Yes, I know, I know, email — We’re all drowning in it. Who in the world needs more emails in their inbox?
Yet, do a quick Google search for the phrase “companies using email marketing,” and you will quickly find examples of companies crushing it with email marketing.
So why are these companies using email marketing?
Well … BECAUSE EMAIL MARKETING WORKS!
The average ROI for email marketing is reported to be anywhere from 3,800% to 4,300%.
So, for every $1 spent on email marketing, an ROI between $38 to $43 can be realized.
When compared to other marketing channels, such as TV, radio, social media, video and paid search, for example, email marketing beats them all.
I personally experienced the power of email marketing back in November 2007 with a company I was a partner in, and the CEO for, called Learning Like Crazy, Inc. It is a language learning company that sells language learning courses online.
From a product perspective, we spent most of 2006 and 2007 creating level two of our flagship product called Learning Spanish Like Crazy.
On the marketing front, we focused a lot on building a sales funnel that leveraged email marketing. The goal was to convert prospects into leads, leads into customers and customers into Learning Like Crazy brand advocates. Although we did not refer to it by name, we basically created our sales funnel as a customer value journey.
What Is the Customer Value Journey?
Fast forward to 2019 and, as a Certified Digital Marketer partner, one of the foundational tools we use is the customer value journey (CVJ). To shed some light, it’s an eight-stage framework that can help any company turn complete strangers into leads, leads into customers and customers into advocates and active promoters.
The eight CVJ stages are:
1. Awareness – Prospect sees an ad or hears about you via a referral. For example:
2. Engagement – Prospect reads content on your site, engages on social media, watches a video, etc. For example:
3. Subscription – Prospect gives contact information in exchange for “gated” content in which they expect to find value (think white papers, e-books, etc.). For example:
4. Conversion – Prospect becomes a customer by making a low-cost purchase or schedules a demo or visit. For example:
5. Excitement – Customer gets value from the “Conversion” and decides to “Ascend.”
6. Ascension – Customer purchases core offer and other up-sell offers (i.e., McDonald’s famous “Would you like fries with that?” offer).
7. Advocacy – Customer gives you a testimonial.
8. Promoter – Customer actively promotes your products or services.
What’s Email Marketing Got to Do with the CVJ?
The role of email marketing in any business is to assist in moving leads and customers from one stage of the CVJ to the next. When executed correctly, it assists throughout the entire CVJ.
As Ryan Deiss, founder of Digital Marketer, documents in his book Invisible Selling Machine, each email you send must fulfill one of five purposes:
1. Indoctrinate – Introduce leads to your company or brand. Turn strangers into friends.
2. Engage – Talk to your leads about what interests them. Encourage buying relevant products and services.
3. Ascend – Welcome your new customers. Encourage upgrading their experience by purchasing more from you.
4. Segment – Learn what they want to hear more about. Learn what they may want to buy next.
5. Re-engage/Win Back – Bring them back when they have fallen out of touch or the relationship has gone sour.
That in a nutshell is how you can leverage email marketing with your own CVJ.
Oh, by the way, the release of Learning Spanish Like Crazy Level II back in 2007 generated well over six figures in less than seven days – all through email marketing.
That’s the power of email marketing!
Get your plan in shape with Digital Marketing Bootcamp
This eight-week course, taught by Contreras, will give participants the tools to inform and apply their digital marketing efforts. The program runs Jan. 28 to March 17, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Chamber.
Learn more or register at denversbdc.org/digital-marketing.
Joél Contreras is the CMO, CTO and Cofounder of Cesco Linguistic Services Inc.