Think email is old news? Think again. For loyalty programs, it remains essential. The unique strength of email maximizes member engagement and delivers a strong return on investment (ROI), making it a crucial communication tool. Here's more on the compelling case for email's continued dominance:
Direct Communication: Email gives us a direct line to loyalty program members via personalized messages, updates, and special offers delivered straight to their inboxes. This directness cuts through the noise of social media and other channels.
Personalization and Segmentation: While it's been around a long time, email still provides the most sophisticated segmentation of any marketing channel. It allows us to target specific member groups with tailored content based on their purchase histories, loyalty tiers, engagement levels, demographics, and more.
Inbox Energy: Consumers today check email a lot, reinforcing its value as a marketing tool. According to Omnisend, nearly every consumer clicks into their inbox at least once a day, with 42% checking three to five times and 28% checking up to 20 times daily. In 2024, this consistent engagement contributed to a 6% year-over-year increase in email open rates, reaching 26.6%, and a click-to-conversion rate that grew by 27.6%.
Cost-Effectiveness: Email marketing offers a compelling return on investment. Compared to channels like direct mail and paid advertising, email provides a relatively inexpensive means of reaching a substantial audience and fostering ongoing engagement. For every dollar invested, Omnisend reports, email marketing delivers an estimated return of $36 to $40.
A Significant Influence: Email marketing remains a critical channel for driving shopping behavior: Nearly 50% of consumers report making a purchase directly from an email in the past year.
Tracking and Measurement: Since Cartera's email marketing platform offers robust tracking and analytics, it lets us monitor open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and other key metrics. That means we know what offers resonate most with our members and we're able to craft and tailor future messaging accordingly.
Automation Capabilities: The automation features of our platform allow us to trigger emails based on specific member actions. That nurtures our relationships with members, and also drives them to shop and engage more frequently.
Some examples of what our emails do:
Welcome members to our loyalty programs
Confirm they've successfully completed profiles, installed browser extensions, etc.
Remind members whose shopping has lapsed that we're still here
Offer opportunities to earn bonus rewards to members who are registered but haven't yet shopped
Alert members to extra rewards offered at the stores they've personally indicated are their favorites
Acknowledge purchases made and rewards earned
Congratulate top-shopping members
To sum up, email remains a cornerstone of effective loyalty program communication, thanks to its directness, personalization capabilities, cost-effectiveness, and ability to drive engagement.
If you're ready to create or supercharge a loyalty program for your business, we'd love to show you how partnering with Cartera will help.