Anatomy of an electronic mail advertising technique: discovery to conversion

Content material continues to show itself as a useful a part of a advertising technique, for B2Cs and B2Bs alike. Manufacturers that make it their enterprise to create and serve participating, helpful content material can preserve their viewers , acquire their belief, and set up themselves as an authority of their subject.

Content material technique generally is a main a part of reaching enterprise aims – in accordance with Semrush’s 2022 State of Content material Advertising and marketing World Report, greater than three-quarters (78%) of manufacturers that achieved their enterprise targets have a documented content material advertising technique, whereas 81% of corporations that didn’t attain their targets wouldn’t have one.

There’s a task for content material all through your entire buyer lifecycle, although it has probably the most influence when it’s delivered on the proper second, which is the place electronic mail is available in.

Mapping the appropriate content material with the appropriate level within the buyer journey and delivering it by electronic mail might be extraordinarily efficient. With constant supply of high quality, related and priceless content material, you get higher high quality leads and prospects who’re extra seemingly to stick with you, in addition to the chance to study extra about your viewers and what they need, persevering with the virtuous cycle.

On this article, we’ll have a look at how one can successfully construct content material into your electronic mail technique in three steps: mapping the client journey, collating the appropriate content material, and bringing the 2 collectively in an electronic mail programme.

Step 1: Understanding the client and mapping their journey

As is the case with each advertising marketing campaign, the most effective place to begin is with an understanding of your viewers. As a primary step, draw upon any insights you’ve got about your current prospects to develop completely different personas, earlier than plotting the journey they take with you from consciousness to conversion and past.

Replicate on the prospect’s wants, challenges and considerations on every step of that journey. Then establish the factors at which they are going to be most receptive to content material from you and decide what that content material ought to seem like.

An necessary level to bear in mind is that your electronic mail and content material technique should be aligned with the corporate’s broader advertising targets. In accordance a 2019 survey from the Content material Advertising and marketing Institute, the 2 largest advantages of a documented content material advertising technique are aligning groups round widespread missions or targets, and making it simpler to find out which varieties of content material to develop.

If your enterprise aims are properly outlined, then targets for the content material technique will extra naturally comply with. It additionally means you’re much less prone to waste cash and energy on campaigns that don’t ship materials outcomes for the corporate.

Step 2: Bringing collectively the appropriate content material

By this level it’s best to have a good suggestion of the content material you want, and happily, there could also be no must create it from scratch. It could be much more environment friendly to replace or repurpose content material that already exists within the firm, which you’ll observe down with a content material audit. That is the place you’re taking inventory of all of the content material you’ve got in your website, akin to weblog posts, movies, guides, whitepapers and survey outcomes, noting what content material is performing properly or tends to spur motion.

Whether it is needed so that you can make new content material, make sure you’re interested by who your viewers are as people – the place they work, their life stage, their challenges, what they worth, the place they get their info – in addition to the place they’re on the client journey, to information what you create.

Step 3: Aligning content material with the client journey

After you’ve got an understanding of the seemingly journey the prospect will take with you and the content material to which they’ll be most receptive, it’s time to carry the 2 collectively along with your electronic mail technique.

With a bulk communication and advertising automation platform, like Everlytic, it’s potential to arrange automated workflows that ship emails in response to sure behaviours, making certain the prospect receives the appropriate content material on the proper time. Additionally, when you’ve got segmentation in place, you possibly can adapt the e-mail and personalise the content material inside it to swimsuit their profile, rendering it much more priceless.

For instance, when the Unbiased Institute of Training (IIE), South Africa’s largest personal greater schooling establishment, wished to convert potential leads into candidates and finally registered college students, they used Everlytic to construct a sequence of emails to nurture these taken with additional research.

A sequence of emails and texts had been despatched to contacts over time, which had been triggered by their behaviour. The content material of the messages, of which there have been 5 variations, would replicate the place the recipient was within the onboarding lifecycle. IIE attributed the marketing campaign as an element within the 20% progress in scholar numbers the next educational yr. This paced method additionally took among the pressure off their gross sales and advertising groups.

Probably the most helpful options of electronic mail is that it’s a two-way road. Sure, you’re sending the prospect content material that’s most related to them, although you even have the chance to study extra about them based mostly on their behaviour – what emails they open and when, the hyperlinks they click on – in addition to what they inform you instantly (by way of surveys, for instance). Harnessing these insights all through the lifecycle offers you the chance to tweak your technique if it is advisable to.

Some examples of the varieties of content material that work finest at every step of the client journey are given beneath, taking into consideration that any profitable marketing campaign – content material or in any other case – should stability the wants of the client with these of the enterprise.

Consideration

At this level of the interplay, you’ve got the prospect’s consideration. It’s now your job to assist them make an knowledgeable resolution. Academic content material, akin to guides, unique analysis or case research work properly right here. Though the final word purpose is for the prospect to transform, this content material shouldn’t be gross sales targeted – moderately, it ought to provide worth to the recipient whereas establishing your experience.

Conversion

The prospect is now a buyer. At this level, you may take into account sending additional details about the services or products they’ve simply purchased and associated objects they may discover helpful, laying the groundwork for an additional sale. You even have the chance to search out out extra concerning the buyer and their expertise by sending a survey, for instance.

Retention

Now is an effective time to reward the client for his or her enterprise and display your appreciation by persevering with to serve them priceless content material. From a enterprise perspective, one other goal may be to make the client an advocate, which may begin with an invite to go away a assessment.

The success of such electronic mail campaigns requires taking the lengthy view. This implies paying as a lot consideration to what occurs after the sale as earlier than it. At Everlytic, we image the digital advertising funnel as an hourglass, the place pre-purchase levels, together with engagement and analysis, symbolize the higher chamber, whereas post-purchase levels, together with retention and advocacy, are on the decrease chamber.

How does this work in apply? One technique is to make use of messaging to maintain your prospects engaged and happy lengthy after they first purchase from you. For instance, when tyre retailer TiAuto Investments (Pty) Ltd sought to maintain their prospects engaged after they visited certainly one of their service centres, they used Everlytic to develop an automatic workflow that might ship messages – by way of electronic mail or textual content – asking them to feed again on their expertise or reminding them when it was time for an additional service.

Since implementing the workflow, the corporate has seen a rise in service supply throughout its retail shops. The method additionally helped them higher handle their workload and perceive the way it may enhance their expertise.

Delivered on the proper second, content material might be the essential issue that transforms an undecided lead right into a happy buyer, or a one-time purchaser into a daily consumer. With a responsive electronic mail technique and supply system, it’s potential to create these moments at scale.