DIY Data
Relevant emails rely on data. The more you know about your subscribers, the more targeted your emails can be. Sounds pretty simple, right? It is, thanks to new, advanced features that help you capture and mine subscriber data and details that were difficult to acquire previously.
Email marketers have always known the value of customer data. From lengthy opt-in processes to elaborate preference centers and monthly surveys, marketers have devised ways to ask subscribers to tell them what information to send. Over the years, marketers have streamlined these processes so they are only collecting the pertinent data needed for segmented campaigns, but they are still dependent upon the subscribers to provide, and in some cases manage, the information themselves. Which not only limits the amount of data that can be obtained from each subscriber, but it also leads to missing data from subscribers that do not provide complete information.
Marketers needed a way to gain control of the data capture process as the information, when used correctly, can become one of an organization’s greatest assets.
Dynamic profiling is one of the tools that put the control back into the marketers’ hands as it is a behavioral tracking tool that automates specific data capture. Behavioral tracking is similar to clickstream tracking in that it monitors the information that is being viewed. However, clickstream tracking usually refers to monitoring visitors’ pathways through your website while behavioral tracking of email campaigns refers to monitoring the links that recipients click on in an email message. Dynamic profiling automatically captures each click, giving you the opportunity to analyze the information that each subscriber is viewing. It provides undeniable proof of what information your subscribers are reading and what information they are ignoring. To learn more about dynamic profiling, read Listrak’s white paper “Improving Relevancy of Email Campaigns: Simplifying Data Capture with Dynamic Profiling,” or view its recent webinar “Driving Dynamic Content Campaigns through Dynamic Profiling.”
Another tool that gives marketers more control over their data capture is web analytics. Regular email metrics can only follow a recipient up until he or she clicks on a link in a message. Once the recipient clicks-through the message to go to the sender’s web site, the email metrics end and web analytics take over. Web analytics track the clickstream data users generate as they visit page to page on your web site. An email program that is integrated with web analytics allows you to tie goal conversions back to a specific email send, or even track goal conversions hourly to determine the exact time of day that you received the most traffic and business on your site. To learn more about Google Analytics, read Listrak’s white papers “Using Google Analytics to Increase Reporting Capabilities” and “Email Marketing Metrics: Looking Beyond Open and Read Rates.”
Email marketers can get even more specific purchasing information by integrating their email marketing solution with other information stored in other customer databases. For example, an email marketing solution that has been integrated with the organization’s CRM application provides additional insight into each subscriber that couldn’t be captured through email marketing alone, such as purchase history. This way, marketers can target customers that purchased a specific item and send them a relevant email containing cross-selling information on a related product. To learn more about integration tactics, ready Listrak’s white paper “Email Marketing Best Practices: Integration Tactics that Work.”
All of these tools provide a wealth of information on your subscribers. Best of all, you capture the data behind the scenes without relying on your subscribers to tell you what they are looking for or what information to send them.
Instead of relying on the information that subscribers filled out during the opt-in process, which could have been months or even years before, you can use the raw data gathered with each and every email send to target the subscribers with current information that fits their immediate needs. For example, an engaged couple could register on a kitchen supply store’s web site for Le Creuset cookware and Denby place settings, and during the registration process, they could both register to receive emails from the kitchen shop. The vendor has a lot of information on what the subscribers like and what they’re looking to purchase, which it can use to send targeted information to both subscribers. However, after the items have been purchased, both subscribers’ needs will change. If the kitchen shop continues to send them targeted messages regarding the Denby dishes they already have, the emails won’t convert. However, if the kitchen shop uses the information captured through dynamic profiling and web analytics along with the data stored in its CRM database, it could send them relevant, timely campaigns. If an Italian cookbook was purchased, the kitchen shop could send an email featuring Le Creuset’s pasta pot. Because the email contains the subscribers’ brand of cookware and compliments a recent purchase, there is a good chance the email will convert to a sale.
Using dynamic content, the kitchen shop can build targeted email campaigns that fit all of their subscribers’ purchasing habits. Dynamic content is a complex mail merge technique that relies on a single message template with multiple customizable fields and previously created blocks of content. These fields merge with the company’s subscriber database to pull the correct content blocks based on the subscribers’ preferences. Many companies are finding that cross-selling through email after the initial sale is a better alternative to cross-selling during the sales process itself as it keeps the checkout process simple and smooth so the customers remain focused. If the online checkout process is complicated and confusing, there is a higher chance that the shopper will abandon the cart. Dynamic content is the tool you need to deliver highly relevant and timely email messages. To learn more about dynamic content, read Listrak’s white papers “Creating Relevant Email Campaigns with Dynamic Content” and “Dynamic Content Strategy: Five Essential Campaigns.”
