Over the years, marketing has seen significant eras of multiple strategies. We have traversed from print to electronic, and now we are in the digital age.
Today, companies opt for promotional efforts like Google Ads, paid posts, affiliate marketing, et cetera.
But one method that has not lost its charm over time is the good old email marketing. Why is it such a preferred medium for marketers?
Because of the capability that it provides to run a wide variety of marketing and communication campaigns.
No company can ignore email marketing. It is one of the most reliable marketing pillars. The reason why it holds so much importance is that companies can tweak their messaging and visual appeal to attract more customers.
It offers the perfect opportunity to either be plain and simple or a bit jazzy, to outright crazy in terms of content and design.
SaaS companies make some of the best use of email marketing as customers can simply sign up online and start using their services.
Email marketing allows them to create direct touchpoints for their audience through messaging. It also provides a means for direct communication about any updates.
We are going to see some really interesting examples of email marketing. These are carried out by some of the known names in the world of SaaS.
Whenever a customer signs up for your service, the most important part of marketing begins – nurturing and retaining customers. For this, the welcome message to join your clan is the most important touchpoint.
Wistia welcomes its customers with a simple yet creative design with a poem to express how they feel.
The email also includes as to how they can help the customers achieve more by leveraging their service offerings.
They also provide customers with quick access links in the email itself to get started. This makes it easy for customers to use their services.
This is the best method of customer retention, and companies can make use of email marketing effectively this way.
Users will use services because they paid for it. They still love to be appreciated from time to time.
This is what Canva had done in their email marketing campaign. They combined appreciation and gamification in one to show how users have been using Canva.
Small awards with numbers on them show users that there is a lot more that they can do on Canva. It also appreciates how much they have used Canva and that the company is really happy with it.
The email also enables users to share their Canva achievements on social media. This provides the company with improved visibility among the user’s circle.
Moreover, they can get feedback from others as well about their services in the comments section or as likes.
Grammarly is a very popular language and plagiarism-checking application. It is widely used by many writers and companies alike.
It offers a freemium model in which they offer limited services for free and entice the users to upgrade to the premium plan for more benefits.
For Grammarly, promotional emails are a large part of their marketing campaigns. They run some very creative ones, which include creatively highlighting numbers.
These, help capture the attention of the users as they talk about benefits, users can draw with Grammarly. Users are then more attracted towards the results and might consider upgrading to premium.
This is helpful as it makes the user think about the results, rather than the amount for the premium subscription.
LinkedIn, the company that helps people build professional connections sure knows how to make a user feel special.
Many companies these days have forgotten the charm that a personalized email, carries.
LinkedIn, more often than not, runs personalized email campaigns. It targets very specific topics that the person might be interested in.
LinkedIn has the upper hand with all the information that they have about the user’s education and work profile.
But these personalized emails help them capture the attention of the users. It helps address their challenges and provide a solution more effectively.
More importantly, a large percentage of users react positively to such personalized emails.
Also Read: Most Important Statistics of Personalized Marketing from 2019
Caring for your customers or audience is something every company must do by default. Something as simple as expressing gratitude towards them for choosing you strikes the right chord.
Especially companies who conduct events or webinars can leverage this more effectively.
Throughout the customer journey, companies receive many opportunities to showcase their gratitude. It hardly takes anything to send a “thank you” email.
Litmus has done a terrific job with their “Thank you” email. Not only that, but they also provide additional information in the email. They let the users know that they would conduct a follow-up soon and what they should expect from it.
Furthermore, they try to gather feedback about the event. The email also provides users with an opportunity to ask questions that they might have missed during the webinar.
Basecamp has run an interesting email campaign in which it has informed the users that their free trial has run out. It mentions that they can opt for a premium version.
Instead of just pushing for the renewal, it provides a lot more information in the email, such as statistics as to how many companies use Basecamp. It also assured the customers that their data from earlier is safe and accessible to them.
It also stated the time it takes to get started with the premium plan.
Moreover, if the customer is not interested in Basecamp’s services anymore, they can cancel their account, provide feedback, and also get their questions answered.
Companies looking to run email campaigns can be inspired by this to help connect with their customers better.
Dropbox, a cloud hosting service for individuals, use their emails, mostly for friendly reminders. Their strategy is simple: make it cute, personalized, and simple.
The idea is to attract the readers to open the email, and it should be an easy read. The message should not be ambiguous and should entice the readers to take further action.
Its reminder emails could range from downloading the app, and purchasing its premium plans, to plan expiry intimations.
It also checks in with customers who have signed up but have not used their services for a substantial amount of time.
This strategy works for them and should work for other SaaS players in the market as well.
Many companies offer free trials to attract customers. This also helps customers explore the value that the service provides them in their daily operations. It helps them decide whether to purchase the service or not.
Squarespace is one such company that provides free trials. But sometimes customers who do not purchase after the free trials might require just a little nudge.
Here Squarespace has run a wonderful campaign by providing their free trial customers with a seven-day extension. It reminds them under the pretext of understanding the customer that they might need more time to make a decision.
This direction by the company helps create an image of themselves in the mind of the customer, that they care. The customer might then be tempted to purchase Squarespace’s services.
It also provides a quick CTA button for the customer to take quick action, making the process a lot easier.
With the new CCPA and GDPR laws in place, unsolicited emails attract hefty fines. Hence, it is imperative for companies to ensure their customers are verified and comply with receiving emails.
Stripo sends users an email to check if the email IDs are valid or not, once the users fill out their form. They get one-click permission from the users themselves that they consent to receive the emails from you.
Conclusion
With so many strategies available, companies have abundant choices. But it is imperative for them to not blindly follow anything and plan their campaigns to extract the most benefits.
One can be inspired by the examples mentioned above, but it is always better to create campaigns based on your audience profile.
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