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5 Companies That Are Winning with Social Data and Email Marketing

5 Companies That Are Winning with Social Data and Email Marketing

Today’s marketing world is a competitive one.  With new trends, techniques and innovative software popping up every year, sometimes every week, it can be hard to keep pace with evolving technology to keep a business current and relevant.

Many companies start out strong with various marketing strategies that show promise, but over time they fizzle out or fall flat. Evidence shows that email marketing is still one of the most effective channels today.  The key is to adapt the email campaign to the customer and increase audience engagement. Big name companies are finding huge success in reaching their target audience by utilizing social media data with techniques such as personalization, automation and dynamic content.

Email marketing platforms like Campaign Monitor allow marketers to use information they already have about subscribers to dynamically personalize the content to individual’s interests and behavior. The following five companies are proving that social media data about individual customers alongside email marketing strategies are alive and well, and are an integral part of successful campaigns.

Virgin Experience Days

Richard Branson’s mega successful company, Virgin, relies heavily on email marketing to promote the many facets of the business.  The iconic brand and its subsidiary, Virgin Experience Days, focus on providing their customers with lasting memories and unforgettable experiences such as flying lessons, afternoon tea in London, or race car driving.  They want to build a relationship with their viewers, and they have tackled this endeavor through email marketing.

Virgin has built loyal customers by employing marketing automation and personalized content. These customers want to be compelled to open the email and be transported to the next adventure, therefore Virgin capitalized on this with personalized messages.  In fact, when they started personalizing subject lines, they experienced a 29% increase in email open rates.

email marketing

Email automation has enabled them to exponentially reach their customers.  After a viewer signs up, they receive an automated welcome email. Five days later they will receive an informative follow up.  If they stop visiting the site, a re-engagement email with a special offer is sent as an incentive.  Once a purchase is made, encouraging emails and thank you emails are automatically deployed.  This system has easily expanded their reach and led to 120% growth in email marketing yearly.  With 20,000 new subscribers each month, this tactic would appear to be working.

SXSW

This annual event in Austin, Texas, is a culmination of music, film and technology, and attracts over 400,000 people a year.  Email marketing is an essential tool in promoting this event.  SXSW has adapted list segmentation to provide targeted content and deliver customized campaigns for varying audiences. 

email marketing

Data is collected on specific subscriber interests and activities, and relevant content is emailed to them.  For instance, if a customer registers for a music event, they will then receive emails with information on lineups or corresponding events. 

By utilizing list segmentation, they are providing information that is of particular interest to that viewer, thus increasing open rates.  Using this technique, SXSW has increased their subscribers by 140%.

Jaybird

Content is great and vitally important, but what captures audience attention the most is what they actually see.  Jaybird is a company that offers versatile earbuds, well suited for athletes and outdoor enthusiasts.  They knew that in this competitive environment, their marketing efforts would have to stand out as much as their product.

Jaybird accomplished this by designing an email marketing campaign with eye catching imagery, vibrant colors and visuals.  Luckily, you don’t have to be a coder or graphic designer to achieve this. There are easy-to-use software programs that make this more simple than ever.  Jaybird’s campaign aims to inspire customers with real athlete experiences, and this has served them well.  With the rollout of their X2 earbud campaign, they have exceeded revenue goals.

Mercedes-Benz

This automobile company embodies luxury.  They want their customers to feel excited that they have exclusive information on new models and offers.  Mercedes-Benz expertly employs marketing automation to welcome new subscribers and offer them information to “stay ahead of the curve.”

email automation

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According to Direct Marketing Association, manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz see a 3800% ROI from email marketing.  With videos, offers and customization options, they are able to target their audience and expand their reach, converting viewers to customers.

Chatbooks

This company is all about visuals and social media – this is what they have built their entire platform on.  Therefore, it was pertinent that they design an effective email marketing campaign.  Their strategy has been to develop a customer journey.  When a new subscriber signs up, they are guided through a series of segments with inspiration and information.

email automation

Along the way, customers are provided with incentives and coupon offers to cultivate interest and motivate purchases.  Through dynamic email marketing, Chatbooks has seen a boom in business growth.  Their campaigns have experienced 113% increase in open rates and 174% increase in click-through rates.

It is not always necessary to reinvent the wheel, but there are always ways to improve upon it. Email marketing platforms are continuing to find ways to give marketers new tools like dynamic content, deeper personalization and custom customer journeys to build 1:1 relationships with customers at scale. Email marketing is by no means a new phenomenon, but with innovative new tools to increase customer engagement, big companies are seeing real results in marketing campaigns.

How to Generate an Impressive Email Marketing List

This post was written by Megan Totka, Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com. Chamber specializes in helping small businesses grow their business on the web while facilitating the connectivity between local businesses and more than 7,000 Chambers of Commerce worldwide.

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