Over the last couple of years Web 2.0 has received much of the press. Many marketers have struggled to understand how Web 2.0 will help improve revenues, without massive effort. Forming social networks or responding to self-run blogs is no easy task. So where is this extra marketing resource going to come from? More importantly why has the most efficient digital marketing tool (email) been so overlooked?
Even though email marketing has been around for years, it is still going through a major transformation. Although still seen as the most effective marketing tool available to marketers today with the highest ROI, the emphasis of how to create an effective email campaign has moved from metrics like open rate, click through rate to more quantitative exploration of the customer experience.
Knowing who opened an email and the links they clicked on does not tell us why someone will make contact or purchase or product or service. Nor does it tell us how many people got close to making the big decision to interact with us. The way to find out what type of journey the customer had we need to deploy Email 2.0 technologies.
These technologies include Hot Prospects. This is the awarding of points to customers as they travel to key areas of your web site. Then changing the campaign and retargeting those that gained the highest points score but didn’t convert. This monitoring of customer activity driven to your site by email give superb vision of the customer journey beyond humble open and click rates.
Those companies embracing this type of approach are finding that the conversation rates for the email campaigns are substantially higher. The messages are targeted based upon the customers recent interaction with your on-line brand and understanding their reluctance to convert is key in creating a convincing email strategy.
Other Email 2.0 technologies that are really enhancing the customer experience include Rolling Campaigns, Call To Action triggers and Super Targeting.
It is indeed exciting times for email marketers and those that embrace Email 2.0 as common practice.
