishes for birthday joy, it seems that people are happier and more likely to respond on their birthdays. They are more apt to open birthday emails than any other promotional email. But it doesn’t stop there. According to Experian, if you send a surprise offer to birthday celebrants, they are almost five times as likely to buy from you.
For best results with this email marketing strategy, send your birthday wishes with a promotion tailored to someone’s interests.
#7 Offer Timely Promotions
Is anything in your product line changing? If you’re introducing new products, services or features, it’s a good time for a promotion. Or, to ensure attention, you can tie promotions into news-worthy events and holidays.
When you email promotions, encapsulate them in your overall messaging about the value your product, service or solution offers and illustrate how the buyer will benefit from it.
As always, create a sense of urgency by limiting the promotional timeframe.
#8 We Miss You
Here’s a targeted email marketing strategy that’s sure to pay off.
Consider this. It costs five times more to acquire a customer than to retain one. So, if your customers have fallen off the buying bandwagon, it’s time to give them a leg up.
Send a “Come Back” pitch to bring ex-customers back into the fold.
What’s the best way to lure them back? If you’re offering anything new since they last purchased—features, pricing or products—let them know about it. Offer a free subscription or a discount on a product. And, you guessed it, make it available for a limited time only.
If you’ve lost a high-value customer, you may want to offer a personalized review of their experience with an account manager. Check-ups with lost customers may give you the insights you need to reclaim the business and to service current customers better. If you find that clients were not reaping the full value of your offering due to a lack of understanding, offer additional support and training if they are willing to put your product or service to the test again.
