… let’s think about email marketing.

At Acme Corporation, you and the CEO want to adopt a lifecycle email marketing program.

Acme currently has about 5,000 B2B customers, 10,000 email list subscribers, and half-a-dozen sister companies with shared email lists that can be used for cross-selling.

With previous experience building and leading email marketing programs, you understand that professional-quality email marketing requires a dedicated email marketing manager.

There are numerous considerations when instituting a lifecycle email marketing program.

Rejoiner.com defines lifecycle email marketing as:

“Lifecycle marketing happens when retailers send customers emails that are relevant to what stage they are at in the customer lifecycle. Rather than sending bulk generic emails to any and all customers, lifecycle emails are targeted to specific customers at crucial points in their journey.”

You can segment Acme’s email program into 4 buyer personas:

• Email Subscribers
• First-time Customers
• Repeat Customers
• Cross-Sell Prospects

How to Approach:

You’ll want to collaborate with your email marketing manager to identify what types of emails Acme will be sending.

Here’s an example of the types of emails a B2B software provider will likely send:

• Cold emails to purchased & shared mailing lists to build pipeline
• Automated emails after someone downloads a lead magnet
• Marketing automation emails to mailing list subscribers
• Welcome series emails to onboard new customers
• Exclusive VIP email promotions to your best customer
• Newsletter emails to employees and partners
• Win-back emails to customers who churned
• Customer survey emails to request and collect feedback

After you identify the types of emails, the next step is to determine what type of segmentation will be required for the program.

For instance, if you want to send an email campaign to first-time customers who purchased a particular product within the last 60-days a promo code for a related product, then you will likely have to run a SQL database query to obtain the email list.

You’ll want to truly understand potential segmentation requirements so that you can plan ahead for it.

How to Plan:

Lifecycle email marketing planning is critical to establishing a strong foundation for your program.

After you’ve identified the types of emails you’ll be sending and the segmentation that will be required … the next step is to plan the marketing assets and resources required to implement the program.

Based on past experience, you know that effective email marketing is much more intense than selecting the right email marketing software. You’re going to need custom graphics, direct response copywriting, landing pages, lead magnets, promotional offers, an email relay service, and more.

Adequate email marketing planning is a cornerstone of success. If time permits, truly spend weeks or months building out an email marketing library of assets. This will enable you to operate Acme’s lifecycle email marketing program with efficiency.

Next Steps:

• 1. Create an alias personal email account and subscribe to all your competitors’ email list
  2. Audit Acme’s previous “sent” email marketing campaigns dating back to at least 12 months
  3. Based on historical metrics (open rates, click-throughs, etc) establish your new measures of success