E-mail on Steroids

* A book marketer might analyze past purchase, click-through and online viewing behavior to determine the genre of books a recipient might be most interested in, and then use that to change the featured item for recipient groups. Mystery buffs would see the latest whodunit, while history nuts would see the latest biography.

Campaigns are set up with the standard content that will be sent to all e-mail recipients. The variable content is loaded in a staging area or library, and then rules are established for the best possible choice for each person on the list. For example, if state equals Michigan, then insert content clip X; if no state is listed, insert content clip Y. Messages are generated dynamically based on these rules.

Triggered messaging
With triggered messages, you can create messages that are sent to individual users based on an event (the trigger) occurring. Sequenced messages allow the delivery of highly personalized, timely e-mails. Messages can be triggered based on customer actions or a change in requested information. Some examples:

* A series of welcome or notification messages delivered over a specified time period to introduce a new customer to various aspects of a product or service.

* An order confirmation.

* Alert messages — “Only two more days to take advantage of our sale!”

* Subscription renewal and gift reminder messages.

* Personal-touch messages that recognize birthdays, anniversaries, etc.

* Abandoned shopping cart alerts.

* Follow-up communications after subscribers click through to the site and browse but do not purchase.

* Cross-sell and upsell offers based on purchase.

* Notice that an out-of-stock item is back in inventory.

Each of the methods listed above help generate more sales. Abandoned shopping cart reminder e-mails are very effective, particularly since half of all shopping carts are abandoned before checkout. People use carts as a convenient tool to hold items while they search other sites for comparable products and deals. When executed correctly, you might recapture as much as 25 percent of lost sales with these e-mails.