According to a MarketingSherpa study, 39% of marketers say that "sending automated, behavioral or action-based email messages" is the best tactic for increasing email marketing effectiveness.
And yet, an Econsultancy survey that asked marketers "which of the following practices are part of your email marketing efforts?" yielded that only 20% of marketers use behavioral email marketing within their strategies.
Behavioral email marketing
Sending targeted email messages to your contacts based on their actions and behavior is one of the most valuable email marketing strategies a company can adopt. So why aren't more companies using this type of strategy?
Lack of technical knowledge and a somewhat narrow strategic vision make behavioral email marketing a difficult task, as there is not much education about it.
This article's mission is to guide you along this still little-traveled road.
What it is and how you can, thanks to MasterBase®, implement it effectively in your business.
What is it?
Behavioral email marketing is the practice of sending email messages to contacts in a database based on their interaction with your company on various channels: social networks, email, your website and others.
Every interaction a user has with your company should have an expected and appropriate reaction.
Consider that a traditional email marketing campaign promotes an invitation to a webinar, to view an infographic or to download an eBook. Then, you create the segment of people who might find the offer valuable. Finally, a message is sent to that group of people, without necessarily having been previously approached.
On the other hand, behavioral mailings try to take a user-centric approach. In other words, it is the actions of visitors to your site that dictate what messages they will receive, not the simple opinion of a marketer, boss or other company agent.
It is, in essence, the longed-for materialization of the "golden bullet" for any marketer: the segment of one.
3 steps of behavioral email marketing
Now that we have defined what it is and its importance, we will highlight the 3 steps necessary to implement a behavioral email marketing strategy in your company.
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Tracking how people interact with your business
The first and most important step in executing an effective behavioral email marketing strategy is to study exactly what you can elicit (listen), manage (interpret) and act upon (communicate). After all, you can't send great behavioral messages if you don't know the different behaviors to use as triggers.
The modern marketer has many different channels at his disposal to attract and engage people: a website, social media and email, and we can also include marketing activities such as webinars and surveys.
Every channel is an opportunity to listen to users, learn more about them and start a conversation based on what you collect. This means you need a system that tracks, stores and reveals information about your visitors.
What is sought is to obtain from people and then store information of the type:
- Website activity
- The engagement generated in email marketing
- Activity in social networks
- Submission of forms
- Conversion information
- Data from other embedded software
- CRM or ERP information
You can then use that information to send messages to those who display this activity.
Example: An online fashion retailer implements a tracking system that records the product categories that each user visits most frequently. By identifying that a segment of users shows recurring interest in sportswear, the company automatically sends emails with new collections and exclusive offers in that category, increasing the conversion rate by 25%.
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Determines the important actions that a user may take
Behavioral messages are very effective because they are triggered by a prospect's behavior. As a result, these messages are almost never a surprise. They are an expected reaction to an action taken by a user.
That's the real power of behavioral messages: they are triggered by the user, not the marketer.
The decision the marketer must make is which user actions to react to. For example:
- eBook / content form submission: sends a transactional email confirming a download.
- View specific content on the website: send targeted follow-up content. If someone visits a specific page, send them additional or complementary content.
- Engagement/non-engagement messaging: send them a message with another specific CTA to incentivize increased engagement.
Other actions you might consider as initial triggers are visiting a pricing page, showing activity on social media, subscribing to your blog or having read a specific blog post.
This is where knowing your contact base becomes really important.
Once you know what can be tracked, creativity is the only limit!
Example: A software company detects that a user has repeatedly visited its pricing page without completing a purchase. In response, it sends a personalized email offering a free demo and highlighting relevant success stories, resulting in a 15% conversion of these leads.
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Initiate a conversation with the user based on that behavior
The last step is to define the texts that will lead to a fruitful conversation with the customer, based on this behavior.
If done well, what you are achieving is a conversation.
Points to consider in any behavioral strategy
Behavioral email marketing is a highly personal experience. Basically, it has created a segment of one, which, as mentioned earlier, is the golden bullet for any marketer.
It should be designed to create a truly unique experience for each person who interacts online with your company.
Example: An online gym notices that a user has completed several strength-focused training routines. Based on this behavior, it sends an email with recommendations for specific strength training supplements and accessories, along with testimonials from other users, which increases cross-selling by 20%.
Implementing a behavioral email marketing strategy allows you to connect more effectively with your customers by offering relevant content at the right time.
If you are looking for a reliable and experienced platform to manage your email marketing campaigns, MasterBase® is a leading option in the market, with more than 20 years of experience in the international market.
