Latest / Marketing Automation with Fexingo: HubSpot, Marketo, and Automated Customer Journeys / Episode 100 How Marketing Automation Should Handle Customer Life Events
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've done 99 episodes now about the things marketing automation misses — subscription pauses, pet ownership, job searches. And what strikes me is that almost always the thing that gets ignored is something small and personal. Luna: Right, a hobby change, a birthday. But we've never talked about the really big ones. Lucas: Exactly. The massive life events. Marriage, divorce, having a baby, retiring. And if these have been on the market for a while, we should be able to find them. But I think there's a very specific reason why marketing automation almost always ignores them. Luna: And what's that? Lucas: Because the data is either hidden in plain sight inside your CRM or sitting in public records that nobody bothers to connect. And if these have been on the market for a while, we should be able to find them. But I think there's a very specific reason why marketing automation almost always ignores them. Luna: And what's that? Lucas: Because the data is either hidden in plain sight inside your CRM or sitting in public records that nobody bothers to connect. Luna: Huh. So let's start with the obvious one: getting married. How many brands actually trigger a campaign when someone changes their last name or updates their marital status? Lucas: Very few, and the ones that do tend to be financial services. A major US bank ran a test a few years ago where they paused credit card offers to customers who had filed for divorce — based on public court records. They saw a 22 percent lift in applications from that segment after the pause. Because the last thing you want when you're going through a divorce is an email about 'plan your dream honeymoon.' Luna: Yeah, that's tone-deaf. But using public records feels... a little invasive? Or is it fair game if it's already public? Lucas: It's a gray area. Legally, public records are fair use in the US, but there's a big difference between what you can do and what you should do. The bank in that example didn't target people based on divorce — they just suppressed them. That's a much safer use case. And it worked because they were respecting the customer's real life, not their browsing behavior. Luna: So suppression is the easier win. But what about positive events — like having a baby? That's a huge trigger for everything from diapers to life insurance. Lucas: Right, and there's a well-known case in the baby products space. A large retailer used pregnancy registry data plus purchase patterns to predict a customer's due date within a two-week window. They then timed emails for each stage of the pregnancy — first trimester, second, third, and then newborn. The open rates were about 40 percent higher than their usual lifecycle emails. Luna: But how did they get the due date? Did customers tell them? Lucas: Some did, through a baby registry. But others they inferred based on when someone started buying prenatal vitamins, then a few weeks later, certain maternity clothes, then diapers. The pattern is pretty predictable. And once you have that timeline, you can automate a whole sequence. But most companies don't even try. Luna: Because they don't have the data — or they don't know how to connect it? Lucas: Both. The data is often siloed. Your CRM might have marital status if the customer filled out a form, but your email service provider doesn't talk to your billing system. And public records? Most marketing teams don't even think to look there. But the companies that do — like a major insurance firm that cross-references birth records with household income data — can target new parents with a life insurance offer within weeks of a child's birth. Luna: That feels targeted but helpful, if done right. But what about retirement? That's a huge life event that changes spending patterns drastically. Lucas: Huge. And mostly ignored. One credit card issuer found that customers who retired spent 30 percent more on travel in the first six months after retirement, but their credit card usage actually dropped overall because they shifted to debit. So if you're a travel brand, you want to catch them right at retirement. But most companies don't have retirement as a field in their CRM. Luna: So how do you infer it? Age plus a change in employment status? Maybe someone stops contributing to their 401k? Lucas: Exactly. Or a change in direct deposit patterns. Or a sudden increase in social security deposits. Some payroll data providers sell aggregated retirement signals. But again, it's not common. And the brands that do use it — like a major cruise line that targets people within three months of their retirement date — see conversion rates two to three times higher than their normal acquisition campaigns. Luna: That makes sense. Because the person is actually in the market for what you're selling. So why don't more companies do this? Is it a data problem, a tech problem, or a culture problem? Lucas: I think it's all three. First, data: most CRMs don't have fields for life events. Second, tech: marketing automation platforms can execute triggers, but they don't ingest public records or payroll data natively. You need a data enrichment layer. Third, culture: marketing teams are trained to optimize for clicks and conversions, not for life moments. And life moments happen on a slower cadence. Luna: So it requires a longer-term view. But the payoff seems clear. Is there a framework you'd recommend for starting? Lucas: Start with suppression. Identify the life events that would make your standard messaging inappropriate — divorce, death of a spouse, job loss — and build a suppression list. Then move to celebration events: marriage, baby, new home. Those are easier to justify. Finally, transition events like retirement or empty nest. And use a data enrichment service that specializes in life event data. Some options include LiveRamp or Acxiom, though I'd recommend evaluating them carefully for privacy compliance. Luna: That's a sensible roadmap. And it's interesting that the 100th episode is about the biggest things marketing automation overlooks — the actual human milestones. Lucas: Yeah. We've spent 99 episodes on the small misses. This one feels like the big miss. And if you're a marketer listening, I'd say: look at your CRM today. Do you know who just got married? Who had a baby? Who retired? If you don't, you're leaving money on the table — and worse, you're probably sending the wrong message at the wrong time. Luna: And if you've been following our journey, we've covered a lot of ground — from pet ownership to political donations. This feels like a natural capstone: the human timeline, not just the browsing one. Lucas: Exactly. And on that note, I want to say something directly to our listeners. We've done 100 episodes now, and a big reason we can keep going ad-free is that a small group of you support us through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's not a big ask — just knowing that people find value in these conversations is what keeps us going. Luna: Yeah, and we really appreciate it. It allows us to keep the show independent and focused on what matters: practical insights, not sponsorships. Lucas: So thank you to those who already contribute. And if these episodes have sparked something you've actually used in your work, consider joining them. Either way, we'll keep digging into the gaps in marketing automation. Next up, we're looking at something I've been curious about: why so few brands automate their customer win-back campaigns based on actual usage data rather than just time since last purchase.