By now, you’ve read all the email marketing trends and predictions for the year ahead (personalization, dynamic content, interactivity). As you take stock of what worked and what didn’t in 2018, consider the base of your email marketing strategy. If your campaigns don’t follow your customer’s overall business journey, there is no point of additional bells and whistles.

Marketers work to develop personalized campaigns that create a rich, holistic experience for the customer. However, the focus on the smallest details might cause marketers to lose sight of the forest for the trees. Your email campaigns should follow the flow of the customer journey. That's why you should take a high-level look at email strategy and the three tried and true campaigns every marketer should run.

Are you deploying these campaigns?

The welcome series emails

The welcome series of emails helps marketers establish a relationship with the customer. It’s your chance to introduce your brand’s voice and lead the customer to their next steps. Do you want them to start browsing products? Do you want them to share their preferences? A welcome series has 9x the conversion rate of a typical email, so take advantage of your customer’s attention and ask for what you need! In addition, subscribers who open welcome emails show 33% more long term engagement with a brand.

The welcome series best practices:

• Send the first welcome email immediately

• Tailor your messaging based on acquisition source

• The first email in the series’ CTA should focus on the most high-value action

• Use subsequent welcome emails to educate the subscriber

Already running a successful welcome series?

Here are a few ways you can level up:

• Use progressive profiling to collect information about your subscriber

• Tailor follow-up emails based on responses

• Use dynamic content to ensure customers see content that matches their interests

Abandon cart and abandon browse emails

Abandon cart emails are sent to customers who have added products to their cart but failed to check out. Window shopping is addictive — 60% of customers abandon their cart before checking out. Half of all abandoned cart emails are opened and lead to on-site purchases. Abandon cart emails allow marketers to recover purchases.

A strong abandon cart email:

• Reminds the consumer what was abandoned

• Uses copy to create a sense of urgency

Criteria can include:

• Browsing several items in one category

• Viewing a product page

• Using the search box

• Looking at an item more than once

Level-up your abandon browse email by:

• Letting the subscriber continue to browse in-email with personalized recommendations

• Using Einstein to provide product recommendations similar to what they are browsing

• Using dynamic content (such as recommended products) to make your emails more actionable

• Applying predictive analytics to your email marketing program, so that customers are sent the right offers at the right time

Post-purchase emails

Post-purchase emails allow marketers to deepen their relationship with customers. Existing customers are 9x more likely to convert compared to new customers. There are ways you can continue your conversation with customers after purchase.

You can:

• Send a simple thank you email

• Ask for their opinion — use a post-purchase email to let your subscriber review their purchase

• Upsell — recommend products that are similar or will enhance their purchase

• Educate — provide how-to’s and product care information, ensure that subscribers get the most out of their new toy

A dynamic and always-on email system ensures the right message reaches the right person at the right time. We’ve followed these tips in our email program here at Salesforce! In this webinar, Sam Parsons discusses the expected and inadvertent benefits to dynamic email model. It all comes down to one thing: speak to your customer through the entire journey.