In this article, Stefan Pollard looks at four common tactics used in developing a contact strategy.

When you’re reaching out to your customers via e-mail, there are many variables you’ll want to consider: How long have they been a customer? How long has it been since they’ve made a purchase? What’s the next logical step in the product sequence? Does a particular promotion work within the boundaries of the larger business calendar?

The following four tactics serve as a solid starting point for developing and implementing your contact strategy:

1. Onboarding. If you’re dropping new e-mail subscribers smack dab into the middle of your existing e-mail marketing stream, you’re missing a great opportunity. Adding a series of onboarding e-mails that follow your initial “welcome” e-mail is a way to provide your new shoppers with valuable information about your brand and their potential shopping experience.

Reinforcing your brand positioning by providing an informational e-mail (a recipe or a tip for exercise, for example) or reiterating a strong area of your customer service offerings (such as free shipping or 24/7 customer support) allows you to ease recipients into your e-mail atmosphere without leaving them gasping for breath.

2. Launching a win-back campaign. It may be tempting to ignore the portion of your e-mail lists that receives your promotion and either chooses not to open it or opens it and does nothing — after all, they haven’t unsubscribed or complained that you’re sending spam. However, allowing this dead weight to stay on your list has a big chance of rendering your e-mail metrics meaningless.

So, how do you go about reactivating customers who are no longer responding to your e-mails? Different e-retailers do this in varying ways. Some offer special discounts good for any product on the site. Others provide an additional incentive — like free shipping or a special gift with purchase — to recipients they’re trying to woo. Most e-retailers mention that the promotion is of a “come back” nature, highlighting to the recipient that the company is aware that he hasn’t recently made a purchase. If you’re not a retailer, think about what kind of incentives you can use to bring once-interested readers back to life. Look at the original reason they signed up to your program.

3. Evolving with the product life cycle. If the nature of your product justifies it, the product life cycle offers a built-in opportunity for communication with customers. Think about all of the potential touch points — the welcome e-mail, an e-mail identifying tech support options, additional modules or add-ons that are available, an e-mail describing extended warranty information or even an e-mail with a special upgrade offer. Product life cycle tactics are often some of the most successful, because they’re viewed by recipients as highly credible, personalized and relevant.

4. Sticking to the editorial calendar. Many businesses develop a six-month or 12-month editorial calendar that pinpoints promotions and corresponding educational information that they’ll be offering in their newsletters throughout the year. Keep this editorial calendar in mind as you’re developing additional sales-oriented campaigns to send to recipients. Watch your e-mail metrics to ensure that your sending frequency isn’t creeping up to unacceptable levels, and that your brand and product messaging is complimentary from issue to issue.

Source: CRMbuyer