If you’re not yet familiar with the term then here’s a down and dirty definition:

In a nutshell, lifecycle marketing is a marketing and/or sales campaign that addresses a customer’s wants, needs and requirements as they change over time.

Unfortunately many marketers (both seasoned and newbies) are guilty of sending out unsophisticated email campaigns that treat every recipient the same, no matter what their relationship with the business or how far along a sales process they are.

Although lifecycle marketing might sound awfully complicated, in reality it’s not all that difficult to implement.

To get started with your strategy all you’ll need to do is identify unique goals that align with your customers’ wants and needs for each lifecycle stage. Then, we simply transfer these goals to our email efforts.

For example:

• If someone has shown a little interest in what it is you do online, you may want to take them to a video or a whitepaper download so that they can learn more, get them to engage with you via social or encourage them to sign up to your newsletters.
• If someone’s already purchased from you then you might want to try to encourage repeat spending by reengaging them with discounts or exciting them with competitions.

No single lifecycle email strategy will work for every company out there, however, the below should at the very least provide you with some ideas to get started:

Email when: a user subscribes

Say hello, welcome them to your emails and let them know what they can expect from you.

Email when: you’ve made a sale

Send out an email confirming that the purchase has been made and also communicate delivery/download and/or redemption details.

You should also make your contact details very clear at this point should the buyer have any queries post sale.

Email when: a user goes quiet

Consider sending an email to those who have not engaged with your brand or newsletters for some time, say 3-6 months.

You could email them a special offer to tempt them back or else a survey asking what you might be able to do for them now and in the future.

I’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts about lifecycle emails, leave us a comment below, we’ll always reply

Why are welcome emails so powerful?

Well, your new subscriber has just signed up to hear from you on a regular basis which means they probably  feel a lot of love toward your business at the time of the opt in; either they like what you’re saying, or they like what you’re selling.

These new subscribers are probably also expecting to receive an email or two from you confirming their request so your ‘welcome email’ is likely to be welcomed and expected when it lands in their inbox.

For maximum impact, you should use your welcome email to share your best content, special offers and deals in an effort to reassure these new subscribers that their choice to sign up to regular emails from yourself was a great one.

Tips For Welcome Email Success:

Act Quickly

Make sure that you contact your new subscribers promptly.

Even if your correspondence is sent just 5 minutes after the sign up, you should still remind them how it is you have come to have access to their email address and also let them know how they can unsubscribe from your mailing list should they wish to do so.

Say Thanks

Thank your subscriber for opting in and perhaps offer them a welcome discount, trial or deal.

Let Them Choose

Use a questionnaire or survey tool like dotdigital’s to ask your recipient what they want to read from you and when.

The more options you give your new subscribers in terms of content type and email frequency, the more likely they are to want to continue receiving your correspondence.

Have Fun

Your welcome email is your chance to shine and to show off a bit of your business’ personality – have fun with it. Remember, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.

Get Creative

‘Welcome’ is not the most imaginative of subject lines and it doesn’t really give the recipient a real reason to open your correspondence. Get a bit more creative.

That’s it for the basics. Let me know if you have any comments, tips or ideas. We love comments and we read them all!