In today’s challenging economic climate, marketing teams are under increasing pressure to maximise ROI while at the same time improving customer satisfaction, reducing churn, and ultimately driving revenues.
As a result, many companies are trying to adjust their marketing approaches and processes. While the rapid and numerous advances in digital marketing provide a wealth of exciting opportunities to do this, it can also be a minefield for the uninitiated.
More marketing teams are now going beyond the email blast to online marketing which, if it is to succeed, must encompass two critical components:
1. A real-time, online, two-way communication channel for exchanging information.
2. An online data footprint.
The first of these components creates a dialogue. The second provides the foundation for enhanced tracking and analysis of online customer activity. These components make it possible for marketing teams to promote deeper and richer customer engagement experiences that benefit the business in both the short and long term.
Of course, there is no magic formula for success but there are some common elements that characterise today’s most successful marketing teams. Here are five best practices that are used by global corporations.
1. Online dialogues drive engagement
Increasingly sophisticated marketing automation software allows marketers to develop relevant, two-way online communications with individual customers. This builds trust and collects customer information that can drive data and customer communication strategies.
By delivering relevant and timely information to each customer using trigger campaigns, the marketer is also able to control and individualise the pace of data capture to preserve the delicate balance of ‘need to know’ and ‘nice to know’. The trick here is to respond to prospects and customers with the right information at the right time. The resulting dialogue should also help marketers more accurately determine the best time to engage in a buying discussion.
2. Use tiered campaigns
Campaigns and offers should not be considered ‘one-size-fits-all’ since creatively tailoring an offer can raise its real or perceived value with the customer.
Online marketing helps marketers move away from a single offer per customer segment to tiers of offers that can be extended on a first-come, first-served basis. This creates a sense of urgency and also helps to control the expense and liability associated with the offer.
With online automated marketing applications, customer interactions can be tracked and the offer automatically adjusted to the next tier when a marketing-defined threshold has been hit.
3. Drive real-time messaging
The most successful marketing campaigns are combining offline segmentation data with real-time online and site visitation behaviour to drive messaging and offer relevance and value. Online marketing capabilities enable marketers to collect meaningful, actionable online behaviour information (for example, abandoned shopping cart and product line browsing).
Real-time data can be linked with customer value or other segmentations to drive immediate relevant messaging. Offers can therefore be delivered when they are needed to stimulate a purchase, but not in the case of a customer that needs no incentive.
4. Monitor and respond
Online marketing applications can be used to monitor purchasing and other transaction patterns, and trigger reminders when atypical behaviours are detected. This allows marketers to actively manage and sustain revenues, and reduce the fluctuations in the sales cycle that are tyically associated with product-centric sales promotions.
For marketers who rely exclusively on a sales force and have no direct sales channel, the customer interaction can be integrated with the lead management process by notifying the right field person when a customer follow-up is required.
With a simple email blast, the marketer could not influence the desired behaviour in real-time, but online marketing helps them to engage the customer at the right time.
5. Manage customer satisfaction
Clearly it’s easier to generate repeat purchases among satisfied customers. Successful companies use a mix of triggered and scheduled satisfaction communication interactions (for example, post-purchase, quarterly, etc).
On an individual basis, the level of satisfaction can determine participation in a current campaign. If customers haven’t reacted for a certain period of time, this could then trigger a member of the customer care team to intervene. By actively linking customer satisfaction management to marketing activities, companies can raise the overall level of customer satisfaction. They will also improve retention, and optimise campaign performance.
