You are probably running a hundred miles a minute, especially during the holiday season. So, allocating your time to those activities that will generate quality leads and customers is extremely important. There are a couple campaigns and best practices we recommend you start with instead of trying to do everything at once!
Automate Automate Automate!
Automation may seem like a no-brainer, but many retailers are still sending all their emails manually. This can take so much time out of your marketing efforts. Automated emails run in the background and can take time-consuming tasks off your plate. According to Nucleus Research, marketing automation drives an increased sales productivity of 14.5%, and also leads to a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead. Currently, if you are manually sending all your emails, just think how much time and costs it could cut down for your business! There are numerous types of email automation campaigns you could incorporate depending on your marketing strategy.
A triggered email is a great place to start. For example, if customer makes an online purchase, you could set up your email to trigger after the completed purchase to send a follow-up thank-you email. It’s simple, but makes a world of difference! Though a little more complicated to set up, an abandoned cart email is a powerful tool to acquire and retain prospects and customers. According to Shopify, 67.45% of all shopping carts become abandoned before the sale ever goes through. These customers are hot leads and ready to act.
Another easy way to automate your marketing material is on social media. Spend a little extra time planning your social media calendar for the week or month and schedule their post dates and times. Take it a step further and schedule your blog posts, This will allow you to better prioritize your time and spend less time doing one-off activities.
Quality Over Quantity
“Channels and tactics that lend themselves to personalization are a driving force behind marketing success today.”- The Financial Brand
It’s tempting to see a large list of prospects or customers and want to send them multiple mass emails. However, that is something we highly discourage. We always suggest our clients to start with their best customers as it's the low-hanging fruit approach. Looking at their RFM score, starting with the 5-5-5’s, and then working your way down, is proven to be a more successful marketing tactic. Don’t just stop at marketing to your best customers. For example, you could put those customers into a lookalike audience and find prospects with similar traits.
Personalization is extremely important when it comes to prioritizing your marketing time. According to Econsultancy, “Budgets are expanding, with 57% of retailers now planning to further invest in personalization during 2017.”
Everyone’s time is limited these days. Working smarter and more effectively can allow you to spend time on other more time-consuming marketing-related tasks. Looking at where you currently stand via your data metrics and where you want to be will allow you to prioritize your goals for the coming months.
If you need help prioritizing your marketing spend and time, let us know! A customer data platform (CDP) is the best way to start!
