When it comes to how to connect with customers across any stage of the marketing funnel, the choices in the digital sphere are endless. But what about when you have customers’ email addresses?
Well, depending on how you acquired the customer emails and where the customers may sit within your customer journey funnel, the options vary. Below we look at some of the best marketing tactics to use when you have a customer email list. We’ll also consider how the emails were obtained and what touch point this relates to along the sales journey.
Top Marketing Strategies for Email Lists
Some of the best marketing strategies for applying an email list work across the customer journey, while others are better for a specific stage. Below, look at six marketing options for what you can do with a customer email list. Each also includes a couple of tips to get you started or optimize existing efforts.
1. Direct Email Outreach
Usually, this is a sales team effort, but direct email outreach is an ideal first-touch tactic for B2B and some B2C brands. The purpose of these can vary, but direct email outreach has been an excellent way to develop new sales leads, find investors, and capture media attention.
Tips:
- Personalize emails for a greater chance at open and click rates
- Keep email copy short, succinct and punchy
- Focus the purpose of your email on 1 or 2 items in the first touch
- Provide at least one learn more and one conversion opportunity
Benefits:
- Grow your prospect list
- Drive no-cost or low-cost conversions
- Capture new demographics and customer bases
- Grab the attention of key journalists and media leaders where news releases may be falling short
2. Drip Marketing
An older tactic recently resurfaced in popularity, drip marketing. It has become an effective way for brands to combat the constant barrage of texts, emails, and ads that individuals receive daily.
For those who aren’t as familiar: Drip Marketing is a type of communication strategy in which prospective leads and customers are served pre-curated content over time. The content may take various forms, including media, but email is the most common. Other options include social media drip marketing and direct mail drip marketing.
Hubspot has a fantastic blog on drip marketing here, along with a few key examples. Below are some tips and benefits.
Tips:
- Personalize emails for a greater chance at open and click rates
- Ensure drip emails create a building sense of desire or excitement
- Provide a mix of content that quickly engages and captivates
- Always include at least one opportunity to click
Benefits:
- Drive new leads
- Increase lead conversion rates
- Increase sales and profits
- Drive organic engagement around products, services, events, or the brand overall
3. Sponsored InMail
Another fun tactic that’s become more effective is LinkedIn InMail Ads. A LinkedIn premium feature that can be used for direct outreach or back-end marketing outreach on behalf of sales, this is an effective lead generation and content engagement effort.
LinkedIn InMail allows a user to directly connect and engage with another LinkedIn user, including 2nd and 3rd-degree connections. And yes, you guessed it, you can also use specific email lists for targeting with Sponsored InMail Campaigns.
According to LinkedIn, InMails get 10-25% response rates. This is even higher than the average cold email sends.
Tips:
- Personalize messages with recipients’ industry and other key demographic characteristics
- Use captivating subject lines
- Provide a freebie – offer, gift card, or informative piece of content (like a whitepaper or quick video)
- Don’t hit them with the sales punch immediately
Benefits:
- Find and develop new leads
- Increase conversions and close deals faster
- Enable marketing campaigns to support sales-focused efforts and the sales team for more automated first-touch outreach
4. Facebook and LinkedIn Ads
Even with iOS updates, the beauty of having a customer email list is that you can use it across many social media advertising efforts. Specifically consider Facebook and LinkedIn, where having those emails can mean a more strategic, effective, and cost-efficient campaign.
Email lists can be uploaded on Facebook to target those users directly with any Facebook- or Instagram-located ad. The exception is if the email you have doesn’t match their social media account.
With LinkedIn, the email list you have may be personal or corporate. It’s even better if it’s the later, but either may work well depending on your goals and business type. You can even improve the accuracy of your targeting if you know the person’s place of employment.
Tips:
- Create a customer list Custom Audience on Facebook
- Test the different distribution options, then optimize for top performers
- Leverage media ads or carousel ad formats
Benefits:
- Connect with new or existing customers
- Drive conversions and leads at lower costs
- Build brand awareness and engagement with products, services, and content
- Execute more strategic and focused campaigns
5. Customer Feedback Surveys
This is a great way to build stronger relationships with existing customers and help your business innovate and grow quickly. In today’s consumer-centric world, customer feedback is vital at every stage of any business.
Using a customer email list to send out customer feedback surveys is something every brand should consider at least once a year, if not more frequently. For B2C businesses where customers frequently buy products, consider an automated feedback or review survey that’s sent after delivery or a week after.
Regardless of the frequency and purpose that best fits your goals, customer feedback surveys are a simple retention marketing effort to use with email lists.
Tips:
- Consider how feedback is used in the business
- Make it easy to capture feedback with forms, checkboxes, drop-down options, and star ratings
- Don’t over-send feedback surveys
- Only send if you plan to use the data and insights
Benefits:
- Show the brand cares about customer satisfaction and views
- Drive innovations with products, services, and operations based on customer feedback
- Build more trustworthy and loyal customer relationships
- Gain immediate data on consumer behaviors, opinions, and product performance
6. On-Going Email Marketing - Newsletters, Seasonal Content & Announcements
An estimated 4.3 billion people use email, and emails have a proven strong ROI. One study found that for every $1 spent on email marketing, businesses could potentially see an average return of $42.
A solid consumer-centric email strategy typically consists of newsletters, seasonal content sends, product announcements or coupons, and upcoming events. It’s one of the easiest engagement tactics a brand can take to keep customers continuously engaged and drive return shoppers. From event invites, sharing blogs, or recommending products during holiday sales.
Having an email list makes connecting and engaging super easy and efficient year-round. In fact, most brands find email an integral part of their digital strategy.
Tips:
- Ensure content is valuable to your customer base.
- Keep email copy short, succinct and punchy
- Use catchy subject lines
- Don’t be afraid to incorporate newer elements like GIFs, movies, and emojis
Benefits:
- Drive higher sales and ROI
- Build stronger, more trusting relationships with customers
- Improve brand loyalty, perception, and awareness
- Grow content engagement
