Tag: Email Marketing

  • BC Web Wise’s guide to email marketing: From execution to strategy

    BC Web Wise’s guide to email marketing: From execution to strategy

    Mumbai: In today’s social-first world, email marketing is one of the tools which tends to get ignored by marketers. While we all agree that email is probably the most effective way to reach the target audience directly with personalized content, it rarely gets its pride of place among other exciting marketing tools like short-form videos and brand films.

    Before we start, let’s look at some stats. Firstly a whopping 87 per cent of marketers say that email marketing is a crucial part of business success. According to a Hubspot Marketing Trends survey, 51 per cent marketers selected email marketing as the most effective channel for marketing. And if you’re still skeptical about the effectiveness of email marketing, then here’s the kicker – Email marketing offers an unbeatable ROI of $36 for every $1 spent.

    BC Web Wise, a leading digital marketing agency, offers a comprehensive guide to effective email marketing, taking you from strategic planning to successful execution.

    Your Effective Guide to Email Marketing

    Email marketing can play an integral role across the marketing funnel by helping build brand awareness, increase consideration and lastly drive sales! It is not only a cost-effective way to reach your audience, but is also easy to track and gives you valuable insights to measure your campaign.

    Here are the steps to get started on your email marketing strategy.

    Step 1: Define Your Goals and Target Audience

    ●        SMART Goals: Before you begin, make sure to establish clear and specific goals for your email marketing efforts. Are you looking to generate leads, boost brand awareness or drive sales? Ensure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART).

    ●        Know Your Audience: Make sure you spend enough time to understand your audience. You can do this by creating consumer personas and accordingly tailor your email content and messaging to the specific needs of each persona.

    Step 2: Building Your Email List

    ●        Opt-in Forms: As the digital world prepares for a ‘cookie-less’ future, it’s paramount that brands focus on first-party data collection via opt-in forms on their website, app downloads and social media platforms.

    ●        Lead Magnets: One of the most effective ways for B2B businesses to get customers to share their email address is by sharing relevant content such as ebooks, white papers, reports, etc. On the other hand, B2C customers can offer customers discounts and offers in exchange for their email addresses.

    Step 3: Crafting Compelling Email Content

    ●        Subject Lines: This one’s a no-brainer. One of the most effective ways to drive email opens is through the effective use of subject lines. Make sure to grab the user’s attention with clear, concise, and benefit-oriented subject lines that entice them to open your email.

    ●        Email Design: Emails offer brands the opportunity to tell their story through visually appealing designs which follow a clear structure, using high-quality images and calls to action (CTAs).

    ●        Personalization: One of the most important features of email marketing is the ability to personalize it for the user. Additionally the audience can be segmented based on their interests, and content can be tailored accordingly.

    ●        Compelling Content: Make sure to provide content that educates, entertains, or solves problems for your audience. Use storytelling, industry insights, and product updates to keep them engaged.

    Step 4: Optimizing for Deliverability and Engagement

    ●        Email List Hygiene: Maintain a clean email list by removing inactive subscribers to improve deliverability rates.

    ●        Mobile-Friendly Design: Ensure your emails are optimized for mobile devices, as many users check their email on smartphones.

    ●        A/B Testing: Test different subject lines, email formats, and CTAs to see which one resonates best with your audience and improve campaign performance.

    ●        Analytics and Reporting: Track key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to measure success and identify areas for improvement.

    Step 5: Automate and Integrate

    ●        Email Marketing Automation: Utilize email automation tools to streamline processes like welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups.

    ●        CRM Integration: Integrate your email marketing platform with your CRM system to gain a holistic view of customer interactions and personalize communications further.

    By following these steps, you can develop and execute effective email marketing campaigns that achieve your business objectives and nurture strong customer relationships.

    The author of this article is BC Web Wise, senior creative director Yorick Pinto.

     

  • “We ensure that every campaign carries a clear, compelling message”: Adbuffs’s Ananya Roy

    “We ensure that every campaign carries a clear, compelling message”: Adbuffs’s Ananya Roy

    Mumbai: Adbuffs is a Kolkata-based digital-first performance marketing agency which automates digital advertisements for businesses to deliver tangible results. The brand is endeavouring to carve a niche in the D2C marketing industry with its laser focus on launching and scaling eCommerce brands worldwide, accelerating growth for their eCommerce companies’ partners.

    The agency offers a plethora of services related to Facebook & Instagram Ads, Google Ads, Amazon Ads, Email Marketing, WhatsApp Marketing, Creatives and a secondary line of services including Quora, Building Shopify and WooCommerce sites, and Influencer Consultation.

    Being in a robust client-oriented sector and with high thriving competition, the agency’s diligent work by their team of 80 professionals has sailed their boat through the waters. In this era of the talent war, the top marketing agency has thrived hard to maintain a positive culture with high retention rates.

    Within the short span of four years, the company’s strength has grown from 6 to 100 and has successfully served 200+ D2C brands and clients.

    Looking ahead, Adbuffs is poised for even greater accomplishments, with an anticipated growth rate of 80% in the fiscal year 2023-24. Bolstered by its solid foundation and unwavering vision, the company is well-equipped to navigate the challenges of the digital landscape and emerge victorious.

    Indiantelevision.com caught up with Adbuffs media buying manager Ananya Roy, where she shared numerous insights of their agency…

    Edited excerpts

    On Adbuffs setting apart from traditional marketing agencies and its approach towards digital-first strategies

    What truly differentiates Adbuffs from traditional marketing agencies is our creative-first philosophy woven into a digital-first approach. In a landscape where every brand’s fight for attention is unique, Adbuffs understands that a bespoke plan of attack is crucial. We don’t just apply standard strategies; we create narratives that encapsulate a brand’s essence and speak directly to its audience.

    Our methodology begins with a deep dive into the brand’s existing ecosystem, dissecting data to uncover what works and pinpointing untapped opportunities. This rigorous analysis ensures that the strategies we deploy are not only creative but grounded in hard evidence of what resonates with the target market.

    The digital-first lens through which we view the marketing world isn’t just about being online; it’s about thinking in terms of connectivity, real-time engagement, and leveraging data insights to craft campaigns that are as effective as they are inventive. This approach isn’t limited to digital execution; it permeates every aspect of our planning, from ensuring technical integrations are seamless to interpreting analytics for a continuous cycle of improvement.

    Adbuffs’ culture celebrates experimentation, encouraging a test-and-learn environment that’s agile and responsive. This mindset allows us to stay ahead of trends and adapt to the ever-evolving digital space, ensuring that clients’ brands don’t just compete but set the pace in their respective industries.

    In summary, Adbuffs isn’t just a marketing agency; it’s a digital powerhouse that uses creativity and a digital-first approach to build powerhouse brands ready to dominate the digital arena.

    On the agency tailoring its strategies to target specific audiences and demographics effectively

    At our agency, we craft our strategies by focusing on three key elements: creative personas, thematic creatives, and message-driven approaches.

    Firstly, we build detailed creative personas—these are like sketches of the specific groups of people we want to reach. By understanding their interests, behaviors, and preferences, we can tailor our content to resonate with them on a personal level.

    Next, we develop creatives that are not just visually appealing but also follow a theme that speaks to our target demographic. This thematic approach ensures that our campaigns are cohesive and tell a story that aligns with the audience’s values and interests.

    Lastly, we ensure that every campaign carries a clear, compelling message. This message-driven approach guarantees that our ads do more than just grab attention—they also communicate the brand’s message in a way that’s relevant and engaging to the specific audience we’re targeting.

    By combining these elements, we create campaigns that effectively connect with different audiences and demographics, turning viewers into loyal customers.

    On specific tools you use to optimize campaign performance

    We use internal reporting tools & google sheets to get daily reports.

    On any innovative approach that Adbuffs employs to stay ahead in the competitive digital marketing landscape

    Adbuffs integrates a deeper level of financial analysis into our marketing strategies by focusing on key financial metrics such as COGS (Cost of Goods Sold), CM1 (Contribution Margin 1), and CM2 (Contribution Margin 2). This enhanced Finance & Marketing approach ensures we’re not just driving revenue, but also improving the bottom line for our clients.

    Here’s the expanded approach with this integration:

    Financially-Driven Decision-Making: Beyond ROI, we examine how marketing efforts impact overall financial health, scrutinizing metrics like COGS to ensure marketing spend translates into profitable growth.

    Budget Optimization with COGS in Mind: Understanding the cost of goods sold helps us better allocate marketing budgets, ensuring that we’re promoting products with a favorable cost structure and high potential for profit.

    Data-Driven Insights Into Profitability: By analyzing CM1 and CM2, we gain insights into the direct contribution of marketing efforts towards covering fixed costs and generating profit. This allows us to prioritize campaigns that significantly lift these margins.

    KPI-Focused Campaigns Aligned with Financial Health: Our marketing KPIs are directly aligned with financial metrics like CM1 and CM2, ensuring that we’re not just driving sales, but are also enhancing the profitability of each sale.

    Risk Management Through Financial Metrics: By keeping a close eye on COGS, CM1, and CM2, we manage the risk associated with marketing investments more effectively, adjusting strategies to maintain or improve these key financial indicators.

    Strategic Investment Based on CM1 and CM2: We strategically invest in marketing channels and campaigns that have proven to improve CM1 and CM2, ensuring that marketing efforts are directly contributing to the economic value of the business.

    Incorporating these financial metrics into our strategy not only sets Adbuffs apart in the digital marketing field but also aligns marketing initiatives closely with our clients’ overall business performance, ensuring that every campaign we run is a step towards greater profitability.

    On the future of generative AI as it is still in its infancy stage

    The future of generative AI, particularly in its application to digital marketing, is poised to revolutionize how businesses understand and interact with their customers, especially through advanced metrics like Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) and Customer Cohorts analysis. Here’s a more detailed look into its potential impact:

    Deepening Customer LTV Understanding: Generative AI can process vast amounts of data to predict Customer Lifetime Value with greater accuracy. By analyzing customer behavior, purchase history, and engagement patterns, AI can identify key factors that influence LTV. Marketers can use these insights to tailor strategies that enhance customer retention, optimize acquisition costs, and increase overall profitability.

    Segmentation and Personalization through Customer Cohorts: With generative AI, marketers can create more nuanced customer cohorts based on a variety of behaviors and preferences. This segmentation enables highly personalized marketing campaigns, product recommendations, and content delivery that resonates with each group. AI’s ability to continuously learn and adjust these cohorts in real-time means marketing efforts can become more targeted and effective over time.

    Automating and Optimizing Customer Journeys: By leveraging insights from Customer LTV and Cohort analysis, generative AI can automate personalized customer journeys at scale. From the initial point of contact through various touchpoints to post-purchase follow-ups, AI can ensure that every interaction is optimized for individual customer needs and preferences, significantly enhancing the customer experience.

    Predictive Analytics for Strategic Decision Making: The predictive capabilities of generative AI extend beyond marketing tactics to strategic decision-making. Understanding Customer LTV and Cohort behaviors helps businesses allocate resources more efficiently, develop products that better meet customer needs, and identify potential market opportunities before they become obvious.

    Ethical Data Use and Customer Trust: As businesses rely more on AI for Customer LTV and Cohort analysis, maintaining ethical standards in data use becomes crucial. Generative AI must be deployed in ways that respect customer privacy and build trust, ensuring that personalization efforts are perceived as valuable rather than intrusive.

    Enhanced ROI through Efficient Marketing Spend: By focusing on high-LTV customers and understanding the unique characteristics of different cohorts, businesses can optimize their marketing spend. Generative AI enables more efficient use of resources by targeting efforts where they are most likely to yield long-term returns.

    In conclusion, the integration of generative AI into digital marketing strategies, particularly through the lens of Customer LTV and Cohort analysis, promises a future where marketing is more personalized, efficient, and aligned with customer needs than ever before. As generative AI technologies evolve, they will undoubtedly become a cornerstone of successful digital marketing strategies, driving innovation and competitive advantage in a crowded marketplace.

  • Social media & e-mail marketing top preferred channels for Indian marketers in 2016

    Social media & e-mail marketing top preferred channels for Indian marketers in 2016

    NEW DELHI: Customer acquisition will be the primary focus for marketing activities to be carried out in 2016 for 58 per cent of Indian marketers, a study shows.

     

    The study by Octane Research shows that Social Media (66 per cent) topped the list of marketing activities planned for 2016. 

     

    Email marketing was not far behind, with a 53 per cent share of Indian marketers. What’s more, according to the study, more than 50 per cent of marketers are planning to increase investment in all these activities.

     

    Social media updates are the top choice for achieving maximum customer engagement (46 per cent), followed by email campaigns (28 per cent). SMS marketing was the least preferred (eight per cent).

     

    A total of 64 per cent of Indian marketers believe that social media helps in improving brand reputation and increasing awareness. Social media also helps in extending the reach of email content to new markets and accelerating the growth of subscribers.

     

    As per the study, around 80 per cent of Indian marketers believe that integrated campaigns (email, social and mobile) can result in a moderate to significant increase in conversion rates.

     

    About 85 per cent of the Indian marketers are tracking revenues generated through e-marketing activities. A total 50 per cent of respondents shared that e-marketing activities are contributing to more than 10 per cent share of their revenues.

     

    Email marketing proved effective for over half of the respondents, as 53 per cent of marketers found email marketing “effective” or “very effective.”

     

    Reaching out to target audience (54 per cent votes) and acquiring new email addresses (50 per cent) surfaced as the top challenges faced by Indian marketers in 2015. Increasing the conversion rates was also a challenge faced by 35 per cent of marketers.

     

    For the 2016 issue of this annual state of online marketing in India study, India’s leading industry associations – Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Retailers Association of India, Direct Marketing Association of India and Digital Defynd extended their support to Octane Research resulting in an active participation from 450+ Indian marketers from 400+ Brands.

     

    Referring to the Annual Industry Report, Octane marketing director and co-founder Punit Modhgil said, “2015 was the year that digital firmly established in India. With more than 400 million India consumers on the internet now, India CMOs have dialled up their investments in digital marketing. In terms of impact, Indian marketers have recorded Social and Email Marketing to be the top performing online marketing channels.”

  • Permission-based Email Marketing takes off in India

    Permission-based Email Marketing takes off in India

    MUMBAI: Today, organisations are keen to use leading-edge technologies to engage with their customers, and improvements in permission-based Email Marketing continues to play a significant role in the always-on, interconnected world we inhabit.

    CheetahMail, Experian’s permission-based email marketing platform, has always enabled brands to connect with their customers via precise, targeted messages and promotions. Experian Marketing Services (India) has now signed up with Thomas Cook (India), Cox & Kings, Ezeego, Star CJ and BabyOye, and will partner with these prestigious brands to help them engage with their audience through advanced Email Marketing strategies. Experian CheetahMail’s access to a global roster of clients, working across industry segments and verticals, empowers its clientele to design and deploy highly effective Email Marketing programs and deliver Return on Investment (ROI).

    On securing these new signups Mr. Naveen Bachwani, Head of Experian Marketing Services, said: “Experian CheetahMail is pleased to partner with Thomas Cook, Cox & Kings, Ezeego,Star CJ and BabyOye to help improve the effectiveness of their digital marketing programs. The objective of every marketing campaign is to get the right message delivered to the right consumer at the right time.  At Experian, our team of highly experienced professionals enables customers to adapt their marketing strategies to suit their customers’ needs and preferences and follow an appropriate segmentation approach. This approach helps them improve engagement with their customers, ultimately, resulting in better returns on their marketing activities.

    According to Farshid S. Master, General Manager – E business, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, “Experian Cheetah mail is a very professional email marketing solution provider. The team at Experian is knowledgeable, customer friendly and provides us with the best practices followed in the industry. It’s been a great experience to partner with them and we hope to have a long lasting relationship with Experian.”

    Donald Kwag – Head of Marketing, STAR CJ commented, “We are very happy to have been associated with Experian as it has changed our thought process and way of doing email marketing. Their prompt response and fast resolutions for all issues /concerns raised is one of their USP’s. Their creativity and zeal to try and execute new things on email marketing is what we like best. With them we are seeing our best numbers in terms of open rate, Click Through Rate’s (CTR) and conversions.”