Beyond Email Marketing: The Multi-Channel Approach

Did you know that although 94% of marketers use email for lead nurturing, most say that their email open rates are just 20%? Studies show that even though email marketing is still an important aspect of inbound marketing, it has limitations that could derail the number of contacts that convert to actual buyers. Email databases do not always have correct information and marketers can only reach to the prospects they already know. Does this mean that email is dead? Granted, email marketing is still an effective lead nurturing strategy but only if it is implemented alongside other channels. A multi-channel approach to lead nurturing is necessary to qualify prospects to ready-to buy leads.

Retargeted online display advertising

A recent survey by Zogby Analytics revealed that up to 40.5% of online consumers prefer ads that are specifically directed toward their interest. Retargeting is an effective strategy in conversion optimization and re-nurturing leads who have abandoned the shopping cart or landing page fill-out form even after opening your emails. Typically, only 2% of those who open marketing emails go ahead to convert. The remaining 98% could easily be lost if you depended on email only for conversion. Retargeted online display ads allow you to continue making your products and services visible to your bounced prospects. The reason  why retargeting is effective for nurturing and conversion optimization is that ads are served to people who are already familiar with your products and services and have shown interest. Using email alongside retargeted online display ads essentially saves you from losing the large majority of leads who bounce after or before opening your emails.

Leveraging the popularity of social media

Integrating social media with email offers your contacts additional methods of connecting and engaging with you on social platforms, where you can distribute relevant content that can impact purchase decisions. Incorporating social media buttons in your emails further prompts your contacts to share your content with their network. Working with both social media and email offers you more points of contact with your leads. The more channels of communication you have, the better it is for your lead nurturing content distribution strategy.

Social ad retargeting is also gaining traction as marketers continue to engage leads on popular social media platforms. Although Facebook’s News Feed ads have received different reactions from users, brands are successfully using ad retargeting to engage bounced customers and to nurture them back to the sales funnel. In addition to adding social media modules into your emails and thank you pages, it is a good idea to set up monitoring for brand terms.

Social media monitoring allows you to keep track of people who are mentioning your brand across social platforms. Such mentions could be an indication that a lead is ready to move up to the next level of the purchasing cycle, but requires relevant content to make this move.

Merging paid search with email marketing

Pay per click (PPC) campaigns not only complement your outbound efforts; they are also necessary for creating targeted email marketing campaigns for leads at different stages of the sales funnel. Many lead nurturing tools allow you to set up distinct PPC campaigns each of which is accompanied by email content that is appropriate to the specific needs and persona of each lead.  The email content that is trigged by a PPC ad should prompt a conversion that will show the sales team the readiness of this particular lead. It goes without saying that the effectiveness of PPC ads as an aspect of lead nurturing also depends on the quality of landing pages. Different landing pages are necessary to cater to the unique needs of prospective buyers who click through your online ads.

Email Marketing Has Evolved..

The ever-changing face of digital marketing necessitates the need for marketers to use multi-channel strategies to engage with and nurture prospective leads. The more points of communication you are able to establish, the easier it will be to optimize conversions for most of your available leads.