Email 2.0: Making Email Cool Again – Part 8

In this series so far, beginning from Part 1, we have explored Email 2.0 and its components in depth.  This part is about getting started with Email 2.0 and it includes a 30-60-90 day plan for brands to reap the benefits from Email 2.0 (and also better versions of their martech and adtech programs, Martech 2.0 and Adtech 2.0). We will also look at the profit projections that result from reduced marketing spends.

First month:

Start with Email 2.0 and 10% of the email list. The email IDs should be randomly chosen from the entire database. Ideally, the inactives should be excluded because they need a different program. The 10% list should be split 80:20 into the Test list and the Control list. The broadcast campaigns (“Cams”) being sent by brands are sent to both lists.

The Control list gets them as is. The Test list has them enriched with Atomic Rewards and an interactive AMP footer to capture zero-party data. Cams will account for about 10 emails in a month. Ems should constitute the other 20 emails, to ensure that there is a daily email going out from the brand to the customer.

Each of these emails should go out at the same time daily. Ems can have a mix of games, stories, and informative content. The aim is to engage and make email interaction a habit. The Hooked Score should be measured for both the Test and Control lists. Over the month, the Hooked Score should show a marked improvement for the Test list.

Second month:

The next phase can work on three tracks to bring Martech 2.0 into the mix.

The Email 2.0 program can be expanded from 10% of the list to about 35-40%, with Hooked Score being tracked closely. Cams and Ems can be augmented by Rems (Response Emails) – triggered emails based on the actions done by the customer on the app or website. These should be as short and informative as possible.

The second track is about enhancing the experience for the Best customers. For this, CLV must be used to identify the Best. Velvet Rope Marketing (VRM) must be used to treat these customers like royalty. Martech 2.0 with its unified customer view and AI-based predictions is what is needed. Brands will need to work across departments to substantially enhance the experience of their Best Customers.

The third track is for the Test customers – they need reactivation. Email 2.0 can help with the Reactivation program.

Third month:

The third phase also works on three tracks and brings in Adtech 2.0 into the mix.

The first track is an expansion of Atomic Rewards to the entire email database and other push messaging channels to ensure an omnichannel hotline.

The second track is about creating a referral program only for Best customers. Referrals are (near) zero cost new customer acquisition, and focusing on the Best can get more high value customers.

The third track is about using the Best Customer Genome (BCG) to optimize new acquisition. This can substantially decrease AdWaste.

Here is a summary of the 90-day plan to do a complete makeover of the existing marketing program.

Metrics like NPS, Hooked Score, Earned Growth Rate, Reacquisition Ratio and Net Predicted Revenue can help measure progress and improvement at every stage.

Profits

Let us take the examples of two companies – one which is already profitable (Company A) and another which is not (Company B). The likely difference between the two will be on their marketing spends.

The idea discussed in this series will achieve twin objectives: grow revenues by 20% and reduce marketing spends by 30%. What is the impact this will have on the profitability of the companies?

Revenues increase because brands are engaging better with their existing customers. If open rates in emails go up from 10% to something substantially higher, there will be a knock-on effect on web/app traffic and transactions.

If the experience of Best customers improves with the availability of more customer data, they will spend more. If the customer journey of Rest customers becomes better, their spends will also be higher. If more Test customers (inactives) start engaging, there will be revenues coming in from them also.

As Atomic Rewards work their magic, the discounts needed to drive transactions will decrease. Taken together, marketers now have many more levers to grow revenue. Thus, a 20% increase in revenue is a reasonable estimate. In reality, it can be much higher.

Marketing costs decrease because AdWaste is being cut. The spends on reacquisition and wrong acquisition will be substantially reduced. Marketers will not have to pay the CAC rent to the adtech platforms. Success with referral marketing via Best customers will beget more Best customers, further cutting the ad spends.

In this context, a 30% reduction is a fair estimate, even after assuming that martech budgets will rise – which is a good thing because it is money being spent on creating better relationships with existing customers.

The outcome: Company A has doubled profits, while Company B has swung from deep losses to a respectable profit. This is the power of Email 2.0 (along with Martech 2.0 and Adtech 2.0).

The takeaway: CEOs have to look hard at marketing costs if they are to get on a path to profitability. Just dumping money on new customer acquisition is not going to cut it. Growth has to come from existing customers. Smart CEOs are realizing this.

A recent headline in Wall Street Journal: “JCPenney’s CEO Is Done Chasing New Customers. ‘We Are Loving Those Who Love Us.’” And a quote from Gaurav Munjal, Unacdemy CEO, as quoted in Morning Context: “I can say we will do 200% growth, but then I’d have to burn a lot of cash. I don’t want to burn that much. When we were setting our goals for this year, the top was the path to profitability … We want to consolidate and make a more sustainable business. And then the market is becoming tricky too. And it is not just edtech. Tech stocks across the world are facing the heat. Until two-three years ago, the markets were rewarding growth over profitability. Today, there is a renewed focus on profitability.”

Email 2.0 and its allies Martech 2.0 and Adtech 2.0 are the keys that open the doors to the kingdom of profitability.

Continued in Part 9