Email marketing is all about capitalizing on potential opportunities with your target audience. Unfortunately, plenty of brands let a substantial portion of these chances slip by the wayside, all thanks to a lag in the marketing process. One of the best ways to overcome this hurdle, and get a leg up on the competition, is by setting up an email campaign based around triggered events. To learn a little more about how this approach works, as well as what your brand has to gain by making the switch, let’s spend some time breaking down the particulars of event-driven email marketing.
Understanding the Idea Behind Event or “Triggered” Messages
Before rearranging your entire approach to connect with consumers in the inbox, it’s probably a good idea to properly frame what a triggered email actually does when compared to a standard marketed message. Essentially, this type of campaign aims to fire off emails when something important – known as an event – happens in the lives of your target audience, instead of sticking to a set schedule.Naturally, the definition of an event varies widely depending on your brand, industry, and ideal consumer profile. Whether it’s a national holiday in your region, religious occurrence, or even something as simple as abandoning a cart in your online store at the last minute, all of these examples serve as events worthy of firing off a marketed message that goes beyond your standard branded newsletter or weekly email.
The Benefits of This Process
Obviously, leaving behind the “set it and forget it” mentality that comes with a normal email marketing operation adds some extra work to the process. However, spending the time to enact a system that develops and deploys creative email content in real-time does comes with some substantial benefits, according to George Passwater of Business 2 Community.In his look at the usage of triggered emails, Passwater notes that properly utilizing this strategy helps increase conversions and promote the rise of “brand ambassadors.” If you’re unfamiliar with this term, it’s a fancy way of saying increased consumer goodwill and the ability of word-of-mouth to help spread the news about your products, services, and email contact list. The big key here is that even though direct gains in conversions and the residual effect of additional brand ambassadors come from two ends of the awareness spectrum, both provide a significant boost to your email marketing return on investment (ROI.)
Finding the Right Opportunity
So now that you know how event-driven email marketing works, as well as what this process has to offer in return for your effort, what’s next? To start, Passwater suggests honing in on the events, or triggers, that matter most to your audience. Naturally, navigating this territory depends entirely on the information you currently have regarding these consumers. For some companies, the right opportunity comes in the form of sticking to major life events, like changes in marital status, birthdays, and holidays.However, the room for creativity expands significantly when the triggered event turns toward abandoned carts. For instance, firing off an email with the subject line “Forget Something?” after a consumer skips out on the final steps of a purchase is an easy way to frame the message in a fun manner. Having the body text of the message stay in theme, while gently reminding the shopper to return and finish the deal or offering an enticing discount, helps enhance this process and take advantage of this event.If you’re feeling extra bold with the humor portion of event-driven email marketing, don’t be scared to have a little fun with some of the more flavorful life events. In particular, 40th birthdays are ripe for the picking. Naturally, this can be a touchy subject for some consumers, but as long as you keep the copy found in this message lighthearted and engaging, you’ll have no problems connecting with consumers during these memorable events.
Taking the Next Step
Of course, just because honing in on triggered-events offers plenty of opportunities to connect with your audience, it’s far from a stand-alone approach. To truly take the next step with this type of email marketing, and any type in general, finding the balance between capitalizing on these events and keeping up a consistent traditional approach is vital to the success of your brand. As enticing as it may be to focus on only one side of the equation, connecting with consumers in the inbox doesn’t boil down to a single right method. Instead, maintaining a stable presence, while keeping an eye on the opportunity presented by these events, is your best chance to make a great impression with the viewers that matter most.
