The Do’s and Don’ts of Real-Time Email Marketing

Over the past year, real-time marketing has burst onto the scene as a simple, effective strategy for engaging customers with time-relevant messages. But marketers beware: Real-time email marketing is not as easy to implement as it seems.

Below, we’ve outlined some of the biggest do’s and don’ts you need to know before you can implement your real-time email marketing strategy with confidence.

Do Remember Real-Time Often Means Mobile

Sending emails in real-time may mean you also need to rethink your mobile marketing strategy. Alyssa Nahatis at Marketing Land says, “As customers are mobile oriented and always on the go, marketers need to be able to reach them through the best or preferred channel.” This may mean sending coupons they use by showing their phone at the checkout counter or it may mean sending a link to your app in the appropriate app store.

Don’t Forget to Integrate Real-Time Messages with Existing Campaigns

Real-time messaging doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Consider what else you’ll be sending to your list or segment the customer may be in, and make sure you’re not overwhelming him. If you’re creating a retargeting campaign, for instance, be sure to establish controls that trigger when a subscriber engages. Once engaged, the subscriber should be removed from the retargeting and real-time messaging can take over from there.

Don’t Go Overboard

As StrongView VP of Marketing Services Katrina Conn explains over at Email Insider, “There are times when some real-time responses can be extremely creepy and may cause privacy concerns.” The last thing you want is to appear to be too in-your-face with a customer. For instance, consider a customer who has just made a large purchase. Thanking him for the purchase is fine, but trying to up-sell him immediately afterward might be asking for too much.

Do Build a Strong Foundation

We think the Right Time Email Marketing Playbook from StrongView says it best: “As data becomes the currency of relevance and customers demand real-time interaction with the brands they do business with, reliable systems and integration must be put in place to drive efficiency for the business and value for the customer.” This means you need to focus on establishing a foundation for enabling automated processes. And this begins with ensuring you have the best data you possibly can.

Perhaps the fastest way to verify the strength of your data is through Email Intelligence. An Email Intelligence service can tell you who your subscribers are, what they’re interested in and how best to reach them. This gives you valuable customer insights that are right at your fingertips.

If you’re curious to see what else you can learn from your data, try TowerData’s free Email Intelligence match test. You’ll gain a report that shows the who, what and where of the email addresses you submit, giving you the extra oomph you need to jumpstart your real-time campaigns!

Photo Credit: andymag