Bringing Humanity Back to the Web

A white paper
Bringing humanity back to the web
using email marketing and live chat
to build customer loyalty
Sponsored by GOT Corporation &Bringing humanity back to the web - GOT Corporation &
Using email marketing and live chat Email - From mass blast toto build customer loyalty personal relevancyMovies often romanticize the not-so-long-ago In its early days, email marketing gave"old days" when people took the time to shake entrepreneurs a quick and easy wayhands, smile, and make eye contact at the to communicate with their customers.corner general store. And in the "old days", Email marketing 'broadcasts' or 'blasts' wereconsumers stayed loyal to a certain store (and still are) an affordable and effective wayprecisely because it was on their corner. to boost sales, as they cost just pennies to sendand often pay for themselves with a single sale. In today's world, it may seem like there isbarely enough time to stay on top of running As customers become more email savvy, it isa business, let alone for perceived luxuries increasingly rare to find businesses relyinglike personal interaction over every transaction. solely on broad, non-targeted email blasts.But because the internet has made it so easy Readers know what they want (and what theyto hop from one vendor to the next, the onus don't), and it's up to email marketers to provideis on business owners more than ever to provide messages that are targeted to the individuala level of service that will earn their customers' if they want readers to open and read them.loyalty and trust. Creating one-to-one dialogue with customers isbecoming the new standard in email marketing. Trust is an essential ingredient in onlineshopping. Before even considering makinga purchase, a consumer has to trust in the quality Reaching out to contacts at critical points in your sales cycle canof the merchandise, the origin of the product, generate 15% more conversions, and are twice as likely to get conversionthe fairness of the price, the security of his credit rates of 5% or more than broadcast mailings (JupiterResearch, 2005).card number, the service of the merchant shouldanything go wrong.. The larger the purchase,the more trust is needed. A positive experience At the heart of this evolution is the ideawill earn you a repeat buyer who will also of relevancy: delivering the right message,refer new business your way. to the right person, at the right time. The firststep in achieving relevancy is to tailor messagesThe best way to gain the trust and loyalty of your to demographic attributes (like age, gender,customers is to build relationships with them on geographic location), or to the relationship youline. The question is how build relationships in have with an individual (staff, friends & family,an efficient, automated way, so that you don't leads, previous customers). end up sacrificing other parts of your business. Relevancy is also about timing. Reaching outto contacts as they hit critical points in yourMarketing messages that are personalized, targeted, and well timed sales cycle can generate 15% more conversions,are more likely to convert into sales, and can "increase net profits by anaverage 18x more than broadcast mailings" (JupiterResearch, 2005). and are twice as likely to get conversion ratesof 5% or more than broadcast mailings(JupiterResearch, 2005). The right emailmarketing product will let you scheduleIn order to build relationships you have to campaigns in advance. Take your messagecreate dialogue. In other words, listen to what automation to the next level by setting upyour customers are telling you so that you can automated, ongoing campaign-sending rules.go beyond mass marketing ("one-to-many") and You only have to set the rules once to haveinto truly individualized, "one-to-one" messaging. campaigns automatically launch at key lifecycleInvesting the time to do it right will pay off. moments, triggering welcome messages, first-Multiple case studies show that marketing purchase coupons, reminders to lapsedmessages that are personalized, targeted, and customers and product replenishment messages. well timed are far more likely to convert intosales, and can potentially "increase net profits Finally, relevancy is about reader-expressedby an average 18x more than broadcast interest. If you sell multiple products or havemailings" (JupiterResearch, 2005). mixed target markets, be sure to set up separatepublications for each, or run ... [download for more]