The Complete Guide to Lifecycle Marketing in 2023
Jake Bauman
Senior Marketing Manager at Modern Performance Recovery Brands | Re-thinking customer-centric messaging
Why Did I Spend Three Months to Write This??
As someone who has worked in a couple of different marketing agencies, I have been privileged to work with and learn from numerous online brands operating in countless vertices. Around September and October of last year, I felt as though all eight of my clients had increased the pressure on the email channel to perform, as each weekly meeting was never good enough. When looking into each of my client’s Google Analytics accounts, it became clear to me as to why this was. Performance on digital acquisition channels was plummeting YoY for nearly all of my clients, causing email as a percent of total revenue to increase causing a heightened level of priority.?
Because I have trouble sleeping, I took to the internet to research broader trends. According to Statista, a staggering 333 billion emails were sent and received daily throughout 2022, and that number is expected to climb steadily for at least the next several years. While it lacks the glamour and sexiness of other digital channels such as Paid Social, the outperformance of email should come as no surprise, considering how effective it is from an engagement and return standpoint. However, one must beg the question, "why is more pressure being put on this time-tested channel than ever before?"
When Apple announces a new privacy update for us digital marketers, we genuinely believe the world is ending and that it is time to consider a career change. Let’s address the elephant in the room: the quick and nearly effortless days of easy 6X+ return on Social are over, and the ability to track a minuscule email open is completely skewed and is thus irrelevant. What does this mean for marketers? It means that marketing just became a bit harder. However, an experienced marketer would argue that nothing has changed, as marketing is nothing more than successfully sending a message to a specific person at just the right time. Or as Don Draper, from the hit TV show, Mad Men, said, "What is Happiness? It's a moment before you need more happiness."
I took the time to author this extensive article because I want to ensure that this information is available to brands of all sizes, as I believe many small and medium-sized brands who fail to consider the below thoughts may experience significant struggles in 2023.
Email Marketing: Boring & Exhausting But Superior??
One of the first, if not the first, digital marketing channel was email. Over many years, new marketing toys such as search engine marketing and paid social would gain popularity. Marketers who were aware of the power of email capitalized on the arbitrage opportunity that was in front of them. These individuals were able to realize the relationship between how much it costs to buy an impression (whether online or offline) and how much revenue can be generated from purchasing that impression.
While it is true that targeted impressions purchased on Google and Paid Social did result in immediate success, many marketing teams failed to consider the customer’s unique psyche. Instead, the traditional marketer thought, “Well, if Google Search ads work this well, then don’t fix it. Instead, let’s allocate more spend to Google.” The problem with this thinking is that buying more ad impressions on Google (or any other paid channel) ultimately does not scale.
I think leveraging Google to drive new users to make their first purchase is great. However, betting on Google’s various products and channels to drive a second or third purchase (also known as re-marketing) most likely will not scale due to opportunity cost and economies of scale. Betting on Google or Paid Social to drive the next purchase is quite expensive as each incremental impression accrues an expense. However, a well-defined lifecycle messaging strategy that leverages email, SMS, and push notifications to inspire non-buyers, 1x-buyers, and 2xb+ buyers is practically free (when compared to the CPMs of other paid channels).
Part #1: Privacy Updates & The Biggest Mistakes?
Get Over It: Apple’s Privacy Update Sucks (But The Grass is Greener on the Other Side)
For the past several years, navigating data privacy in campaign strategy and development has been at the forefront of countless marketing conversations. Advertisers are in a unique situation, with consumers demanding a higher level of personalization than ever before. At the same time, the use of third-party cookies and other identifiers is steadily declining.?
In determining how to provide those hyper-personalized messaging experiences best while respecting and adhering to privacy restrictions, many have turned to the valuable but expensive zero-party (0P) and first-party (1P) data insights lifecycle marketing offers.
Moving into 2023, the initial fears and uncertainties of the privacy-by-default future have somewhat calmed. Marketers now better understand the full impact of the changing landscape and have been hard at work making the necessary adjustments in their strategies. For example, while it may have caused a brand’s overall delivery volume/impressions to decrease by simply focusing on bottom-of-funnel metrics such as site visits (as opposed to the opening of an email), many brands have found that engagement rates, conversion rates, and overall revenue have seen positive outcomes.?
The Biggest Rookie Mistake: Discounting The Intent of New Users Who Opted-In For More Marketing Messages?
When I get new clients, they often ask me which pieces of MarTech they should consider investing in. In many cases, they are seeking advice on which SaaS companies provide the best third-party data based on user behavior on the site. Almost always, these types of brands fail to do more than the basic welcome flow template provided by their ESP.?
In my experience, the more MarTech obsessive a Marketer is, the more likely it is that the individual treats each email opt-in as nothing more than a number, which, as you can guess, is the best way to be finding oneself on Linkedin or Angel List searching for new job opportunities.??
If a new user who visits your site takes the time to hand over their personal email address, then you can assume that the countless hours spent A/B testing your landing pages and brand messaging has paid off. However, if the first message that hits their inbox (as a result of the welcome flow) does nothing more than provide a feature of the introductory offer, then you have failed to provide a memorable user experience. The first impression matters, and missing the mark can be detrimental.?With lifecycle customers, brands and advertisers aren’t simply shooting their shot; they have already stated their desire for a long-term relationship and secured the contact information. Potential customers have opted-in with the utmost intention of receiving personalized communication tailored to their interests and shopping behavior. Even better, if this user who opted in to hear more has engaged with your site by visiting multiple pages, then the Marketer has even more potential to create a loyal customer.
Don’t Be Lazy, Think About The Customer’s Intent?
No Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Required:?
Take your marketer hat off for a moment, and think of an email or SMS list that you’ve subscribed to. What does that brand know about you beyond PII, such as your name, that can help them in serving you the most relevant messaging??
This might include:?
Holistic-by-Default Advertising Campaigns
The benefits of holistic advertising campaigns extend far beyond the meaningful sharing of privacy-compliant data. When executed properly, not only does the right hand always know what the left hand is doing but the reaction of that right hand is informed by both advertiser actions and customer actions.
The importance of breaking down advertising silos is not a new conversation, but a topic doesn’t have to be new to be timely. The sheer volume of ways in which we connect with potential customers is among the primary reasons we must continue working to bulldoze all silos or run the risk of becoming irrelevant and repetitive, losing valuable subscribers in the process.
Fully-Integrated Lifecycle Campaigns Are a Must
In addition to breaking down broader marketing silos, we must be mindful that we aren’t working in silos within specific channels. In lifecycle marketing, that means our messaging has to be cohesive across:
For those who have worked in digital marketing for many years, it may not seem that long ago that mobile messaging campaigns were handled independently of email marketing campaigns. In fact, in many cases, brands would build out or hire agencies to specialize in one or the other.?
Mobile messaging has historically been handled separately from email marketing for a number of reasons, with a primary factor being that email marketing predated mobile messaging for many years.?
When mobile messaging first came onto the scene, many brands and businesses already had a well-developed email strategy in place that they’d been honing for years. With mobile messaging largely regarded as an ‘add-on’ or ‘bonus’ form of marketing, it wasn’t uncommon for the messaging and timing of the messaging to work completely independently of the email calendar.
Bad News: Those Days Are Behind Us.
Today, there is an even greater synergistic relationship between email and mobile messaging, including SMS/MMS and In-App and Push notifications. Mobile messaging is no longer a nice-to-have complement to email or tack-on features, it’s essential when it comes to meeting customers' expectations at every stage of the funnel.?
On a subconscious level,? today,? lifecycle customers have become accustomed to setting various expectations with respect to the types of messages that they will receive when they will receive them, where they will receive them, and how they receive them. They aren’t living their life in a silo, and they aren’t experiencing your brand in one, either.
By fully integrating your lifecycle marketing strategy, you’re making an important decision to reach people based on how they want to be communicated with. And the messaging that makes sense through each funnel of the lifecycle journey varies. With this in mind, one must beg the question, “which levers in the lifecycle marketing playbook should be pulled to push a customer further along in their journey?”
Where Email & Lifecycle Marketing Comes Into Play
The OG of the Lifecycle Marketing crew, email marketing has been a popular marketing channel for decades. Email marketing has practical applications across nearly any business, brand, retailer, or organization you can think of, with common ways it’s used in e-commerce, including:?
Mobile Messaging:?
(SMS/MMS Messages, In-App Messages & Push Notifications)?
SMS messaging has fully matured into a standalone force in its own right, growing up and out from its early days as email marketing’s trusty sidekick. But the two haven’t parted ways—their relationship has only grown stronger in SMS messaging, upping its game. And they picked up some new mobile messaging friends along the way, including in-app messaging and push notifications.
With mobile messaging, it’s even more important to be brief and action-oriented in your communication. Not only do you have less ‘space to work with’ than you do through email, but these messages are primarily designed to elicit a speedy reaction or serve as a nudge.
领英推荐
Onsite Notifications:?
Pop-Up Promos: To help grow their SMS subscriber list, many brands feature an on-site promotional pop-up that is engineered to offer a deeper and more enticing incentive for voluntarily handing over their personal mobile number. For example, a brand may have a pop-up that is offering 10% off for their email information. Then, once their email information is submitted, a second pop-up appears, offering an additional 5% off (for a total of 15% off) if the new users are willing to give their phone number. The most compelling pop-ups are the ones that drive a compelling emotion in the user to want to be a part of the brand with bright lifestyle imagery.?
Spin to Win Offers:?
Always dreamed of being called to “Come on down!” on The Price is Right but never got your chance? With gamification on the rise in marketing, shoppers can skip the trip to LA and spin the wheel from the comfort of their couch. Rather than offering a standard percentage off for every customer, Spin to Win features encourage engagement and add an element of fun and luck.
Banner Messaging:?
Banner messages are commonly used on websites of all types, serving as the virtual signage that might hang from the rafters in a brick-and-mortar shop. Often found near the header or footer of the site, banners are designed to be ever-present on the page, and don’t require that users interact with them in some way, like a pop-up. Note that promotional offers are optional in site banners, though an offer may encourage more subscriptions.?
The Main Point:?
Considering all these elements of lifecycle marketing as a team, consider how each can help propel customers forward on their individual journeys. The path won’t be the same for every subscriber, but here’s one example of how it might work…
A Potential Scenario:?
A shopper who has never visited your site before clicks on a product page listing through organic search. After a few seconds of viewing the product, they receive an onsite pop-up message letting them know they can Save 15% if they subscribe to your email list, or to receive SMS notifications. The shopper provides information for both. They receive their coupon code and make a purchase—let’s assume it’s a charm bracelet.?
You add the subscriber to your segment of shoppers who have made jewelry purchases. Three days later, your site offers 30% off all charms, which you communicate through email. The shopper who purchased the bracelet opens the email and clicks through to one of the product pages linked within. They add the charm to their cart but don’t complete the purchase.?
Later that night, an email is automatically sent reminding them of what they left in their cart and encouraging them to act before the sale is over, including a countdown timer. The next day, they are sent an SMS reminder that the charm sale will be ending soon. They click through the link in the SMS message and complete their purchase.
Creative Matters in Designing for Performance
It’s all too easy for Marketers to get lost in the data, working to ensure we’re hitting the right audiences at the ideal time in the right stage of the funnel while they’re wearing their favorite shirts. Okay, I made that last one up, but you get the idea! Getting lost in the data is a good thing. Obsessing how many clicks and conversions you got from your win-back campaign indicates that you are obsessed with the data. While data is king, it can be a Marketer’s greatest downfall.?
The goal isn’t simply to convey information to your subscribers but to literally sell them on it. And the good news is, that’s exactly what they want.?
Our eyes are instantly drawn to images and videos, and captivating content, but they just as quickly move away if a quick scan has determined there’s nothing to see here— or there’s too much to see here. Is the creative you’re using piquing customer interest, leaving them wanting, reading, and clicking for more? If not, all the subscribers in the world aren’t going to be benefit if they just click delete.?
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, & Segmentation
How to use transactional and behavioral data to power highly-targeted customer and prospect communications
You can’t think about the lifecycle of a customer without also considering the messages they’re going to receive throughout it—it’s inevitable. That’s because those communications, whether in the form of an email or a text message, are the very things that are going to help usher shoppers from one stage of their journey to the next.?
So there’s a lot riding on a brand’s email and SMS messages. With the modern consumer wanting and, more often than not, expecting brand communications to feel 1:1, a one-size-fits-all approach to these essential messages isn’t going to cut it.?
That’s where AI and machine learning come in to do the heavy lifting.
Marketing automation platforms that have machine learning capabilities stitched into their technological fabric can ingest hundreds of thousands of data points—and transform that information into experiences that are directly mapped to someone’s interests and habits.
How does this happen? First, you have to collect that data from individuals who’ve consented to share it with your brand—through signup forms on your site, behavioral browsing insights, social media interactions, purchasing patterns, or feedback prospects and customers have shared directly with your business.?
Then, once it’s aggregated together and sorted into unique customer profiles within a single platform, you can start to manipulate that data and create various segments of your audience—each with its own distinct set of characteristics.?
Segmentation is a way for brands to group their audience into different categories manually. AI can enrich those processes and trigger the right message to send at exactly the right time to thousands of people at once. For example, an AI tool like predictive analytics can help you determine when a customer is most likely to place their next order or calculate their potential lifetime value with your brand. You can then use that data to create hyper-relevant messaging to a wide array of customers.
Let’s see what that might look like:?
You can group people by their average order value (AOV), their level of engagement, or their likelihood of churning.
You can create segments of customers who would be a good fit for a cross-sell opportunity—meaning folks who’ve purchased one item but haven’t yet bought one or more related items.?
If you sell consumer packaged goods, you can group people who live in the same geographical area and are nearing the time for a product restock.
You can create a segment of subscribers who solely prefer SMS communications or even a group of people who only tend to purchase from your brand around the holidays.?
Once you identify the criteria for your segments, you can essentially tell your marketing automation platform to send specific messages to these individuals when they take a certain action—like making a purchase, abandoning their cart, or subscribing to your email list.?
Their action acts as a trigger, alerting the platform that this specific customer or prospect has qualified to receive a particular message. The platform then sends it to them—automatically. Outside of minor tweaks, adjustments, and optimizations, these automations can basically run on their own and generate ongoing revenue. Plus, they can scale with you as your business grows.?
As you feed more data into the system, the AI tools in marketing platforms such as Klaviyo, Listrack, Blueshift, or Listrack, they become smarter and more efficient over time.?
Long story short, if you’re collecting data from your audience, let your marketing automation platform put it to work. However you choose to slice and dice your data, segmentation and automation should become the backbone of your email and text message strategies.?
Together, they allow you to send highly-personalized and hyper-relevant communications to your audience, encouraging repeat purchases and long-term loyalty—at scale.
LOYALTY ROYALTY: DON’T COLLECT IT AND FORGET IT
Your subscribers should be regarded as the monarchs of your lifecycle marketing campaigns; your job is to serve them well. And a big part of serving them well is serving them messaging that shows you did your homework.
As the importance of first-party data grows in targeting across all channels, brands and advertisers might feel the impulse to collect everything they possibly can from subscribers. Think instead about what your goals are as a marketer and what types of information you need to accomplish those goals best.
Users can easily be put off by the request for too much information; for example, sign-up forms that ask users to select from a long list of preferences tend to get skipped over. Collect the useful data you need, and be prepared to leverage that information for your subscribers’ benefit. For the data to have any real value, you actually have to use it.
The data itself should not be viewed as currency; it is simply the means to a personalized messaging end.
Your subscribers expect that if they voluntarily provide you with information about them, you will leverage that information to serve them the most relevant message.
Don’t Forget The Rewards?
In addition to leveraging available insights to provide subscribers with hyper-relevant messaging, it’s also important to reward them regularly for their loyalty. This is especially important in today’s economic climate, with customers increasingly looking for the best value on items for which they might have historically shopped for a specific brand.
Some popular loyalty rewards for email and SMS subscribers include:
My Final Thoughts?
We’re all aware the world is constantly changing and that those changes require near-constant adaptation in myriad ways. That said, not all of the ways in which we evolve center around entirely new issues or concerns. Many of the changes we must make—in marketing and life—are refinements and evolutions born from circumstances we’ve been navigating for years.?
Focusing on lifecycle marketing specifically, it’s always important to keep up with the latest and greatest innovations but not to lose sight of core concerns and considerations in creating your campaign strategies.