Advertising doesn’t finish after the conversion. Actually, that’s the place it begins.
It prices 7x more to acquire a new customer on common than it does to maintain an current one. Buyer retention is just too essential (and costly) to miss.
However buyer retention is extra than simply holding prospects. It’s about making them comfortable, offering an amazing expertise and giving them a purpose to unfold the phrase about your enterprise.
As Basecamp CEO Jason Fried wrote on Inc:
In case you handle your current prospects, they’ll handle your new prospects.
To handle your current prospects, you want a superb product and superior customer support. However you additionally want a plan for catering to prospects who don’t attain out.
And when you can’t automate every part, you can use triggered electronic mail to establish ache factors and proactively handle them.
That’s the place behavioral marketing is available in: gathering knowledge about consumer exercise and personalizing your advertising efforts based mostly on that knowledge.
Able to put it to work? Listed here are 4 methods you need to use behavioral electronic mail to higher serve your customers (and higher retain them, too) – with examples pulled straight from my inbox.
1. Kiss inactivity goodbye with focused retention emails
It’s essential to know that buyer inactivity is available in completely different flavors:
- Preliminary inactivity, the place a buyer hasn’t accomplished your onboarding course of
- Partial inactivity, the place a buyer is simply utilizing a part of your app or service
- Full inactivity, the place a buyer isn’t engaged in any respect
Every kind of inactivity has a special trigger and requires a special set of triggers to nudge prospects again into motion.
Preliminary inactivity
Onboarding is all about momentum. A consumer has signed up on your product — their curiosity is piqued. It’s essential to transfer them to the following step as quickly as attainable.
When you lose that momentum, it’s very tough to get again as a result of your service/product is now not top-of-mind.
Utilizing electronic mail to maintain customers transferring could be a actually efficient technique to retain new customers earlier than they churn. Look how Twitter encourages customers to finish their profile. This electronic mail is shipped 48 hours after signup if the consumer hasn’t taken motion:
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Partial inactivity
It’s unlikely that your enterprise delivers worth in single manner. Particularly in case your service is advanced, there could also be superior options that aren’t getting the eye they deserve – or you could merely need to exhibit the customizability of your product.
For instance, Pinterest customers can pin gadgets, observe different customers and create boards. However do you know Pinterest additionally has location-based boards for planning journey?
Neither did I till they emailed me about it.
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Full inactivity
If a buyer is totally inactive, you don’t have a lot to lose when attempting to deliver them again. It doesn’t harm to unfold your feathers as soon as extra and remind prospects why they initially signed up.
On this instance from Mint, they maintain nothing again. A redesign, new options, new apps… there are a selection of cool issues that might draw a buyer again in.
Emails should typically be highly focused — one name to motion, one button and no distractions — however on this case, it’s okay to unfold your web far and extensive because you’re promoting the whole product, not only one function.
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To trace inactivity, you want a sophisticated analytics software. KISSmetrics and MixPanel are nice choices and also you may think about using Segment to plug the information into your electronic mail supplier.
When you begin gathering knowledge, search for traits in engagement and attempt to replicate them.
For instance, attempt to discover which actions your greatest prospects took early of their lifecycle and drive new customers the identical course.
2. Flip consideration into motion with transactional electronic mail
It is a completely underrated technique for retaining prospects.
Transactional emails — receipts, invoices, notifications, studies, and many others. — are opened at as much as 8x the rate as in comparison with promotional emails.
These emails aren’t normally seen as a advertising platform, however it’s free consideration that few entrepreneurs make the most of.
When a buyer indicators up or makes a purchase order in your web site, they anticipate to obtain a couple of transactional emails: a month-to-month report, perhaps an bill. If these emails aren’t rigorously designed to extend engagement along with your web site, it’s wasted consideration.
Consideration is tough to come back by as of late – don’t waste it!
Listed here are a couple of examples of transactional emails that do an amazing job of encouraging the recipients to re-engage.
The report electronic mail
Reviews emails — account overviews and utilization updates — are welcome within the inbox as a result of customers know these emails are informative, not promotional.
TripAdvisor sends a number of the smartest report emails I’ve ever seen.
This one is a intelligent report that gives numerous analytics concerning the evaluations I’ve written. It’s transactional — wink, wink — however there are three sturdy calls to motion to re-engage with the location.
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The notification electronic mail
“You will have a brand new follower!”
We’ve all gotten loads of notifications like this. They’re not typically perceived as advertising emails as a result of they aren’t promoting something — or are they?
Within the instance under, discover how Medium makes use of transactional language framed with social proof. It’s extremely customized for me based mostly on individuals I observe and have interacted with earlier than – all whereas encouraging me to interact with the location.
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The account exercise electronic mail
For a lot of apps, accounts include all types of attention-grabbing knowledge and knowledge that the consumer can’t see with out logging in. In case you’ve obtained an amazing product, use electronic mail as a catalyst to get them logged in and energetic. Let the product promote itself.
Google Apps sends a report like this each month whether or not you’re energetic or not. When you click on the button, you get an summary of all of the companies included in your membership, not simply those you employ usually.
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Do a fast audit of your transactional emails so that you just perceive each attainable manner your prospects hear from you.
In case you use a 3rd get together purchasing cart for instance, see how one can customise your receipts or use a standalone transactional electronic mail service to ship your individual. Most apps enable not less than some customization. Deal with utility first, then provide extras like referral codes and upsells.
3. Use “Hail Mary” emails (as a result of they actually work)
Do you know that simply 25% of free trial users truly convert to paying prospects? That’s an abysmally low quantity contemplating these are people who find themselves sufficient in your product to test it out.
That’s the place “Hail Mary” emails are available in: last-ditch efforts to interact an inactive consumer or expiring free trial.
That is how Vero turned a Help Scout buyer. We’ve been a buyer for 2 years so this was a extremely worthwhile electronic mail. There have been two issues about this electronic mail led to the conversion.
First, it reached us at simply the best time. It wasn’t that we disliked the product, it was simply that we didn’t have time to check it sufficient throughout the trial. The second killer factor is the testimonial — it was simply what we wanted to listen to.
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Shopify does the identical factor. Discover how there are not any distractions – only a little bit of copy and a robust name to motion.
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RunKeeper sends a really direct, frank electronic mail. They acknowledge the state of affairs then do an amazing job promoting the advantages of a paid membership.
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As SaaS conversion skilled Lincoln Murphy says, the important thing to changing free trials is being proactive. Use electronic mail to execute on his ideas for changing extra customers:
- In the event that they don’t convert and the trial ends, make them an irresistible provide.
- In the event that they don’t convert, provide a downsell.
- In the event that they nonetheless don’t convert, proceed to coach them about your resolution.
4. Keep away from inactivity within the first place with lifecycle emails
Lifecycle emails are like bumpers in a bowling alley. They hold the ball out of the gutter and enhance the prospect it’ll knock down a couple of pins. These emails are designed to spark very particular actions within the buyer lifecycle — something from finishing a profile to including crew members.
Encouraging engagement provides worth, making it one of the simplest ways to keep away from inactivity within the first place. It’s probably the most proactive guard towards churn and nice technique to educate your prospects. Listed here are just some concepts for lifecycle emails (although you’ll be able to check out 135 more examples here).
The milestone electronic mail
Milestone emails construct on momentum by making a positive feedback loop. Desired conduct is rewarded to encourage repetition of that conduct. Some companies take this to an excessive with gamification (badges, awards, ranges, and many others.) however anybody can make the most of milestone emails by triggering an electronic mail when a consumer engages.
Right here’s one other RunKeeper electronic mail that does an amazing job making the recipient really feel nice about utilizing their app.
Click on for full-length electronic mail.
The shopping historical past electronic mail
Airbnb are masters of behavioral electronic mail advertising (more on that here). They collect knowledge as customers browse their web site and ship focused observe up emails.
For instance, if I have a look at listings in San Diego, I can anticipate a observe up electronic mail just like the one under. They even bear in mind the value vary of the listings I checked out to verify the e-mail is as related as attainable.
Click on for full-length electronic mail.
Searching historical past exhibits intent. It’s identical to shopping a retail retailer. You may decide up an merchandise, see the way it seems, feels and smells. And if the shop is sensible, a salesman will provide that will help you. This electronic mail is like that salesperson.
The customized advice electronic mail
Do you know that 70% of brands don’t personalize their emails? That’s a disgrace since customized topic traces have been proven to increase open rates by as much as 22%.
Topic traces are simply the tip of the iceberg. It’s simple to watch conduct inside your app or web site then personalize emails based mostly on that knowledge.
Spotify, for instance, retains observe of the artists I hearken to then sends emails like this when the artists launch new music.
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I take advantage of Spotify day by day however emails like this be certain that I all the time have one thing new and thrilling to take a look at. Every time I get considered one of these, my reliance on (and love for) Spotify grows deeper.
Buyer retention begins and ends with an amazing product.
Advertising will help – however on the finish of the day, if a consumer isn’t happy, they’ll go away.
Get your product and advertising groups in the identical room to speak via engagement, inactivity and retention.
Placing electronic mail to work
Hopefully the examples on this publish will encourage you to take a contemporary have a look at your buyer retention course of. It’s possible that behavioral and triggered electronic mail is an enormous alternative for your enterprise.
To get the ball rolling, decide to creating, testing and automating only one retention electronic mail.
And don’t procrastinate – begin right this moment.
How do you retain your customers engaged and comfortable? Tell us within the feedback.
