1 Adventures In Email Marketing

DISCOVERING CUSTOMER FOCUSED STRATEGIES IN FIVE REAL-WORLD STORIES

3-5 FOREWORD 6-8 CHAPTER 1: LAYING SWEET-TASTING TRAILS TO A LIFETIME OF TRUST

9-12 CHAPTER 2: A FLOURISHING RANCH STARTS FROM THE GROUND UP

13-17 CHAPTER 3: WHY MOST FIRST DATES (AND EMAIL CAMPAIGNS) FALL FLAT

18-22 CHAPTER 4: WEIGHT WATCHERS’ THREE KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL DIET

22-26 CHAPTER 5: UNCORKING THE POWER OF RECOMMENDATIONS

27 CONCLUSION

2 Adventures In Email Marketing

3 Adventures In Email Marketing

Approaching a new email campaign can be a daunting task, even for

an experienced marketer. What do your subscribers want from you?

The answer to that question depends on a whole universe of factors

in the customer’s life — from their age and income to their tastes and

aspirations.

To build strong engagement with your subscribers, and guide them

from one purchase to the next, you’ve got to start by understanding how

each customer wants to be treated. In other words, email marketing

mirrors real life — and believe it or not, your own real-life experiences

often contain the keys to those famously perplexing questions:

• How do we guide customers toward their next purchases?

• How do we improve engagement and reduce unsubscribes?

• How can we balance short-term revenue with long-term

customer relationships?

• How can we tell when we’re sending too many emails —

or too few?

• How much of our email content can be curated by our experts?

3 Foreword

4

NONE OF THESE QUESTIONS HAVE UNIVERSAL ANSWERS.

Read every digital marketing book in the world, and what you’re going

to mostly find out is why other email campaigns have succeeded or

failed. The right personalization approach for your campaign depends

on many factors — from the industry you work in to the customer

segments you target, to the million ever-changing factors that interact

in each subscriber’s daily life.

YOU DON’T NEED MORE CASE STUDIES. YOU NEED DEEPER INSIGHTS

But we won’t be obsessing over email marketing tactics; at least, not

in the way most marketing manuals do. Instead, we’ll be taking a step

back from marketing theory, and examining the joys and frustrations

of real-life relationships — with our coworkers, with people in the

service industry, and even in our romantic lives — and examining

what those relationships can teach us about customer experiences

in the email realm.

Foreword4

5

EVERY HUMAN RELATIONSHIP OFFERS IN-SIGHTS ABOUT HOW PEOPLE INTERACT — INCLUDING HOW YOU INTERACT WITH YOUR SUBSCRIBERS.

For example, everyone knows how annoying it feels to get hassled by

a pushy salesperson — or ignored by an inattentive one. When you

take a step back, think about how those one-sided relationships make

you feel, and examine your email sales strategy from your customers’

perspective, and you may realize that you’re coming across as exactly

the kind of salesperson you find annoying in your personal life.

That one single insight — tough as it may be to acknowledge — can

give you the understanding you need to approach your campaign

from the customer’s perspective. And it may be just what you need

to supercharge your sales. Those are the kinds of insights we’ll be

delivering in every story in this ebook.

Once you’ve discovered the lessons in each of these stories, your

campaigns will shine with a greater sense of purpose — and you’ll

emerge with a much clearer roadmap for connecting the components

of your own email strategy into a meaningful campaign that cultivates

long-term relationships, along with lasting trust and loyalty.

Let’s dive in.

Foreword5

CHAPTER 1: LAYING SWEET-TASTING TRAILS TO A LIFETIME OF TRUST

Picture a 10-year-old boy trailing through the moonlit woods on his

bike. He’s leaving a path of peanut-buttery goodness as he pedals on

in hopes of luring something in. To his surprise, it works — and before

he knows it, he’s face to face with an extraterrestrial creature, better

known as Steven Spielberg’s E.T.

The nostalgia of this scene is woven into the fabric of many of our

childhoods — or at least our Halloween baskets. It’s also got a lot

to teach us about email marketing. For example, an effective email

campaign doesn’t dump all the goodies at once; it lays a trail of

“pieces” (i.e., products from the catalog) that guide customers on

journeys toward discovery, delight, and long-term brand loyalty.

Chapter 1: Laying Sweet-Tasting Trails to a Lifetime of Trust6

7 Chapter 1: Laying Sweet-Tasting Trails to a Lifetime of Trust

TO LAY THE RIGHT TRAIL, YOU’VE GOT TO UNDERSTAND WHO’S FOLLOWING IT.

One reason Elliot’s method was so successful was because E.T. loved

Reese’s Pieces. How did Elliot learn this? Through testing. Your email

subscribers will also respond much more strongly to offers that appeal

to their individual tastes. To achieve that, you need to be analyzing,

tweaking, and continually evolving your approach as you gain new

information about your subscribers, and discover new truths about

them.

According to research by Janrain, nearly three-fourths of online

consumers get frustrated when content such as offers, ads, and

promotions appear to have nothing to do with their interests. What’s

more, a full 40 percent of consumers buy more from retailers who

personalize the shopping experience across channels.

8

THE TRAIL HAS TO PICK UP WHERE IT LEFT OFF.

You might remember that after Elliot lures E.T. out of the woods, his next

task is to lure the extraterrestrial visitor into his bedroom closet, where

he can safely hide. By the time Elliot returns to the woods, however, E.T.

is hiding among the trees again — so Elliot returns to the same spot

where he met the visitor before, and begins laying his trail from there.

By tracking how your subscribers interact with each email you send,

you’re able to see how strongly they’re responding to the goodies

you’ve shared with them. The emails they respond to most strongly can

serve as jumping-off points for products outside the categories they’ve

explored before. One email at a time, you can keep them moving along

your intended path toward new discoveries and purchases.

TRUSTING RELATIONSHIPS TAKE TIME TO BUILD.

Although Elliot is eager to get his new friend to safety, he understands

that this alien visitor isn’t going to trust him immediately. He lays his

trail of candy patiently, watching every step of the way to make sure E.T.

is following. In other words, Elliot first establishes trust by providing a

trail of candy — then, once that trust is established, he uses that trail to

lure E.T. to his house.

Chapter 1: Laying Sweet-Tasting Trails to a Lifetime of Trust8

Similarly, to cement a loyal relationship with customers, retailers must

start them off on the right trail — and continue to deliver relevant,

meaningful content in every email you send. Your customers may prefer

designer shoes to Reese’s Pieces — but the same principles hold true.

By drawing on their previous behaviors, and their evolving tastes and

interests, you’ll be able to anticipate their aspirations, and use trails of

delightful treats to lead them along the journeys you want them to take.

The great relationship between Elliot and E.T. had to be built over time

— but it all began with starting on the right path. By understanding

E.T.’s preferences, and adapting his approach to fit those preferences,

Elliot was able to use a trail of sweet treats to lure his new friend to a

more desirable place, one delicious bite at a time.

9 Chapter 2: A Flourishing Ranch Starts from the Ground Up

CHAPTER 2: A FLOURISHING RANCH STARTS FROM THE GROUND UP

What’s the most important crop on a ranch? One successful rancher

interviewed in Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma tells us

that grass is every ranch’s most crucial asset. Not only does it feed

the cows — the cows create manure, which fertilizes the soil, while

also providing a home for insect larvae to feed the chickens. Just add

sunlight, and you’ve got the complete lifecycle of a thriving, growing

ranch.

A healthy email campaign works much the same way. Just as some

ranchers might consider beef more important than grass, you might

think of sales as your end product. But in the longer view, the ideas

and recommendations you give your subscribers are even more

crucial than final sales. Why? Because they’re what sustain the cycle

of engagement that keeps your whole campaign running. A single sale

may be exciting — but sustainable engagement can lead to a whole

lifetime of repeat business.

Just as a wise rancher thinks of himself as a grass farmer above all,

you’ll get a lot more out of your email campaigns when you think of

yourself as an “engagement farmer” rather than a salesperson.

10

RANCHING PRIVILEGES COME WITH GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES.

A short-sighted rancher might think of his ranch only as a place to raise

cows for sale or slaughter. In the same way, some marketers think of

their subscriber lists as channels for pushing product, rather than as

platforms where they cultivate meaningful relationships.

But every one of your subscribers has given you their email address for

a reason. Communicating with them is a privilege, not a right — and it’s

your responsibility to treat that privilege with respect, by treating your

subscribers as human beings on their own individual journeys; each

with interests, desires, and aspirations as unique as they are.

Just as a rancher seeks to understand the health and behavior of

each of his cows and chickens — and even of the grass itself — your

campaigns will build much healthier customer relationships if you take

time to understand which products in your catalog are best suited for a

customer at each moment.

Choose well, and the result will be a recommendation so perfect,

it’ll feel like magic. The more consistently you deliver those magical

recommendations, the more likely each customer will be to buy the

product you wanted to sell in the first place — contributing to a healthy

life cycle in which each new purchase keeps the grass growing.

Chapter 2: A Flourishing Ranch Starts from the Ground Up10

11 Chapter 2: A Flourishing Ranch Starts from the Ground Up

GRASS GROWS DIFFERENTLY DEPENDING ON THE SOIL IT’S PLANTED IN.

Any experienced rancher, farmer, or vine grower will tell you that

soil imparts its own unique characteristics to the plants that live in

it. What’s more, every soil requires a distinct approach to cultivation:

some may demand intensive fertilization with lots of nutrients, while

others require heavy watering every day. Apply the wrong cultivation

techniques to the wrong soil, and you’ll wind up with unhealthy grass,

which weakens the whole ranch.

An experienced rancher knows that, while every plot of land is unique,

soils do tend to fall into certain categories: brown loam, red clay, and

so on. By recognizing the type of soil he’s working with, a farmer can

call on techniques he’s used to grow grass in similar soil in the past,

while adapting and improvising around today’s unique circumstances.

For an email marketer, the equivalent is to recognize the themes

that’ll appeal to each group of customers, and learn more about how

to optimize those themes in each email you send. This means you’ll

continually be delighting your subscribers with new discoveries, and

at the same time, exposing them to parts of your product catalog they

might never have seen before. And as your customers’ tastes evolve

within that theme, you’ll always be prepared to meet them where they

are, with just the right cultivation to keep them engaged.

12 Chapter 2: A Flourishing Ranch Starts from the Ground Up

ANYTHING THAT MAKES THE GRASS GROW IS WORTH THE INVESTMENT.

A rancher who understands that everything starts with grass will

be much more likely to invest in stronger seeds, healthier soil, and

improved cultivation techniques — even when the rest of the ranch is

looking lackluster. Once the cycle of healthy growth gets kick-started,

this rancher knows, the animals that live on the healthy grass will

sustain even healthier growth next season — and so on, year after year.

When it comes to email campaigns, any tool or technique that kick-

starts your customer engagement is well worth the investment, too —

even if that investment doesn’t appear to show immediate returns. To

get your engagement growth kick-started, you might need to partner

with an advanced analytics company, or spend some time manually

testing, measuring, and fine-tuning the content you send, and the

cadence in which you send it.

Sometimes you may even get a chance to invest in a whole new ranch.

Consider Samsonite’s approach to the email list they obtained when

they acquired eBags. Just before the Samsonite acquisition, eBags cited

email as the channel where they connected most strongly with their

250,000 customers every day. In light of that fact, it was no surprise

that eBags invested heavily in research based on their subscriber data,

which they used to delight customers with personalized promotions

and win-back offers.

If the marketers at Samsonite care for their subscribers as deeply as

the team at eBags did, they’ll keep testing and refining their cadence

and content, to make sure their engagement crop is flourishing. But of

course, few of us are lucky enough to buy a thriving ranch. We’ve got to

build ours from the grass up.

13 Chapter 3: Why Most First Dates (and Email Campaigns) Fall Flat13

CHAPTER 3: WHY MOST FIRST DATES (AND EMAIL CAMPAIGNS) FALL FLAT

Awkward first dates have a way of standing out in our memories.

Sometimes our own social foibles were the main source of the

embarrassment, while in many cases we pin the blame on the other

person. But no matter who carries the blame, most of us love to trade

“worst first date” stories with our friends — whether they happened

last week, last year, or a decade ago.

Why do we find bad date stories so entertaining? On one level, of

course, we can all relate to them — and it’s comforting to know we’re

not the only ones who’ve had to nod and smile politely through an

uncomfortable evening.

But on a deeper level, many of us are hoping (consciously or otherwise)

for insights into how to improve our own interactions and relationships.

If we can avoid the mistakes that stand out in our friends’ bad date

stories, we hope, then maybe others will remember us as more likeable

people — or at least, as more tolerable dinner companions.

What tends to go wrong on an awkward first date — and how can you

apply those principles to your email campaign? Let’s break down the

basics.

14

SHALLOW COMMUNICATION = BORING DATES.

Every first date starts with some basic “get to know you” questions:

Where are you from? What did you study in school? Do you have any

pets? If all goes well, those questions lead naturally to deeper ones

about the other person’s likes, dislikes, hopes, tastes, and aspirations.

But to reach that deeper level, one of you has to take a risk, and start

asking questions that probe a little below the surface.

To make your marketing interactions more meaningful, you’ve got to

take a risk, too: offer your customers a recommendation they’ve never

thought about before. Not all your subscribers will respond well to that

move — and that’s a natural part of the process. As you learn from

your mistakes, you’ll find that many of your subscribers appreciate

your boldness, and reward you with a deeper level of trust and loyalty.

Chapter 3: Why Most First Dates (and Email Campaigns) Fall Flat14

CLINGY DATERS SCARE AWAY THE PEOPLE THEY LIKE MOST.

While it’s perfectly fine to send a friendly text after a date that went

well, a deluge of unreturned calls and texts is a surefire way to send

a love interest running for cover. What’s the key difference between

flirty banter and obnoxious over-texting? It’s all in the responses — or

lack of responses. To find the right rhythm, you’ve got to learn to take

hints from the other person.

The same principle holds true in your email campaign. To find the

cadence that works for each customer, send some test emails, see

how they’re received, and use that insight to zero in on the right timing

and topics for each group of subscribers. Miss the mark, and you may

end up with a lot of unsubscribes. Hit the bullseye, and you’ll kick off a

delightful dialogue that will continue for years to come.

15 Chapter 3: Why Most First Dates (and Email Campaigns) Fall Flat

16

THERE’S ALWAYS MORE TO A PERSON THAN THEIR PROFILE LETS ON.

Social media and dating app profiles make it easy to pick your prospects

based solely on looks. But this can also be limiting: a person who looks

attractive and lists a lot of interests similar to yours may not share any

chemistry with you when you meet up in person. And on the flipside,

someone you might’ve swiped past on a dating app may connect with

you on a surprisingly deep level face to face.

The same goes for email marketing. Just because a subscriber fits into

a target demographic — for example, a 30-year-old woman in a certain

region — doesn’t mean you should target her with the same messaging

as every other customer who fits the description. It’s important to map

each individual customer’s journey, and tailor products to their likes

and interests.

Chapter 3: Why Most First Dates (and Email Campaigns) Fall Flat16

17

LOYAL SUPPORTERS DESERVE ATTENTION, EVEN AS NEW ROMANCES BLOOM.

Some people tend to throw everything they have into each new romance

they discover — leaving loyal friends and exes in the dust as they

pursue The One, who always seems to be just around the next corner.

In the same way, far too many marketers throw everything they have

into winning over profitable new customer segments, at the expense of

customers they’ve spent years winning over.

When establishing a relationship, whether in the dating or email

marketing world, it’s crucial to dedicate time to strengthening that

bond. Just as two people would get to know each other, a retailer needs

to understand where each customer is in their own unique journey,

and make sure that is clear through their email communications. After

all—you don’t want to risk your customer swiping left.

Chapter 3: Why Most First Dates (and Email Campaigns) Fall Flat17

18

CHAPTER 4: WEIGHT WATCHERS’ THREE KEYS TO A SUCCESSFUL DIET

Weight Watchers tops the U.S. News & World Report ranking of best

diets each year — and for a good reason: the program is designed to

let each dieter eat whatever they want, when they want, within reason.

Instead of excluding certain food groups, as most “one size fits all” fad

diets do, Weight Watchers focuses on developing individualized plans

that each dieter can realistically stick to.

You may be wondering what this has to do with email marketing, but

there’s a lot more crossover than first meets the eye. To achieve lasting

success in any area — from a diet plan to an email marketing strategy

— you’ve got to create a plan that’s sustainable, customizable, and

adaptable enough to change in response to evolving moods and tastes.

And to build a plan that works, you’ve got to start with these three

keystone concepts.

Chapter 4: Weight Watchers’ Three Keys to a Successful Diet18

19

KEY 1: VARIETY

Fad diets disappear for a reason. Though their simplicity may seem

like a benefit at first, nobody enjoys eating the same items week after

week (I’m looking at you, Cabbage Soup Diet). As every successful

dieter will tell you, the only way to keep weight off in the long term is

healthier eating habits — and the only way to stick to those habits is

to substitute healthier alternatives for your full range of favorite foods.

But it isn’t just dieters who make the “Cabbage Soup” mistake. Far

too many email marketers get stuck in a loop of repeating price cuts

and other offers — even though emails without an offer in the subject

line outperform nearly every offer-based email. This harmful one-note

approach applies equally to the products themselves. Your subscribers

need a healthy variety of email themes, suited to the tastes and

aspirations of each customer.

Chapter 4: Weight Watchers’ Three Keys to a Successful Diet19

KEY 2: INDIVIDUALIZATION

From the minute you sign up for the program, Weight Watchers creates

a plan tailored to you. It factors in your current weight and goals,

determines the appropriate daily point value for food, and then lets

you pick your plan. You get some flex points for special occasions, and

you can earn more points for exercise. You can attend group meetings,

or tackle the program solo. Weight Watchers understands that their

program will only work if it fits each individual’s lifestyle.

A data-driven, customer-centric approach to email marketing works

the same way. To keep up with your subscribers’ ever-evolving “dietary

needs,” you’ve got to show them a variety of products and categories

— that all emerge organically from a theme designed around that

customer’s individual traits. Instead of promoting one product or

category based on your own sales goals, it’s far more effective to start

with your customers’ goals, and tailor your approach from there.

20 Chapter 4: Weight Watchers’ Three Keys to a Successful Diet

KEY 3: SUSTAINABILITY

Fad diets are not sustainable. Far too many dieters fall into unhealthy

“yo-yo” patterns: rapidly losing weight, gaining it back, then scrambling

to lose it again. If you’re too focused on immediate weight loss results,

your health — and your determination — are going to suffer. Dieters

who stick to a variety of foods they enjoy, on the other hand, stand a

much better chance of sustaining their weight loss over the long term.

Like extreme dieters, email marketers too often focus on the immediate,

short-term results, instead of the big picture. Cultivating relationships

with loyal customers, though, achieves far more than focusing on

today’s sales goals. Attracting a new customer costs up to 25 times

more than keeping an existing one — so make sure you’re engaging

the ones you already have.

Although the exact recipe for success varies from brand to brand, an

email campaign focused on variety, individualization, and sustainability

is far more likely to keep customers engaged over time. So instead of

falling victim to the fad diet approach, create an email diet that gives

your customers what they want, in moderation, while guiding them

toward products and categories that align with your goals.

21 Chapter 4: Weight Watchers’ Three Keys to a Successful Diet

22

CHAPTER 5: UNCORKING THE POWER OF RECOMMENDATIONS

For those of us without professional sommelier training, choosing a

bottle of wine can feel like a daunting task. Many of us reach for the

bottles with the coolest labels, or default to brands we’ve enjoyed in

the past. Choosing a wine with a cool label may occasionally introduce

us to a new wine we love. But sometimes it turns out to be a waste of

money. And while choosing a familiar wine may be safe, it’s missing a

sense of excitement and discovery.

Many retailers approach product recommendations the same way:

They may send out email blasts featuring hip designer products, and

trust the labels to do the rest — or, more often than not, they’ll go the

safe route and recommend products similar to (or even the same as)

ones their customers have bought before.

But just as with wine bottles, designer labels don’t guarantee a delightful

experience — and recommendations for products like the ones

customers have bought before quickly go stale. To introduce customers

to items that’ll surprise and delight them, you’ve got to look beyond

these traditional approaches, and treat product recommendations as

a science, just as a master sommelier might select the perfect bottle.

Chapter 5: Uncorking the Power of Recommendations22

GREAT WINE RECOMMENDATIONS START WITH QUESTIONS.

Think about the last time you asked for a wine recommendation at

a restaurant. The server or sommelier probably asked what you’d

be ordering to eat — because, of course, the right pairing is crucial.

They may also have asked what wines you typically enjoy. If they were

particularly well trained, they may have even sought to broaden your

horizons by recommending wines from a certain region or year.

Similarly, master retail marketers start by looking at customer data —

not to recommend similar products, but to suggest items that might

pair well with ones the customer already owns. Purchase histories can

also provide valuable clues about the qualities each customer values in

their purchases — enabling retailers to recommend products from new

designers, in new styles the customer might not have considered before.

In other words, master marketers use customer data to recreate a five-

star wine-tasting experience at scale, right in each customer’s inbox. By

delighting millions of customers with curated recommendations that

speak to their tastes and aspirations, retailers can build lifelong trust

and loyalty, even in a digital medium where they might never meet the

customer face to face.

23 Chapter 5: Uncorking the Power of Recommendations

24

EVERY WINE LOVER IS JUST ONE SIP AWAY FROM DISCOVERING A NEW FAVORITE.

Every single one of your customers would love to be swept off their

feet by a new favorite product today. And while some of your email

subscribers may make purchase decisions based on a cool photo or a

clever bit of copy, they’re far more likely to stick with your brand if you

consistently surprise them with recommendations that point the way to

where they’re heading, instead of back to where they’ve already been.

Imagine if you told a wine expert you’d tried a bottle of Wolf Blass, and

hated it — and your expert responded by recommending another bottle

of similar wine. That’s just like recommending products like the ones

your customers have already bought, without understanding whether

they enjoyed those products — or whether they’re tired of products like

those, and are ready for a taste of something new.

Your customers already know what they’ve bought. They know which

products they’ve enjoyed, and which ones they want more of. What they

don’t know (yet) is what their next favorite products will be. It’s your job

to introduce your customers to those new favorite products, using a wide

range of subtle cues from what you know of their lives.

Chapter 5: Uncorking the Power of Recommendations24

SOMMELIERS DON’T TELL ANYONE WHAT TO LIKE — INSTEAD, THEY PRESENT OPTIMIZED CHOICES.

Every master sommelier knows that wine preferences are a matter

of personal taste. Some people happen to prefer the $20 merlot to

the $120 pinot noir — and that’s fine! A sommelier’s job isn’t to try

to change anyone’s taste; it’s to understand that taste. The better a

sommelier is at understanding your preferences, the better they’ll be

at presenting you with a whole selection of new wines that hit your

favorite flavor notes.

In other words, a sommelier’s job isn’t to tell you which wines you

ought to like — it’s to help you discover and fall in love with the perfect

new wines for you.

By the same token, your customers aren’t interested in which products

they “ought” to buy this season, or which items you need to sell to meet

your quota. Your job is to understand their tastes — not so you can

push your agenda on them, but so you can optimize their process of

discovering new products they’ll love.

25 Chapter 5: Uncorking the Power of Recommendations

WINE TASTES ARE CONSTANTLY EVOLVING. SO SHOULD YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS.

A master sommelier at a restaurant enjoys several distinct advantages

over the staff at your local wine store. Restaurant patrons tend to be

fairly serious about their wine selections, which means they’re more

likely to share their tastes and expectations. Plus, the sommelier will

get to visit the same table multiple times, gauge that table’s reactions

to each bottle, ask for feedback, and refine the selections accordingly.

In the same way, every interaction you have with a customer teaches you

more truths about that person — as long as you listen carefully. As each

customer’s tastes evolve and expand, you’ll gain more opportunities

to show them new products, guide them toward additional product

categories, and introduce them to experiences they might never have

considered before. Show your customers you’re listening to them as

they grow, and they’ll seek out your expertise next time they’re looking

to update their style.

The more consistently you present your customers with choices that

feel like suggestions from an old friend, the more they’ll come to you

for ideas about what to buy next. That trust takes time to build — and

you’ll likely experience some missteps along the way. But that’s all

part of the process. Learn to listen to what your customers are telling

you, and apply that knowledge to the recommendations you provide. A

lifelong relationship of trust will be your reward.

26 Chapter 5: Uncorking the Power of Recommendations

27 Conclusion27

CONCLUSION

Just as there’s no “one size fits all” approach to wine recommendations

or dieting, no single strategy or metric can tell you how to deliver an

impactful email campaign.

Instead of trying to replicate tactics that have worked for other brands,

you’ve got to start from the fundamental goals: to surprise and delight

your customers, to cultivate long-term loyalty, and to guide shoppers

toward new products and categories in ways that feel natural and

personal.

When you design your approach around these goals, and dedicate

yourself to learning from every interaction with your customers, you’ll

find that the right metrics, cadences, and journeys tend to fall into place

all on their own.

And when you view all your emails through the customer’s lens, you’ll

find it’s much easier to recognize where you’re coming across as pushy,

or inattentive, or impersonal — and change course while you’ve still got

a chance of improving customer relationships.

Like a fine wine, a healthy farm, a great romance or friendship, or a

successful diet, a well-designed email campaign takes time to show

results. Be patient with yourself and your customers, and learn all the

truths about them that you can — whether those truths come from

customer data, or from your adventures out in the wide world.

28 Adventures In Email Marketing

Coherent Path is the leading email marketing calendar company for top retailers that use machine learning to determine the optimal email contents for each subscriber. Trusted by top Fortune 500 retailers like Neiman Marcus, Staples, and L.L. Bean, Coherent Path uses AI to move beyond manual planning and segmentation to individualized, curated, and automated email programs. By creating a beautiful and personalized email diet that caters to each customer’s evolving tastes and moods, retailers benefit from a dramatic lift in customer engagement, loyalty, and revenue while reducing email fatigue. Coherent Path is based in Boston, Mass. with offices in Toronto and Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.coherentpath.com, follow Coherent Path on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.