Email has been around for a few decades now. But if the content of many inboxes is any indication, many marketers are still using a last-century approach to email marketing. 

If you’re sending out streams of generic messages that have no relevance to the recipient, you really need to update your strategy. If your email strategy is based on a campaign calendar (which your customers don’t give a flying fig about), you’re not doing it right. Email campaigns tend to be:

• Inconsistent
• Inefficient
• A drain on engagement as customers unsubscribe because of irrelevant or pushy emails.
  

It’s time to think about your email strategy as a conversation, not a campaign. Think about customer lifecycles and focus on the individual customer’s status. Are they:

• New subscribers or long-term customers
• Window shopping or purchasing
• Consistent customers or now-and-then shoppers?
  

Use this information to shift from telling your customers what you want them to hear to engaging with them when they want to hear from you.

Lifecycle marketing involves:

• Relevance. Messages are connected to behavior, not calendar dates or season.
• Timeliness. Messages arrive just when needed, as at sign-up, while browsing, during purchase, or after abandonment.
• Personalization. Addresses customer intent, actions, and journey stage.
• Value. Messages provide information to customers at a timely moment, rather than just asking them to do something – e.g., CTA.
  

Lifecycle messaging falls into four main categories:

• A series of welcome emails based on the customer’s data and behavior and which adapts to their clicks and browsing. You want to answer their questions before they get a chance to ask them.
• Cart reminders, or “abandonment” reminders that do more than remind customers they’ve left something behind. Help customers to pick up where they left off.
• Post-purchase engagement that goes beyond “your order is on its way.” Invite the customer to join your loyalty program or user community, if you have either or both. Suggest related items, offer a referral bonus or gift, or offer additional information on the product purchased.
• Maintaining engagement beyond a “we miss you” email. Ask them what may have changed, and give them an easy, quick way to provide additional preferences.
  

With a lifecycle email strategy, you’ll send the right emails rather than more emails. You’ll be engaging in conversations, not campaigns. With increased engagement, you’ll see increased ROI and stronger relationships.