As data privacy concerns and restrictions grow, many brands and advertisers have had to rework their approach and strategies to continue reaching their target audiences and meeting their goals. Some channels have naturally been more heavily impacted than others, but they all have one thing in common: They can benefit from better leveraging their lifecycle marketing data.
Lifecycle Marketing—which includes email, mobile, and onsite messaging—is built on valuable, privacy-compliant zero-party and first-party data. That data enables lifecycle marketers to answer for today’s consumer demands in another key way—it makes the highly personalized communications they prefer possible.
If it’s starting to sound like Lifecycle Marketing’s time to shine has never been more apparent, you’re right. As we explore in greater detail in our 2023 Lifecycle Marketing Guide, the insights it can offer are capable of powering your cross-channel data and audience strategies in the privacy-by-default future. But before we can help others, we have to help ourselves!
We asked our Lifecycle Marketing experts to share a few of their top tips and considerations for crafting the best campaigns in 2023.
Pssst: Don’t forget to register for our upcoming FREE 2023 Lifecycle Summit.
1. Don’t Just Collect Information—Use It with Intention
As consumers are increasingly bombarded with advertisements across their physical and digital worlds, they have come to expect more from the communications they intentionally agree to receive. It is your responsibility as a marketer to honor that wish by fully leveraging the 0P and opted-in data at your fingertips.
“We need to be targeting subscribers to the degree they want and expect; otherwise, they’re going to pass over your messages. You not only have the information they provided when they signed up, but also behavior learnings along their customer journey. You know what they’re interested in, what they’ve been browsing and clicking on, and what they’ve ordered—all of that ties into the data that we’re collecting for our audience communication strategy. With that valuable information at our fingertips, we have to be utilizing it in every communication we send.”
— Emily Clarkson, Sr. Director, CRM & Email at Tinuiti
2. Personalization Expectations will Heighten
Keep your advertising goals at the forefront of every data point you collect, pre-considering how you’ll leverage any insights that you expressly ask for, as well as insights you have thanks to the opted-in nature of lifecycle marketing.
“Your customers will continue to expect more and more personalized experiences. Marketers need to become an advocate for their own customers while looking at their own marketing goals by finding the balance between their customer’s need for privacy and ensuring there is value in the communications they receive. Don’t be invasive. Don’t be one-sided in your goals. Respecting these needs will drive loyalty.”
— Leah Lloyd, Group Director, Lifecycle Marketing at Tinuiti
3. Be Mindful of Overflowing Inboxes and Send Messages that Matter
A staggering 333 billion emails were sent and received daily throughout 2022, and that number is expected to steadily climb for at least the next several years. Aim to be the email that stands out in a sea of general subject lines and content, providing customers with relevance and value in every communication.
“Consider quality over quantity when planning your email strategy. Now is not the time to send just for the sake of sending. Inboxes are flooded with emails and you can stand out by targeting your audience with thoughtful segmentation and by using sophisticated personalization. Send relevant emails and increase the value of your content by altering it to fit subscriber’s interests with the utilization of data; consider purchases, location, browsing history, and even past email engagement.”
— Kristin Feliciano, Associate Director, Lifecycle Marketing at Tinuiti
4. Invest in Technology with Multichannel Capabilities
The consumer journey is more multipathed than ever before, and technologies with multichannel capabilities baked in can help in future-proofing messaging options.
“Multichannel awareness in your martech stack is no longer a nice-to-have, it is quickly becoming a need-to-have. We’re seeing more and more technologies leaning toward multi-channel capabilities in their features and releases. Having this allows the marketer to adapt to trends in real-time, utilizing metrics and insights from their platforms to target the right audience members at the right time.”
— Diana Mitchell, Associate Director, Lifecycle Marketing at Tinuiti
5. Elevating Your Campaigns is Table Stakes
Email marketing will always be the oldest member of the Lifecycle Marketing crew, but onsite and mobile messaging aren’t youngsters anymore, either! Today, fully integrated campaigns are an absolute must, with all elements upping their game individually, and as a team.
“When we look to 2023, all of the nice-to-have components of programs become need-to-have components. These include using SMS alongside email, implementing on-site pop ups and banners, hyper-personalization and key data collection and usage strategies within lifecycle as well as to fuel cross channels marketing efforts.”
— Emily Clarkson, Senior Director, Lifecycle Marketing at Tinuiti
6. Don’t Forget Your Foundation
No matter how experienced the marketer, or elevated the strategy they’re applying, the essentials will always be just that—essential.
“In the growing world of digital marketing, it’s more important than ever to make sure you have your basics covered. It’s amazing how many companies let the basics slide. Do you have (and honor) permission? Are you sending relevant and timely messaging? Are you planning cross-channel to ensure your customers are receiving the same, cohesive message across all channels? Are you considering the context of the subscriber with each message you send? If you answer each of those questions with “yes”, then you will have a leg up on many companies out there. “
— Eric Miller, Director, Lifecycle Marketing at Tinuiti
Want to Learn More?
Last Chance To Register For 2023 Lifecycle Marketing Summit
You don’t want to miss out on our upcoming “2023 Lifecycle Marketing Summit”. This year, we’re hosting 2 days’ worth of incredible insights and strategy you can put to use immediately.
Hype-worthy sessions on topics such as:
- The Most Important KPIs to Really Drive Your Lifecycle Program
- Lifecycle as an Engine to Power Other Channels
- Lifecycle and AI: Where We’re At and Where We’re Going
- How to Keep Up Your Creative Testing After Budget Cuts
- Leveraging Your Tech Stack – Migration Execution: Best Practices for Both
- And more!
Featuring Lifecycle and Marketing Brand Experts including:
- Sandcloud
- Marigold
- Iterable
- JustUno
- Blotout
- Yotpo
- Wellby Financial
- Tinuiti
Limited Space Available – Register Today!