Email Marketing for Retailers
Retailers are doing amazing things in marketing, making the retail space one of the most competitive sectors to be part of. Therefore it’s important for retailers to stay on top of digital trends and stay ahead of the competition, or risk being left behind.
There are five pillars that must be included in every successful campaign; strategy, audience, message, channel and insight. By ticking off each pillar you can improve your email sophistication, no matter what stage of email maturity you are at.
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The Maturity Model Overview
The Pure360 Email Maturity Model is an industry-leading framework of email sophistication that enables email marketers to pinpoint exactly how advanced they are compared to the industry and start making steps to improve their results, stage by stage.
Use our Maturity Model to determine which stage of maturity your email marketing is currently at. This will help you to determine your most suited strategy goals and tactics throughout this guide.
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The Strategy
First things first, you really need to get your strategy locked down before you can jump into the arguably more fun, tactical elements of email marketing.
A strategy will inform all other elements of your email marketing. Once you have identified the maturity stage you are at, the relevant strategy below will help you determine your focus areas, based on your current resource and capability.
Maturity Model: Broadcaster
Your main goals are likely to be increasing your database so that you can reach as wide an audience as possible, in turn increasing traffic and those all important sales! To do this you will need to have strong email deliverability to ensure that your emails reach the inbox.
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Maturity Model: Segmenter
As a Segmenter you will be looking to increase your engagement with customers by improving your email targeting. You will be aiming to send the right message at the right time using simple data segmentation; targeting individuals with products that you know they will love and can’t resist.
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Maturity Model: Recommender
Once you’ve hooked your customers, you will want to keep them happy. Therefore at this stage you will want to increase customer loyalty, with the aim to retain as many customers as possible.
You can do this via a mixture of VIP activity to make your customers feel really special, as well as using highly targeted automations so your customers feel that you really understand them.
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Maturity Model: Predictor
At this more advanced stage you will really be aiming for a full, single customer view so that you fully understand your audience and are able to emulate a one to one conversation with your customers.
To increase purchases you will want to predict what the customer wants, offering them product suggestions and tempting them to buy before they’ve even thought about the purchase.
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The Audience
I know you’re keen to get started, but hold on for just a moment longer. Moving on from strategy, you also need to lock down who you are actually talking to. No one person reacts to marketing the same, so decisions on your audience will heavily inform all of your tactics.
Maturity Model: Broadcaster
Goal |
Increase audience size |
Strategy |
Increase your email list size and the amount of data you have on your subscribers |
Tactics |
Utilise data capture through website sign up forms, newsletters and promotional emails Use re-send to non opens to increase open rates Implement a Facebook newsletter sign up form to increase data capture |
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Maturity Model: Segmenter
Goal |
Increase audience engagement |
Strategy |
Utilise your data to increase targeting and send the right message to the most engaged audience |
Tactics |
Set up demographic segments based on gender, age and location, for instance Set up a basic preference centre to increase data capture |
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Maturity Model: Recommender
Goal |
Increase customer loyalty |
Strategy |
Increase your use of customer data to send highly targeted emails that focus on what the recipient wants |
Tactics |
Create multiple targeted segments from your data Use progressive profiling for data capture Track customer’s post click activity and gather insights Encourage word of mouth reviews on website, social media and review sites |
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Maturity Model: Predictor
Goal |
Increase positive brand awareness Increase customer retention |
Strategy |
To have a full, single customer view so that you can fully understand your recipients and their preferences |
Tactics |
Collate data from multiple systems to create a single customer view Gain a full sight of your customer journey Create RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) segments with data Practice new data capture techniques |
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The Message
Now we’re getting to the fun part! Get your creative juices flowing by crafting email messages that are really going to engage with your audience and increase those all important sales.
Maturity Model: Broadcaster
Goal |
Increase traffic to website Increase interest in products |
Strategy |
Increase email performance and tie product promotion into all marketing activity |
Tactics |
Feature products in your regular newsletters or comms Send out dedicated promotional emails Increase the frequency of emails you are sending, this can be supported by functionality such as Drag & Drop Editor Feature products in your regular newsletters or comms Send out seasonal campaigns such as Black Friday, Christmas and New Year sales |
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Maturity Model: Segmenter
Goal |
Increase customer engagement with message |
Strategy |
Personalise email comms so that they are as relevant to the recipient as possible |
Tactics |
Optimise your subject lines Use inbox preview functionality Tailor email templates to specific campaigns Implement simple email automations such as abandoned basket and unsubscribe confirmations Send different content to each of your segments |
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Maturity Model: Recommender
Goal |
Maintain and continue to increase customer engagement |
Strategy |
Use email comms as a retention tool to ensure customers feel special, if customers are looking to leave, use email to win them back |
Tactics |
Optimise campaigns based on insights Use multiple content to be optimised during send Implement trend-based product recommendations Implement re-engagement campaigns targeted to those who have not engaged in certain time period Implement unsubscribe campaigns to win back disengaged customers back Put pre and post event triggers in place |
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Maturity Model: Predictor
Goal |
Emulate a one-to-one relationship with customers |
Strategy |
Use customer data to highly personalise comms and emulate a one to one conversation with the recipient |
Tactics |
Use real time, dynamic content in your campaigns Gain a full sight of your customer journey Implement replenishment campaigns Use data to predict products that customers will want to purchase |
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The Channel
Now that you’ve carefully crafted your email message and you’re ready to hit send, you need to consider the channels that you want to promote your message on.
Maturity Model: Broadcaster
Goal |
Get the most out of main channel - email |
Strategy |
Focus on utilising your email platform to the best of your ability. Begin experimenting with social networks to expand your reach |
Tactics |
Add a newsletter sign up form to Facebook to combine social media audience and email Consider using SMS marketing for a wider reach |
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Maturity Model: Segmenter
Goal |
Begin engaging with customers on other channels |
Strategy |
Integrate your email marketing with other popular channels for increased exposure and engagement |
Tactics |
Establish a simple integration with CRM or eCommerce Utilise post to social functionality to share your emails on your social networks Begin practicing mobile first design |
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Maturity Model: Recommender
Goal |
Target customers on their preferred channels |
Strategy |
Have a full mobile strategy to ensure that your comms are effective for users on multiple devices and who are often on the move |
Tactics |
Create separate content for different devices Establish more sophisticated integrations Tailor your buying process to users who are on the move and using mobile devices Promote social media campaigns to engage with users on social platforms |
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Maturity Model: Predictor
Goal |
Merge all channels for seamless experience |
Strategy |
Ensure that all marketing channels and data capture points are synced up and speaking to one another, with all data collected at these points sitting in a centralised hub, such as Customer Intelligence. |
Tactics |
Position email as part of an omni-channel strategy Blend online and offline channels with email comms, such as offering in-store-purchase receipts Utilise other channels as part of your re-engagement strategy Set up triggers from external systems, such as in-store purchase Stay on top of evolving customer behaviour so that you are utilising all appropriate channels |
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The Insight
Congratulations! You’ve completed your email campaign! But the work doesn’t stop there I’m afraid. After every good campaign comes reporting and insight, and you will want to ensure you are focusing on the correct metrics.
Maturity Model: Broadcaster
Goal |
Track website traffic Track sales |
Strategy |
Use analytics to track peaks and dips in website traffic and purchases |
Tactics |
Put KPIs in place Track opens, clicks and website traffic Use an analytics platform to note peaks and dips in purchases |
Maturity Model: Segmenter
Goal |
Campaign attribution |
Strategy |
Begin practicing campaign attribution and have a fuller understanding of the success of email activity |
Tactics |
Track email metrics such as inbox placement, device reporting, heatmap and post click tracking Begin attributing revenue to specific campaigns Begin measuring ROI from email Use engagement data to alter send times Monitor device usage and conversions |
Maturity Model: Recommender
Goal |
Device and campaign attribution |
Strategy |
Begin practicing campaign attribution with a focus on device attribution |
Tactics |
Monitor device usage and conversions Use reporting to spot trends in data Attribute specific revenue to campaigns Accurately measure email ROI |
Maturity Model: Predictor
Goal |
Complete attribution of all channels, both online and offline |
Strategy |
Combine all activity into a single data hub for a full view of all marketing activity |
Tactics |
Combine online and offline data using platform such as Customer Intelligence Use all event data for modelling Put advanced metrics into place so that you can measure single customer value Utilise integrations such as faststats to determine if you are losing revenue at any points in buying cycle |
Our Conclusion
Excellent retail email is possible no matter what stage of the Maturity Model you are at. However, if you want to continue to move up in maturity and advance your email sophistication, you can follow these simple steps:
Step 1
Ensure you have explored and mastered all of the opportunities at your stage. Look into all of the suggested tactics to make the most of your current resource and strategy.
Step 2
Check out the next stage within this guide, as well as the associated strategy, goals and tactics. If this stage seems attainable then start putting processes in place to move up the Email Maturity Model.
Step 3
Speak to us! Our Email Maturity Model underpins all of the advice and guidance we offer. Therefore we are experts in helping you to move up the stages and get the very most out of your email marketing.
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