How a welcome series can (and probably should) impact everything.
When it comes to connecting with customers, it’s not just what you say; it's how you say it. The Email Experience team has seen firsthand that a personalized touch from the start can set the tone for the entire customer journey. Let's unpack how a tailored welcome series can and SHOULD boost your overall marketing approach.
Ecom is competitive as hell, and if you’re not going to go the extra mile to create something special for your customers - you shouldn’t expect to retain them. Grasping the full spectrum of your customer base is a journey of continuous discovery that starts right from the very first interaction. To illustrate this point, I will lean on a long-standing collaboration with a client in the sewing industry that led to some eye-opening insights. While they had a solid grasp of their core audience—self-styled sewing enthusiasts— a well-executed welcome series added additional data that turned the whole thing upside down. Our data-driven methods revealed varied interests within their customer base that had previously been unseen, offering a richer understanding and more opportunities for engagement.
It’s not a secret that at The Email Experience, we're advocates of informed strategies. Phase one? Dive deep into data collection. The goal is to understand the additional sub-groups within your audience. Whether it's a welcome series or any other touchpoint, the more we know, the tighter the conversation threads we can weave with your customers.
Our initial strategy included initiating a two-way conversation right at the entry point—an exit intent pop-up. We asked visitors a simple question about their interests—sewing, quilting, or both? The responses were very surprising to the media buying team. The group who identified with both hobbies was the widest, followed by quilters, with self-identified “sewists” coming in third, reshaping our entire personalization blueprint from that instant.
Imagine this: a customer shows a preference for quilting, and that insight instantly transforms the next abandoned cart message they receive—it's now quilt-focused. This pivot isn't just about personalization; it's a testament to precise and immediate adaptation playing a crucial role in enriching the customer experience, guided by our team's strategic finesse.
The story doesn't end with a welcome message. As the title implies, this is only the very beginning of creating hyper-personalized customer journeys for your brand. Effective retention marketing is an evolving conversation where every piece of data and every response molds future interactions with your customers.
It’s iterative by nature and, if done correctly - should be designed to grow and improve. Personalization shouldn’t just be a buzz word; it's the beginning of a meaningful conversation where the learning never stops. As we partner with brands, we're constantly discovering new layers to customer stories, each one teaching us more about crafting authentic, relatable experiences.
