Getting Started with Behavioral Email Marketing

The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog

Getting Started with Behavioral Email Marketing

When sending out automated emails to your list, how personalized are they?

I’m not talking about things like $firstname, or order by $date for free shipping – but actual personalization based on their behavior.

According to MarketingSherpa, 39% of marketers found that sending emails automatically based on user behavior was their most effective email marketing strategy. At the same time, DMA reports that emails triggered by behavior were responsible for 30% of revenues in 2014, up from 17% in 2013, and that 77% of ROI comes from segmented, targeted and triggered campaigns.

Let those numbers sink in a minute.

The potential for making the most of behavioral email marketing is wide open, and yet, according to eConsultancy, only 20% of marketers are using behavioral targeting.

Only 20% of marketers surveyed use behavioral targeting (Image Source)

Why is that? Let’s take a closer look at the core issues and learn how to get started with behavioral email marketing.

Getting the Big Picture with Behavioral Tracking

Oftentimes, marketers want to start behavioral targeting, but they have no idea how or where to start. The first step, if you haven’t done so already, is to monitor how people are interacting with your brand.

Kissmetrics can deliver this kind of invaluable behavioral analytics data. Like the brain of your behavioral marketing outreach, it seeks out and stores details about your visitors, including:

Who they are, and when they converted What they viewed, where they clicked on your website, and when they purchased Group visitors based on shared criteria Identifies where people are dropping off before converting Whether or not they submitted any forms, conducted any live chats, and so on

Because of this powerful people-based analytics platform, you can tailor your behavioral email triggers to suit precisely what your audience is looking for.

Decide Which Customer Actions Warrant an Email

Now, not all of these points will be email “action-worthy”, so it’s up to you to figure out what actions the user takes (or doesn’t take) that are worth sending an email. You may have even seen this kind of behavioral targeting at work when you sign up for a service, but don’t complete your profile or don’t verify your email address. If the company is smart, they’ll send you an automated email reminding you to do so.

But re-targeting the user in this way isn’t the only way to leverage behaviorally targeted emails. You can also send out targeted messages, for example, when a customer:

Submits a form to download your white paper, video, case study or other free item Views certain content on your web page. If they spent some time browsing the FAQ, you can set up a behaviorally targeted email to check in and see if they have any specific questions Leaves an item in their cart without checking out. You could send them a reminder email with a small discount, remind them of limited stock (or that their cart will expire) and so on

Remember, with behavioral email marketing, it’s the customer at the wheel — not you. They’re making choices while interacting with your content. Behavioral marketing is designed to act on those choices with the kind of engagement that increases conversion rates, grows profits and vastly improves customer retention.

Unearthing More Behavioral Email Trigger Opportunities

Once you start collecting and analyzing the information that you gather on your customers, new opportunities for behaviorally targeted emails will percolate to the surface. You’ll start getting all kinds of great ideas on how to guide users back into your service. To help get you started, however, here are some of my favorites:

The “Getting Started” Email

Also known as an “onboarding” email, this message is usually sent after you create an account or register for a service. It’s designed to get you clicking and interacting with the service as quickly and fluidly as possible. Here’s an awesome example from Stocksy, a stock photography site:

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Notice how they’ve carefully curated images on a specific theme – then encourage you to click through and check them out for more design inspiration. Here’s another example from Airbnb:

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If you’ve been browsing trips to wine country, this targeted email can help make your tour much more palatable through the offer if discounts, local guides, special attractions and more.

The Notification Email

The notification email is generally just a canned response from your account or user management software that tells people their username and password, and maybe has a link to some documentation to get started. That’s where most of the getting started process ends — which results in a lot of confused or frustrated users.

Instead, encourage them to take the first step toward trying out your product by offering more of a guided, hands-on tour. If you have a SaaS, walk them through using it by helping them to create their very first _____ — such as a website, playlist or campaign. This sort of guided, pop-up tour will help them feel more at ease, and can also give you even more valuable data for your behavioral targeting goals.

The Icing on the Cake Email

These are the unexpected but highly welcomed emails that encourage better customer retention. Here’s a great example from Shopify that lets users extend their free trial of the service:

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Another example comes from TurboTax, which is designed to pique the user’s curiosity about how much their tax refund could be, before they ever see a check in the mail:

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It also promotes the benefits of using the TurboTax service, but without being overly “sales-y” or pushy. Rather it shifts the focus onto the customer and their end goals – which revolve around getting the biggest refund possible at tax time.

The Reward Email

Everyone loves getting an unexpected reward — even if it’s a digital “good job!” Here’s an example of an email from Withings, which is a Fitbit-style product that helps inspire healthy habits by tracking your activity. Here, you can see a user has won a badge for taking 8,000 steps in a day, and unlocked the Marathon reward. They can also share their progress on Twitter or Facebook.

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The Recommendation Email

Oftentimes, great customer service from a company is enough to get you to recommend them. But what if the brand sweetened the deal? Bombas, which sells socks online, provides free socks, with no limit, to people who tell their friends about them. Those friends get a discount on socks, and the referrer gets more socks. And we all know you can never have enough socks.

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Transactional Emails

Did you know that transactional emails (receipts, shipping notifications, etc.) are opened up at 8x the rate of regular emails? With this in mind, it’s worth going through the ones your company sends and doing away with those dusty old “order confirmed” messages, to make every note you send one that not only thanks the customer for their order, but does so in a way that’s more akin to having a conversation than making a statement.

So Just How Do I Set All This Up?

Until now, behavioral email targeting was difficult to set up because so many pieces of technology had to communicate with each other. With the new Kissmetrics Campaigns, behavioral targeting via email (and other channels) is built right in, so you can customize precisely when automated emails are sent to your customers, based on their behaviors. It’s better targeting, discovery, engagement and retention all rolled into one.

Be sure to check out the detailed article link above to learn how to use this new feature to the fullest, and be sure to share your behavioral targeting email success stories with us in the comments below!

About the Author: Sherice Jacob helps business owners improve website design and increase conversion rates through compelling copywriting, user-friendly design and smart analytics analysis. Learn more at iElectrify.com and download your free web copy tune-up and conversion checklist today!

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When ‘Fear’ Works & When it Backfires

The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog

When ‘Fear’ Works & When it Backfires

Fear works.

Except for when it doesn’t.

There’s no better way to force prospects to pay attention than by striking the fear of God into them. It interrupts patterns and interests the unaware.

But.

That doesn’t mean it always works.

In fact, in many cases using fear or negative messaging can actually backfire.

Here’s why, and how to do it correctly.

Why do we do what we do?

We used to be cavemen. Cavewomen too.

At least, that’s what science says.

In these primitive times, there was no cold brew. No netflix. No alco… well, there was probably something fermented of some sort.

But there were harsh conditions. The environment was unstable. And they were constantly surrounded by scary beasts.

So life was probably pretty straight-forward. Here’s the GTD ‘next action’ list of a caveperson millions of years ago:

Don’t get eaten. Don’t fall off a cliff. Find food. Fornicate. (Hey — we all got here somehow. This is science people!)

Today we’re not much different. Except monsters and cliffs have been replaced by bosses and email respectively.

Pain and pleasure are the primary motivators of human behavior. Humans gravitate towards pleasure while avoiding that which causes pain.

Fear is a stressor; a reaction to anything that’s threatening, dangerous, or likely to cause pain. Which explains why fear-based messaging has long been used in marketing and advertising: People don’t want pain. Triggering their fear for pain incites them to action.

A reported 25% of Americans have “high stress levels,” with another 50% reporting “moderate stress.”

Stress signals can chemically alter your brain. Your emotional processor (the amygdala) sends bright, flashing WARNING signs to your critical command center (the hypothalamus), which instantly decides whether you should run like hell or suit up like a gladiator.

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But response to fear is highly personal, the same way not all fear are created equal. What George will run away from John may tackle with gusto. Different people react to the same stressful situation differently (or ‘fight’ vs. ‘flight’).

And here’s the kicker.

The Harvard Health Publications says that “chronic activation of [the ‘fight or flight’] survival mechanism” is bad for the health. You don’t want to be that company people associate with negativity. Therefore, incessant badgering of your target audience with fear-based marketing can be catastrophic for your company’s overall brand health.

Even though it almost always works in the short-term.

Does fear-based marketing work?

Yes. Fear-based marketing works.

(Wow that was easy. On to the next section…)

Just kidding, but seriously. It does.

Turns out Gordon Gekko was onto something: Greed, and its inverse, fear, does matter.

(What — you think the stock market goes up and down based on math alone? Don’t make me laugh.)

Inciting fear has been proven to be the absolute best way to grab attention. And in a world where millions of blog posts go out and trillions of emails are sent daily, grabbing attention is freaking critical!

Exhibit A comes courtesy of ConversionXL which comes courtesy of QuickSprout (there’s a meta joke in here somewhere):

The first subject line resulted in a 65% conversion lift. You see this so often that it’s not even surprising anymore.

Here’s Victoria’s Secret emphasizing how long this deal is going to last — three times on the same page:

“Ends tomorrow!” “Today only!” “Last Day!”

(Yes, this is just a bad excuse to conduct “research” on Victoria’s Secret’s website.)

So yes. Fear works.

There’s no going around that. So might as well give credit where credit is due. However, while it does work… you can only push it to a point. Go beyond that point and it’s sure to backfire.

Messaging based on fear isn’t empowering. It’s not always delightful. It’s fo sho clickbait-y. It manufactures urgency to re-create a ‘fight or flight’ response.

And sometimes can be perceived as dishonest.

But can fear backfire?

Fear works… until it doesn’t.

Until it backfires and works against you.

Several experiments from MarketingExperiments.com (again, searching for a meta joke) have proven this time and time again.

First up, two tweets.

One with a “positive, empowering message” and another that focused on the pain of potential loss. Turns out, the first fun loving one won. (Say that ten times fast.)

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Next up, a CTA. The first was negative and fear based. The second focused on “peace of mind.”

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Once again, the positive message was victorious.

Ok one last example. Norton antivirus compared two campaigns: one that incited fear vs. another that tried to “empower” customers.

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And the winner?

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Incredibly, the soft, touchy, feely one won. And check out that difference!

So… WTF. What’s going on? One minute fear works. And the next it doesn’t. What’s going on?

MarketingExperiments.com posits:

“The most effective marketing campaigns focus on the impact of action, rather than the result of inaction. Our goal is to create positive (non negative) momentum in the psychology of our customer’s mind.”

Turns out that while fear works wonderfully in order to first get attention, it starts to backfire when it comes to a transaction.

When you optimize for sales from customers (and not just emails or blog post headlines) the nuance appears. That context can make all the difference.

Fear can also backfire during certain times of the year. For example, the holidays. During this blissful time, positive emotions tend to fare better.

A Fractl study in the Harvard Business Review, visually illustrates this. The most shared content related most to anticipation, surprise, trust, and joy (so happiness overall). While fear-based ones were a ghost town.

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Focusing on what people are going to get during this time pays off. (As opposed to what they might miss out on or the ‘cost of inaction’).

Why people want (to buy) reassurance

People don’t need your thing.

So there’s only one reason they buy: to solve a pain point. One that kinda bothers them but isn’t life or death.

What they don’t want, is to be disappointed. They don’t want to take a chance on your thing and be sorry they purchased it. They want to know it’s going to work like it should. It (and you) will be there when it (and you) should.

Fear mongering sometimes crosses that line. Exhibit B comes courtesy of a Gallup poll that showed car salesmen are trusted more than your local politicians (and at this rate, the White House most likely, too).

That’s why 81% of people look to peers for decision making (as opposed to branded messages).

So there’s a line. Somewhere. Under all of those fear-based headlines.

Fear works wonderfully at capturing attention. There’s almost nothing better. But… too much, too often can be harmful.

Negative messaging might pique the interest of those ‘cold’ prospects who lack need awareness (for your product or widget). Fear makes them sit up and take notice. It makes them realize — for the very first time — that they might have a problem that needs to be solved.

Outbrain ran a study on 65,000 paid links in order to find out which worked best: positive or negative messages (in syndicated ads).

The results weren’t even close. Negative ones crushed it (by 60%).

Sometimes, people need that shot of adrenaline in order to stop and pay attention.

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But ‘warmer’ ones who already ‘get it’ don’t need the same heavy-handed approach.

Another study compared a few different headlines. They were:

Passionate about betting? We are too. Make More Money on Your Bets — Get Free Betting Tips Stop Losing Money on Your Bets — Get Free Betting Tips

Unsurprisingly by now, the second and third (positive and negative) ones dominated the first generic one.

But… the positive message outperformed the negative one.

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The positive one focused on what people were going to get (as opposed to what they were going to lose out on).

That’s where you back off a bit. Switch the value proposition to what your widget will bring them (as opposed to what NOT having it will do to them). Otherwise it becomes overkill. And it backfires.

Conclusion

Fear-based messaging works. In many cases.

It plays upon our evolutionary biology; stimulating our fight or flight response in order to get us to take notice.

However… it also requires the right context. Many studies have shown that negative message works wonders when you’re targeting people who might be unaware of what your widget does. Unaware that they even have a problem or need for what you do in the first place.

But. When it comes to ‘warmer’ traffic who does understand, fear can backfire.

These people see through the fear mongering. They’re looking for reassurances instead. They want the truth. They want to know what they’re going to get out of it. The value or end result.

About the Author: Brad Smith is the founder of Codeless, a B2B content creation company. Frequent contributor to Kissmetrics, Unbounce, WordStream, AdEspresso, Search Engine Journal, Autopilot, and more.

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20 Stunning Consumer Services Video Examples

Advids

20 Stunning Consumer Services Video Examples

Consumer services industry is always a challenge and is very dynamic industry to operate in. Companies need to innovative their services and solution, while driving business growth. Video marketing has seen a great response within Consumer Services industry.

In this article we highlight 20 consumer services videos that are awesome to watch and definitely worked for the softwares they represent. Learn from these great consumer services example videos to create an engaging introduction video for your offering. Here we go, enjoy the article :

JP Morgan Chase Consumer Services Video

Whether you’re just starting to invest or need to evaluate your existing strategy, your J.P. Morgan Financial Advisors will help you prioritize your goals and develop an appropriate approach tailored to your situation. Together with a Banker, you’ll receive a powerful combination of banking and investment expertise to help ensure your money is working hard for you. The J.P. Morgan consumer services video talks about the commitment to building long-term relationships and partnering with you over time to help you achieve your important financial goals.

Deutsche Bank Consumer Services Video

Deutsche Bank is a leading global investment bank with a strong and profitable private clients franchise. Deutsche Bank offers unparalleled financial services throughout the world. The Bank competes to be the leading global provider of financial solutions for demanding clients creating exceptional value for its shareholders and people. Their services include on-shore investment banking, institutional equities broking, asset and private wealth management, retail banking and business processes outsourcing. The consumer services video shows how Deutsche Bank is a fully integrated financial services provider to corporate, institutional and individual clients.

Ola Consumer Services Video

Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for transportation, integrates city transportation for customers and driver partners onto a mobile technology platform. As one of India’s fastest growing companies we ensure convenient, transparent and quick service fulfilment using technology to make transportation hassle free for everyone. The Consumer Services video explains how Ola is making it easy for employees to manage their travelling.

Jelastic Consumer Services Video

Jelastic offers hosting service providers a complete Platform-as-a-Service and Container-as-a-Service solution that supports Java, PHP, .NET, Node.JS, Python, Ruby and Docker technologies. The consumer services video shows how Jelastic can hasten up the cloud hosting process by delivering a superior turnkey cloud environment at a fraction of the cost.

Palo Alto Consumer Services Video

The Palo Alto Next-Generation enterprise security Platform protects the digital way of life by safely enabling applications and preventing threats across the network, cloud and endpoints. The native integration of the platform delivers a safe architecture providing superior security. The consumer services video walks you through the threats faced by enterprises and how next-generation firewall technology can benefit.

SYNERGi Consumer Services Video

SYNERGi is a SaaS based Cyber Risk Management platform. SYNERGi gives you a single, unified view of your organisation’s whole cyber security landscape across risks, threats, vulnerabilities and controls. The consumer services video acts as an overview of how SYNERGi can get you one view of your entire business.

Exel Consumer Services Video

Exel provide services from a total transportation outsource to helping you find capacity when you have a tough load to move. Its asset-neutral approach allows designing of a transportation solution that leverages multiple modes to ensure your product arrives where it needs to be at the lowest landed cost. The consumer services video shows how Exel helps transform your transportation network into a competitive advantage.

Capita IT Professional Services Video

Capita provides a range of IT solutions and world-class services based around the full Application Lifecycle Model, with information security at its heart, helping companies get the most from their investment in IT while minimising risk and increasing quality. Capita IT Professional Services applies technology to drive through secure business change. They design innovative end-to-end solutions to ensure that your business programmes deliver what you need while maximising quality, reducing risk and cost. The Professional Services video shows how Capita provides businesses with integrated IT Professional Services and support.

nuSIEM Consumer Services Video

nuSIEM is a managed cloud based SIEM service that provides complete visibility of all aspects of your UTM/firewall. nuSIEM, backed by its distributed, parallel processing cloud, combines high speed, real-time analysis of logs with intelligent alerting and Dynamic Drill Down Reporting. The ability to scale the nuSIEM is virtually unlimited and can be quickly achieved through scale-out architecture. The consumer services video highlights how their threat intelligence system can help your enterprise respond to malware or unknown attacks.

Sears Consumer Services Video

Sears Home Services delivers solutions for your entire home, from appliance care to interior and exterior upgrades for your home. You can trust their experts to help take care of your house so you can enjoy your home. To ensure they have the right parts to fix your appliance, they use technology to diagnose problems before they arrive at your home. Whether you purchased your appliance at Sears or not, a Sears Appliance Expert can help. The consumer services video describes Sears as your ultimate go to option for all your home care needs.

Ayehu Consumer Services Video

Ayehu provides IT Process Automation solutions for IT & Security professionals to identify and resolve critical incidents, simplify complex workflows and maintain greater control over IT infrastructure through automation. The consumer services video shows how Ayehu eyeShare can cut the Mean Time to Resolution and manual, repetitive tasks out of your IT operation with security incident response automation.

The Professional Service Consumer Services Video

The professional service centre offers a comfortable environment for health related consultations. The centre offers a wide range of facilities and equipment that facilitate diagnosis and management so that those who use the services offered can be managed as efficiently and conveniently as possible. They offer a wide range of services offered by equally committed specialists in their respective field. They work in close collaboration with a number of other specialists and diagnostic facilities to ensure the highest standard of care. The consumer service video shows how The professional service centre is working towards providing promising medical services.

Hutt Trucking Consumer Services Video

Hutt Trucking offers warehousing, transport and logistics services for manufacturers of all sizes. They offer creative solutions that helps you streamline your logistics by examining every link in your supply chain. They provide transportation services can help you reduce product fluctuation, shutdowns, backups. The consumer services video shows how Hutt Trucking can provide you a seamless producing and delivering experience.

Business Doctors Consumer Services Video

Business Doctors Professional Services is a collaboration between Business Doctors and is the fastest growing business consultancy in the UK. With challenging market conditions and competitive pressures from bigger firms, they are committed to supporting you with knowledge, expertise and resources to help widen both your range of services and revenue streams. The consumer services video highlights how Business Doctors Professional Services can make your business run efficiently.

Telefonica Consumer Services Video

Telefonica Cyber Security services provide intelligence to clients to help them detect internal and external threats, using that intelligence to implement preventive measures that helps to minimize threats and create reactive measure to deal with inevitable attacks. The consumer services video uses great visuals to highlight the deep knowledge needed to tackle the Cyber Security of today.

Edge Consulting Consumer Services Video

The Edge Consulting is a fully dedicated Human Resource (HR) Consulting Firm specialising in Strategic Human Resource Management and Development; they therefore provide expertise and direction through cutting edge consulting services and support in key areas of Human Capital Management. This consumer services video highlights the core expertise and what’s their consulting approach.

Telstra Consumer Services Video

Telstra Cloud Services offers businesses a scalable solution to deploy applications deployment, deliver business processes and deploy offshore disaster recovery solutions across multiple geographic locations. The consumer services video overview communicates how Telstra can provides customers with an exceptional experience, combining the flexibility of cloud computing with a world-class high-performance low latency global network.

Enterprise Consumer Services Video

Enterprise cloud is a Cloud Management Platform (CMP) by NTT communication offering efficient management and unified control of both Enterprise Cloud and third-party cloud provider solutions. The consumer services video highlights how Enterprise Cloud can simmer down the inconvenience of cloud management within a single dashboard.

2nd watch consumer services Video

The 2nd Watch Cloud Management Platform is a robust system that leverages cutting edge software with years of cloud experience. With automation and technology you are able to monitor, patch and optimize across thousands of instances, in moments. The consumer services video shows how 2nd watch can reduce risks and increases overall performance.

Toll Consumer Services Video

Toll is one of Asia Pacific’s largest freight transport provider permitting moving your goods by air, road, rail or sea. It has specialised fleet to provide a wide range of heavy haulage and bulk freight services for payloads exceeding normal capacity. The consumer services video shows how Toll provides safe, secure transport services for a wide range of freight types, providing the accredited expertise to handle your specialised cargo.

With the above consumer services video examples for website it’s evident that companies are fast integrating videos in their marketing campaigns and various other touchpoints. If you planning to develop these videos a good start is to develop a brief of what can be the tone and style for your videos. We advise you to be different and unique while you create your messaging through the videos.

We at Advids, create custom consumer services video based on your brief. With a complete video production services plan at a fixed price,our design team works right from concept development, to art design and animation. Having created 1200 plus explainers for businesses, our Creative team can help you come up with the right fit. Do talk to us or send us a note on what your company plans to create with for the next consumer services video requirement.

The post 20 Stunning Consumer Services Video Examples appeared first on Advids.

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20 Brilliant Animated Corporate Video Examples

Advids

20 Brilliant Animated Corporate Video Examples

Corporate videos are generating a lot of buzz today. From small enterprises to large companies; videos are being used to communicate and drive engagement. A well defined video and how it is used in your website can meet objectives such as signups, web forms, increased stay on time. A corporate video can be an added value to your sales funnel and also a great marketing collateral.

This article highlights 20 Brilliant Animated Corporate Videos that you must watch. Learn from these great example videos to create an engaging web marketing video for your business. Here we go, enjoy the article :

Toyota Animated Corporate Video

Toyota is the world’s market leader in sales of hybrid electric vehicles, and one of the largest companies to encourage the mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles across the globe. The 3D animated corporate video with great visuals show how they attract and attain customers with high-valued products and services and the most satisfying ownership experience.

Capgemini Animated Corporate Video

Capgemini’s integrated supply chain management, planning & execution solution synchronizes all supply and demand plans with execution processes across your supply chain, allowing you to read and react based on customer demand and actual sales. They offer flexible, sustainable and technologically robust solutions to help you integrate your value chain, from suppliers to customers, based on their Integrated Planning & Execution model. Capgemini with this animated corporate video highlights how organisations can achieve better margins, cost reductions and improvements in efficiency and working capital through SCM tool.

Deutsche Bank Animated Corporate Video

Deutsche Bank is a leading global investment bank with a strong and profitable private clients franchise. It offers unparalleled financial services throughout the world and competes to be the leading global provider of financial solutions for demanding clients creating exceptional value for its shareholders and people. The animated corporate video shows how Deutsche Bank is a fully integrated financial services provider to corporate, institutional and individual clients.

Nike + SNKRS App Animated Corporate Video

The NIKE +SNRS is a new platform that will allow users to stay up to date on releases, get the history behind the sneakers, and even purchase.The app offers a much smoother checkout process than what’s been on Nikestore. From iconic classics to the latest releases, Nike+ SNKRS has insider access on the latest, including launches, drops, and the stories behind all your favorite sneakers. The animated corporate video of Nike’s App shows how you can fulfil your retail needs on the go.

HTC Animated Corporate Video

HTC Corporation is a Taiwanese consumer electronics company. HTC aims to pursue brilliance, with an impulse to create, to venture into the unknown with an unwavering dedication to bring innovative design to life.The animated corporate video shows how HTC has been trying to push their audience everyday to re-imagine new ways to connect the world, and their pursuits in ways never before thought possible.

J&J Animated Corporate Video

The Johnson & Johnson Family of Consumer Companies offers the world’s largest range of consumer healthcare products. Their baby care, skin care, oral care, wound care, over-the-counter and women’s health products feature brands trusted by consumers and healthcare professionals worldwide. The animated corporate video demonstrates how J&J has been helping billions of people around the world to live a happy vibrant life.

Epson Animated Corporate Video

Seiko Epson Corporation or simply Epson, is a Japanese electronics company and one of the world’s largest manufacturers of computer printers, and information and imaging related equipment.They deliver high performance products, services and solutions. The 3D animated corporate video emphasizes on how Epson is a trusted option for all your computer needs.

https://vimeo.com/20021027

goFluent Animated Corporate Video

goFLUENT provides customized language training solutions. goFLUENT’s fully-integrated blended learning solutions combine effective trainers, innovative technology and client-centric services to add more value for learners, thus maximizing the return on investment faster than any other method.The animated corporate video shows how goFLUENT has helped employees of all English levels and job functions improve their communication skills.

Jola Animated Corporate Video

Jola is a marketing and technology solutions enterprise that offers original and elegant executions for any business-to-business need, ranging from stand-out marketing innovation to state-of-the-art web development and everything in between. Jola claims to be experts at advertising and marketing, brand strategy and planning, catalog design and production, B2B e-commerce and content development, along with mobile platforms. The animated corporate video emphasizes on how Jola can help brand creation and reinvention.

Experis Animated Corporate Video

Experis, a ManpowerGroup company, specializes in placing top talent in IT, Finance, Engineering, and other industries. They achieve this through their deep industry knowledge and an unmatched understanding of human potential. Experis offices are located all across the United States and far beyond its borders, with a global footprint that spans over 80 countries. The animated corporate video shows how Experis connects people to jobs, training and tools that enable them to support themselves, build a sense of pride and contribute to the community.

Ximble Animated Corporate Video

Nimble Software Systems, Inc is the maker of Ximble, a powerful, cloud-based workforce management system, simplifying employee scheduling and time tracking for retailers, restaurants and SMBs. The animated corporate video shows how you can Manage staff scheduling, time tracking and communication from any device using ximble.

Barney & Barney Animated Corporate Video

Barney & Barney is a leading insurance brokerage, offering a comprehensive line of risk management and employee benefit solutions. The Foundation is committed to giving back and to provide for those in need, support our youth, advance the arts and protect the environment. They deliver high-quality service, cost-effective risk management and employee benefits for businesses and individuals. The animated corporate video introduces the core values of Barney & Barney.

Omega Pharma Animated Corporate Video

Omega Pharma, the Branded Consumer Healthcare division of Perrigo, is one of the major companies in the consumer health and personal care industry in Europe. Omega Pharma markets health and personal care products to which the end-consumer has access without a medical prescription (Over-The-Counter/OTC). With its innovative products, Omega Pharma aims to offer consumers the possibility of pursuing a healthy lifestyle and experiencing a better sense of well-being. The animated corporate video gives you an overview of Omega Pharma company.

UL Transaction Security Animated Corporate Video

For more than a century, UL has been one of the most recognized and trusted resources for advancing safety. Its Transaction Security division guides companies within the mobile, payments and transit domains through the complex world of electronic transactions.UL has Offering in advice, test and certification services, security evaluations and test tools, during the full life cycle of your product development process or the implementation of new technologies. The animated corporate video shows that UL is the global leader in safeguarding security, compliance and global interoperability.

Kellogg’s Animated Corporate Video

Kellogg’s is an American multinational food manufacturing company that produces cereal and convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, fruit-flavored snacks, frozen waffles and vegetarian foods. The animated corporate video shows how Kellogg’s is constantly working to make its food even more nutritious so you don’t have to sacrificing the yummy taste you love – every day.

Starry Animated Corporate Video

Starry Internet plans to wireless equipment that will deliver super-charged internet speeds up to 1 gigabit per second. That’s fast enough to download a two-hour movie in a just a few seconds. Starry makes a receiver called the Starry Point that hangs out your window like an antenna. One can hook up your own wireless receiver or use its own Starry Station, a $350 device that can tell you how fast your internet is performing right from its screen. The 2D animated corporate video describes how Starry is redefining how Internet should be: wireless, affordable, and remarkably fast.

Ziegler Animated Corporate Video

Ziegler is a privately held investment bank, capital markets, wealth management and proprietary investments firm. Specializing in the healthcare, senior living, education and religion sectors, as well as general municipal and structured finance, enables them to generate a positive impact on the communities they serve. The corporate video animation highlights the community-oriented aspect of the financial services firm, Ziegler.

LF Logistics Animated Corporate Video

LF Logistics is the supply chain partner of choice for companies looking to sustainably grow in Asia.Their network spanning Greater China, ASEAN, Japan, Korea, the Middle East and Indian subcontinent provides you with a strong “home court advantage” in this culturally diverse and economically active region. The corporate video animation shows their integrated logistics offering including Asia-focused in-country logistics solutions and global freight management services.

Levtech Consulting Animated Corporate Video

Levtech Consulting delivers best-of-breed business solutions and industry-specific consulting services from international technology companies such as Microsoft and Infor. Driven by a strong management team with diverse industry experience, the practice consists of some of the finest talent in the areas of Business Consulting and Project Management for Enterprise Applications. The corporate video animation provides a short overview of Levtech’s offerings and capabilities.

GCI Animated Corporate Video

GCI is one of the leading Managed Service Providers.GCI excel in helping customers transform their business through use of innovative, cutting edge and robust IT services. Whether a customer’s requirements include Unified Communications, Cloud, Security, Network, Voice or Business Continuity and PCI Compliance, GCI is able to provide a fully managed service to meet their digital needs and keep the service fit for purpose as their businesses and the environments they operate in change. The corporate video animation gives you an overview of GCI company.

Advids can help you with the production of the following : Corporate Video Corporate Overview Video Animated Corporate Video Corporate Promo Video 3D Corporate Video

With the above animated corporate video examples it’s evident that companies are fast integrating videos in their marketing campaigns and various other touchpoints. If you are in the similar domain these videos are good start to build a brief of what can be the tone and style for your videos. We advise you to be different and unique while you create your messaging through the videos.

We at Advids understand that corporate policies are continuously evolving themselves, with a lot of transformations happening now and many more to follow in future. Lets use the power of videos to get your word out. We will be scanning the web to find more new and interesting in animated corporate videos , if you have something to share do reach out to us.

The post 20 Brilliant Animated Corporate Video Examples appeared first on Advids.

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How Data Helps Influence Reluctant Buyers

The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog

How Data Helps Influence Reluctant Buyers

Yes, maybe, or no.

For reluctant buyers, they aren’t quite certain whether your product works for them. The consumer isn’t sure if the product’s features will actually help them.

Tackling this segment of buyers is an issue facing most SaaS companies. The competition and the demand for the new best thing makes consumers apprehensive about purchasing.

“Ever since SaaS products emerged on the scene, they seem like they are constantly being replaced with something shinier and newer. Buyers hesitate to upgrade because they worry the new solution will be obsolete within a few years. Switching solutions is a significant hassle for many companies,” states Krishna Shastry, CEO and co-founder at Lander.

It’s time to give your audience that extra nudge to buy your SaaS product. Check out these five data-driven strategies below.

1. Customize the Product Demo Experience

Show, don’t tell is the underlying principle of engaging potential customers to learn more about your products. It’s not enough to just list your features and benefits on your website.

Purchasing a SaaS product is a big deal for most buyers. If they’re the end user, your product will solve their immediate needs, and if they’re purchasing software for their business, your product is supposed to help their company operate more efficiently.

To ease reluctant buyers worries, you need to give them an inside look of how your product moves them forward in their endeavors. You can start by asking them specific questions before the product demo.

How will they use your product? What do they hope to gain from the software? Who are the stakeholders involved in this purchase?

You also may want to analyze the most used featured by your top customers. That way, you can show reluctant buyers how others derive benefit from your product. It may offer clarity to the buyer’s particular situation.

One gripe amongst reluctant buyers is how they sign up for product demos. It’s important to dedicate a page for people to request demos. In the image below, sales engagement platform Outreach uses persuasive copy, along with a prominent call-to-action button to entice consumers.

Image Source

Before your next product demo, ask buyers questions to customize the experience. A unique presentation will pique their interest and may lead to a new sale.

2. Segment Buyers to Email Exclusive Offers

As a consumer, you’ve probably asked for something extra with a purchase. Maybe it was extra pickles on your burger or an extra discount on a pair of designer jeans.

Well, while your SaaS product may be better than a gourmet sandwich, the same thought process about getting something extra may exist for your customers. Your buyers may expect a bonus to come along with your product no matter what.

However, exclusive offers aren’t created for every single buyer. You only want to deliver VIP treatment to a select group of reluctant buyers.

These individuals have expressed a strong interest in your product and just need one additional reason to say yes. It’s possible to tease these reluctant buyers with exclusive bonuses to get them to the shopping cart sooner.

Email is an effective tool for communicating this type of message. With built-in tracking capabilities, email service providers can tell you who opened your emails, what links they clicked on in a message, and the time they read the message.

And no more sending generic emails to your entire mailing list. Based on your buyer’s behaviors, you can use email segmentation to send tailored messages to different target audiences.

Kissmetrics Campaigns: Send triggered emails to users to nudge them toward engagement. Learn more about the newly-released Kissmetrics Campaigns.

For instance, your data may reveal that reluctant buyers who participate in a product demo and request two content upgrades are more likely to buy with a bonus. Your team then can deliver a customized message with a bonus straight to their inboxes.

Let your consumers’ actions determine your bonus system. Then, you can execute your plan to capture those lingering sales.

3. Simplify the Checkout Experience

SaaS companies get so bogged down with improving their products that they forget to polish their websites. You’ve probably experienced a few buggy sites from your own experiences. If you get confused for longer than a minute, you quickly exit the brand’s website.

On top of that, consumers hate wasting time looking for your prices. And if your prices are too complicated to understand, they won’t continue with the process.

The reluctant buyer already has concerns; therefore, the checkout process shouldn’t scare them away. Below is an example of a pricing page from LiveChat. It’s easy to read and gives pertinent details about each plan to diminish uncertainty.

By observing your site behavior, you can identify the friction points causing buyers to bounce. Do they leave after viewing your pricing page? Or do they exit when it’s time to enter a credit card?

“Understanding [your customers’] big issues like discomfort with technology or over-reliance on legacy solutions is important, but it’s also important to understand the day-to-day barriers to a sale,” writes Ashley Minogue, marketing strategist at OpenView Venture Partners.

Your buyers are reluctant for a reason. Find out if the issue is your checkout experience.

4. Monitor Online Communities

Community engagement is a key part of selling in today’s economy. Consumers like talking about their experiences—bad and good—with their peers.

Online communities give customers the space to praise how they used a product and to offer advice on how the SaaS company can improve. There are also online groups dedicated to helping people learn the basics of a product.

For the reluctant buyers, these communities offer invaluable content. In their eyes, they get to hear the truth. And for proactive SaaS companies, it’s a chance to persuade potential buyers.

For example, with a Facebook group, your team can track post and comment activity to learn what customers enjoy about a feature or the different uses of how your product helps people. Plus, as the admin for an online community, you can guide the conversation of your consumers.

That social listening data prepares your team for sales objections from reluctant buyers. If someone hates that you offer no phone support, you can point to how current customers get more value from your email support.

You want to give reluctant buyers peace of mind. Show them a thriving online community that supports your product and brand.

5. Select the Best Customer Testimonials

Social proof is an irreplaceable asset for persuading SaaS users to purchase products. Influencers and peers can convince consumers to decide between competing brands.

So it’s natural for reluctant buyers to seek out customer testimonials before they make a purchasing decision. Radha Sarma, marketing director at Luit Infotech, offers her insight:

“Referral programs and customer stories are incredibly effective for selling SaaS software. Reluctant buyers are more likely to go straight to your existing customers and ask for their feedback or refer to testimonials and reviews on your website, because they rely on that a lot.”

To get the most from your customer stories, it’s best to analyze your data to find the testimonials with the highest traffic. You want to learn what makes consumers gravitate to one story more than another. Is it the particular customer? Were the results phenomenal?

From that information, you can produce similar case studies based on the reluctant buyer’s circumstances. You want to purchasers to imagine themselves as the next success story.

And of course, you want to continue to post these testimonials in easy-to-find areas on your site. Datanyze offers a quick format of their case studies for buyers to read.

What do reluctant buyers want to achieve? Aim to gather case studies displaying the many facets of your product solution.

Harnessing Data to Influence

Nurturing reluctant buyers requires strategic effort from your team. SaaS companies can use their data to influence consumers to purchase.

Your team can personalize the product demo experience for your audience. When necessary, simplify the checkout process by eliminating friction. And don’t forget to use customer testimonials that fit the potential consumer’s current situation.

Shake off your buyer’s hesitation. Let data influence your next sale.

About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter @shaylaprice.

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20 Brilliant POS Solution Video Marketing Examples

Advids

20 Brilliant POS Solution Video Marketing Examples

The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place where a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant would calculate the amount owed by the customer and indicate the amount and may prepare an invoice for the customer (which may be a cash register print out), and indicate the options for the customer to make payment. It is also the point at which a customer makes a payment to the merchant in exchange for goods or after provision of a service. After receiving payment, the merchant may issue a receipt for the transaction, which is usually printed, but is increasingly being dispensed with or sent electronically.

Video marketing is increasingly being used by POS Solution companies to market their solutions and reach new clientele.

In this article we look at 20 POS solution providers and how they are using videos to market themselves and reach to their target audience. Watch these videos to get ideas for marketing your own POS solution. Here we go :

Wayne POS Solution Video

Wayne Fueling Systems, is one of the world’s largest suppliers of fuel dispensers, payment terminals, forecourt control devices, point-of-sale and other measurement and control solutions to the retail and commercial fueling industry. Fuel site operators can access the latest point-of-sale (POS) systems with advanced functionality such as back-office, head-office, QSR and coffee shop capabilities. The cloud POS solution video from Wayne and Wincor Nixdorf shows how it allows complete integration from dispenser to back office in one solution.

jusTransact POS Solution Video

Justransact.com is an e-commerce version of Millennium Retech Ventures India Pvt. Ltd promoted by Millennium Group. jusTransact provides reliable, affordable and sustainable Point of Sale (POS) technology solutions irrespective of their size, stature and nature of business. The POS solution video is an effort to create awareness among the trading community on the advantages of automating their business through POS products and technology.

PaymentVision POS Solution Video

PaymentVision is an industry leading financial technology firm that offers a PCI compliant payment gateway that helps businesses accept electronic payments via their own call center, automated phone systems, web, or integrated software payment API. PaymentVision is the only integrated payment solution for the Shaw Collections and Retail System; providing auto dealers and finance companies with the ability to accept agent-assisted, web and IVR payments into their loan servicing and collections workflow, while keeping the systems outside of PCI scope. The POS solution video talks about how, with these new tools, Shaw Systems users can increase productivity, maintain compliance and deliver better service to borrowers.

Sage Pay POS Solution Video

Sage Pay is the UK and Ireland’s most recommended gateway provider, providing over 50,000 businesses with secure and efficient payment services. You can start accepting online payments quickly and easily with Sage Pay. Their comprehensive payments solution includes advanced fraud screening tools, free 24/7 telephone support and there are no hidden fees or contracts. The POS solution video talks about how you can partner with Sage Pay to integrate your in-store ePOS with payments to deliver a seamless check-out experience.

A&B Restaurant POS Solution Video

A&B POS Solutions, offers fully integrated point-of-sale solutions for restaurant clientele across the globe whether it be a standalone store or large chain with hundreds of locations. The POS systems provided by A&B POS Solutions, are not simply a cash register, but a whole enterprise solution with options for front-of-house management, back-office applications, restaurant and enterprise operations and providing the best possible customer experience. The POS solution video gives a brief introduction to A&B’s restaurant POS solutions and its features.

Merchant Warehouse POS Solution Video

Cayan (formerly Merchant Warehouse) is a provider of payment technologies and merchant services. The company’s technology solution, the Genius Platform, offers merchants “one integrated platform [that accepts] chip-and-PIN cards and handles mobile payments in the future”. Cayan offers payment solutions for online and brick-and-mortar retailers, as well as point-of-sale (POS) developers, value-added resellers (VARs) and agents. Cayan’s Genius is designed to evolve and scale for growth, enabling businesses to add new payment, gift card programs and loyalty solutions at any time. The POS solution video talks about how, if you have a POS system and are not using an integrated payment solution, you may be overpaying, putting your business at risk and creating unnecessary roadblocks for support.

eZee BurrP! Restaurant POS Solution Video

eZee BurrP! is a desktop based Restaurant Management Software designed to give restaurants all the tools it requires to speed up service and increase efficiency of operations. The customizable options offered in the system is ideal for any restaurant type including fine dining restaurants, bistros, fast food chains, cafes, bars etc. eZee BurrP! gets direct access to all operations modes right from the main dashboard. Through the Kitchen Display System (KDS) all orders are immediately displayed in the kitchen to jump start the order preparation resulting in quicker and better service. The POS solution video demonstrates how eZee’s restaurant software automates all restaurant operations.

Groovv POS Solution Video

Groovv is part of Total Merchant Services. With a comprehensive portfolio of offerings, Groovv provides businesses affordable, easy-to-use, feature-rich and compliant products that propel growth. Groovv includes a complete line of products to help merchants accept payments, manage their operations and grow their business. Their EMV-compliant and NFC-enabled solutions accept all the ways to get paid. With marketing and tablet POS options, merchants can expand their sales and optimize their operations no matter their current size or industry. The POS solution video effectively demonstrates the ease of working with Groovv.

eWinery POS Solution Video

eWinery Solutions provides intuitive winery software that provides e-Commerce and POS solutions to enterprises. eWinery’s vinSUITE is designed and managed by wine industry veterans, whose mission is to make selling wine easier–for businesses of all shapes and sizes. vinSUITE’s point of sale solutions make it easy to interact with your customers so that you can get to know each of them. vinSUITE Desktop Point of Sale is comprehensive, yet easy to use. The eWinery POS solution video gives a brief introduction to it’s mobile POS application.

PayAnywhere POS Solution Video

PayAnywhere Storefront allows you to accept payments on the go with their point of sale system.With PayAnywhere Storefront, you’ll receive a 10-inch tablet, sleek stand with a built-in card reader that will allow you to accept credit cards, and PayPal mobile in-store payments. It is the perfect point of sale to accept credit cards. The equipment also includes their industry-leading app, and the opportunity to purchase a cash drawer and printer to print receipts. Some of the benefits of the PayAnywhere Storefront include: Anytime and anywhere support, known pricing, immediate fund release, effective reporting etc. The POS solution video talks about how PayAnywhere is ideal for Retailers, Restaurants, Hair Salons, Mobile Merchants and much more.

Hiboutik POS Solution Video

Hiboutik is a web-based POS software, inventory management, customer loyalty and retail reporting. It works on PC, Mac, Ipad or tablet or from any online device.Hiboutik designs an efficient and easy to use POS tool to manage the business. The POS solution video gives a demonstration of how the software can help you manage your shop with ease.

Square POS Solution Video

Square Point of Sale (formerly Register) is an Android point-of-sale app that gives you everything you need to take payments and run your business. One can accept card payments with a Square Reader or Square Stand. Square’s Android POS app keeps track of sales and inventory in real time, manage items and employees and view analytics about your business. There are no long-term contracts, no commitments, and no surprise fees. The POS solution video gives an idea of how Square makes it easy for you to start, run and grow your business with reliable, affordable hardware and powerful, intuitive software.

Estel Tech POS Solution Video

Estel Technologies is a leading Mobile Financial Services technology enabler with a significant presence with Telecom Operators, Banks and their Service Providers globally. It develops and provides end-to-end software solutions and outsourced managed services. Being a specialist company in m-Commerce technology, the company offers a full suite of m-Commerce platforms with feature rich, robust, high availability, scalable and highly flexible, high performance solutions for Mobile Banking, Mobile Money, Mobile Remittance, Mobile Payments, e-Recharge, Voucher Management System and other related value added modules. The POS solution video shows how a smartphone, combined with a Mobile POS (mPOS) application & an external card reader (attached to and Android phone via its headphone jack, Micro USB or through Bluetooth interface), turns the Android or iOS mobile phone into a Point of Sale terminal.

Ignite Payments Clover POS Solution Video

Ignite Payments is an established leader in the transaction processing industry. Specializing in small and medium-sized businesses, they help by providing flexible payment processing solutions that securely accept electronic payments in today’s ever-changing marketplace. With Clover, merchants get the best of both worlds, benefiting from the strength and scope of First Data’s vast product and service offerings, but working with an independent agent who understands the needs of their business. Clover allows you to let customers pay how, when and where they want, with terminals, peripherals, integrated point-of-sale payment and software solutions, state-of-the-art e-commerce, mobile wallet and wireless solutions. The POS solution video gives a brief idea about Ignite’s Clover and its features.

DataVan POS Solution Video

DataVan International Corporation is the world’s leading provider of point-of-sale (POS) technology. DataVan has been committed to design and manufacture a wide range of touch POS terminals, EPOS PCs, tablet-based POS systems, and related peripherals. DataVan provides reliable and professional hardware solution for several POS vertical markets, e.g. Retail, Hospitality, business automation. DataVan is helping partners improve their customer satisfaction and make them regional leaders. Their mission is to deliver unparalleled POS/POI/Kiosk solution that exceed customers expectation. The POS solution video gives an architectural view of the DataVan Encore POS terminal.

Alice POS Solution Video

Alice POS is an intuitive solution for single store, franchise systems, corporate networks or buying groups. Reports, inter-store transfers, and transactional websites are some of the numerous functions that Alice POS offers to make it easier to manage and grow your current or future network.Alice POS integrates physical and virtual sales i.e. the sales of your products into a single commercial activity that includes both physical transactions and virtual sales via your company’s website and even on platforms like eBay and Amazon. The POS solution video explains how when, you need a POS that can manage multiple locations, Alice can save you time and increase your revenue.

WePay POS Solution Video

WePay started with a simple idea: an app that made it easy for friends to pool money for shared expenses like ski trips and club activities. They developed easy sign-up and frictionless checkout experiences and also built one of the most advanced fraud detections systems. Their seamless payments experience supercharges conversions by making new user sign-up easier and checkout faster. Every transaction processed by WePay is secured by our industry-leading risk technology. The WePay payments system can be fully integrated into the look and feel of your platform however you want. The POS solution video gives a brief introduction to WePay and it’s features and conveys the ease of the platform effectively.

A POS solution company can create the following videos : POS solution overview video POS solution brand video 2D & 3D Animated Explainer Video POS solution marketing video POS solution promotional video Youtube Teaser Videos Business use case study videos How to videos

With the above POS solution video examples it is evident that companies are fast integrating videos in their marketing campaigns and various other touchpoints. If you are in the similar domain these videos are good start to build a brief of what can be the tone and style for your videos. We advise you to be different and unique while you create your messaging through the videos.

We at Advids understand POS solutions are continuously evolving and is an emerging segment, with a lot of transformations happening now and many more to follow in future. Lets use the power of videos to get your word out. We will be scanning the web to find more new and interesting stuff in POS solution videos , if you have something to share do reach out to us.

The post 20 Brilliant POS Solution Video Marketing Examples appeared first on Advids.

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How to Create Your First Kissmetrics Campaign

The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog

How to Create Your First Kissmetrics Campaign

With the launch of Campaigns this month, we have given our users incredible flexibility to create any automated, behavioral emails they can imagine. If you already have sophisticated behavioral email programs up and running, then…good news…you don’t have to read any further.

However, if you are just getting started with your behavioral messaging programs, this post should really help. The goal is to highlight some basic email campaigns that will serve as good starting points for your behavioral programs.

How to Organize Your Behavioral Email Campaigns

A good way to frame your potential email campaigns is by using your business’s growth funnel.

If this represents the major steps of your growth funnel, you should plan to have behavioral email campaigns for each of these steps – the goals of each being to try to get people to the next step. Eventually, you will have multiple campaigns for each step in the funnel (because you are likely breaking down each step into more granular elements), but as a start – this serves as a very good framework.

And that’s just how we’ll organize the suggestions in this post. See below for sample campaigns – and specific emails – for each step in this growth funnel.

Specific Campaigns Acquisition campaigns

These are emails built to turn hot prospects into actual customers. Obviously, you can’t email people for whom you haven’t captured an email address – so for these campaigns, you will be targeting those prospects who have become engaged enough to provide you with an email – whether that be by signing up for your newsletter, downloading an ebook, or signing up for a free trial of your product.

Once you capture that email address, you can start driving those prospects toward purchase. Here is an example of a specific message you can send in this phase:

Email: Need help deciding? email
This email is designed for people that have shown a high-level of interest in your marketing site and seem on the verge of making a decision.

Video of setting up these rules: http://recordit.co/NdroOgLpna

Activation campaigns

Once a user signs up and begins to use your product, they enter an “activation” phase. The goal of any email that you send during this phase is to guide them through initial setup and usage. Many times, you will be trying to get a user from signup to “first value.” For example, Facebook is famous for trying to get users to invite 7 friends in 10 days because that is what they know will lead to activation and long-term engagement.

Some people might call emails during this phase ‘onboarding emails’ – which is fine. We prefer to tie the messages to a goal of activation, but either is fine. Typically these emails will come in a series (or a ‘drip’) based on (a) when a user signs up; and (b) what activities they have – or have NOT – completed. An example, 3-email, drip might look something like this:

Email: Welcome email
This email is sent upon a new user signing up. The goal is to introduce the user to your product and/or help them take their first step toward activation. This is a very important email – not only does this email help to get your users close to becoming active with your product, but it also introduces them to your brand. In many cases, this will be the first time your users will have received an email from your company.

Video of setting up these rules: http://recordit.co/LwmAZFAd6f

Email: Follow-up 1a – after user successfully takes next step in activation
If your Welcome email is successful and your users take the next step in your activation process (this could be by creating a profile, adding a friend, connecting data – or whatever is the important next step for your product), you will likely want to send an email to get them to the next step.

Video of setting up these rules: https://cl.ly/0W1v35151z3b

Email: Follow-up 1b – to users who did NOT successfully take next step
For those new signups that DON’T make it to the next step, it is important to give them a reminder – a little nudge – to get them beyond a simple signup.

GIF of setting up these rules: https://cl.ly/3x0C3Q2e1q41

Of course, these activation drip campaigns can (and should) be much longer than this example. The length and nature of your activation campaigns will be dependent on your product and the specific steps your users will need to take in order to become “activated.”

Ongoing engagement campaigns

Once you have activated users, the next challenge is to keep them fully engaged so that they stick around for a long, long time. Ongoing engagement emails go beyond just simple activation messages and work to get your users engaged with all your important features.

A typical email for ongoing engagement would be a feature release announcement.

For any feature announcement, you shouldn’t settle for just one email. You should always schedule follow-up messages – both for users who have tried the feature and for those who haven’t. You could even have a third group of users who just kicked the tires – (i.e. – those users who only used the feature once).

Video of setting up rules: http://recordit.co/RfuqITX9Ih

Video of setting up rules: http://recordit.co/1xLaRcUZfW

Ongoing engagement email campaigns will be your main channel for communicating with your existing customer base. Doing this effectively – using actual product usage to target them in a relevant way – is essential for driving continued loyalty and engagement.

Re-engagement campaigns

Yes, it’s true. Every software product has inactive users. It’s just a reality.

Which makes re-engagement campaigns an essential part of any messaging program. The goal of re-engagement campaigns is to – you guessed it – re-engage customers who have potentially lost interest and become inactive with your product.

There are many different approaches for re-engagement campaigns. Some companies use these emails as a last-ditch effort to try to show an inactive user the value of their product; others use discounts or other offers to entice people back; others try to get inactive users on the phone with a sales or customer success rep; and others accept the loss and use a re-engagement email as a way to gather feedback from an inactive user (in a somewhat subtle way to try to…re-engage them).

You should choose an approach that works best with your product, but whatever you do, don’t ignore re-engagement emails. It’s very important that you leave customers – even those ‘on their way out’ – with a positive experience. Their reasons for leaving may have nothing to do with your product. Yes, there is a small chance they will be back – but there is a significant chance that they will talk to future potential customers of your product.

Spend time building out good re-engagement campaigns. Your immediate conversion rate will be low, but they will pay off in the long run.

An example re-engagement email:

Reward emails

Reward emails are an oft overlooked, but highly effective emails. Unlike win-back emails that target users when they are inactive, reward emails target users when they ARE active. In fact, they are designed to reward users based on their activity. Reward emails are meant to make the recipient feel good about their activity. They should generate a shot of dopamine, generating positive feelings toward your brand.

Reward emails can be triggered based on specific activity, like using a feature for the first time; or based on time, like an anniversary. When used effectively, reward campaigns can be some of the most engaging programs you will run. We highly recommend building some reward campaigns into your engagement plans.

Next Steps

We hope this post has helped offer some ideas for starting points for your engagement email programs. The next step is simply to start building…and start shipping. All the emails described here are completely possible with Kissmetrics Campaigns. You can find more details on building your first campaign in this help doc, but it should be very straightforward.

Go forth and engage!

About the Author: Derek Skaletsky is the Head of Product and Services at Kissmetrics.

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