In the digital age, where consumers are inundated with countless marketing messages, standing out in the inbox has become a significant challenge for businesses. Generic, one-size-fits-all email campaigns no longer cut it. In this blog, we will explore the process of email journey, how to map it, its benefits, accompanied by practical examples to illustrate its impact on email marketing success.
Table of contents
What is email journey ?
Email journey is a strategic process that involves visualizing and planning the series of emails a recipient will receive over a defined period based on their interactions and behaviors with a brand or organization.
It is a customer-centric approach that aligns email communication with the recipient's journey throughout various touchpoints and stages of their relationship with the business.
Why build an email journey?
Let's shed light on the importance of email journey mapping and explore the advantages of using the same.
1. Delivering tailored email content
Email journey mapping allows businesses to understand their customers' journeys better. By mapping out the various touchpoints in the customer's experience – from the initial awareness stage to the final purchase decision and beyond – marketers can tailor email content that aligns with each stage of the buying process.
It ensures that recipients receive emails that resonate with their specific needs and interests, increasing the chances of engagement.
2. Improving email campaign effectiveness
Businesses can create personalized email campaigns that address individual pain points and offer solutions by segmenting the email lists based on customer behavior and preferences.
This level of personalization not only enhances customer satisfaction but also boosts open rates and click-through rates.
💡 Related guide: 17 Best AI Email Marketing Tools for All Use Cases
3. Nurturing leads and driving conversions
Through email journey mapping, businesses can effectively nurture leads and guide prospects through decision-making.
Automated email sequences deliver timely and informative content, ensuring prospects receive the right information at the right time. It helps build trust, further increasing the likelihood of conversions and reducing the chances of abandoned purchases.
4. Fostering lasting customer relationships
Businesses foster lasting relationships with their audience by aligning email content with the customer journey. Even after a purchase, sending relevant content creates a positive post-purchase experience, encouraging repeat business and customer loyalty.
5. Maximizing email marketing ROI
Email journey mapping improves the return on investment (ROI) of email marketing efforts. Sending personalized and timely emails reduces the likelihood of emails being ignored or marked as spam.
As a result, open and click-through rates increase, leading to improved conversion rates and ultimately driving business growth.
💡 Related guide: 15 Best AI Email Writers to Write Email 10X Faster
How to map an email journey?
Let’s understand the email journey mapping process by going through the steps one by one:
1. Collect customer data
Gather relevant customer data through surveys, website analytics, and past purchase history. This data will be the foundation for creating accurate and insightful customer journey maps.
2. Defining customer touchpoints
This step involves identifying and defining critical touchpoints in the customer journey. Optimizing these touchpoints is essential for creating a seamless experience. Here are some critical touchpoints in the customer journey:
Awareness stage
Initial brand interaction: The moment a customer first encounters the brand through channels like social media, online ads, or content marketing.
Website visit: When a customer lands on the brand's website and begins exploring products, services, and content.
Consideration stage
Research and comparison: Customers compare products, read reviews, and seek information to make informed decisions. For example, Casper (an e-commerce company specializing in mattresses) often includes playful reviews in their consideration emails for moving prospects further along the customer journey.
Content engagement: Interactions with educational blog posts, videos, webinars, or other informative materials.
If we speak about the well-known brand Shopify. It offers free training to provide product demonstrations and improve ROI.
Source: Shopify email example
Decision stage
Promotions and discounts: Special offers or discounts can influence a customer's decision to purchase.
Customer Reviews and Testimonials: Positive reviews and social proof play a significant role in final purchase decisions.
Cart abandonment: It happens when a customer adds items to the cart but doesn't complete the purchase.
According to a study by Baynard Institute, 61% of shoppers cite extra shipping costs as the reason for abandoning the cart during checkout, even if they completely intended to make a purchase.
Post-purchase stage
Order confirmation: Receiving a confirmation email with order details after completing a purchase.
Shipping and delivery: Updates on shipping status, delivery dates, and tracking information.
Product arrival: The moment the customer receives and opens the purchased product.
Customer experience and support
Customer service: Interactions with customer support for inquiries, assistance, or issue resolution.
Feedback and reviews: Customers sharing their experiences and leaving reviews after using the product or service.
Retention and loyalty
Repeat Purchases: Customers making additional purchases or subscribing to services.
Exclusive Offers: Special discounts or rewards for loyal customers.
Referral Programs: Encouraging customers to refer friends or family members to the brand.
Reactivation stage
- Win-back campaigns: Re-engaging dormant customers with targeted offers and content.
Optimizing these critical touchpoints involves delivering relevant and valuable content, providing exceptional customer service, and ensuring a seamless transition between stages.
4. Segment email lists
This step involves segmenting the email lists based on customer behavior, preferences, and demographics. This allows you to deliver highly targeted content that resonates with each group thereby increasing the likelihood of engagement.
5. Mapping content to journey stages
Create tailored content for each stage of the customer journey. For the awareness stage, focus on educational content that addresses pain points and offers solutions. In the consideration stage, provide product comparisons and in-depth information. For the decision-making stage, offer promotions and incentives to encourage conversions.
6. Implement automation
Utilize marketing automation to deliver the right content to the right audience at the right time. Automated email sequences can nurture leads, guide prospects through the journey, and provide timely follow-ups.
Businesses can also leverage Mailmodo for automating the email marketing customer journey.
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Case study: Amazon's email marketing customer journey
Amazon, the renowned e-commerce company, has intricately woven its email marketing strategy into a seamless journey that captivates customers from awareness to loyalty.
Let’s dive into Amazon's customer journey to understand how it uses email marketing to enhance customer engagement, foster loyalty, and drive conversions.
For instance, you are a curious shopper and sign up for Amazon's newsletter. A tailored welcome email awaits in your inbox, showcasing top-rated products based on your previous browsing. This initial touchpoint ignites your interest and sets the tone for a personalized journey.
Source: Amazon welcome email
As you explore Amazon's portal, you receive an email showcasing "Similar Products You Might Like." This email smartly taps into your consideration phase, providing social proof and simplifying your decision-making process.
Once you add a product to your cart but hesitate to check out. Amazon's ingenious cart abandonment email swiftly arrives, featuring a persuasive subject line like "Don't Miss Out! Complete Your Purchase Now" and a reminder of the item waiting in your cart. The email's urgency nudges you to finalize the purchase.
Then, the detailed order confirmation email fuels your excitement and keeps you informed about your eagerly anticipated package. A few days later, you further receive a post-purchase follow-up email asking about your experience.
Amazon's email journey doesn't end with a single purchase. You receive personalized emails suggesting products related to your recent purchase and highlighting the benefits of Amazon Prime membership.
Source: abandoned-email-example
Lastly, the emails gently remind you of your abandoned cart or offer an exclusive deal. This well-timed email rekindles your interest, bringing you back to explore or buy more from Amazon.
Thus, we can say that from initial awareness to rekindling dormant relationships, Amazon's strategic emails guide customers through a journey that encapsulates personalization, persuasion, and loyalty-building tactics. Consequently, it leads to long-term business growth and lasting customer relationships.
Wrap-up
By reading the above article, we can conclude that email journey mapping allows marketers to align the content with key touch points during the customer journey.
Mailmodo is an all-in-one email marketing platform that assists in various email journey mapping stages. It facilitates data collection using embedded forms and enables dynamic customer segmentation. Furthermore, businesses can create automated email marketing campaigns to deliver targeted content, optimize performance, and create a memorable experience for their audience.
What you should do next
Hey there, thanks for reading till the end. Here are 3 ways we can help you grow your business:
Talk to an email expert. Need someone to take your email marketing to the next level? Mailmodo’s experts are here for you. Schedule a 30-minute email consultation. Don’t worry, it’s on the house. Book a meet here.
Send emails that bring higher conversions. Mailmodo is an ESP that helps you to create and send app-like interactive emails with forms, carts, calendars, games, and other widgets for higher conversions. Get started for free.
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