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233: Leveraging Email Marketing for Client Retention with Host Kendrra Corman · Imperfect Marketing

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Hey there, it's Kendra Corman and you're listening to Imperfect Marketing.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Today we're diving into the world of email marketing and how it can help you keep your clients and those who know you coming back for more.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Think of it like the friends reunion of the marketing world.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Everybody's excited about it and it's guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Before we jump into the topic of the day, I want to make sure that you check out my t-shirt.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I'm wearing it on the YouTube version of this show, so feel free to jump over there if you're just listening while out walking the dog.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: I decided to make an imperfect marketing t-shirt.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Why?
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Because I was tired of changing clothes for every episode and since I do a ton of bulk recording, trying to match up what I wore or didn't wear or what was next, was really getting to be a pain, a big pain still accessorizing.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: But I decided to be a little bit lazy on the changing of clothes and own it.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: So back to the real subject at hand.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Let me paint you a picture.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Imagine you're at a party.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: You've got two choices right.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: One is you can make friends all night long.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Or two, you can hang out with your besties, who already know all your quirks and love you anyway.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: That, my friends, is the difference between constantly changing new customers, chasing new customers, and retaining the ones that you've got.
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Let's talk numbers for just a hot minute here.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: You probably know this.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: It costs a lot more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Like at least five times more.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: That's right, five times.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: It's like paying for an oversized coffee when you could have made a home brew one that tastes just as good.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Plus, increasing customer retention by 5% can boost your profits, depending on your industry and what you sell.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: 25 to 95%.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: I didn't say revenue, I said profits.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: That's what I call a return on investment.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: So how do we keep those customers coming back?
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Enter email marketing.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: This is the superhero of customer retention.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: It's like having a direct line to your customer's hearts, or at least their inboxes, which is sometimes better.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: So, first things first, you need to build a solid email list.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Right, you need your customers on the list.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: You need prospective customers on the list so that you can nurture them, but again, there are people who know who you are.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: I want you to think of this as assembling your team.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: You want quality, not just quantity.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Use lead magnets that are so irresistible.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: People will be throwing their email addresses at you faster than you can say subscribe.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: Just remember to play by the rules no adding people without express permission, because GDPR, casl or CASL and CAN-SPAM and a bunch of others are watching you like a helicopter parent at a middle school dance Gosh, I remember those.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Okay, now let's talk personalization.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: Gone are the days of dear valued customer, although I still get some of those and it's really, really annoying.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: We're in the age of hey, sarah, we noticed you've been eyeing that flamingo pool float.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Be sure to jump back in and close that deal and get the things out of your cart.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Personalization is really important if you want to make customers feel special.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: It's like remembering your friend's coffee order or a neighbor's birthday.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: It shows that you care.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Now, one great way to personalize is through segmentation.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: If it's based on customer behavior, demographics, purchase history, just even what they click on, what they've downloaded, all of those are 100% available options.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: It's like creating the ultimate playlist.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: You would not put death metal next to smooth jazz back to back, would you?
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Well, maybe you would, but you get my point right.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: So let's break down some of the types of email retention.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: First off, that's welcome emails, right?
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: You've got these, this first chance to make things count, right?
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: This is your first impression.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: This is welcoming in them and celebrating your access to their inbox.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: It is a retention email because it is the first email that you're really sort of sending them.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Now, thank you emails are fantastic.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: You want to show some gratitude.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: It's like sending a thank you note after a dinner party.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: It's a little less stuffy, although I cannot emphasize enough how important handwritten thank you notes are.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: But email can do in a pinch.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Feedback and survey emails.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: People love to feel heard, so ask for their opinion.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Just look at social media.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: People love to share their thoughts and what's going on with them, so let them.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Now you've got re-engagement emails.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Now these are customers that might have ghosted you a little bit, but it's time to slide back in to their inboxes and let them know that you're still here and make sure that they still want to be here.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Now we've got milestone emails Celebrate their birthday or anniversary.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: It's like remembering your spouse's birthday or, again, like I said, a neighbor's birthday.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Major brownie points Educational content.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: This is the key nurture sequence that keeps you top of mind, so be sure to share your wisdom.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: I have never heard anybody say that they felt they gave away too much information.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: So be the to share your wisdom.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: I have never heard anybody say that they felt they gave away too much information.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: So be the Yoda to their Luke Skywalker.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: When it comes to content, think of your email as a mini TV show.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: You got a catchy title, which is the subject line, an engaging plot, which is the body content, and a cliffhanger that leaves them wanting more.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Or your call to action.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Don't be afraid to use visuals when needed.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Now, interestingly enough, my engagement rates increased when I added GIFs for a while and then went up again when I changed over to just fun stories, a little bit more of my personality and text with informative information.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: It's really important to note that a picture is worth a thousand words, and ain't nobody got a time.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: It's that time in the time to read a thousand words in an email, right?
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: So something to keep in mind.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: Now we're all wearing several hats.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: Chief marketing officer is just one of them, and email email marketer is again a subset of another hat.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: So let's talk a little bit about automation.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: It's like having a personal assistant, minus the attitude and coffee runs, tools like Constant Contact and Kit, formerly known as ConvertKit, can help you set up email sequences that make your life easier and your customers feel loved and heard.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Just do not go overboard, because nobody likes that friend who texts every five minutes right Now.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Speaking of timing, finding the right frequency for your emails is critical.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: Okay, it's like dating.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: You want to stay on their mind without coming off as clinging.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: So test different times and days to see what works best for your audience.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: Measure your success.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: You want to keep eyes on those metrics of yours and sometimes things change.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: Open rates, click rates, conversion rates they are the vital statistics of your email campaigns and don't be afraid to try A-B testing.
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: It's like trying on different outfits before a big date.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: You want to look your best right, and I don't always do A-B testing because I send weekly emails, so sometimes it's harder.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: But when I was doing monthly emails, there was no reason I couldn't do A-B testing on subject lines and seeing which one performed better.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: And I did, and I still do for some of my clients.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: Now let me serve up a business to business or B2B case study for you.
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: That's going to make your business brain do a little bit of a happy dance.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: So let's talk about the monster HubSpot.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: They are humongous.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: So I get that.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: They're bigger than a lot of us and that's okay, but they're basically the Swiss army knife of marketing, sales and service software knife of marketing sales and service software.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: They're expensive or they get expensive quick, but their email game is tighter than a corporate budget in the fourth quarter.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: They've mastered the art of nurturing leads and keeping clients hooked without coming off as that over-eager salesperson who won't take.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: I'm just browsing for an answer.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: First off, their onboarding emails are really smooth.
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: When a new client signs up, they don't just say thanks for your money, here's your login.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: No, they roll out the red carpet with a series of welcome emails that guide users through setting up their account, highlighting key features and offering resources faster than you can say inbound marketing resources, faster than you can say inbound marketing.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Now here's where it gets really interesting.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Hubspot segments their email list in detail.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: I love how they do this.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: They look at factors like company size, industry, what parts of their software suite you're using.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: So if you're a small business just using their CRM, you're not getting the same emails as an enterprise level client using their full marketing stack.
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: It's like they're reading your mind, but it's less creepy and more wow.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: They really get me and get this.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: They use their own behavior-based lead scoring to determine what kind of content to send you.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: If you've been poking around their email marketing tools, they might send you an invite to a webinar on 10 email tricks that will make your subscribers actually want to open your newsletters.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: It's like they're your personal marketing coach.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: They're cheering you on from the sidelines of your inbox.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: But my favorite part, they're HubSpot Academy emails.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: They're actually really cool.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: They offer free online training courses and certifications.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: It's like they're saying hey, we don't just want your business, we want to make you better at your job.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: And let me tell you, nothing builds loyalty like helping someone level up their skills and potentially score a promotion.
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: Hubspot also nails the re-engagement email.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: They notice you haven't logged in for a while.
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: They'll check in faster than your mom when you haven't called for a week.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: And I know that my mom called one time, left me a voicemail and she said I think I had a daughter who lived here once at this address and she said my home address.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: But I haven't heard from her in a while.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: So I was just not sure if she still lived there, if she was still at this number.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: I think it was a week.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Anyway, instead of guilt, they offer helpful tips or highlight new features.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: You might have missed.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: The cherry on top is they practice what they preach.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: Their emails are always mobile, optimized, personalized, clean and clutter free.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: So what can we learn from HubSpot's B2B email mastery?
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: First, segmentation is king.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Second, add value beyond your core service Think education, skill building.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: And third, use your own data to inform your email strategy.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: Remember, in business to business, you're not just nurturing a customer, you're building a long-term partnership.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: So make sure that your emails are less used car salesmen and more trusted business advisor.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: No matter your category, your clients will stick to you treating your email list like the gym membership that you never use and start seeing it as a secret weapon for business growth.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: Before I let you go, here's your homework.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: I want you to take a look at your current email strategy.
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Are you really making your customers feel special or are you the equivalent of a boring relative's holiday newsletter?
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: I got to admit I do throw a few of those away.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: Anyway, if it's the latter, it's time for a makeover.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Remember, in the world of marketing, perfection is way overrated.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: It is all about making genuine connections, providing value.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: So go forth and send these emails and watch your customer relations bloom like a well-watered chia pet Ch-ch-ch-chia.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Okay, until next time.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: This is Kendra Korman, just reminding you that in marketing, as in life, it's okay to be a work in progress.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: Keep it real, keep it imperfect and, most importantly, keep those customers coming back for more.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: See you next time.