How Retailers Can Refresh Stale Triggered Campaigns

Most of the conversations I have with retailers these days are about strategies to improve the performance of their tried-and-true triggered marketing campaigns — e.g., abandon browse, search and product campaigns.

Retailers are aware that having triggers for shoppers who abandoned their cart, abandoned a search or browse is now pretty commonplace, and so the messaging isn’t standing out to consumers as much as when only a few retailers did it. The good news is that consumers leave plenty of signals to tell retailers what they need to know to make these campaigns more relevant. That includes core behavior signals like online shopping, product views, add-to-cart and wish lists, as well as product signals like price, size, style and fit. Add customer lifecycle signals like if someone is a new buyer, frequent buyer or loyalty member and there's a wealth of personalization opportunities that emerge.

I know if I’m shopping for something, say some new throw pillows, I’ll visit a few sites to check out some options. If I go to three or four sites, I get three or four abandon-browse emails. If none of the emails stand out as being particularly valuable, no retailer is really enticing me to pick it. Throw into the mix some new trends like Google Chrome shopping features which are getting better at targeting, and retailers need to step up their game with some smarter tactics and increased relevance.

Similarly, retailers aren’t getting the same response they used to when they send out “batch and blast” emails that advertise a site-wide sale or new products in stock. Again, when someone is getting a million of these emails every time there’s some generic reason to market like President’s Day or Valentine’s Day, they're less likely to feel like the content is going to be relevant to them specifically. Sales and promotions are still important, but with customer expectations and willingness to try new brands at an all-time high, retailer communications need to be more empathetic to what consumers actually need. Retailers still need to sell products, but shoppers want to know if they have the right size, if they have a free return policy, and even if the product manufacturing fits with their values.

Retailers can improve their results by considering the millions of signals that consumers throw off as they shop and browse. From style preferences to interest in discounts, or need for social proof, retailers actually have a ton of ways to create more value in their marketing and cut through the noise.

Consider the Signals

Most abandoned cart or abandoned browse campaigns are relatively basic. Someone puts an item in their cart and leaves. The retailer has a template with a subject line like, “Your throw pillows are waiting for you” or “10 percent off your item if you buy now” and populates the email with an image of the item that they looked at. While there’s nothing wrong with any of this, remember, it doesn’t stand out anymore.

To stand out, retailers need to consider more customer behavior data — i.e., “signals” that they can use to make those triggers more effective. For the action-based triggers like abandoned cart or abandoned browse, keeping the product in there is certainly a reasonable idea, but the message can be tweaked and personalized with the right insights. Digging deeper into the shopper’s activity can help. If the shopper compared two or three items, consider testing a message that says, “Can’t decide?” and showcase a collection of the three items and perhaps another few that are similar. Or, if the shopper looked at a bunch of ratings and reviews, focus on that content rather than the product itself. Retailers can try a message like, “Check out more five-star backpacks.”

The same general approach can work to make those blast campaigns deliver more value, too, which are often sent to capture interest and attention. Most retailers have different segments of shoppers. For example, there are shoppers who buy only when an item is discounted and shoppers who aren’t really affected by sales at all. It makes no sense to send both groups the same email with the same subject line focusing on a discount. If someone has recently purchased or browsed, that information can create a message that grabs a lot more attention, such as “Check out three great outfits for your new Adel skirt!”

Retailers can also move beyond these tactics by considering the customer’s needs, not just the marketing or sales goals of an email. A big blast to clear out winter inventory comes with an obvious business goal. Marketers can use this as a starting point and marry this goal with shopper needs by considering the signals that they’ve provided over time. Regular shoppers probably have style, color, size and price point preferences. There’s nothing I hate more than getting an ad for a big sale and then when I click through there’s nothing left in the size or color I want. An email that showcases items that I’d actually be able to buy is significantly more valuable.

Don’t Repeat, Refresh

Sending follow-up messaging should follow the same formula. Rather than just repeat, refresh — and use shopper signals as a guide. If I’m not enticed by an abandoned browse email, retailers need to try something different. The more they test, the more they learn. I might be enticed by free shipping, a discount, or by social proof (e.g., going fast, only three left in your size!). If that blast email is only ho-hum, retailers should slice it up and see if a focus on different brands, colors or styles appeal to different shoppers.

These foundational messages are also great testing ground for getting new information from shoppers. A shopper might not have left any obvious preference signals during their website visit to indicate that they prefer to shop in-store, but with enough analysis of shoppers overall, retailers will start finding patterns that indicate different preferences. For example, some retailers find that the closer people live to a store, the more valuable it is to offer free returns in-store or to showcase inventory that’s currently available at the local store, not just on the site.

Sara Lapworth is a senior digital marketing and retail strategy consultant at Bluecore, a retail technology company transforming casual shoppers into lifetime customers for the world’s fastest growing retail brands.