Re-engagement Strategies Author Todd Wilson

Retention and Re-Engagement 3Sixty DC! June 19, 2013

About 3sixty Live •  Your chance to make live, in-person

connections with ExactTarget users in your community.

•  Connect with other interactive marketing professionals

•  Exchange tips, tricks, and best practices with your peers

•  Help shape the future of the ExactTarget product

About Me. •  15+ years of experience in the

digital space – Creative, Client Services, and Strategy

•  Consulting, agency, and ESP experience

•  2.5 years at ExactTarget •  “Marketer. Skeptic. Gadabout.

Nerd.” Twitter: @toddwils

Retention Getting (and keeping) them engaged

Square One. •  Half the battle is getting the right

customers to start with – and setting expectations.

•  Make your preference center a true preference tool – and don’t hide it!

The Onboarding. •  Educate them. Let them know

what to expect. Don’t assume! •  Be grateful •  Be informative •  Be transparent •  Be curious

The Analysis. •  Understand your customers. Take

a look at your new members and their engagement (and spending) habits.

•  Does their engagement drop off at a specific point after they opt in? When?

•  What about their purchase activity? Do online purchasers tend to make another purchase? How soon after their first (if they make one at all)?

The Nudge. •  If you know where customers are

most likely to disengage, create a “nudge” to encourage them to engage.

•  Remind them to take action if they haven’t

•  Offer an incentive if you can* •  Re-state your brand promise and

program benefits

Case Study – The Container Store •  Another great example of a retention

message – The Container Store reaches out to customers over time to ask them to tell more about themselves.

•  The end result? •  Proactive customer service

impression •  More info = better targeting •  Likely higher engagement long-

term

Your Turn

Questions For You…

•  What are you doing to encourage your customers/members to engage or purchase?

•  Success stories to share?

•  Any stories about what didn’t work so well?

Re-Engagement and Retirement Making that last-ditch effort – and knowing when to say goodbye

Don’t be afraid of re-engagement. It works.

Overview •  Strong and aggressive re-

engagement and a willingness to say “goodbye” are increasingly critical factors for a successful email program.

“Some&mes  the  hesita&on  [to  re&re  subscribers]  is  caused  by  old-­‐school  

mentality  from  catalogue  marketers:  ‘more  mail  =  

more  money’  –  but  we  know  this  isn’t  the  case.”    

Source:    ClickZ,  hCp://bit.ly/INYrPb    

Amazon Local •  Amazon Local proactively opts

members out of their email communications if they don’t engage after a few months.

•  Their explanation: “Amazon customers trust us to provide relevant communication… Continuing to send unwanted emails would hurt [our] relationship.”

LinkedIn •  LinkedIn proactively opts

members down from group emails they don’t engage with.

•  If you’ve already been opted down, LinkedIn will opt you out if you continue to be unengaged.

Fab.com •  Fab’s re-engagement/retirement

example is simple and brand-centric. It proactively opts you out unless you take action via the “Shop Now” or “Here” links.

•  Subject line: “Stop. Getting. So. Much. Email. Smile, you’re designed to.”

Another example? One of ExactTarget’s Biggest retail clients.

Retail Example

•  Our client wanted to improve deliverability and engagement – without impacting sales and sessions.

•  Together we built a strategy that identified unengaged customers and sent them two messages to encourage activity.

•  Those who didn’t re-engage were thanked and unsubscribed – all before the Black Friday/Cyber Monday season.

Results. •  100% increase in engagement (opens/clicks)

•  60+% increase in channel sales over forecast

•  70+% increase in channel sales over previous year

•  Significantly enhanced deliverability – no bounce alerts since launch

Net Result?

Re#ring  old  emails  greatly  increased  engagement,  

–  meaning  re#rement  had  no  nega5ve  effect  on  the  bo6om  line  at  all.    

while  sales  also  increased    

Things to Consider •  Build a plan that’s right for you.

•  There are great examples, but there’s no “right” way. Every client and customer base is different.

•  It may not be perfect to start – but once you start, you can build on what you’ve learned.

•  Review your re-engagement reporting in detail. •  After launch, review the results for each step/email in the re-engagement

process. •  Can you simplify or improve? Is one message enough? What about two?

Other Considerations •  Content/Design.

•  The message can make a huge difference. How can you maximize the experience to reflect your customers’ expectations and your brand promise?

•  Incentive. •  Should you offer an incentive? If so, what kind?

•  Automation. •  Re-engagement should eventually be automated for when customers pass

a certain threshold. What is that threshold? •  Options.

•  Provide links to social and info for mobile!

Why Retire? Because This.

Your Turn

Questions For You…

•  What are you doing to encourage your customers/members to re-engage today? Are you retiring those who don’t?

•  Success stories to share?

•  Any stories about what didn’t work so well?

•  What’s the appetite for re-engagement and retirement in your organization?

Free Range

Thank you! [email protected] @toddwils