Most consumers don’t buy every time they receive an email promotion because they simply aren’t ready or able to buy all the time. Sending too many promotional messages to people who aren’t ready to buy feels like sales pressure to your audience, and too much sales pressure usually results in unsubscribe requests and low response rates.
One way to make sure your email promotions are more relevant and desirable for your audience, and more effective for generating sales, is to divide your subscriber list into groups based on their most probable stage in the buying cycle, and send email messages that are appropriate for the people in that particular buying cycle stage.
The following three consecutive buying cycle stages include tips on how to identify the customers and prospects on your email list who fit into each cycle, and tips for targeting your email messages to match the cycle. These three cycles are sometimes known by other names, but I’ve made them all start with ‘I’ so they are easier to remember.
- The information cycle is the time period during which prospective buyers are learning about the options available to them when they are trying to meet their needs. For example, someone who recently began a new career might be looking for workplace fashion advice and information and is therefore reading lots of fashion articles, visiting websites and stores, and seeking advice from fashion experts.
- Identifying prospective customers in this cycle: You should assume your audience is in the information cycle unless you see one of the signs (below) that they have crossed into a new cycle.
- Targeting your messaging within this cycle: During the information cycle, promotional offers should be avoided and your emails should focus on informative content.
- The interest cycle is the time period during which your audience engages in the information you provide during the information cycle. For example, the aforementioned fashion conscious shopper might become curious enough to click on a link in an email newsletter article to view more detailed information.
- Identifying prospective customers in this cycle: The sign that someone who has crossed over from the information cycle to the interest cycle is generic activity. General clicks, phone calls, forwards, and replies are all signs of the interest cycle.
- Targeting your messaging within this cycle: During the interest cycle, begin sending emails with specific product information or include some specific product information in your informative emails. For example you might want to add a side column to your email newsletter featuring the benefits of a particular product line that relates to the information in your newsletter.
- The incentive cycle is the time period during which your audience seeks justification for following through on a purchase decision. For example, the fashion conscious shopper in the aforementioned examples might decide that a particular pair of shoes meets his or her needs, but he or she isn’t compelled to make an immediate purchase decision because there is no incentive to act immediately.
- Identifying prospective customers in this cycle: The sign that someone who has crossed over from the interest cycle to the incentive cycle is product-specific activity. Clicks on specific products or services and subsequent website or in-store browsing are the most common signs of the incentive cycle.
- Targeting your messaging within this cycle: During the incentive cycle, send distinct promotional emails with specific offers featuring the products or services your audience has clicked through to.
List segmentation takes some effort and patience, but it doesn’t have to involve a lot of manual email personalization. Low-cost Email Service Providers can handle simple database merges that allow you to easily populate your promotions with personalized information, and some high-end email services and boutique providers can help you generate dynamic offers and even dynamic auto-responders. Remember that any amount of targeting is better than sending every message to everyone. Walk before you run, and add more targeting tactics as your strategy unfolds.
John Arnold is the author of Email Marketing for Dummies and the Director of Constant Contact’s local expert program.
