What comes to your mind when you think of automation? Auto-responders? AI? The inevitable robot takeover? However long the list of related words or phrases pops into your mind is, authenticity is probably not on it.
And yet, knowing how to weave your authentic brand voice into all aspects of your business messaging is vital for the success of your automated systems – especially when it comes to email marketing.
It’s the authenticity, the addition of that human touch to our processes, that sets us apart from our robot overlords. Prioritizing personalization for email campaigns can turn subscribers into Raving Fans and creates value both for your company and your customers.
Here are 3 rules for more authentic email automation.
Segment Audience Subscribers
Are you sending the right messages to the right audience? Audience segmentation can seem scary but really it boils down to personalization.
Personalization is about more than using a customer’s first name in the greeting line. It’s about connecting and communicating with your consumer in a way that is meaningful and specific to them.
Here are a few audience segmentation examples to help get you started:
- Behavior – Page visits, opt-ins, and open rates are all great ways to segment by behavior. For instance, by creating a list of the subscribers with the highest open rates you can be sure your most engaged audience is being led further down your sales funnel.
- Demographics – This is especially useful when you’re a national company but you need localized messaging for in-person events or promotions. Age, gender, job title, and even income are other demographic-based segments you can create.
- Prospects – Lists based around those who have signed up for certain lead magnets ensure your list members get all the related info they need surrounding your product or service. And, as you continue to study purchase behavior, you can further customize messaging for them.
How you segment your audience will depend on the platform you use. Overall, there are some incredible tools out there to help you but what you choose for marketing automation is entirely up to you!
Boost Brand Copy
There’s no better way to add authenticity to your automation than by upgrading your email copy. Defining your brand’s personality & then incorporating that throughout your copy makes all the difference in email marketing.
Craft perfectly personalized brand copy using the suggestions below…
- Be a Goal Getter: Before you begin creating email campaigns you need to get clear on what exactly you want from your subscribers. Higher open rates, better click-through rates, more subscribers in general? When you get clear on WHAT exactly you want you can begin to build a strategy to achieve it.
- What Your Tone: How do you see your brand? Playful? Snarky? Formal? Make sure your copy matches your brand voice, vision, and tone. Nothing worse than getting super serious emails when you’re expecting fierce or fun. Stay consistent with how your brand presents itself across all platforms.
- Achieve Alignment: Speaking of consistency, the tone of your copy isn’t the only thing that needs to be consistent. Your email marketing messaging also has to be in alignment with any and all sales efforts for your brand.
- Stay Relevant & Deliver Value: This seems obvious but you’d be surprised at how many people miss it! Your email copy needs to directly impact your subscribers. It’s not just about reflecting cultural relevancy (current news, events, trends, etc.), it’s about crafting copy that reflects where each subscriber is in their respective customer journey.
- Get Up Close & Personal: Always, always, always check the “from” line in your email campaigns. Select a “face” for your brand and be sure emails are sent from them instead of a generic company email.
- Inspire Action: Always end emails by telling the recipient what you want them to do next. Even if you’re not running an active campaign, asking them to “Reply” with their thoughts or linking to an evergreen blog post can create opportunities for compelling conversations.
- Analyze Often: Refer back to the first tip…what are your goals? Once you’ve crossed an item off the list, analyze your strategy & adjust to include new benchmarks. Create a schedule for running regular automation audits on your email campaigns, audience segments, and business systems.
Elevate with These Types of Email Campaigns
Once you get clear on audience & copy, you’ll need to create campaigns for email marketing. Although every business is different, below you’ll find a few campaigns that ALL businesses should have…
Welcome Campaigns
Subscribers who receive a Welcome email show 33% more engagement with the brand.
Your welcome series lays the foundation for relationships with prospective customers. In them, you can establish your brand voice & expand on your company’s vision, all while showcasing your products & services.
Welcome emails on average generate up to 320% more revenue per email basis than other promotional emails.
Source: Invespcro
Promo Campaigns
Although one-off promotional emails are useful, what really generates sales are promo campaigns. Build up to upcoming launches with a sequence of carefully crafted emails designed to build anticipation & generate buzz.
Email subscribers are 3 times more likely to share your content via social media than visitors from other sources.
Source: QuickSprout
Nurture Campaigns
Evergreen email campaigns built to nurture prospects & customers are essential in email marketing. A few top nurturing campaigns are:
- Post-purchase emails (both for first-time buyers AND repeat buyers)
- Browse & Cart abandonment emails
- On-Event email (i.e. birthdays, holidays, sales anniversaries)
- Recurring newsletters
Timing, triggers, and frequency of emails are completely up to you but remember one thing: you don’t want to overwhelm your subscribers. There’s a fine line between spam & promo!
Remember, authentic automation for your business is still all about crafting messages that connect and build relationships with your audience. When your messages reach the right audience at the right time with the right voice, your audience will connect and convert with you at a higher rate.
Strategize With Smart Girl Digital
Email marketing has a 4400% ROI. That means that every dollar you spend on email marketing has the potential to bring you a $44 return.
Source: OptinMonster
Automation can feel daunting, but in the end, the payoff of authentic email marketing is HUGE! If you’re interested in crafting an automated email marketing strategy with a trusted partner, contact us today.
Schedule a FREE Discovery Call to chat with SGD and get a step-by-step plan of action for authentic automation.
