Develop “Lifecycle” For Email Campaigns

A new study out from email services provider Silverpop indicates marketers should develop a lifecycle to deliver the right message at the right time for the consumer.

by Kristina Knight

“Commercial email. . .[is] a branding vehicle, a direct response vehicle, an alerting method as well as a delivery vehicle – sometimes all at once,” said Elaine O’Gorman, vp of strategy for Silverpop.

To that end, email marketers need to understand their customers before any email messages are sent. Targeted lifecycle programs help to build that customer relationship so that marketers can “see” the right time to send messages.

First, make sure it is a strong message that is easily understood. Transactional messages have the highest readership. These give the opportunity to up-sell, cross sell and build the brand.

Next, consider newer ways to engage readers. Utilizing RSS (Really Simply Syndication) and SMS are newer ways of getting your messages to users on their time table. It also reduces the amount of mail in their inbox, a plus since many users simply delete mass mailed messages.

In a related study, Silverpop found that, contrary to popular belief, including several links in a single message won’t result in more conversions. Having between six and ten links will actually result in fewer click throughs. The study also found that including dollar off sales rather than percentage off sales garnered more clicks.