March Email Madness - 4 No. 1 Seed Strategies
A prediction for the No. 1 seeds of email marketing.
One of the great sporting traditions in offices around the nation is about to kick off. Basketball fans everywhere will soon be filling out their March Madness brackets. Some estimate a total of 8 million working hours will be lost around the country as workers who are stuck at their desk try to catch a glimpse of the action. People will be rooting for the Cinderella pick, their alma mater, the No. 1 seeds, or their bracket pick. One thing is for sure, they will be rooting passionately and will likely have an investment in the end result.
Email marketing also has its Cinderella stories and its blue blood No. 1 seeds. Here are the No. 1 seeds as I see them:
No. 1 South – meaningful list growth. Growing your database is challenging, but is essential for any long-term success. Growing your database with meaningful, responsive customers has to be priority No. 1. I’ve previously provided tactics that need to be synced to your goals. If your database isn’t growing as quickly as you like, or with the right quality of subscribers who are able to generate sales, I suggest you budget some time and money into implementing and optimizing list-growth tactics.
No. 1 West – maximizing customer lifetime value. Email continues to lead the charge as a communication vehicle for your customers. Very quickly and cost-effectively, you can offer a personalized message, get a reaction, and adjust your next message to maximize results. Leveraging lifecycle marketing from a welcome-services to a win-back campaign is a must-have for any email marketer. There is some legwork in terms of data integration and creative to get it started, but you can rest assured that your efforts will pay off in terms of engagement and revenue.
No. 1 Midwest – assured inbox placement. Yes, my director of deliverability keeps on reminding me there is no such thing as 100 percent inbox placement. Yet, this is something that we should all strive to reach. If your message isn’t making it to the inbox, you risk all your effort wasting away in the junk folder – or potentially blocked at the gateway. In addition to following best practices and building a positive sender reputation, you need to make sure you are sending content your recipients want to receive – and that they will mark you as a safe sender to ensure they get it without interruption. The more we listen to our customers and meet their needs, the closer we’ll get to 100 percent inbox placement.
No. 1 East – organizational balance. Email marketing is so popular that every officer wants to over-leverage the channel and every brand manager wants to get premium placement in the corporate communication stream. On the other hand, most email marketing departments are understaffed and underappreciated – after all, it’s only email! Finding the right balance and organizational placement is a No. 1 success criterion. Make sure you know the value of an email subscriber and regularly communicate your successes internally.
As for the Cinderella pick, how about Pinterest?
