Integration and Segmentation – the key awesome Email Marketing

Integration and Segmentation: Your Awesome Email Marketing BFFs

Henry Ford first put the moving assembly line into operation in 1913. This manufacturing innovation slashed production time to less than three hours.

It depended on individual workers doing a single task. The parts moved along the line, assembled in isolation until they finished the car.

Too many businesses approach their email marketing the same way. Each piece of software does one task in isolation. The output might move along a linear path – if it moves along at all. Often, marketers need to manually export and import data to achieve a result.

Here at Websand, we think it doesn’t need to be like this. What if you took your processes out of a straight line and arranged them differently? With each moving part integrated with those around it?

Your email marketing would run like clockwork.

One business agreed with us. They overhauled their entire email marketing system. The result? Doubled open rates. Boosted returning customer numbers. Improved average order values.

Who are they, and how did they do it? Let’s find out.

Introducing our Hero, 304 Clothing

304 Clothing is an urban streetwear brand based in the UK. Three Liverpool University students founded the brand, named after their student digs.

At first, 304 Clothing sold their streetwear through Shopify. They used Mailchimp for email marketing. So far, so typical.

But the low open and click rates frustrated the team. Having to manually import data slowed productivity. Their marketing efforts didn’t yield the return on the time investment.

There had to be a better way.

After hiring an e-commerce manager, Jon Hutchins, 304 Clothing turned to Websand.

The result? They doubled open rates and more than trebled click-through rates in one quarter.

They saw a 56% uplift in returning customers, increasing their retention revenue. The average order value increased by 16%.

How did they do it?

Customers buy from brands they know, like and trust. 304 Clothing used Websand’s automation features to set up a new funnel sequence. This simple bundle of four emails helped customers get to know the new brand.

The marketing tweak led to better engagement and higher sales.

They also pushed out 5-6 times more content per week, doubling open rates. More frequent content helps feed into the know, subliminally building a trust factor.

When you keep seeing a name in your inbox, you remember who they are.

If you don’t hear from a brand for months? It’s easy to forget them.

It’s All About Integration and Segmentation

The lack of integration between Mailchimp and Shopify caused problems for 304 Clothing. Shopify held their valuable transactional data… but they couldn’t use it in Mailchimp.

They couldn’t target customers based on their purchases. Look at Amazon or Netflix to see why that’s important. Neither platform would be the behemoth they are without their recommendations feature. It depends on the data about what you’ve bought.

304 Clothing used Websand’s Shopify integration to see how much customers were worth. They saw how often customers ordered and the average order value. They knew which campaigns they opened or clicked on.

Using this data, they set up 15-20 audience segments. Before, they sent emails to every subscriber. Now, they only emailed the right people instead of bothering disengaged subscribers.

As for the uplift increase, we’ve always preached the Pareto Principle. 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. By sending the right messages to existing customers, 304 Clothing generated more sales.

That’s easier – and cheaper – than chasing new leads.

Websand offers further integrations. 304 Clothing used the Zapier integration to connect Websand to Google Drive. The team can collaborate across offices in Birmingham and Manchester. They drop shared content into Google Drive which populates their Websand email campaigns. Sharing content saves both time and effort, which you can invest in other business tasks.

And 304 Clothing used a Zapier integration to connect their Facebook ads. This reached over 7000 new quality leads.

It’s not just 304 Clothing that sees the benefit of integrations. Marc Gordon from Fresh Start Events agrees. He cited Websand’s integration with existing software as a key reason to switch to the platform. They’ve used Websand’s segmentation to send targeted campaigns and manage their data.

Integration and segmentation should be your new email marketing BFFs.

But you need the personal touch too

Sending broadcast emails is exactly what it sounds like. It’s like you’re dropping into someone’s inbox with a megaphone. You get your message across, but you don’t know if the customer needs to hear it then.

Using segmentation means you turn this type of monologue marketing into a dialogue. You send customers the content they need when they need it. It’s all about them.

By switching to Websand, 304 Clothing put their focus back onto the customer. They sent the right message to the right customer at the right time.

It’s the cornerstone of permission marketing.

But that’s not the only reason to think about good customer service. How about the service you get from your email marketing provider?

Marc Gordon from Fresh Start Events also cited Websand’s customer service as a reason to switch. For him, “the nicest part is picking up the phone and speaking to a real live person rather than a communication with someone in a different time zone.”

Marketing expert, Ian McAllister echoes the sentiments. For him, the personalised customer service “worth the money alone” after using Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor. By being “just a text message, phone call or 30 minute drive away”, Websand put the customer experience first. Just like you can, by using integration and segmentation in your email marketing.

304 Clothing’s Jon Hutchins also commends Websand’s personal customer service. He said, “Websand quickly understood our brand and the support we receive is second to none. We never had this understanding, flexibility and support with Mailchimp. To have someone on the end of the phone, email and/or SMS, makes a huge difference to their overall level of service.”

Customer Service Is Your New BFF Too

Using integration helps cut the time you spend on your email marketing. It also gives you valuable insights into how much your customers spend and when. By understanding your customers and their buying habits, you can better serve them.

One way to do this is by using segmentation. Only send them content they’ll need and when they need to read it. You’re sparing them from a deluge of emails. They’ll thank you for that.

And by putting both into action, you provide stellar customer service. It frees you up to design new products or create new services. Both of which you offer back to your existing customers, who are ready to buy more. And who doesn’t want more revenue and happier customers?

What are you waiting for? Get in touch with us and schedule your demo today.

Did we mention we’ve got GDPR compliance baked in?