The full rundown of our RedEye presentation at the eCommerce Expo 2023

 
We see so many myths regularly holding back marketers from hitting their targets, creating better campaigns and integrating certain strategies. In our presentation at the eCommerce Expo Rachael Kotadia, our Marketing Director, and Danni Hunt, our Head of Multi-Channel, discussed 6 marketing myths that we have seen are holding companies back and that just aren’t true.

Myth #1: Acquisition is more important than retention

 
Everyone wants to grow their database as quickly as possible. However, we know the average cost of a new customer is £50 and if you have spent that money acquiring new customers which in turn creates a database full of single purchasers it is not going to be a recipe for a long and successful business.
 
‘Acquisition is very expensive, and 70% of revenues are driven by VIP’s’ says Danni so this is an area we would really encourage you to grow. You need to look at making sure you are nurturing those customers, encouraging second purchases and beyond.
 
Make sure their content is relevant throughout their journey ‘Talk to your customers like they are a VIP, not new customers’ says Danni, they are already customers of yours, treat them that way, not the same way you would speak to a new customer still getting to know your brand.
 
You should also send them post-purchase campaigns and replenishment campaigns for goods that have a shelf life. You can use data such as the average time lapse between purchases to automate these types of sends.
 
Offering loyalty points is a great tool but they need to see this message everywhere and give it a proper monetary value when they have an achievable amount.
 
Also don’t forget your cross-sells, if they already like your shampoo and conditioner, would they also like your hair mask?
 
Engaging and nurturing this segment will help prevent a ‘leaky bucket’ and losing customers who could have become consistent, recurring customers if they had received more tailored messaging.

Myth #2: More emails = Better results

 
It’s often thought ‘If I send more emails I will make more money’ but this isn’t necessarily true. The smarter way to do this is to look at your customer lifecycle and identify any new key engagement opportunities.
 
If you are over emailing or sending bulk emails on a frequent basis it will have a detrimental effect on your inbox placement. ISP algorithms will catch you out if you keep sending to those who are becoming disengaged as you have sent too many emails.
 
This will trigger ISP’s red flags making it more difficult to get inbox placement which will then have a knock-on effect to your good data. So especially in the run-up to peak be careful and perhaps have a strategy in place purely working on your sender reputation.
 
Using a frequency optimisation tool will help with this, ensuring each individual receives the volume of emails most appropriate for them.
 
‘Be careful, especially in the run-up to peak’ a top tip from Rachael ‘Bulk mailing can slow down delivery’ and sending too many will have a negative impact on your sender reputation.
 
We also know that our clients receive 50-60% of their email revenue from automated campaigns, so these if you need to up email volume, look at your automation across your customer lifecycle campaigns as they tend to have smaller segment sizes, demonstrating how emails to smaller segments than emails on mass can generate better results.

Myth #3: Personalisation is complicated

 
‘We’re not talking about ‘Hello [First Name] but having multiple dynamic and personalised content for each individual contact’ says Rachael, your customers want to know that you know who they are and you are sending messages that just make sense to them.
 
You need to talk to them as individuals and the first step is by separating your prospects from your customers.
 
Your customers have purchased already so they already know a bit about you and your products, so additional content will help convert these into VIPs.
 
If they are still a prospect the messaging needs to be entirely different, focus on the blockers that may be stopping the purchasing, perhaps a little incentive.
 
This basis for starting your segmentation will help with true personalisation being much easier. But overall having the right marketing automation system in place with your data organised as it should be will make this scalable personalisation a doddle.

Myth #4: AI is going to take over our jobs

 
‘AI isn’t going to take over your job, but marketers that are using AI are the ones who will rise to the top’ says Rachael.
 
The worry for many has arisen purely down to the acceleration of the technology, but realistically it’s a tool that is going to help marketers and businesses in general work smarter not harder, processing content creation, improving customer service and helping reduce waste etc
 
‘AI is an exciting new way for marketers can be more effective, make better decisions and gain better insights’ says Danni all of this will help drive higher engagement and conversion rates.
 
AI tools like predictive analytics have been around for years, supporting marketers to improve their customer lifecycle by taking actions such as preventing lapse and churn and unsubscribes, overall enhancing our results.
 
In marketing, AI is giving us a really exciting tool to help to be more consistent, be able to test more creatively and experiment more and overall be more successful.

Myth #5: Testing is risky

 
‘Testing can be risky however it is very important, and AI is going to help with this a lot’ says Danni. Any previous risk has only come around before if it’s been done badly.
 
If a test has only been done once or for a short time then you aren’t going to see clear results, Real testing needs to be done on a consistent basis over a decent amount of time.
 
Shopping habits and digital marketing trends are changing all of the time, so you need to be testing your subject lines, CTAs, length of copy, or amount of products per email regularly, but not all at once!
 
Small incremental changes will help you see true results and mitigate any risks, in turn improving your emails.
 
In our video ‘What’s stopping you creating better campaigns’ Our Senior Account Executive Tom discusses how knowing what to test is best and sometimes it can be such small things, so not just with or without an emoji but what type of emoji also has an impact.

Myth #6: Discounts are the only way to incentivise a purchase

 
‘Don’t undersell your product’ says Danni, discounting too often just cheapens your offering. A massive 70% of orders are abandoned at the basket, why are they not converting?
 
One key reason is the cost of delivery. One of the key reasons they are abandoned is due to delivery charge which they hadn’t factored into their spending.
 
So rather the offering a discount off the whole shop which could cost you more, as these customers were already looking to purchase, offer free delivery on their first purchase instead.
 
You could test this to see the results, which offers better conversion rates 10% off your first order or free delivery on their first order.
 
Also make sure you use unique voucher codes so it can be properly managed and once it’s used it can’t be used again to prevent people from sending it to their friends etc
 
Finally, you can also engage your database with value-added content, sometimes that little bit of extra information can help tip the scales. By creating urgency with social proofing, promoting loyalty points or creating teaser campaigns and offering exclusive access to a collection before it launches.

Bonus Myth – It’s easier to stick with the platform we have than change

 
This is not true, if you are being restricted on your platform capabilities and tools or you aren’t receiving strategic and design support to get the most out of the platform and your campaigns it is time to consider moving.
 
In our video ‘What’s stopping you changing marketing platforms’ our on-boarding team goes into how easy it is to change and why you should be considering it.
 
And if you’re ready to move? Why not book a demo to see our RedEye platform in action.
 
 

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