How often do you make a transaction, either for a product or for information, without an email address coming into play at least once? If you didn’t notice it before, you certainly will now. On a normal day of errands I may stop at a clothing retailer and as I’m checking out they’ll ask for my email address to receive special offers. Then I’ll head to a health conscious grocery store where I’ll put in my email address in at the register to access my online coupons. Maybe I’ll stop for lunch at my favorite salad place and the cashier will request my email address to access my loyalty account. While waiting for my lunch to be made, I’ll check my social media accounts for notifications- by using my email address to log in. The restaurant is busy, so I’ll also have time to log into my wedding registry…using my email address. In just a few hours I’ve used my email to do basically everything BUT send an email. I’ve also made a pretty comprehensive profile of myself as a consumer. My email is now tied to my purchasing habits (retailer), my lifestyle interests (health conscious grocery and restaurant choice), my age and gender (social media profiles), and my impending life event changes (wedding registry). I basically have a target on my head that says “Send me customized content!”
In an omni-channel world it can be hard to put the pieces together for a truly clear view of your customers, but luckily there are commonalities in these channels- such as emails- that can be used to leverage data in innovative ways.
If you’re only using email addresses to send emails, you’re missing out.
Here are just 3 of the ways marketers can use an email address, without even hitting the send button yet.
Get The Nitty-Gritty Data
According to a report by Radicati, by 2019 the number of email users worldwide will be over 2.9 billion. These billions of emails are assigned to billions of people who are using them as a means to log into countless websites that are collecting their information. Not to mention the mobile app data that’s being collected as they use their email addresses to purchase and log into applications on their phones.
While some of this data may seem trivial, it all adds up to form comprehensive consumer profiles. Marketers can then use these profiles to draw conclusions from the data of their most profitable customers to create highly targeted prospect models via look-alike modeling. Many mobile applications request access to mobile location data, which is then tied to the accountholder’s email, providing the data needed for precise geo-fenced messaging.
Contact Through Other Channels
Email marketing is a known powerhouse for ROI. Study after study has assigned various dollar signs to its value, and the consensus lands somewhere around $ 38-$ 40 revenue for every $ 1 spent on quality email campaigns. But not every audience is immediately receptive to email marketing, and not every message is best sent to the inbox. Some consumers are more influenced by social media ads, direct mail pieces, or web ads. Some marketing messages are best tailored for a quick social video or a banner ad on a consistently visited website. The beauty of capturing an email address is that then a data aggregator can use the address to put the pieces together and ensure that optimized messages are being deployed through the most appropriate channels to exact individuals. Because email addresses are so prevalent, data append services can accurately link them to mailing addresses, phone numbers, website traffic, and social media accounts to launch campaigns. By the same token, reverse append services can fill in an email address with pieces of the other correlating information and then fill in the blanks.
Predict the Future
One way to explain how an email address can form highly granular consumer profiles is to consider the “if-then” relationships of consumer data. Just like in algebra, if x=y and y=z then x=z. For example, if a consumer uses their email address to log into a popular real estate search website and begins saving homes for sale in Texas then it’s safe to assume they are a good target for realtors in Texas. If a woman uses her email address to sign up for a baby shower registry, then she’s a good prospect for child-focused retailer. Perhaps a consumer tweets their frustration that their car is broken down again, then they may appreciate a Facebook ad or direct mail piece from a local auto repair shop or dealer. Add in the geolocation data from mobile apps and an email can open the door to countless cross-channel marketing opportunities.
If you aren’t taking advantage of the emails or ensuring that your customers and prospects are tied to correct addresses, you could be missing out on valuable insights. Email marketing can produce great ROI, but don’t forget that there are other ways to take advantage of an email address.
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