Top 10 Email Marketing Must-Haves

In a session yesterday at the NEMOA directXchange Spring Conference in Boston, Anna Pfeiffer, a marketing strategist at marketing automation services provider Bronto Software, identified her top 10 must-have components for a successful email marketing program. Here they are:

1. Creative and content that are engaging to your subscribers: Convey your brand personality and interact with your subscribers, Pfeiffer said. For example, ask them questions, seek out their feedback. She cited three examples of retailers effectively using engaging content: West Elm offering design tips to its subscribers; Crate and Barrel's seasonal tips for outdoor furniture care; and Uncommon Goods providing background information on where its products are sourced from.

2. An abandoned cart series: I've seen these programs deliver up to a 60 percent lift in conversion rate vs. a standard email campaign, Pfeiffer said. Industry research has shown that sending the first abandoned cart email one hour after the event, followed by a second email 24 hours after the event (if no action was taken with the first email), followed by a third email a week after the abandoned cart (again, if no action was taken on either of the first two emails) has proven most successful, Pfeiffer noted.

3. A welcome series: Take advantage of the opportunity to welcome new subscribers and tell your brand's story, while at the same time encouraging and inspiring subscribers - and possibly incentivizing them - to generate either their first purchase or, more likely, their next purchase. A welcome series can produce conversion rates nearly double standard campaigns, Pfeiffer said.

4. A remarketing strategy: One of the simplest ways to do this is to resend the same email campaign to nonopeners three days to five days after the original email, but with a different subject line. The creative and copy can be exactly the same. This tactic will drive additional conversions, Pfeiffer said.