How to use your response data to send better email

We’ve already discussed how capturing your customers' behavior outside the inbox can help you send smarter, more effective email campaigns…  but what valuable insights can you gain from their activity inside  the inbox?

Every email is an opportunity to learn more about your audience, so here are three easy ways you can use that response data to inform your follow-up strategy and send your most targeted, relevant messages yet.


1. Track what they’re opening and clicking to automate the perfect follow-up email.

Branching logic allows you to automate different campaigns based on whether or not a subscriber opened an email or clicked a particular link. So if they clicked on something in your email, trigger a follow-up containing similar topics, products, or services. If they didn’t click, try some different content to see if that ignites their interest.

For instance, Surface Hotels sent my colleague Jamie this email after she clicked on a particular hotel in a previous send. That single piece of data was an incredibly powerful one: Since she had already demonstrated interest in Hotel Havana, this gentle reminder about their available dates was all she needed to finish booking her stay.

2. Ask for the info you need now to send more relevant email later.

Nourishwise is an online service that bridges the gap between diners and restaurants. Diners can sign up for their emails, and in return, they provide detailed information from dieticians about healthy menu options at various restaurants they’ve partnered with. So their ability to provide a rich service is dependent on knowing which partner restaurants their subscribers like.
  
This email is simply polling a new subscriber and asking them to click on the restaurants they like or to take a survey. It reduces the friction of signing up for their email list (since people don’t have to answer all these questions on their form), but it still allows them to get the information they need to serve people the content they actually want.

You don’t always have to gather all this info right at the beginning of your relationship with a subscriber: Later down the road, you can straight-up ask them if you’re getting your messaging right. It’s an easy way to ensure you have folks in the right segments to provide them the best brand experience possible.

3. Re-engage inactive subscribers to see who’s still interested

You can’t win ‘em all. Sometimes, subscribers start tuning you out, and it’s on YOU as a marketer to pay attention to that.

This example from Ticketfly is great because not only do they acknowledge, “Hey, you haven’t been paying attention to us recently" – they offer a valuable incentive for people to come back into the fold. Based on who interacts with this mailing, they can segment out those who engage from those who don’t, then nurture both groups differently.

Again, every send offers the chance to develop smaller, more targeted segments of your audience and get smarter and smarter about your messaging along the way.


Interested in learning more about creating email campaigns for every stage of the customer lifecycle? Check out our latest guide!

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