It is already a reality that mass marketing is losing power to relational marketing . This new strategy allows us to analyse the information we obtain from users and their behaviour in order to get to know them better and achieve better results. At this point, the User Life Cycle becomes relevant, which is the model that helps us to know how to treat each user based on their status (client or potential client) throughout the life of their relationship with the brand. In fact, it is a model that has been used precisely to justify and apply relational marketing.
Why is it important to keep it in mind in our Email Marketing strategy?
The User Life Cycle will allow us to know what relationship each of our subscribers has with our brand. In this way, we will be able to know what type of emails we can send them and what their content should be. It is important to bear in mind that we cannot treat all users equally; if we do, the only thing we will achieve is that the unsubscribe rate will increase and the positive indicators (opening rate, clicks and clicks to open) will decrease. The User Life Cycle has 5 different phases that, as we have mentioned, are related to the involvement that a person, in this case the subscriber, has at a given time.
Acquisition and activation phasecrocs
In this phase we would place all potential clients who, for different reasons, have decided to give us their consent to start interacting with them. What should a brand do with this type of user? It should focus on meeting the subscriber's expectations in order to start establishing quality links turkey business email list with them. The objective is for the user to start interacting with the brand and become an active user , that is, someone who opens and reads the emails we send, visits our website and participates in social networks. Therefore, we could summarize that the objective of this phase is to achieve high activity rates . At all times it will be really important to know how to distinguish active from inactive registrations in order to be able to act in each case.
On the right you can see an example of an activation email that not only welcomes the user, but also offers an exclusive discount through a code.
Conversion phase
In the conversion phase we would find those users who already have a good relationship with the brand and who are active, but who have not yet made a first purchase. Therefore, at this stage we would focus on moving to the next level and achieving conversion . It will be very interesting to design emails designed to get the user to take action, for example, with an attractive discount or some exclusive benefit.
Growth phase
halfbirthday-600x692When a user has a high level of engagement with the brand and has already made a first purchase, they are in the growth phase . It is important to establish a series of indicators that show us the growth potential of each of the users who are in this stage. For example: purchase frequency, purchase value, etc. If we have this under control, we will know who to allocate more or less resources to.
The main objective of this phase is to increase user interactions : openings, clicks, visits to the website, participation in social networks or purchases, in order to obtain the greatest possible benefit and return.
On the one hand, upselling is a sales technique that can help us a lot in this phase thanks to the strategy of inducing the customer to buy the most expensive products or those in which we have a greater interest. In this way, we will achieve a much more profitable sale. On the other hand, trigger marketing can also become our best ally, since through personalized actions that are sent to a client after having made some kind of transaction or on the occasion of a special date (birthday), it allows us to convert potential clients into active clients, loyal clients and even recover those that we have lost throughout the entire process. Here you can see what the email that the company Lee
sent to a user who was in the growth phase looks like . The client is congratulated on his birthday and a discount is offered as a gift.
Retention phase
As the name suggests, the objective of this phase is to retain customers who have a Example-VIP-customer-emailhigh level of involvement and acceptance of the brand. It is important to keep in mind the 80/20 or Pareto rule (20% of users contribute 80% of the value), and that is that in every business there is a number of customers who produce the majority of the income. The key question is, what can we do to retain them and thus prevent them from leaving for the competition? We can improve the service offered to them, get to know and gain a deeper understanding of their interests and, above all, take into account their opinions, criticisms and ratings.
It should be noted that these users value and have a special bond with the brand, for this reason they become the main spokespersons for the brand , that is, those who spread it among their contacts and help the reputation and knowledge of it to increase considerably.
On the right we can see an example of a retention email from the company Aerosoles in which a reward is offered to a VIP user for their loyalty. It is a clear example of how to pamper a client in order to retain him.
Reactivation phaseRe-engagement_2_400_1583_80
In the User Life Cycle we also find those users who hardly add value to the brand , not only because they do not generate any conversion, but also because of their low level of interaction. In this case we must implement actions that allow us to determine whether it is really worth continuing to invest in them or not. The idea is to select users who have not interacted with the brand (for example, not opening emails in a certain period of time) and carry out specific actions with exclusive benefits to encourage their interest and get them to become active users. If the actions are successful, we will place these users back in the acquisition or conversion phase . On the contrary, if we see that they still do not respond to the reactivation actions we have carried out, we must exclude them from our database and stop taking them into account in future email marketing campaigns.
Finally, we want to show a very creative and ingenious example of a reactivation email . In this case, Missguided has chosen to create a storytelling session about the relationship between its company and a customer who is in this phase. In addition, it has offered an attractive incentive to ensure that the story ends happily for both.
