The Importance of Relevancy and Frequency to Marketing

The email marketing scene is more competitive than ever, especially for retailers. So how do you cut through the clutter and make your messages stand out in the inbox? For many, this means blasting promotional content or coupons to their subscriber base—sometimes daily. The problem with this approach is that many marketers begin down this path only to later realize that their messages don’t align with their overall marketing goals, and lack relevance or personalization—generating subscriber fatigue, deliverability issues, and a general lack of ongoing engagement.

The success of a promotional email campaign hinges on two elements: frequency and relevancy. Which is most important? Think “quality over quantity.” Let's look at the two elements.

Relevancy. There’s a big difference between sending targeted, relevant promotional messages and “batch and blast” emails—one is relevant and the other isn’t. To ensure your promotional messages are compelling and consistent with the goals of your email marketing program, follow these basic guidelines:

Step 1: Evaluate Your Email Design. Ensure your primary message and call to action are easily recognizable within the email, and use lifestyle and product imagery to support your messaging.

Step 2: Add Value. Focus on achieving each aspect of your value proposition: promotional, connection, relationship building, etc.

Step 3: Assess Your Current Data. Review the data you have within your organization and use it to drive personalized messaging. Using simple data points like gender and location can really improve the subscriber experience.

Step 4: Look for Further Data Opportunities. Consider if there are other ways to gather data that can be used to enhance messaging. You might start with web analytics to capture browse history, point-of-purchase systems to capture purchase history, or social data mining to determine brand affinity. Each of these can be used to enhance the relevancy of your messages.

Frequency. Sending frequent messages is acceptable if you have something meaningful to say. Work first on driving relevancy with each message, then test to determine a send schedule that balances the goals you’re trying to achieve with the value of each message.

Determine how to make your content relevant, optimize your content by performing tests, and then start to integrate multivariate data to further refine your messaging. You don’t have to tackle all three at once. After all, enhancing, testing, and measuring your campaign can take time. As the needs of your subscribers evolve, so should your promotional email campaigns.

How do you create relevant content? Does it matter? Learn more from the Hot 100 Retailers in Retail Touchpoints Optimized!