Customer Lifecycle An Insights-Driven Magazine

An Insights-Driven Magazine
4 Reasons
Why Marketers
Need Personas
pg. 8
BUILDING
UNMATCHED
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCES:
The who, how, what,
when, and where
6 Steps
to Building a
Personalization
Roadmap
pg. 9
3 Email Triggers
to Consider
pg. 21

Data-Driven Customer Lifecycle Experiences
Letter from the president
Jim Sturm
At Yes Lifecycle Marketing, we are dedicated to creating
a connected, committed, and collaborative culture – we
adhere to this within our business, and, more importantly,
we operate this way with you – our customers.
We are relentlessly striving to enable organizations to become
insights-driven businesses. We harness the power of data,
transform it into insights, turn those insights into actions,
and those actions into remarkable customer experiences.
At a time when consumers hold more power in the palm of
their hand, there has never been a greater opportunity to
differentiate your brand by providing exceptional interactive
moments. Turning these experiences into a cohesive lifecycle
journey for your customers (and into revenue for you) is what
we are distinctively positioned to deliver.
Our goal is to be the single partner our clients turn to
for customer experience management technology and
solutions. Whether this is via a cross-channel marketing
platform, integrated proprietary data, unrivaled agency
services – including strategy, creative, and analytics – or
hosting sophisticated marketing databases, our connected,
committed, and collaborative teams act as one with our
clients. We deliver on the promise of building experiences
that lead to demonstrable results.
We are Yes Lifecycle Marketing:
One Brand, One Mission, One Partner
Boston | Chicago | Portland | San Francisco | Denver | Omaha
Dallas | New York | Toronto | London | Singapore | Sydney
A LOOK INSIDE
Who are your customers? .....................................pg. 6
How do you communicate with them? ..............pg. 8
How do you grow your audience? .....................pg. 10
What do you say to your customers? ...............pg. 14
When do you communicate with them? ..........pg. 18
Where can you reach them? ...............................pg. 22
2 | marketing@yeslifecyclemarketing.com | 1-877-937-6245 | yeslifecyclemarketing.com Customer Lifecycle, an Insights-Driven Magazine | 3

YOUR CUSTOMERS:
A LIFECYCLE JOURNEY
Who are your
customers?
Who
How
How do you
communicate with
your audience and
grow it?
Where can you
reach them?
Where
What
What do you say
to your
customers?
When
When do you
communicate
with them?
Ivy Shtereva
Vice President, Marketing
Yes Lifecycle Marketing
First off, thank you for picking up this magazine.
While Yes Lifecycle Marketing is a marketing services and
technology provider, our goal with this publication is NOT to
advertise the products and solutions we offer. Instead, we
want you to get to know us. One of our key differentiators
is our people and the expertise they bring to our clients.
The content within Customer Lifecycle, an Insights-Driven
Magazine, is your resource for the who, how, what, when,
and where of building unmatched customer experiences.
Our goal is to give you the foundation that can help propel
your customer lifecycle marketing and illustrate we have the
know-how and understanding of the progressive strategies
to get you there.
In this edition of our magazine, we’ll help you identify who
your customers are; understand how to communicate with
them; discover how to grow your audience; determine what
to say to them and when to communicate; and then help
pinpoint where you should reach them.
Yes Lifecycle Marketing empowers
you to build an all-encompassing
customer experience, from acquisition
to retention to advocacy.”
Read on to learn more about bringing your customer
data into focus, developing customer personas, building
a personalization roadmap, converting visitors into
subscribers, driving customer engagement, improving
targeting with testing, and utilizing triggers to increase
conversion.
Have feedback?
We’re always looking for ways we can improve. Please send
us a note at marketing@yeslifecyclemarketing.com.
4 | www.YesLifecycleMarketing.com Customer Lifecycle, an Insights-Driven Magazine | 5

THE MORE YOU KNOW
8 data sources to help you understand
your audience
By deepening your understanding of your customers, your
brand can deliver a completely personalized marketing
experience that builds long-term engagement, increases
conversions and in turn, boosts return on investment.
Start by finding out what your customer base looks like
and equipping your marketing team with the tools to collect,
store, and organize its various attributes. This exercise
will enable you to develop a number of relevant customer
segments and create customized marketing campaigns that
will help you build long-lasting engagement and loyalty.
Below are eight standard types of data you can use to get
to know your customers:
Demographic Data
Married
Has a 5-year-old
Who are your customers?
More info online:
http://bit.ly/YLM-8data
If you don’t collect or have access to the data that shapes
your most important audience segments, you have a few
options:
Infer: some data points can be deducted based on user
behavior. For example, if a user consistently clicks on nail
polish and 97% of your nail polish purchasers are female, it
can be inferred this user is female.
Ask: you can request information directly from consumers
by sending them a message with a distinct call-to-action
to update their preferences or take a survey. To motivate
consumers to act, you can include an incentive like a 15%
-off coupon.
Enhance: you can turn to a third party to append or enhance
the data you have at hand; this will help you develop a more
complete picture of your audience.
Social Media Usage
Active content sharer on
Instagram and Facebook
DRIVEN TO NEW HEIGHTS
Focus on your customer data
You know data is imperative to your success as a marketer.
You’ve read the studies that state data-driven marketing is
the key to higher revenue.
With new marketing technologies and constantly growing
number of customer touch points, the ability to expand
a brand’s reach has led to a deluge of data collection and
new selling opportunities. However, as collecting data has
become easier, using it has grown more difficult.
To Become Data-Driven, Focus On
Your Customer
In order to truly take advantage of their digital marketing
capabilities marketers need to start by analyzing their
customer data file. Utilizing customer data to personalize
marketing campaigns will increase the likelihood of an open,
a click or a purchase.
First, you need a sound master data management
process in place. Standardizing data collection across your
organization and implementing business rules for cleaning
it are two steps you should take.
Second, you’ll want to do an audience analysis on your
customer and prospect file. This will enable you to utilize
behavioral and descriptive data to form insights and create
actionable audience segments. After this, you should focus
on creating profiles for each segment and looking at ways
to enhance the information you have on file, be it through
data append, preference center update, or direct request to
consumers.
And here’s where it all ties together. Once you have a
clear picture of your customers and prospects, you can
Retailers say that
identifying and engaging
their most valuable
customers is their biggest
marketing challenge.”
The New World of Cross-Channel Execution,
a proprietary Yes Lifecycle Marketing research
make better marketing decisions. You might find that you are
mailing too many catalogs and need to refocus your energy
on low-hanging opportunities. Or, that you have a potentially
lucrative customer segment that needs to be tested.
Your customer data holds the key to where and how you
should invest your marketing budget. It will tell you which
channels require your attention, and what messages will
resonate best with each segment of your audience.
Psychographic Data
Enjoys hiking and camping
Avid photographer
Email Activity
Frequent email opener
Highest click rates occur
early in the evening
?
Browse Data
Recently browsed highend
camera equipment on
brand's site
Preference
Center Data
Prefers to receive emails
once a week
Provided date of birth
Real-Time, Event-
Based Data
Thunderstorm about to hit
Chicago, IL, where he resides
Home team in Super Bowl
Purchase Data
Recently purchased a pair
of hiking boots
“ We always knew we had male buyers, but we had
no idea how valuable they were to our portfolio
until Yes Lifecycle Marketing showed us.”
Senior Manager, Strategy and Analytics
6 | www.YesLifecycleMarketing.com Customer Lifecycle, an Insights-Driven Magazine | 7

Persona
#1
CUSTOMER PROFILES
4 reasons why marketers need
personas
Everybody knows that personalized messages generate
better engagement, drive more revenue and create
more opportunity for long-term brand loyalty among
consumers. Yet, proprietary research by Yes Lifecycle
Marketing reveals that 68 percent of retailers say they wish
they could improve personalization.
That’s why developing personas is so important.
Personas, or audience profiles, are created to represent
different groups of consumers who engage with
a brand, site or product. They offer marketers 4
distinct benefits.
Personas drive customer
experience design
Customers have preferences and as marketers,
we need to consider them. By developing personas,
you can provide a personalized customer experience and
develop messaging scenarios across various channels and
based on a variety of customer actions. They help identify
how different audience segments interact with
each message and help inform the way
messages are delivered to each group.
Personas help build
a consistent brand voice
Personas help brands communicate
different (but consistent) messages to
each of their audience segments. For one
persona, the message may aim to show that a
brand understands its customers, for another - it may seek
to demonstrate that its products are designed with the
audience’s needs in mind. For both, however, the brand can
communicate value every step of the way.
How do you communicate with them?
Persona
#2
Persona
#3
Personas inform channel
investment and strategy
Customers and marketers can interact
through a variety of online and offline
channels. Personas can help brands identify
which channels are most effective for which audience
segment, and how to properly allocate budget to each one in
order to improve ROI.
Personas get results
Personas make marketers more efficient and can provide a
more actionable strategy.
For example, after Yes Lifecycle Marketing helped a
major multi-channel retailer build wellrounded
personas, the client discovered
that a large segment of their audience
was more likely to engage through
email than through the direct mail Persona
catalogues they were getting. Based
on these findings, the brand moved #4
this 100,000-person segment
into their email marketing
stream thus significantly
reducing direct mail costs and
improving purchase rates for the segment
by 10%.
49% of marketers feel their
communication efforts are
one-size-fits-all and 68%
say they wish they could
improve these efforts.”
The 2017 Channel Report,
a proprietary Yes Lifecycle Marketing
MAKE YOUR CUSTOMER
THE CENTER OF YOUR
UNIVERSE
6 steps to building a personalization
roadmap
Personalization is a valuable asset to your business. It
lets customers know that you understand them and cater
specifically to them. In a market where customers can pick
from endless options, the idea that your brand “gets” them
is a strong differentiator that can set you apart. And the
more you reinforce it, the stronger the relationship becomes.
The ultimate goal is the customer’s long-term loyalty and
repeated patronage.
Here’s a six step approach to building a personalization
roadmap that will not only help you decide what might work
for your brand, but also how to go about implementing it.
#1 Brainstorm
Put personalization in the context of your brand and identify
ways it could benefit your customers. Focus on the customer
experience. What type of personalization or customization
will help customers shop, or what will give them that extra
nudge to convert? What will entertain, surprise and delight
them? What kind of custom content might cause someone to
show their phone to their friend and say, “Check out what I
just got from !”
#2 Prioritize
One way to prioritize the ideas you brainstormed is to see
how they map to your organization’s business goals. Start
with your own marketing goals for the year, and look for KPIs
which correlate to the personalization ideas on the list. For
example, if one of the major goals you have is to improve
open rates, a strong focus on optimizing the sender line,
subject line and pre-headers should rank high. Keep the list
relatively short, no more than 10 concepts.
Which of the following data types do you
use for communication personalization?
70%
Email
engagement
50%
Web
behavior
41%
Social media
engagement
54%
Recipient
name
50%
Demographic
data
30%
Display ads
engagement
53%
Purchase
history
49%
Geographic
data
3%
I don’t
use data
More info online:
http://bit.ly/YLM-Personalize
#3 Estimate the level of effort
The best way to understand what’s involved in executing
the ideas you’ve selected is to get input from relevant team
members who are knowledgeable about your database,
email production, user experience, and web design. Try
asking questions like:
• Is the data for this personalization available/
accessible?
• What do we need to do in order to collect / have
access to / acquire data for this personalization?
• What technologies or changes are necessary to
support the customization?
• What are the challenges in incorporating this type of
personalization into the email?
Keep the discussion about the level of effort required general
with estimates like “Is it weeks or months?” “Is it 2-4 weeks
or 6-8 weeks?”
Finally, document dependencies like site updates or
changes, store staff training, data analysis, data clean-up or
the approval of a promotional offer.
#4 Plot out a Roadmap
Create a Personalization Roadmap for your plans for the
next 12 – 18 months in quarterly increments. Use the
prioritization you set in Step 2 and the implementation
timelines from Step 3 to gauge where something should
be on the roadmap. Keep it high level - this shouldn’t be a
detailed project timeline.
#5 Socialize
Now is the time to share the Personalization Roadmap.
Circle back with the relevant team members who helped you
throughout the process and carefully review the feasibility
of executing the prioritized items. Be ready to make
adjustments based on feedback, especially at the beginning.
#6 Test for Effectiveness
When making any enhancements or changes to the way
you personalize your email campaigns, it’s best to test
them out over a number of deployments to work out all the
kinks. Testing also provides much needed KPIs that help you
measure the success of a new personalization initiative. Keep
in mind, not all results can be measured. Personalization first
and foremost enhances your customers’ overall experience.
Be sure to keep your eye on both the short and long-term
results. Don’t forget to revisit your roadmap to make sure
you are on track, and to add more ideas to your plan.
8 | www.YesLifecycleMarketing.com Customer Lifecycle, an Insights-Driven Magazine | 9

LET’S STAY IN TOUCH
3 tips for collecting customers’ emails
in-store
Almost half of retailers do not collect email addresses instore,
arguably the lowest hanging fruit for marketers. Past
purchasers are more likely to engage than non-purchases
and it’s much easier to maintain a customer relationship
than to foster a new one.
Here are 3 best practices for welcoming in-store
shoppers into your brand’s digital program:
#1
Make collection optional: Consumers must be
aware that they’re not required to provide an
email address in order to complete a transaction
or receive a receipt. The incentive to join your list
can be an e-receipt, a discount or other benefits. Just be
clear that sign-up is optional.
#2
Use name capture tools: It’s standard practice
to have the cashier enter a customer’s email
address into the POS system or provide a
physical sign-up sheet where shoppers can write
their information down. These methods are very prone
to errors and altogether inefficient. A more reliable
option would be to allow buyers to enter their own
email address into the POS system and follow-up with
an email that prompts the consumer to confirm his or
her subscription.
How do you grow your audience?
#3
Provide opt-in & opt-out options: Consumers
should have control over what types of emails
they receive. Encourage them to elect to receive
promotions (perhaps with a purchase incentive),
in addition to transactional communications; or provide
an option to opt out of additional mailings at the end of
an e-receipt.
Aligning online and offline customer data should be part of
every savvy marketer’s strategy. By following these three instore
email collection tactics and communicating their value
to all customer-facing employees, brands can ensure their
message and goals are preserved throughout the process.
Almost half (44%) of marketers
consider improving customer
acquisition a top 3 priority.”
ONLY THE BEST
“Look-Alike” customer
acquisition models deliver ROI
At a time when CEOs are more focused than
ever on bottom-line performance, marketers
are being asked to do more with less. With
responsibility to continually fill the pipeline
with new customers who are the life-blood of
long-term growth and profitability, it’s critical
that marketers get it right. Reducing acquisition
costs and converting prospects who are likely to
be highly engaged are two of the most important
goals. What’s a marketer to do?
Well, today’s savvy marketers realize that
data is the new black which means that it can
be extremely effective for customer acquisition.
They understand that searching for “households
with incomes above $50K; who live within five
miles of the store; with 2+ children under the
age of 18” is not the best way to spend valuable
resources. In fact, according to an eMarketer
report, “in order to maximize the effectiveness
of dollars allocated to acquisition efforts,
marketers must place an emphasis on data,
audience centricity and the lifetime value of
customers.”
More and more marketers are leveraging
their customer data to develop acquisition
programs that identify the proverbial “needle
in the haystack” (i.e. highly valuable prospects).
This strategic solution focuses on:
• Identifying existing best customers
• Employing advanced statistical analysis
and modeling to identify prospects who
“look like” their best customers
Step
#1
Step
#2
Step
#3
Step
#4
Define the customer segment you want to clone.
This can be tricky because there are many ways to
define your audience. Is it the customer segment that
spends the most across all merchandise categories? Or
is it your best Men’s Apparel or Women’s Sportswear
customer with a specific purchase history? You can
even define your ideal customer based upon geography
(want to grow customer base in the Northeast or the
Mid-West?), or even by demographics (more Millennials
anyone?).
Identify your ’best customer’ sub-segment via a key
financial metric.
After you’ve isolated the customer segment you want to
clone, you’ll need to separate the “best” customers from
the rest of the segment base. We’d typically identify a
key financial metric such as net or gross sales, gross
margin or profitability, and then rank each customer
from highest to lowest.
Append 3 rd party demographic, lifestyle and
behavioral data.
Appending 350+ 3 rd party data elements (i.e. age,
household income, education, enjoys hiking or plays
tennis) to customer records identified in steps 1 and 2, is
an integral component to the final “look-alike” modeling
solution.
Build the “look alike” model.
From among the 350+ appended data elements, typically
between 7 and 12 individual attributes will represent
the key data attributes that will be used in the “best”
customer “look-alikes”, or cloning model.
The 2017 Channel Report,
a proprietary Yes Lifecycle Marketing research
• Deploying a cross-channel media
strategy to engage and convert the target
prospects
DID YOU KNOW?
After Yes Lifecycle Marketing built a
look-alike model for a retail client,
they improved:
response
average
rate by
spend by
250 % 53 %
cost per
acquisition by
marketing
ROI by
69 % 3,227 %
Step
#5
Step
#6
Step
#7
Score the prospect universe.
There are approximately 230 million individuals
maintained in most U.S. consumer databases. To
determine which of these prospects look like your best
customers, you’d apply the arithmetic equation from
the model you built and scored to each of the names.
The prospects who score in the top 10% or top 20% are
typically selected for the acquisition campaign. The final
percentage will depend upon your budget and marketing
acquisition objectives.
Suppress your existing customers.
After you’ve identified the prospect file from the scoring
process, match your existing customer base against this
list and suppress any matching records. This leaves you
with the final file of prospect households to target.
Reach out to the “look-alike” target audience.
You can message these prospects through any
marketing channel, including direct or email, display,
social or mobile media.
10 | www.YesLifecycleMarketing.com Customer Lifecycle, an Insights-Driven Magazine | 11

How do you grow your audience?
JOIN THE CROWD!
Convert website visitors to subscribers
The continuous growth of mobile shopping, especially during
the holiday season, has resulted in an increase of new
subscribers opting into brands’ mailing programs. According
to a recently released National Retail Federation report, last
year “online and other non-store sales increased 12.6%...”
Using interstitial forms and pop-windows on their
websites is a ‘must’ for marketers who want to grow
their database and take advantage of long-term revenue
opportunities. This strategy is particularly effective when
combined with a generous incentive that encourages site
visitors to opt into a brand’s mailing program. In addition,
in order to ensure the success of their cross-channel
acquisition strategies, brands should supplement their web
forms with a fun and informative email welcome series that
introduces new subscribers to the brand, sets expectations
about the brand and its mailing program, and, if applicable,
invites them to join the brand’s loyalty program.
For example, during the holiday season Lands’ End
had a great incentive for new site visitors who subscribe
to their email program; they offered 40% off one item and
free shipping on orders over $50 when visitors entered their
email address in the well-placed interstitial form.
After visitors subscribed, they were entered into a
welcome stream that first provided the promised reward
(40% off a single item), then set the expectations new
subscribers should have for Lands’ End (quality guaranteed)
and finally, encouraged them to follow the brand on social
media for an additional touch point. One thing to note is
that the interstitial form did not pop up right away when
consumers first got to the Lands’ End website; instead, it
appeared after visitors had selected a category to browse.
This was a smart practice as it delayed ‘the ask’ (a.k.a.
the brand requesting site visitors’ email addresses) until
consumers had gotten a glimpse of the Lands’ End products
which is key for creating demand.
1 Day
After
3 Days
After
5 Days
After
More info online:
http://bit.ly/YLM-convert
“ Smart marketers can use
any of their communication
channels as part of their
acquisition strategy. Any
point of interaction can be
an ‘in’ with new customers.”
Ivy,
Marketing, Yes Lifecycle Marketing
12 | www.YesLifecycleMarketing.com Customer Lifecycle, an Insights-Driven Magazine | 13

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
A look inside 6 different email offers
On any given day, consumers are inundated with emails
from a variety of brands promoting a variety of products and
services, creating a highly competitive inbox.
To capture consumers’ attention and stand out, brands
have prominently adopted the use of offer incentives in
email content. Offers like free shipping, specific percent or
dollar-off purchase and more are common. Incentives are
even more pronounced during promotion-heavy holiday
season when brands are vying for consumer attention.
To determine which offers perform best, Yes Lifecycle
Marketing analyzed nearly 8 billion emails and studied the
performance of different incentives in email subject lines.
Key findings include:
• Offers were used in 30% of all email subject lines and
in nearly half (44%) of retail-only subject lines.
• Across all industries, incentives related to loyalty
programs outperformed all other offer types,
generating the highest open, click and click-to-open
(CTO) rates.
• On average, emails without an offer in the subject
line boasted higher open, click and CTO rates than
those promoting specific incentives. Yet for retail,
offers promoting a specific ‘% off’ drove the highest
conversion rates from all other messages, with 7.9%
of all clicks leading to a purchase.
The one exception to the last finding was loyalty incentives.
Emails with offers related to loyalty boasted a 9 percent
higher open rate, 20 percent higher click rate, and 12 percent
higher click-to-open rate compared to campaigns with
no offers. Many marketers feel like they need to advertise
generous offers to be competitive. However, the lack of
engagement shows that consumers are often not tempted
by extravagant incentives. Instead, to make emails relevant,
marketers should emphasize loyalty and rely on lifecycle
messages to keep things fresh and make offers feel more
unique.
What do you say to your customers?
While the low engagement of emails promoting
specific offers might be counter-intuitive, it emphasizes
the importance of a balanced marketing program. In order
to create well-rounded marketing strategies that cater to
their audiences’ needs, brands must have the data to create
a holistic view of their customers, the ability to develop
insights from that data, and the technology to deliver their
message efficiently across each channel.
Buy 1, Get 1 Free
(Mix & Match!)
Free Shipping +
Exclusive Savings
More info online:
http://bit.ly/YLM-offers
30% Off Just for You!
Hurry, ends Friday
A DATE TO REMEMBER
Calendar ideas for customer
engagement
Mon.
Looking for ideas on how to remain relevant and stay top
of mind? Our monthly customer-centric calendar series
highlights holidays and events marketers can use to engage
with and relate to customers.
From cause-driven events like Women’s History Month
and Autism Awareness Month through ‘enthusiast’ days like
National Cheese Lover’s Day, we have every opportunity to
win over customers covered. With our monthly customercentric
calendar, you won’t miss a life moment or official
holiday that your customers are looking to celebrate.
Examples from April
Administrative Professionals Day
1-800-Flowers used Facebook to
promote lovely bouquets, perfect
as thank you gifts for admin
professionals.
To get inspired, search for
our monthly marketing calendar on
yeslifecyclemarketing.com/blog
Tues. Wed. Thur. Fri. Sat. Sun.
3
10
17
24
4
11
18
25
5
12
19
26
April
6
13
20
27
7
14
21
28
1
8
15
22
2
9
16
23
29 30
Customer-Centric Monthly Marketing Calendar:
Spring is in the air! There are numerous holidays throughout April that
provide opportunities for brands to capitalize on “energy moments” and
engage customers and subscribers. Email and social channels can be used
in tandem to strengthen the themes of your messages. Therefore
marketers should plan out a multi channel campaign approach to
maximize brand awareness and conversion opportunities.
1 st 1 st – 3 rd 2 nd 2 nd 7 th
Daily
Sports
Daily
Sports
Daily
April
Fool’s
Day
NCAA
final four
National
PB&J
Day
15 th 16 th 18 th
Sports
Daily
Daily
NBA
playoffs
start
Easter
Tax Day
Month Long Events: Earth Month and Earth Day
As consumers get more environmentally conscious, Lands’
End took the opportunity on Earth Day to feature their “plant
a tree” campaign. The message highlighted a meaningful
and compelling insight into the brand’s efforts to raise
awareness for the environment.
Meanwhile, Ace Hardware used a great multi channel
approach to expand on the green theme and get their
subscribers’ attention on Earth Day
April 1 – 3: Final 4 - March Madness
Even for non-sports related brands, it’s easy to get into
the spirit of NCAA Final Four. AMC theater’s invited their
followers to participate in a bracket themed movie face-off
to keep their brand name top-of-mind during the games.
Get into the spirit with daily updates on teams that moved
on and ensure you are putting relevant products front
and center. Dick’s Sporting Goods timely social promos
featured apparel from the Final Four teams in 2016 -
capitalizing on the home town spirit of Wisconsin,
Michigan, Duke and Kentucky.
MLB
opening
day
Daily
22 nd
National
Jelly Bean
Day
National
Beer Day
Music
14 th – 23 rd
Coachella
Daily
Daily
22 nd 26 th
Earth
Day
Admin
Professionals
Day
April 1: April Fool’s Day
As illustrated by American Girl, use a fun event Like April
Fool’s Day to drive traffic to video content. Children’s Place
provided a fun way to feature user generated content by
asking social followers to share pranks played on their child.
Similarly, 1-800-Pet Meds created a contest where the best
prank could get you a pet care package.
Easter
Williams Sonoma celebrated the
holiday by promoting colorful Easterthemed
candy and flowers, and also
making the iconic Easter bunny
central to their creative messages.
Similarly, 1-800-Pet Meds created a contest where the best
prank could get you a pet care package.
April 7 + 22: National Beer Day & National Jelly Bean Day
If you sell these food items, use it as a way to drive foot
traffic to stores! Jelly Bean and Beer Day are great
examples of using just a simple fun event to drive a day of
engagement (and sales)! It’s one day so immediacy is the
key to making it count!
Party City highlighted Jelly Bean Day to creatively promote
the variety of Jelly Bean flavors offered at their stores. For
National Beer Day, Delta showed some regional flair by
highlighting SweetWater Brewing Company, also located in
the Delta hub city of Atlanta!
Nearly one-third of messages brands
send contain offer incentives, but
perhaps counter-intuitively, they
underperform in comparison with all
other message types.”
What’s the big deal: a look inside 6 different types of email offers,
a proprietary Yes Lifecycle Marketing research
Heads up! 25% off for
rewards members
April 14 – 23: Coachella
Part of the fun of Coachella is the fashion, and social
channels were widely used to showcase what was on
trend. Abercrombie & Fitch used hashtag #festival look to
feature key products seen around the festival. Aldo Shoes
took it a step further by placing a team on the ground to
not only capture fun moments but also highlight the style
notes and durability of Aldo shoes worn by festival-goers
at the event.
Earth Month and Earth Day
As consumers get more environmentally conscious, Lands’ End
took the opportunity to promote their “plant a tree” campaign on
Earth Day. The message highlighted the brand’s meaningful and
compelling efforts to raise awareness for the environment.
April 18: Tax Day
Usually Tax Day is April 15th but in 2016 and 2017, it falls
on April 18th. Have some fun with a day that most people
know and (don’t) love. Ace Hardware promoted 18% off
offer on the 18th last year and made in-store pickup free
to drive store traffic. Meanwhile, AMC theaters invited
subscribers to see a movie and had some fun leveraging
personalization to highlight a movie playing soon.
April 16: Easter
Both Williams Sonoma and 1800 flowers celebrated the
holiday by promoting colorful Easter-themed candy and
flowers and also making the iconic Easter bunny central to
their creative messages.
14 | www.YesLifecycleMarketing.com Customer Lifecycle, an Insights-Driven Magazine | 15

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What do you say to your customers?
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
How multivariate testing improves
targeting and engagement
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The more you understand customer behavior, the better able
you are to create engaging experiences and increase the
performance of email campaigns. That’s why A/B testing is
such a valuable tool. You get real customers to tell you what
they prefer by voting with a “click”.
No more time wasted weighing the merits of one font
over another; or the best wording for a call-to-action (CTA)
button. Let the numbers point the way!
Wouldn’t it be great if you could go beyond testing for
preference and actually collect data on which elements of
the experience contributed to the lift in conversion?
The limitations of A/B testing
A/B testing is an “either/or” situation. If you want to test
button color, you need to test your options separately to
determine the real effect of each change individually. But
what if you want to test five other colors? Or three different
CTA’s? What if you have separate editorial images to go with
each CTA color? Clearly, testing all these options one by one
would not only be mind-numbing to set up, but take ages to
run.
Multivariate testing: evaluating many
versions at once
Don’t let the name put you off. If you break “multivariate”
down into two parts, its meaning becomes clear: multi
=many, and variate = versions, a.k.a. it enables you to test
multiple things at the same time.
Say someone on the marketing team wants to change
the CTA text from “click here” to “buy now” but another
person thinks it should actually be “learn more”. Sure! Your
boss wants to try different colors for the button while you’re
at it. Why not? What about changing the button placement
too? Bring it on!!
We can test all of that at once – AND get accurate results!
We’ll also be able to point EXACTLY to the one change that
made the most difference.
Multivariate testing allows you to look at each element
on its own, all at once, without introducing any new or
unknown elements (such as time of send, content, date sent)
that could otherwise affect results. The customer database
would be equally divided among the test samples and a
control group to see which version is the most popular.
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Multivariate testing and segmentation
By “slicing and dicing” the findings of the multivariate
testing according to different customer segments you can
create multiple versions of your email that are fine-tuned to
increase conversions. Just think of the clicks and conversions
you can generate if you employ these common types of
multivariate tests to refine your marketing campaigns:
• Subject line and pre-header
A B
• Subject line and CTA
• Images and copy
• Image placement, headline
copy, and CTA color
• CTA color, CTA copy and
button placement
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Try out new ideas since there’s no limit to the number of
variations you can test. You’ll gain valuable knowledge
for creating better targeted marketing campaigns that
drive greater ROI.
16 | www.YesLifecycleMarketing.com Customer Lifecycle, an Insights-Driven Magazine | 17

When do you communicate with them?
SAY WHEN
Choosing the right email frequency
Long gone are the days when marketers could send “batch
and blast” emails to their entire audience. Customers
have come to expect a certain level of personalization and
relevance in their communications with brands. They also
are more sensitive to how often they receive emails.
Data and technology can help marketers determine
the best email frequency based on subscribers’ interests,
preferences, and behavior. Having the optimal email
deployment strategy in place can mean the difference
between subscriber engagement (and ideally customer
loyalty) and the “spam” button. It often depends on your
brand’s objectives, industry, and competition. So just how
often should you send emails?
The pros and cons of daily marketing emails
Daily emails are well-suited for companies who need to
create a sense of urgency and drive subscribers to quickly
take action—purchase, download, recommend, or share.
Brands who sell consumer goods are the best example.
Marketers should be aware, however, that repeated use
of this type of email can deter subscriber engagement
and conversion. There’s a fine line between engaging and
annoying, overwhelming, or boring.
When weekly emails work best
Some brands think customers have a short memory but they
need to consider that daily emails aren’t always the way to
go. Weekly emails can be just as effective because they tend
to be opened promptly. Yes Lifecycle Marketing research
finds that nearly three in four of opened emails (74%) are
opened within the first 24 hours of landing in subscribers’
inboxes. Marketers can make the most of this impulse to
open by using subject lines that focus on a specific business
objective or product. Testing subject lines is a great way to
determine the most engaging content that drives opens.
Monthly emails and newsletters
Information-based mailings such as newsletters garner
the most engagement when sent on a monthly basis. A Yes
Lifecycle Marketing analysis indicates that 86% of opens for
monthly e-newsletters occur within the first day an email
campaign is deployed. Due to the timing between monthly
emails, subscribers may find the messages more interesting
and valuable than daily or weekly emails.
Triggered emails
Marketers send these automated emails after customers
subscribe to an email list, abandon a website browsing
session or shopping cart, complete a survey, or engage in
an array of other activities. Other reasons to send triggered
emails can include birthdays or anniversaries. Whatever the
reason, these types of emails can be ‘set and forgotten’ due
to their automated nature. Given the personalization and
relevance of triggered emails, it’s no surprise that they have
high engagement rates so marketers can reap the benefits
without having to continuously invest time and resources.
Striking the right email cadence is crucial, so brands
should test different email marketing frequencies for
various audience segments. Better yet, marketers can
utilize preference centers to gain insight into what email
subscribers enjoy most while empowering them to manage
their relationships with brands.
Having the right email
frequency strategy can mean
the difference between email
recipients making a purchase
and unsubscribing from any
future communication.”
Kris,
Intelligence Products, Yes Lifecycle Marketing
One of the most important tasks we
accomplished working with Yes Lifecycle
Marketing and utilizing their industry
expertise and cross-client learnings, was
identifying a true opportunity to not only
drive incremental revenue, but overall
engagement that translates to customer
loyalty. That’s what the lifecycle trigger
program did for us and that’s where Yes
Lifecycle Marketing’s partnership and
experience in the retail industry proved
instrumental for our success.”
Lands' End, Marketing Specialist
18 | www.YesLifecycleMarketing.com

When do you communicate with them?
LET’S STAY TOGETHER!
3 email marketing triggers to consider
This is an example of how a cohesive
storyline, personalized content, and
innovative execution deliver greater
value and relevance for members.
Through the Year in Review program,
we were able to leverage individual
members’ key accomplishments to
drive re-engagement.”
Marriott Rewards
Campaign Manager
As email open and click rates decrease year-over-year, it
becomes increasingly difficult for marketers to effectively
engage consumers. Triggered emails, messages that have
been automated to varying degrees depending on a brand’s
level of technology and integration, take this challenge head
on because they:
• are relevant (they respond to a specific action taken by
the consumer)
• are timely (they immediately follow that action)
• demonstrate knowledge of and interest in consumers’
actions
• invite interaction between the brand and the consumer
These campaigns are the work horse of a brand’s mailing
program; they significantly outperform base communications
not only when it comes to engaging subscribers, but also
when it comes to converting them to purchasers. Let’s look
at three types of triggered campaigns that can boost revenue.
Browse abandon
Browse abandon emails are part of the larger remarketing
triggers umbrella since their primary objective is to grow
email revenue and convert subscribers into purchases.
Browse abandon emails typically highlight products that a
site visitor viewed but did not add to his/her shopping cart
or products that are similar to what was viewed. These
campaigns are very easy to implement and optimize.
Anniversary
Marketers use these types of campaigns to congratulate their
subscribers for reaching a milestone in their personal life or
in their relationship with the brand. Anniversary campaigns
typically mark a year since subscription/registration or from
first purchase. They can also celebrate reaching a new loyalty
level/status or racking up a specific number of loyalty points.
Because milestone campaigns boast a congratulatory and
reaffirming language, typically paired with a discount code
as a ‘gift’ for the occasion, they introduce a completely new
revenue stream while targeting part of the same audience
that is receiving promotional emails.
Activation
Activation messages target subscribers who have lapsed
early – they have recently (generally within 3 months) opted
into a brand’s mailing program but have not interacted with
any or most of the emails they have received since. Activation
campaigns aim to re-capture these subscribers’ attention
and reintroduce them to the mailing program through a
combination of offer incentives, playful and cheeky copy, and
message personalization. They’re very easy to set up since
the only information they require is subscriber tenure and
email activity, which is stored in any email platform.
Browse Abandon
Anniversary
Activation
Customer Lifecycle, an Insights-Driven Magazine | 21

Where should you reach out to your customers?
CONCLUSION
HERE, THERE, AND
EVERYWHERE
It’s a cross-channel world
As long as customers continue to shop online, cross-channel
marketing will increase in importance. While email marketing
will remain an effective channel for brands to engage
consumers and drive sales, as mobile commerce becomes
the norm, marketers will need to implement inclusive crosschannel
strategies to differentiate themselves and stay
ahead of the competition.
Yes Lifecycle Marketing conducted a survey of more than
300 brands to gain insights into how marketers plan to drive
engagement and conversions in a cross-channel world. Here
are some key findings and takeaways:
More info online:
http://bit.ly/YLM-CrossChannel
• Brands also see value in integrating digital and offline
to gain a consistent view of the customer and offer
an improved experience. Many will implement
cross-channel marketing strategies in the year
ahead to integrate siloed communication
programs. Forty percent say they are looking
to implement cross-channel attribution
initiatives, followed by test tools for
channels and content at 38 percent
and a data-fed, consistent view of the
customer at 35 percent.
Customers want and expect communications to be
tailored to them based on what they need, when they
need it, and where they want to receive messages.
Marketers who have a 360-degree view of their
customers will gain the insights needed to better
target communications.
Marketing technology and service providers who
boast the capabilities necessary to execute highly
personalized, cross-channel marketing tactics
offer brands a strategic edge. The right partner can
seamlessly integrate email, display, SMS, push,
and social channels, to deliver unified customer
experiences.
Cross-channel marketing does not have to be
complicated. Invest in the right tools, set achievable
goals and build your strategy with the customer in
mind.
• While some brands do not yet use web browsing or
purchase history data to customize offers, many are
looking to incorporate more advanced tactics like
cross-channel or dynamic offers to improve relevancy.
• Brands will look to marketing technology and service
providers to help get them on the right path through
an emphasis on innovation and analytic services.
• Brands will invest in cross-channel initiatives to
improve upon existing tactics. Forty percent say they
will implement cross-channel attribution initiatives,
and 38 percent plan to implement test tools for
channel and content.
• Email remains and will continue to be
a tried and true method of customer
communication. With social and display
rounding out the top three channels,
brands are understanding the need to
present relevant customer experiences
across these channels in order to increase
engagement with their audience. Similarly,
these top three cross-channel initiatives
support the path to improve the customer
experience, which will ultimately drive sales.
• Brands see value in marketing technology and service
providers. Marketers say ease-of-use and integrated
analytics matter most when using technology
platforms. This is likely because of marketers’ need to
be able to turn their data into action in order to gain a
more consistent view of their customers. It’s perhaps
not surprising that marketers ranked reporting so
high because they need to be able to access
and analyze data to derive insights
which influence communication
strategies.
Brands will invest in cross-channel
initiatives to improve upon existing tactics:
Forty percent say they will implement
cross-channel attribution initiatives, and
38 percent plan to implement test tools for
channel and content.”
The 2017 Channel Report,
a proprietary Yes Lifecycle Marketing research
22 | www.YesLifecycleMarketing.com

About Yes Lifecycle Marketing
Yes Lifecycle Marketing turns data into
action across every customer interaction,
generating superior results. We do this by
transforming brands into true insightsdriven
businesses by linking insights and
continuous learning, empowering them to
make better, smarter, and faster decisions.
To learn more,
1-877-937-6245
sales@yeslifecyclemarketing.com
yeslifecyclemarketing.com