When I arrived at my last company, their retention program was significantly underperforming. Rather than hiring experts in their field to create and maintain the program, they promoted team members from the distribution center and customer service. While this is admirable for some company roles, email and SMS marketing are complicated and require expertise. Mistakes from learning on the job and missing crucial building blocks were costing them unnecessary labor hours and missed revenue.
- Outdated Systems
Not only did their ESP lack the advanced functionality they needed, they were on a legacy version of it. Their storefront software and CRM were built on modified obsolete programs that required custom coding for every integration. - Multiple Sending Platforms
They were using five different systems to send messages and collect information: daily emails from SendGrid, automated messages from Zaius, subscription emails from Ordergroove, abandon emails from Wunderkind, and SMS from Attentive. - Nonexistent Data
Because their software was so outdated, and their messages were sending from five different sources, they had no real insight into how their messages performed and whether the changes they made increased or decreased revenue. - Damaged Sender Reputation
They had destroyed their sender reputation through years of sending to the entire list every day. Their audience was full of spam traps and unengaged emails. Daily marketing messages and even welcome messages were going to Spam. - Unnecessary Program Costs
Because such a large percentage of their audience was unengaged, they were overpaying for message sends and platform fees.
Here’s what I did to address these issues:
- Migrated Software to Increase Capabilities
In order to aggregate data and take advantage of advanced functionality, I migrated all the messages I could to Klaviyo. This enabled me to run A/B tests, create segments by engagement, and develop highly personalized lifecycle flows. I was also able to integrate with several service partners like TrustPilot and Ordergroove and incorporate their functionality into our messaging. - Standardized Data for Actionable Analysis
I developed a naming convention for campaigns and utm parameters that enabled us to easily filter data by deal, template, and message theme. This enabled us to see patterns in the data, create a testing strategy, and make changes that increased revenue. - Optimized Testing to Increase Revenue
I created a cascading series of tests that built upon one another. I optimized send times, subject lines, CTAs, and template styles. This increased revenue, sometimes by as much as 5% for a single test. I used a test matrix that clearly summarized the results of the tests so they could be shared with leadership and easily understood throughout the organization. - Developed Segmentation to Decrease Costs and Increase Revenue
I created segments based on recency and monitored their revenue. Because leadership still wanted to send to the entire list on a regular basis, I developed a plan that would send to all segments with a frequency determined by revenue. People who engaged less frequently would receive less emails. This plan would save 60% of sending and platform costs. Best of all, it would repair their sender reputation so more emails would land in the inbox and increase sales.
Are you worried about any of the same issues as my last company? Do you need help increasing revenue and repairing your reputation? Please reach out. I’m happy to share my expertise to see how we can work together.
