- Fri 04/08/2016 11:24

Data is the Key to Getting the Most Out of Email Marketing

Email marketing is a very broad channel. That’s why any business that’s just getting started with email marketing or is trying to take their efforts to the next level may wonder where they should focus their attention. If the business you own or work for is in this position, data is the real key to making progress and seeing significant results. By understanding which types of data are most useful for your business, as well as how to collect and integrate that data into email marketing, businesses can connect with their customers on a deeper level. So with that goal in mind, let’s look at some different kinds of data and how they may be useful to your business:

Demographics

Age, gender and location data are useful for segmenting emails. For example, a retailer that sells men's and women’s clothing will get much better results by targeting upsells or other promotions based on someone’s gender. Both age and location can also be helpful for identifying which groups of customers are likely to spend the most or make certain types of purchases.

Preferences

Preferences are one of the easiest types of data to collect through surveys. A common example is a company in the travel industry asking people where they want to visit most. While there are a lot of interesting things that can be done with this type of data, the important thing to keep in mind is it may not be relevant forever. So if you’re going to take the time to gather this type of information, make sure that you have email campaigns in place that promptly put it to use.

Transactional

Businesses know that it costs significantly more to acquire a customer than it does to get an existing customer to make another purchase. Increasing the frequency with which customers make purchases can have a big impact on the bottom line. One way to focus on this goal is with transactional data. By digging into the average time it takes for a customer to make their second purchase, you can set up win-back email campaigns to reach out to customers who have passed that point without buying again. Something as simple as a discount code may be enough to make them buy again.

Behavioral

Like transactional data, it’s definitely possible to move the needle by harnessing behavioral data. Cart abandonment is a great example of this. Sending a series of emails to anyone who abandons an e-commerce cart without buying can close a significant number of those sales.

If you’re excited by the prospect of using data to get more out of your email marketing but are unsure of how to gather it all, learn more about how our data collection solution can make this process very easy for you.