1. Introduce Them to Your Brand: The Welcome Email

You have a new subscriber to your email list. All that hard work has paid off. Well, almost. This is just the first step in building a relationship with a business— but it may be the most important step.

Welcome emails have 86% higher open rates and three times the transaction rates of standard marketing emails. So take advantage of this opportunity to wow them, win them over and make them a lasting, loyal customer.

Contextual Elements

1. Personalization

Personalized emails have 29% higher open rates and 41% higher click rates. Adding the recipient’s name is a great way to create a one-to-one experience

2. Live Blog Feed

Pulling in a live blog feed—or a social feed—adds value and extends the reach of thought leadership content. It also solves the pervasive pain point of any email marketer—creating new content to put in an email.

3. Live Polls

Include live polls in your emails to collect data on user demographics and preferences and build a consumer profile. Adding gamification elements, like live polling, can lead to a 100%-150% increase in engagement metrics.

4. Video in Email

Video is a great tool for increasing engagement. Including video in an email can lead to a 200-300% increase in click-through rate

Tip: Live polls can increase email engagement, but they can also be used to gradually build consumer profiles. By progressively collecting data on demographics, preferences and behaviors, you can tailor future emails to better target the individual recipient with more relevant messaging.

2. Move Them Down the Funnel: The Conversion Email

Email can be a highly effective tool for turning leads into loyal customers. A recent report shows it’s 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter. And, email marketing is reported as the most effective tactic for lead nurturing among top-performing B2B marketers.

But for brands trying to drive action with email, there’s still work to be done. Just grabbing the attention of a consumer who is already inundated with marketing messages can be a challenge. So, once you have their attention, deliver an exceptional, personalized experience that will set the tone for your relationship and help drive them down the funnel.

Contextual Elements

1. Location Targeting

Create a more personal experience and use dynamic rules to pull in the contact information for the recipient’s personal or local account manager.

2. Geo-targeted Directions

Offer added convenience with a live map and directions to nearby locations.

3. Live Twitter Feed

Continue to build trust by providing access to valuable information with a social media feed. Live social content also keeps email dynamic and engaging.

3. Create App-like Experiences: Event Emails

75% of marketers say events are among the most effective marketing tactics they use. They also usually take the biggest chunk out of your budget. So, getting people to your events—and creating an experience that will keep them coming back—is more important than ever.

By sending contextual emails with live data, you can create an app-like experience in the inbox that will help recipients get the most out of your event, all while you get your message out. You can also save time and resources by building one email that updates with new content before, during and after the event

Pre-event Email Contextual Elements

1. Personalization

Use CRM data or an API to target recipients with personalized messaging and call’s to action based on whether they have registered for the event.

2. Countdown Timer

Build excitement and a sense of urgency with a countdown timer that encourages recipients to register.

3. Video

Build anticipation by including video from last year’s event and encourage recipients to check back during the event to access a live stream of presentations.

What’s an API? Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are used across a variety of platforms and channels, and allow marketers to unlock data and add functionality to emails that enrich the user experience.

3. Create App-like Experiences: During-Event Emails

1. Personalized, Dynamic Messaging

Create a new message each day to welcome them to the event and highlight the day’s activities.

2. Live Streaming Presentations

Whether they’re in line for the restroom, at a break-out session, or stuck in traffic, you can offer your recipients access to key presentations from anywhere. Using a web crop, just pull in a live stream of your event from your website.

3. Live Social Engagement

Don’t forget to encourage social engagement. Pull in your Twitter feed, or use a hashtag to curate attendee tweets about the event

4. Geo-targeted Maps

Make it easy. Give them directions to the location from wherever they are right in the email.

Tip: Keep event-goers on track and informed with a live daily agenda in the email. Use a web crop from your website to pull in each day’s schedule. If the online schedule is updated with last minute changes, the daily agenda in the email will automatically update.

3. Create App-like Experiences: post-Event Emails

1. Personalized, Dynamic Messaging

Send customized messages based on whether the recipient attended the event or missed out.

2. Video

Offer video of highlights to drive traffic back to your website

3. Live Social Engagement

Add compelling, authentic visuals and increase engagement with social channels by pulling in a live stream of Instagram images.

4. Event Calendar

Promote upcoming events with a web crop of a calendar from your events page.

Conclusion

Email marketing now offers B2B brands exciting and innovative ways to get and keep customers. Incorporating these tactics into your email strategy is a simple win.