E-mail Marketing: Who is Your Audience?

This is a scenario that I have witnessed many times by those who are trying email marketing for the first time. With a bit of forethought it could have been all so different.

The Seed is Planted… But Be Careful!

You’ve been reading about email marketing and realise it is red hot at the moment (actually it has been for a long time), and with literally everybody talking up the benefits decide it’s time to get on the bandwagon to find out what all the fuss is all about.

First thing you do is open an account with a third-party e-mail service provider, grab a CSV file and upload all your customer contact details. An hour or so later you’ve managed to put all your latest specials into an e-mail template and presto…. you’re on the e-mail marketing bandwagon.

A few days later you take a look at the results… holy crap you’ve made a bunch of extra sales and think to yourself… “why didn’t I start doing this years ago”… the only trouble is, for the next six months you naïvely pound the crap out of your list with new promotions every couple of days and the only way you can now get a response is by offering bigger and better discounts.

Sadly, not only have you pissed off your customers, ruined your email list and destroyed a highly effective marketing channel, you have also devalued your brand by training your remaining customers not to respond to anything but a discount. What a shame!

What Should I Have Done?

The real secret to e-mail marketing really isn’t a secret. Even though it may seem like a big waste of time, the real secret is that the bit of time you spend on identifying who is your target audience will make the world of difference to your e-mail marketing efforts.

In other words, answer this question; who are my customers and what sort of information can I frequently e-mail without pissing them off? Or even better, how can I use e-mail to strengthen my relationship with my customers and prospects, while at the same time get them to buy more?

The reason you need to spend some time identifying your target audience is that any decent e-mail marketing provider will provide you with a range of powerful tools that will give you the flexibility to segment your customer database, thus allowing you to send out highly customised e-mail campaigns that are based on what you already know about them.

Here Is an Example

Lets say your online store sells all types of surfing gear and you have been able to identify three distinct target customer groups based on what has been previously purchased from you. From these target customer groups you have then been able to create three typical customer personas to help you visualise how to prepare e-mail marketing campaigns for each of them.

Customer 1: Barry the Longboarder

Barry has just turned 48 and lives in Queensland, Australia. He is a self-employed plumber and has been surfing since he was a teenager. He recently purchased a new longboard from your store. Barry is married and more than likely has children and a large home loan.

Being older, with hefty family commitments Barry is not going to be inclined to impulse buy. He is inclined to purchase high-end products, but conducts plenty of research before committing. You know from his previous purchase that he is a longboarder, so you will be able to concentrate on providing him with longboarding relevant information.

Campaign Example: set up an auto responder to go out two weeks after a purchase of a new longboard with tips on how to look after your board and provide a comparison article on the best types of carry cases for travelling. You should also include in this e-mail a time sensitive coupon to purchase one of the reviewed carry cases at a discount.

Customer 2: Matt the Shortboarder

Matt is a 28-year-old financial adviser who lives in Torquay, Victoria. About 9 months ago he bought a shortboard and three months ago some sunglasses. Matt is still single, has a high disposable income and more than likely has no commitments such as children, home loan etc.

Campaign Example: you have a great deal on ultra thick wetsuits, only suitable for cold climates and realise that there is no point in sending it to your 10,000 subscribers living in Queensland. You decide to use the powerful segmentation ability of your e-mail provider to create a campaign that targets previous customers that live in Victoria and South Australia (like Matt) that offers them a free set of booties (to keep your feet warm) with every new purchase.

Customer 3: Laughlan the Bodyboarder

Laughlan has just turned 17 and is still at school. Three weeks ago he purchased a new bodyboard which he was able to save up for through his part-time job at the supermarket. Being young and wanting to impress his mates Laughlan is always keen to get the latest and greatest products.

Campaign Example: you expect to receive the latest Churchill bodyboard fins into stock in two weeks time and decide to generate some buzz by sending a campaign to all bodyboaders announcing that stock will be limited and pre-ordering will be the only way to guarantee getting hold of a pair.

I am sure that Laughlan would be a pretty good candidate, and you definitely don’t want to send it out to the other two customer groups due to their deep disdain of bodyboarders (just joking ).

2 Simple Groups To Help Get You Started

Generally, if you are taking part in online commerce you will want to get started with e-mail marketing sooner rather than later, and should initially look at targeting two distinct groups: those who are customers, and those you would like to be customers.

Target 1: Your Customer Group

If you have persuaded somebody to buy something from you once, there is a fair chance that they will buy from you again (so long as you have looked after them reasonably well).

Think about it, this person has at some stage trusted you and your business enough to progress from a prospect to a paying customer. This is no small feat in such a noisy, faceless marketplace as the Internet.

Hopefully in the process of becoming a customer you have been able to obtain a pretty detailed personal profile of each customer as they place their order. Fortunately most commercial shopping cart software providers make collecting this data really easy and will automate the process of filtering customer details to your e-mail service provider.

You will want to start by adding the more personal details (name, age, gender, marital status, hobbies, education etc), geographic details (town, state, postcode etc), business/employment details (company name, position, salary, revenue details, etc). This type of information will be handy for personalisation (e.g. use first name) and segmentation (e.g. send to only certain geographic areas).

After you have collected the more personal details you will need to also identify what products they have purchased from you. The product(s) that your customer has purchased will help form the basis of how you will be able to construct highly targeted campaigns based on known interests and help build on your relationship with existing customers by providing complementary information and offers.

Anything that you think is relevant is worthwhile including, even if you don’t end up using it. The beauty of e-mail marketing is it allows you to effectively use the data collected to communicate with your existing customers in a very subtle but highly targeted manner.

E-commerce merchants are in the fortunate position of being able to obtain plenty of personal data through the checkout process, just make sure that your privacy policy reflects what you’re collecting.

Target 2: Your Prospective Customer Group

The focus of your e-mail marketing strategies when it comes to prospective customers is a little bit different to that of your existing customer base. A prospective customer will more than likely have limited experiences with your company and will not initially be as forthcoming with personal details, making it difficult to pursue any detailed targeting.

When identifying initial data collection points for prospective customers you should be satisfied with nothing more than a first name and e-mail address. It then becomes your job to build a relationship with these prospects through your e-mail marketing message, ultimately moving them out of the prospect group into your customer group.

Creating Your Campaigns

The impact that e-mail marketing can have on your business is significant and your results will most likely come down to how well you are able to build a relationship with your customers. Identify who they are and what sort of information they would like to receive.

Once you have identified your customer groups you will be able to strategically create highly targeted messages that correspond with your subscribers wants, needs, and desires.

Get your targeting wrong and you will risk a negative impact on your business….. however get your targeting right and you will have yourself a licence to print money.

The secret to getting your targeting right is hidden in your preparation. Spend some time profiling who your preferred audience is and follow it up by determining what type information they would be most pleased to regularly receive from your business.

Image Credit: echoforsberg