When it comes to writing emails, it’s easy to create one standard email and send this off to each of your customers. But in reality, email is not a one-size-fits-all.
In fact, there’s a good chance that several of your customers are at very different points in their customer's journey or buyer’s journey (in modern term) and therefore one issue may be at the top of mind for one customer, while for another, they are in a completely different place in their path to purchase and another goal is their top priority. As a business, how can you make sure your emails are keeping up with your ever growing, diverse group of clients while catering towards each of their individual needs? To answer this question is fundamental to Email marketing
First, let’s take a step back and remember the buyer’s journey.
The buyer’s journey describes the research process a prospect takes on before making the decision to purchase.
There are 3 stages:
Example: “I want to invest in real estate, but I’m hesitant because of the complex work and time commitment involved. What are my alternative options?”
Example: “A great option is Alternative Real Estate Investments. I don’t need to do all the initial due diligence but simply need to select a project to invest in. What are the different options for Alternative Real Estate Investments?”
Example: “I really like the idea of land investments and there are 3 companies that offer it, which is best suited to help me get started?”
With the very likelihood that your customers are scattered through these three stages, understanding the buyer’s journey is key to helping you meet your customers exactly where they’re at. Recognize that because your customers are not all at the same stage, they will want different things from each other. And because their goals and pain-points vary, whether it’s by a big or subtle gap, different content will appeal and resonate with each customer a little better than the other.
For example, if you’re sending an email to a newly converted lead who is interested in alternative investments, you may include information about an upcoming webinar your firm is hosting where they can learn more and have any unresolved questions about the topic answered. But on the other hand, when you’re sending an email to someone who has been a long-time customer, you would instead send content targeted to maintaining customer satisfaction such as discounted rates or regular newsletters to keep them updated on any investment trends.
In this way, understanding the buyer’s journey for your specific business will shape what kind of content you create in your emails according to each customer’s current needs.
After figuring out what content to include in your emails, how do you decide which of your customers should receive it?
As your leads and customers interact more with your firm, whether it’s by clicking on a particular Call-to-Action (CTA), taking a certain amount of time before purchasing, or communicating with your firm primarily through social media, this is not the time to sit back and relax. With every activity and interaction they have with your firm is an opportunity for you to track and collect this data in order to learn more about who your leads and customers are so that you can segment and personalize the email communications you have with each of them.
When it comes to your leads, they’ve shown initial interest in your firm but have not decided to make a purchase yet. Email becomes an invaluable tool here to nurture these leads by providing helpful, relevant resources tailored to their own needs and to learn more about them by addressing any doubt and questions they may have.
It’s important here to know when not to send an email. Use email only as a response to your lead’s behaviour and actions and be strategic in deciding which of those actions to respond to. You don’t want to be sending emails left and right, possibly overwhelming them. You want to ensure your lead has shown sufficient interest and engagement with your firm before you contact them further to start a larger conversation.
Businesses can easily stop caring once the purchase has been made. Profit-driven marketing makes the mistake of seeing the purchase as the end-goal and a person as simply a transaction. However, once a lead becomes a customer, it doesn’t just stop there. Being intentional in further building a relationship with customers beyond the point of purchase is one of the most important elements to your firm’s continued growth.
To learn how to best create a relationship with your customers, let’s look over the 3 stages of the customer lifecycle: