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Five Must-Try Campaign Ideas

Response path campaigns are far more complex than eNewsletters, but the returns are far greater. Here are some response path campaign ideas that you can try:

1. Educational funnel - Instead of just sending your subscribers a copy of your white papers, podcasts, blogs, etc., as you publish them, create specific funnels based on different topics. For example, a document management company could create a funnel for document imaging, another for enterprise reporting, a third for document workflow across organizations, etc. When someone downloads a white paper on workflow, the company could send a follow up email with a link to a workflow webinar, then another email with information on their enterprise workflow solution, and a final email offering a workflow analysis. At this point the sales team receives a notification on the lead, instead of being notified that someone downloaded a white paper. The leads are nurtured along the right path and are qualified before they reach the sales team.


2. Event marketing - Instead of just sending your entire list email after email regarding your event, build different campaigns based on the actions of your subscribers. Subscribers who register for your event can be sent specific show updates, special offers for related information, social links to share the information with their networks, post-show follow ups, etc. Subscribers who do not register can be sent special offers to try to get them to register and special offers to purchase presentations or other content after the event.


3. Product videos and reviews - Everyone loves to share their opinions after making a purchase, and shoppers love to read reviews and watch product videos while shopping online. Customer-generated content adds authenticity to your products and services and shoppers are relying on it to help them make purchasing decisions. This content shouldn't just sit out on your website - you can use it in your closed loop marketing email campaigns to share the information with subscribers at the right point in the sales cycle. Product videos and reviews can shorten the sales cycle and now, when every sale matters, you don't have to wait for visitors to discover this information on your websites. In his "The ROI of Email Relevance, 2009" report, David Daniels of Forrester Research cited that Bath and Body Works increased average order values by 10% and increased sales per visitor nearly 12% with its "Your Reviews are In" email campaign. It's a proven method that works.


4. Sales follow up - Marketers know that subscriber relationships don't end at the point of purchase. But if you continue to send the same types of emails that you send to non-customers, you won't build strong, lasting relationships or promote customer advocacy. Your customers are special and they need to feel appreciated. After a sale, send follow up messages requesting videos of them using the products or forms to submit a review, ask them to share their experiences with the networks, and, above all, let them know how valuable this information is to you.


5. Value-added sales campaigns - It's easier to sell to your customers than it is to nurture new prospects through the sales cycle. When a customer makes a purchase, you can begin a value added cross sell campaign offering related or complementary products. You can also offer unrelated products that were purchased by other customers, i.e. "customers who purchased X also purchased Y." Finally, if you know your product's shelf-life, you can follow up with a replenishable campaign, such as the one Listrak created for one of its etail clients. Based on the average time it takes for consumers to deplete the supply of the items purchased, the etailer follows up with a "time to reorder" email offer. These campaigns make it easy for customers to make a purchase so there is no excuse not to implement them.