Having an EDM Strategy is more important than ever: First-Party Data for business growth

Understanding first-party data

What is it and why is it important?

First-party data is the important stuff that you get directly from your customers and the people who visit your website. It's the inside scoop on all the things they do on your website, what they bought before, and it helps you to better understand what your target audience wants. With first-party data, you can tailor your EDM campaigns so they’re just right for the people you want to connect with.

Getting the most out of your First-Party Data sources

You can get the most out of your first-party data by collecting your customers’ emails and segmenting them into specific audience characteristics so that you’re better able to target them with relevant and personalised content. This is called building an email list. With this, you can take advantage of email marketing tools, to get more valuable insights on your audiences behaviour on your website or the email marketing campaigns.

Having your customer’s emails can also make it easy to segment them into similar behavioural groups. This just means you can send them targeted content that’s relevant to them, getting their attention and increasing their engagement. By using this type of approach, not only can you upsell your products and services to existing customers but also acquire new customers.

Advantages of First-Party Data

First-party data is data you’ve personally collected that's unique to your business and customers—unlike third-party data from Facebook or Instagram. It cannot be taken away from your business and it can be categorised into ‘buckets’ which you can use for more personalised future email marketing campaigns. This personal ‘bucket’ approach in your email marketing campaigns builds strong bonds with existing subscribers and draws in potential customers, while also encouraging repeat purchases.

First-party data is also more reliable and accurate than third-party data. Relying only on third-party data can be risky for your business's reputation. But with first-party data, you'll have full control over your customer info, and people trust you more as they are receiving content that is specific to their desired situation (if you’ve bucketed them properly).

The Power of Segmentation

Segmentation is email marketing 101. It's all about breaking down that mailing list of yours into groups of people who like similar things. This way, you can send them targeted emails they'll love, every time.

A few benefits from this can be:

1. Personalised Communication: Segmentation means giving different groups of people content that suits them. From relevant blog posts to special deals, each group gets what they want. Personalising them creates exclusivity and increases customer engagement.
2. Improved Conversion Rates: Targeted email newsletters and content boost purchase likelihood. Talk to their needs and what they want to help drive higher conversion rates and maximise email marketing ROI.
3. Enhanced Customer Retention: Knowing your target audience creates stronger bonds and makes them stick around for longer. Segmentation lets you send the right content to the right people, boosting loyalty and email open rates.

Strategies for Effective EDM Segmentation (How to Best ‘Bucket’ people)

To do email segmentation right, think about these segmentation categories:

1. Demographic: Their age, location, and job. This helps you create an effective email marketing strategy and a campaign that works best as you can assume people split apart by these classifiers will behave in a similar manner.
2. Behavioural: Segment your email list on what people have done before. Look at what they have previously bought, how they act on your website, and if they engage with your emails. This helps you focus your email campaigns on different stages of the customer journey.

Preference-Based: Take advantage of customer likes and interests for a targeted email strategy. When new subscribers sign up, ask for what they like in the signup form. This way, your EDM campaigns will match what they want perfectly.

Enhancing Customer Engagement

The Role of Personalised and Relevant Content

The secret to a winning email marketing strategy is engaging with your audience. It builds trust and loyalty, getting you closer to your audience. By using first-party data, you can create special email content just for your customers.

Segmentation is a great way to personalise your content, and distribute relevant emails to your customer's journey. For example, you might be a property management company that is running a first home buyers campaign where you’re catching younger, less experienced first home buyers in your funnel. You’ll know that within your overall email list, these first home buyers only want first home buying information and updates. As opposed to another segment of your email list that may already have bought a home through you which at that stage in their journey, they might appreciate refinance options, renovation guides or council updates. 

Other examples of Engaging Email Campaigns

1. Birthday Offers: Depending on your business, part of your email list collection form might be to collect birth dates so you can get customers excited with birthday offers. When their birthday comes around, you could send a birthday email with an exclusive offer to show appreciation to your existing customers.
2. Product Recommendations: Use first-party data to create personalised marketing emails that suggest products based on their shopping history.
3. Behaviour-Based Emails: Send emails based on what they do. Remind them about their abandoned cart or send transactional emails after they make a purchase. These can be some of the highest return on investment strategies!
4. Subject Lines and Name Fields: Wow your existing customers with subject lines made just for them. Include a coded name field so you can address them in your email, which will give it that extra pinch of personalisation.

Increased Conversion Rates

Strategies for Optimisation

If you want better conversion rates, try these tips in your next email campaigns:

1. Compelling Calls to Action (CTAs): Use words that make people want to click, like "Get It Now" or "Don't Miss Out!". Action-oriented CTAs helps give them a little nudge to make them act fast.
2. A/B Testing: Test different things in your emails like subject lines, CTAs, or email templates. Use A/B tests to find the best combo for your audience and improve your campaigns accordingly.

Optimised Landing Pages: Make sure that your landing pages are linked with your email list to help boost conversion rates. When people click, they'll have a smooth experience and do what you want them to do. For example, if you have a list of bucketed people that ‘did not qualify’, make sure you then land them on a page that addresses their original issue of not qualifying, but how now they can because of this new government incentive or offer that you have!

Building Long-Term Relationships

Building loyalty with First-Party Data

For using first-party data to build long-term customer relationships, keep these tips in mind:

1. Automated Drip Campaigns: Create automated drip campaigns with a series of emails, providing valuable content and exclusive deals. This increases your brand awareness and encourages engagement.
2. Customer Feedback Surveys: Get opinions with fun email surveys. Use it to get feedback and customise email content that enhances the overall customer experience.
3. Exclusive Content and Rewards: Reward your loyal subscribers with exclusive content. With early access to new products, VIP discounts, and special perks.

Compliance and Data Privacy

Best Practices for Compliance

To build trust and ensure compliance, follow these best practices:

1. Clear Opt-in: Make it simple for subscribers to sign up and give consent. Give them a link to see how they can manage their preferences, and to see your privacy policy.
2. Subscriber Preferences: Respect people's preferences, and offer easy ways to unsubscribe and modify things.
3. Data Security: Secure your subscriber's data with encryption and email marketing software updates. Keep your team up to date by training them on data protection's best practices.

Measuring Success

Key Evaluation Metrics

To track the success of your email marketing campaigns, monitor key metrics like:

1. Open Rates: See how many people open your emails. A higher open rate indicates strong email subject lines and engaging content.
2. Click-Through Rates (CTRs): Check how many people click on the links within your emails. A higher CTR means your email content is exciting and has effective CTAs.
3. Conversions and ROI: See how many of your customers do what you want, like buying stuff or filling out a signup form. Calculate your ROI to measure the overall effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.

Optimisation Strategies

Keep checking your email marketing data and improving your campaigns for better results. Try these strategies

1. A/B Testing: Conduct regular A/B tests to compare different email elements and to find the most effective combos. Test subject lines, CTAs, email templates, or visuals to optimise engagement and conversions.
2. Data Analysis: Look at your email marketing analytics to see what trends, patterns, and opportunities are popular and what's not. Use this data to refine your segmentation, personalisation, and content strategies to make your emails even better.
3. Customer Feedback: Ask for your subscribers' feedback and use it to make your email campaigns awesome. Use fun surveys, feedback forms, or check what they're saying on social media to gain insights into your subscriber likes and dislikes.