Now what? To keep yourself and your content producers on track, and upper management in the loop, you’ll want to develop a content calendar. This document can actually be quite complex, but it’s an extremely effective blueprint.

Whether you call it a blog schedule, an editorial calendar, or a content production timeline — a major goal is to establish a cadence to your content marketing publishing efforts. That’s important, because without producing consistent, sustained content over many months, you’re unlikely to see results.

An editorial calendar will also help you set clear expectations with everyone in your organization who is embarking on this content journey with you. Help them see the path you’re creating — by month, by quarter, or even by a full year.

By planning ahead and providing a structure, you’re demonstrating commitment, and you’re beginning to craft a clearer long-term vision. This will help bring consensus, and that internal buy-in from multiple departments will help you set a high bar for quality content.

The DNA: Your Calendar’s Blueprint

To give life to your content calendar, you’ll need building blocks in the form of a template. No need to worry about creating this kind of blueprint from scratch. There are many examples out there, including this free editorial calendar template from Vertical Measures. Be sure to look at all of the tabs within the two worksheets.

Depending on how many content creators will be working with you (remember they can come from any department in your organization), you may want to actively share your calendar through a cloud-based tool, of which there are also many. We use a combination of Basecamp and Google Drive, which has excellent live collaboration features. Google Calendar or an Excel spreadsheet may be simpler for you and better suit your needs.

You might also consider sharing the calendar with data analysts, marketers, designers, or your manager, so they can visualize and understand how they fit into the process.

The Skeleton: Your Calendar’s Features

With your blueprint in place, now let’s put together a structure and framework for your calendar. It might not have 206 bones like the human body, but an extremely effective content calendar will have a lot of moving pieces, and could include the following:

• Topics or headlines
• Brief summaries
• Contributors: Authors, Editors, Designers
• Due dates, associated milestones, and approval process
• Formats of pieces (article, blog post, free guide, white paper, case study, infographic, video, quiz, interview, FAQ, etc.)
• Publication dates
• Live URLs
• Distribution channels (blog, e-mail newsletter, other industry website, etc.)
• Social media efforts and budget
• Promotion efforts and budget
• Moderation of comments
• Metrics/KPIs
• Content ideas and brainstorming results

Does the above seem daunting? As with almost any project, it’s OK to start small and then iterate. You can use your content calendar for a wide variety of purposes, but I’d encourage you to think bigger than merely using it as a checklist of headlines and dates. Why? Because content doesn’t stop when you publish it to your website. Consider how — and when — you will promote and distribute the content. How — and when — will you measure it?

The Heart: Your Calendar’s Content

A thoughtful content calendar will reflect the heart of your organization. You should see personality, warmth, creativity, leadership — whatever it is that you want to share with the world. You can use your content calendar to continually remind, motivate, and inspire others around you.

To populate your calendar with these kinds of ideas, consider implementing monthly or seasonal themes, or types of content that recur on certain days of the week (i.e. “Friday’s Featured Employee”). Pieces that collectively form a content series allow your team to explore certain topics in-depth and establish authority and trust with your niche audience.

Right Brain: Creativity and Vision

You know that you need to “think like a publisher.” As you adopt this mindset, you’ll see that you are constantly thinking ahead about your content.

As you establish that cadence to the content you’re producing week in and week out, you’ll also want to schedule consistent times to brainstorm future content, so you can set your vision.

Keep in mind that many factors — changing company priorities, new product lines, or customer feedback — will likely cause you to shift gears as you plan out your calendar.

Being flexible is part of the content game, and if you’re really listening to your customers and paying attention to insights, that can actually lead to some of your most timely and effective pieces of content.

According to Pawan Deshpande, CEO of Curata, “[about] 25% of your content marketing output should be produced in a more sporadic fashion with less strategic direction.” This also offers greater opportunity for experimentation, he says.

So don’t be afraid to deviate from the plan and introduce topics at the last minute. Your content calendar isn’t set in stone — it’s a living, breathing document.

Image source: UCMAS Mental Math Schools

Left Brain: Analysis and Measurement

Note that your calendar should not merely be forward-looking. Take time to reflect by using the calendar as a measuring and reporting tool, in conjunction with your other analytics programs. When you or your team are ready to take this holistic approach to your content calendar, you can use the template and features discussed above to guide you.

Make a concerted effort to record ongoing results in your content calendar, such as:

• Page views
• Traffic trends
• Time on page
• Downloads
• Conversions
• Social media engagement

You’ll want to measure these key data points at ongoing intervals, so that you give content pieces ample time to perform. You don’t want to suffer from paralysis by analysis, but measuring content over time can help you paint a picture of what’s working, what’s not, and how long it takes for your pieces to accomplish the business objectives you have set.

Consistent measurement will allow you to recognize patterns. Are certain themes performing better? Does your content drive more social shares on Wednesdays instead of Fridays? Does your audience engage more with longer pieces or shorter pieces, videos or infographics? Which writers or content producers tend to perform better?

All Body Parts Working Together

A content calendar is your opportunity to drive forward your content marketing efforts. Essentially, you can unify all of your content, social media, promotion, and distribution efforts in a single dashboard. Remember, without a structure and cohesive vision that’s continually enforced by content marketing evangelists in your organization, your content efforts will likely fall short. Even if you start small, you can set yourself and your organization up for success by starting a content calendar today.

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Read the full article in The Drum here. 

If your business leverages relationship marketing and personalization, then you need to know how generative AI is going to make it better. 

In a recent article in The Drum, Marigold’s Michele Fitzpatrick, vice president of enterprise strategy, discusses the potential generative AI has to revolutionize how marketers approach relationship marketing.

Businesses have been using traditional AI more than most people realize, –from automating earnings reports to delivering dynamic paywalls and content recommendations. Generative AI is the next iteration. New research shows 67% of senior IT leaders are prioritizing generative AI for their business within the next 18 months, with one-third (33%) naming it as a top priority.

Fitzpatrick defines generative AI as any form of artificial intelligence that’s able to create new content, including text, images, and videos. It works by learning from existing examples and using algorithms and models to generate something new.

Generative AI has the potential to revolutionize the way marketers approach relationship marketing by providing more accurate, personalized, and efficient ways to engage with customers. This can be applied in several ways including:

• Customer segmentation
• Personalized experiences
• Customer service
• Recommendation engines
• Predictive analytics
• Content creation
• Sales forecasting

8 Best Practices

As with any emerging technology, there are growth and usage issues. Generative AI’s speed and reliance on accurate data make topics like intellectual property, copyright, data ownership, and data integrity impossible to ignore.

Fitzpatrick believes these issues can be addressed through education, operational excellence, and proactivity. Here are a few things to consider when adopting and maximizing the potential of a generative AI solution for relationship marketing:

• Be clear and concise: Ensure that your prompt is easy to understand and provides clear instructions for the AI to follow. Avoid using overly complex language or unnecessary jargon that may confuse it. The construction of a well-designed prompt is one of the key ingredients to successfully using generative AI.
• Be prescriptive and helpful: For example — “The following is an article from our organization blog. Summarize the content into the most helpful bullet points for a person interested in purchasing a book.”
• Specify output: Distinguish between a social share text under 200 words for Twitter vs a 500-word blog post. Also dictate the tone you want — friendly and casual, or formal and authoritative.
• Specify formats: If you have a specific structure in mind, be sure to include this information in your prompt, such as generating a bulleted list or a numbered sequence.
• Provide examples: You can prompt generative AI to “remember” an example of content and create a response based on that example. AI is capable of analyzing text and learning it to generate content.
• Make adjustments: If the AI produces unexpected or undesirable outputs, try rephrasing your prompt or adjusting its parameters.
• Find a balance: Overly restrictive prompts can limit the model’s ability to generate creative or nuanced outputs, while overly open-ended prompts may lead to ambiguous or off-topic results. Experiment with different guidance levels to find the sweet spot that best aligns with your project’s objectives.
• Evaluate: Regularly examine the effectiveness of your prompts by reviewing the AI-generated outputs and comparing them against your desired outcomes. Use this feedback to refine and improve your prompts.

Fitzpatrick stresses that generative AI should play a role in the overall creative process. But the tool should not be tasked with doing all the work alone. AI delivers speed and scale. Humans are still responsible for creativity, innovation, and using the tools ethically. 

The biggest question remains not why you’d utilize generative AI to enhance your relationship marketing efforts, but rather when and how. At Marigold, we see endless possibilities for using data, technology, insights, and creativity to design and deliver a dynamic and impactful customer experience.

Learn more about how Marigold can help you create more meaningful customer relationships with every interaction.

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Our 2023 Guide to the RFP Process will help you identify the requirements your team should consider when choosing a new automated solutions partner.

Step 1: Get the Big Picture

Before building your requirements list, define your organization’s goals and objectives. Ask yourselves what the state of your email marketing strategy is now, and where you want it to be a year from now. What is the new vendor adding to your operations? Which departments in your organization need to be involved in the evaluation process? Who is the final decision-maker and how will success be measured?

Step 2: Define and Rank Your Requirements

Requirements are best broken down into three groups: functional, operational, and technical. 

• FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS: Functional requirements describe what the system needs to do. This list typically comes from tech-savvy system administrators and strategic marketing team members tasked with driving more engagement and revenue.
• OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS: Operational requirements describe how the system should run, including user profiles, security, scalability, and customer support. This list is usually a collaborative effort between the marketing and operations teams.
• TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: Technical requirements describe how the vendor and the technology stay compliant with security, privacy, and IT policies.

Step 3: Schedule Demos and Issue Your RFP

Usually, our partners approach the evaluation process in one of two ways: 1) either via a formal RFP issued with a due date to your list of vendors, or 2) a more conversational route that starts with demo requests from the organizations on your consideration list. 

Step 4: Score Your Top Vendors 

When you start this exercise, you might notice that everyone thinks their requirement is critical, so we recommend ranking your requirements on a scale of 1-5 from least important to most important. Marigold has created scorecards to evaluate a variety of solutions like email, loyalty, data collection and interactive experiences, and technical/operational requirements that your team can download and use as soon as you start your process. 

Step 5: Make it Official

It’s time to make your selection official. Let your vendor of choice know you’re ready to sign and get finalization on the timeline. Selecting a marketing platform is a colossal task. The right platform should give you the tools to quickly and efficiently deliver contextually relevant messages and experiences that drive engagement and lifetime customer value. 

To learn more about creating an RFP that helps your business go through the process carefully and efficiently, download the 2023 Guide to the RFP Process. Already in the process? Download our RFP scorecards to help make the evaluation process a little easier. 

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Now between the ages of 57 and 75, Baby Boomers hold 53.2% of the wealth in America or nearly $60 trillion in spending power. They are 10 times wealthier than millennials, and twice as wealthy as Generation X. 

Marketing to Baby Boomers is not very different than other generations, but there are key distinctions in what Boomers value when making purchasing decisions, what style of communication they prefer, and what keeps them loyal to a brand. We’ve highlighted five findings from Marigold’s U.S. Boomer Consumer Trends Index 2023. 

62% of Boomers have made a purchase from an email in the last year.

Email is the single most common online purchase channel for Boomers, outperforming SMS, banner advertisements, social media posts, and social media advertisements. 92% of Boomers check their emails at least once a day. Statista reported that nearly nine in ten Boomers in the United States were planning to use Amazon for their online holiday shopping in 2022.

More than any other generation we studied, –which included Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Z respondents, Baby Boomers are the most intolerant when it comes to irrelevant content. Personalization and tone are key. They want brands to speak specifically to them; in a more formal and informative tone. 

59% of Boomers say they are loyal to some brands and are willing to pay more to shop with them. 

When Boomers become loyal to a brand, they tend to stay that way. Our research found that Baby Boomers pursue the lowest price for a product or service, but will spend more with the ones that successfully win their business. 

Only one out of five Boomers in the 2023 survey said they switched away from a brand that used to win their loyalty or became less loyal to the brand in general. This is the lowest rate among the age groups in our survey.  The full Baby Boomer Trends report highlights ten specific factors that Boomers cite as important or critically important to maintaining their lasting loyalty. 

90% of Boomers cite data privacy policies as either important or critically important to maintaining brand loyalty.

Like all generations, Boomers worry about how brands use their personal data. Businesses must address concerns by being transparent about their privacy policies and how personal data is stored and used. Opt-outs and preference settings must be easy to update and even easier to find on your app or website. Our full Boomer report reveals three marketing tactics that more than three-quarters of Boomers consider “creepy,” and the privacy measures Boomers are using to protect their data. 

86% of Boomers say that their favorite brands reward them for their loyalty.

Whether through loyalty programs or personalized offers via messaging, brands can build lasting relationships with Boomers by acknowledging and rewarding their loyalty. Boomers appreciate value-based offerings from brands, like loyalty points (70%) and discounts (85%).

75% of Boomers say that they feel very pessimistic about the economic outlook.

Economic pessimism is more prevalent among Boomers than any other age generation we surveyed. Financial concerns are causing more restrained purchase behavior. Boomers are making fewer impulsive purchases (65%), doing more research before buying (56%) and relying more often on loyalty program benefits (44%). While this increasingly cautious behavior may be concerning for marketers, it is also an opportunity to reconnect with Boomers and gain an advantage over competitors. In our full Boomer report, we identify four specific brand offerings that over 70% of Boomers cite as appealing components of the value exchange.

Marketers who fail to update their perceptions of Baby Boomers will be the real ones who are left behind. Baby Boomers are far more affluent than other generations, and spend more time online than their younger counterparts. They may not appreciate an emoji the way their grandchildren do, but with 90% of their generation shopping online, it’s every marketer’s job to find out what they do like. 

To learn more about what makes a Baby Boomer one of your most valuable customers download our U.S. Boomer Consumer Trends Index 2023. 

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Now aged between 41 and 56, Gen Xers are at the height of their earning potential. They stand to benefit the most from the greatest wealth transfer in history. Many Gen Xers can remember the conspicuous consumption of the late 1980s, and were adult participants in the tech boom and bust of the late 90s, and the financial crash of 2008. They are practical and value authenticity. Gen X was the first generation shaped by the rise of the personal computer and the internet. Many continue to be early adopters and use technology to get more done, assist with aging children and parents, and simplify their lives. Gen X grew up shopping in the mall, but nowadays could never live without their smartphones, the convenience of mobile shopping, and the power of user-generated content and product reviews. 

To effectively reach Gen X, marketers must be transparent and continuously deliver value. We’ve highlighted five findings from Marigold’s 2023 U.S. Gen X Consumer Trend Index on some of their preferences and purchasing habits.  

64% of Gen X consumers have made a purchase from an email in the last year.

Email is the single most common online purchase channel for Gen X consumers, outperforming SMS, banner advertisements, social media posts and social media advertisements, all by considerable margins. With the right tech stack, marketers can easily leverage email to provide the unique experiences and dynamic content that enhance customer-brand relationships.

65% of Gen X consumers have used their phone while in-store to research a potential purchase in the last year.

Similar to other age groups we studied, Gen Xers use their mobile phones to research products they are interested in while in the physical store. 

The 2023 study found that roughly half of Gen X consumers do more research (48%) and wait longer for sales (51%) before making purchases compared to other generations studied. They are a thoughtful consumer, not prone to impulse purchases like their younger counterparts. 

But the mobile experience needs to be easy. If an unknown shopper visits your website via their smartphone while in your actual store, that mobile experience must be seamless. Any lag in download times or navigation can lead to a bad user experience. This is bad for business. 

90% of Gen X consumers say that their favorite brand treats them like an individual.

The consumer desire for personalization crosses generations, and Gen Xers are no exception. They want their unique needs addressed and are more likely to choose brands that understand and cater to their individuality. By investing in genuine relationship building and personalization, marketers can rise above the generic strategies of their competitors. They can turn casual customers into loyal ones, and ultimately gain a competitive edge.

82% of Gen X consumers cite data privacy policies as either important or critically important to maintaining brand loyalty.

Most Gen Xers were adults with thriving social media and banking accounts by the time terms like identity theft and data breach became commonplace and deeply personal. Brands need to transparently communicate their policies on personal data, and respect the boundaries of Gen X consumers. In our full Gen X report, we unveil three particular marketing tactics that more than half of Gen Xers consider creepy and lead to a sense of distrust. 

57% of Gen X consumers are more likely to participate in a loyalty program this year compared to last.

Similar to Gen Z and Millennials, Gen X consumers are increasingly interested in participating in loyalty programs. Some of the valued perks are exclusive content and customized experiences and rewards. Creating a seamless and user-friendly digital experience for your loyalty program, such as with a mobile app or gamification elements, can further enhance their engagement and enthusiasm.

Gen Xers are loyal to brands they trust. Marketers who tap into this generation’s appreciation for both in–person and digital experiences that make life easier are the ones that stand to gain the most. Learn more about what Gen Xers want from the brands in their lives by reading the full report: Marigold’s 2023 U.S. Gen X Consumer Trend Index. 

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What Can A/B Testing Help Me Do? 

The first step to creating your test-and-learn strategy is to define your objective. Some of the most common objectives our customers focus on include: 

• Growing the brand’s database
• Improving viewer engagement
• Increasing conversion rates
• Enhancing cross-channel communications
• Improving the customer experience with better insights
• Retaining and winning back lapsed customers and subscribers

Setting Up Your Testing Environment

Creating a hypothesis, or more simply stated as “What question are we trying to answer?” is the most vital component when thinking about how to set up your test and control groups. 

Once you’ve established your hypothesis, it’s time to choose how you will design your test. Marigold Engage by Sailthru by Marigold offers traditional A/B testing and multivariate testing. Traditional A/B testing looks at one specific question like which subject line is more engaging: the one with a person’s name in the subject line, or a simple emoji instead? Multivariate testing looks at many factors at one time to see what combination of factors yields the best results. Multivariate testing is typically used for more complex hypotheses like how email cadence can impact opt-out rates, or what incentives are driving loyalty program sign-ups. Multivariate tests are executed over a longer period, either weeks or months, versus one or two days. 

The Rules for Testing

Sailthru by Marigold recommends five guidelines for effective testing: 

• Test one thing and keep everything else constant: Testing personalization in the subject line? Keep the send time the same for each stage of the testing process.
• Test enough times: We recommend at least four rounds of testing for every hypothesis.
• Test on a big enough audience: Your sample sizes should be more than 1000 contacts, otherwise your test is not statistically significant.
• Choose a random sample across all segments: Random sampling means that any visitor of your website has the same probability to be chosen to see a variation of your A/B test. Biased sampling can unintentionally occur if you test only for a couple of days during a promotional period, like back-to-school shopping, or only on weekdays. This could lead to bias because your customers who see the A/B promotion or email would only be the ones who shop on weekdays and could unintentionally not reach your shoppers who tend to shop on weekends.
• Test the same thing again in 12 months: Things change. When emojis first appeared, they were perceived as unprofessional and unsophisticated. Nowadays emojis are a sure-fire way to boost brand awareness if they are used on the right target audience and align with your brand’s tone of voice. 

A/B testing is critically important to improving your email marketing campaigns. To learn more about getting the most out of your testing strategies, download the guide from Campaign Monitor, also a part of the Marigold family, The Ultimate Guide to A/B and Multivariate Testing. 

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Email accessibility is the practice of producing emails that are usable by as many people as possible, especially those with visual or hearing impairments, cognitive or learning disabilities, or mobility issues. From copy to design to code, accessible emails should be easy to understand and engage with.

If you’ve not yet been thinking about accessibility, you might have some preconceived notions about what it’s all about, if it’s really that big of a deal, and if it’s more hassle than it’s worth.

Today, we’re busting some common misconceptions to help empower you to make accessibility a central part of your email strategy and design process.

Myth: Accessibility will make our emails boring
We get it — rules can feel restrictive, and it can seem challenging to follow rules and still be creative. The reality is that accessibility standards provide guardrails for helping make emails consumable by more people, and that might mean producing design systems and email layouts that feel more expected.

This is not a bad thing. When it comes to digital experiences like email, following a logical, consistent format can make your campaigns more intuitive to consume, minimizing the risk of user friction that could affect engagement.

There’s so much creativity left to explore after you have an accessibility framework in place. Working within a structure can encourage your teams to be even more intentional and strategic about the campaigns they produce.

Myth: Accessibility is difficult and time-consuming to implement
A complete email accessibility overhaul can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be disruptive. If you have the resources, your accessibility efforts can run in parallel with your BAU processes. For nimbler teams, implementing accessibility standards into your strategy and design can be done gradually. 

Keeping an accessibility mindset as new email campaigns are created is an organic way to evolve your emails and strategy into something more compliant and inclusive, and using that framework to update existing campaigns can help make the process more manageable.

Myth: Accessibility can help only those with disabilities
Emails that are intuitive and easy to experience, with copy that’s simple to understand and support for those using assistive technologies, open up your brand to those who are differently abled, but the benefits are there for everyone, no matter their needs.

Simply put: If your emails are difficult to understand and engage with, your customers could be hindered in taking the action you expect, and this could affect how they choose to engage with your brand moving forward.

Myth: Accessibility is one and done
Conducting an audit to review your current campaigns and templates is a great first step to understanding where there may be gaps in your approach to accessibility. This can be a precursor to a template redesign, which can help establish a new baseline for your email templates that follow current accessibility best practices.

But making sure your emails are continuing to adhere to accessibility standards is an ongoing process. The industry will evolve, best practices will evolve, and so will your business needs—your emails will also need to evolve alongside.

Myth: Accessibility can be automated
There are many online tools available to run your HTML emails against a compliance checklist, which can be especially helpful if you’re new to email accessibility. And, with the recent proliferation of AI technologies, just letting the machines take over may feel easier. 

Making accessibility a core part of the design process is key to authentic Relationship Marketing and true inclusion efforts, and tools should be used for this purpose but not relied upon as the be-all and end-all.

Also, user needs and business needs are nuanced and evolving, and being educated on the latest accessibility best practices can help you think creatively about your design solutions and preserve the human element of marketing and inclusivity.

Hot tip: Know the rules so you can break them
Understanding accessibility is obviously important for making sure your emails are adhering to standards, but this understanding can also be helpful for when you decide to strategically eschew those standards to add more pop to your emails.

• Interactive emails may not be strictly accessible, but they can add a new flavor to your email campaigns that are still worth experimenting with.
• Real-time personalization relies on images or video to provide some really impactful engagement opportunities.
• Animated GIFs add visual impact and have been shown to have a positive effect on engagement.

Knowing when to lean into these design tactics can be a value add for your campaigns, but aim to make any emails that employ these tactics as accessible as possible. Alternative text and fallback scenarios are especially helpful here.

Accessibility is a crucial step towards equity and inclusivity
Designing accessible email campaigns shows your customers — and prospects — that you want everyone to engage with your brand and that you care about the diverse ways people consume digital information today. 

Need help with your accessibility efforts? Our Marigold Design Team can help get you started! From audits to template designs and coding, we have the experience and knowledge to help open up your brand to everyone.

Written by Rose Christie Andora 

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While similar to Gen Z in some respects, Millennials are the ones who have made terms like the gig economy, purpose-driven marketing, and user-generated content more than just fleeting buzzwords. Marigold Engage by Sailthru by Marigold’s U.S. Millennial Consumer Trends Index 2023 explores some of the major shifts that are in play. This partial list of our findings focuses on how Millennials engage with, and choose which brands to keep in their lives.

61% of Millennials have made a purchase from an email in the last year.

Even though they are the first generation of social media natives, email remains one of the most powerful channels for reaching Millennials. Personalized communication is a must, and their affinity for technology helps shape how they shop. They are accustomed to instant access to price comparisons, product information, and peer reviews. As time-pressed parents or one of the millions with side hustles or members of the gig economy, emails that offer highly relevant product offerings add value and convenience to their lives. Email remains one of the most effective and efficient ways to personalize a customer journey. 

45% of Millennials have made a purchase from an SMS message in the last year.

Millennials are the first generation whose lives revolve around the near-constant use of their mobile phones. They were the first to demand omnichannel experiences for everyday tasks like banking, booking doctor’s appointments, shopping, and of course, staying connected to the world on a 24/7 basis. Similar to all generations, Millennials reward businesses that make the shopping experience convenient and friction-free. Now is the time for marketers to optimize their mobile platforms and ensure that browsing, purchasing, and returning are as simple as possible. 

84% of Millennials say that their favorite brand influences their life beyond the products and services that the brand provides.

Millennials seek more than just products — they demand authenticity and gravitate toward brands with whom their values align. This means that marketers must lead with their core mission and values, and make them known. Millennials are well aware of their purchasing power. It’s no coincidence that their rise runs parallel to the growing pressure on corporations to take a stand on issues like environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and commitments to sustainability.

83% of Millennials say they are loyal to some brands and willing to pay more to shop with them. 

More than any other age generation we surveyed, Millennials are overwhelmingly likely to pay more to do business with their favorite brands. Millennials place importance on authentic messaging and seek out brands that support social and environmental causes that align with their values. And while prices are still one of the top factors, Millennials place a higher value on being known as an individual and will spend money with brands that deliver a personalized experience. The full Millennial Trends report highlights seven specific factors that Gen Y cite as important or critically important to maintaining their lasting loyalty. 

67% of Millennials are more likely to participate in a loyalty program this year compared to last.

Millennials love loyalty programs. These programs not only deliver perks and benefits, but they foster an emotional connection between the brand and the customer. Loyalty programs are crucial to rewarding repeat customers, thereby driving sales and increasing customer lifetime value.

Given that Millennials are willing to pay more to shop with their favored brands, maintaining the “favored” status is vital. Loyalty programs are one of the most cost-efficient ways to retain customers and build brand advocacy. 43% of Millennials in our study switched away from or became less loyal to a previously favored brand. But a surprising 83% of Millennials who have changed away or become less loyal say they can be won back.

Conclusion

Millennials have upended the game for marketers. They are more educated and more technologically advanced than any generation before them. As their earning power increases, so too will their impact and influence. Learn more about what makes a Millennial one of your most loyal brand advocates by downloading our U.S. Millennial Consumer Trends Index 2023.

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Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z wields nearly $100 billion in purchasing power. Our 2023 Consumer Trend Index polled over 6,000 consumers across four generations — Baby boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z.

We’ve compiled a partial list of our findings that will help marketers understand how their strategies need to adapt for an increasingly discerning consumer that wants to be engaged and entertained. 

56% of Gen Z have made an in-app purchase with their mobile phones in the last year.

The growth of in-app purchasing underscores the importance of mobile optimization. Brands must deliver a seamless experience. Friction-free transactions are important to all consumers, but Gen Z consumers are more intolerant than others. Ensure that your websites, apps, and purchasing processes are simple and mobile-friendly. Marketers not only should but must invest in secure in-app purchasing options. As more of Gen Z enters the workforce, their purchasing power will only increase. 

84% of Gen Z say that their favorite brand treats them like an individual.

Brands that prioritize personalization have a competitive advantage. Studies show that consumers want to be known and expect to be understood. 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions. And 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. Gen Z consumers value uniquely tailored experiences and are more likely to choose brands that understand and cater to their individuality. By investing in genuine relationship building and personalization, you can rise above your competitors, and turn casual customers into loyal brand evangelists. 

70% of Gen Z cite data privacy policies as either important or critically important to maintaining brand loyalty.

Gen Z consumers have grown up in an era of high-profile data breaches and privacy scandals. To establish trust and maintain brand loyalty, it’s crucial to communicate transparently about how your brand collects and uses data. Ensure that your privacy policies are easy to find and even easier to update. Only ask for data that you really need. This kind of data, known as zero-party data, is the most valuable and the most reliable. 

74% of Gen Z are willing to share their hobbies and interests with brands in exchange for better service.

Gen Z consumers value personalized experiences. They understand and are willing to share information about their hobbies and interests to receive an enhanced experience. Engage with Gen Z consumers through interactive quizzes or surveys to transparently collect psychographic data, enabling you to deliver more relevant content and experiences.

 By leveraging Gen Z’s willingness to be understood, marketers can gather valuable insights and tailor their offerings to match the unique preferences of individual consumers. 

52% of Gen Z are more likely to participate in a loyalty program this year compared to last.

Gen Z consumers are increasingly interested in joining loyalty programs. Why? Not because of the brand savings or rewards, although this is important, but for the feeling of inclusion and being valued. With more customers citing loyalty programs as an incentive to stay with a brand, few retailers can afford to ignore shoppers who have already demonstrated an affinity for your products and services. Loyalty programs offer marketers a platform for strengthening brand advocacy. Many of the most successful brands have incorporated gamification, user-generated content, and insider offers into their loyalty programs to cultivate a sense of community. 

Conclusion

While many Gen Z’ers are still too young to be gainfully employed and still live at home, they exercise a tremendous amount of influence on the family’s household spending. As they age, their purchasing power will naturally increase. Understanding what this generation values, how they engage with content, and how they make purchasing decisions is vital to building lasting relationships that stand the test of time. Learn more about Gen Z’s outlook on messaging, privacy, and brand loyalty in our Gen Z 2023 Consumer Trend Index report. 

The post 5 Gen Z Stats Marketers Need to Know appeared first on Marigold Engage by Sailthru.

Standing out in an inbox gets more competitive every day. Like first impressions, an email to a new subscriber could end up being the last, or the beginning of a long-lasting relationship. The importance of the subject line in email marketing remains one of the most covered topics in digital marketing. And for good reason. 47% of consumers say they make the decision to read an email based on the subject line alone. 69% of consumers report emails as spam based solely on the subject line. 

Some of the most well-known tips for crafting an eye-catching subject line remain as true as ever but have evolved with the benefit of time, testing, and data. We’ve updated our list of best practices with new statistics and examples about what’s working, what your competitors are most likely doing, and what you need to know to maintain consistently high open and click-through rates.

1.  Keep Getting Personal  

The practice of personalizing email subject lines is well established and has gone far beyond including the recipient’s name. Open and click-to-open rates of 50% and 58% respectively will always make a name a safe bet for personalization. But there is so much more. 

Marketers have more robust data about their customer’s preferences that can be used to personalize a subject line. Details like birthdays, anniversaries, interests, and geographic location are always effective and help reduce the perception that your email might be spam.

More advanced tactics can leverage browsing and transaction history with a sense of urgency like “Only one pair of sandals left in your size” or citations to specific prior behavior like “Our Way of Saying Thanks for Dining Last Night [Offer Enclosed].” 

But don’t include more than five personalized fields. Any personalization you use should be hyper-relevant and be based on data that hasn’t been purchased or inferred. Consumers are highly aware of privacy policies and the value of their personal data. Ensure that your messaging is truly relevant to the user and relates to prior interactions with your brand.

2.  Be Concise and Choose Your Characters Carefully 

The optimal length of an email subject line varies between mobile and desktop. Most experts continue to recommend no more than nine words or 60 characters. On average, the maximum subject line can be 60 characters long before it gets cut off by the email provider. Our sister brand, Campaign Monitor by Marigold, recommends a subject line of 41 characters so that each word appears on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices.

Each of your 41 characters must contribute value to your message and be clear about what you want the reader to do. Similar to how SEO works for websites, email subject lines can significantly increase click rates by using the right words. Studies show:

• The word “video” in the subject line increases open rates by 7% to 13%
• Email subject lines with numbers have 57% higher open rates than those not containing a number
• Email subject lines with “Fwd” in the subject line have 17% lower open rates
• Email subject lines featuring the word “free” are opened 10% more often

Be sure to deliver what your tagline promises. Opening an “urgent” email to discover there’s no real urgency in the email body will leave your audience annoyed. You might see an uptick in open rates, but your click-through rates and customer experience will suffer.

3.  Omit the Word “Newsletter”

Do not, under any circumstances, use the word “newsletter” in the subject line of your email. Email open rates go down by almost 19% when this word appears in the subject line. That’s because people think of traditional newsletters as boring rather than full of valuable content. So even if you are sending a newsletter, don’t mention that. Mention the value content packed inside the email itself.

4.  Dodge Spam Folders More Effectively 

You want to keep your sender reputation pristine, and that means staying out of the spam folder. Nothing says “spam” to email recipients and internet service providers more than special characters (#%*@), excessive use of exclamation marks and messages in ALL CAPS. At best, your open rates will go lower and your unsubscribes will go higher. Even more likely, your emails will end up in the spam folder. 

This list of spam words and phrases is well over 250 and is constantly evolving. But the usual suspects like “cheap,” “earn cash,” or “see for yourself” will likely endure. Consider using online spam checker tools and be sure to consult frequently with your client solutions teams on the most up-to-date ways to keep your delivery rates and sender reputation scores high.

Spam filters are much more sophisticated than in the past, so using one or two spam trigger words won’t automatically send your email to the spam folder. If certain words and phrases cannot be avoided, it’s imperative to focus on other means to ensure that your emails are not perceived as spam. Be sure to: 

• Personalize the subject line with a name, location or birthday — anything that demonstrates that your email will have relevance to the recipient.
• Provide full context in your subject line. If you are running an online sale, avoid vague sentiments like “everything must go” or “for a limited time only.” Create tailored lines like “20% off for VIP customers through Labor Day.” 
• Contact only recipients who have opted into your emails.
• Include a way to opt out of future emails.
• Design emails using clean code and standard fonts.

5.  Use Emojis Thoughtfully

When first introduced, it was controversial to include emojis in an email subject line. Those days are long gone. Emoji use in email subject lines has increased by 775% over the past three years. Industry studies report that a little over half of marketers who use emojis in their subject lines report higher unique open rates.

Be careful with how you use emojis and ensure that they don’t come off as unprofessional or spammy. Context and tone are vital. If you are sending a transactional email, emojis are irrelevant. But if you want to convey warmth and familiarity, or promote a specific item that has an easily recognized emoji, it can be a great addition. 

We don’t recommend using more than one emoji per subject line. You’ll also want to test your emojis across platforms and mobile devices, as they may render differently across each.

6.  Create Targeted Subject Lines for Segmented Audiences

Email segmentation is the practice of dividing recipients into groups based on interests, behaviors, or demographics. Segmented email campaigns earn 760% more revenue than those that are just blasted out to your entire email list. Equally important, by sending different email subject lines based on hobbies, geographical location or simply by shoppers who purchased a specific product in your collection, your emails become more personalized and relevant to the recipient. Relevant emails have far higher engagement rates and lead to higher open and conversion rates, and reduce opt-on rates. These factors help reduce the chance that your emails are viewed by internet service providers as spam.  

Once your email list is broken down into segments, craft your email subject lines with a personal connection to the topic. Some examples are:  

• Location and hobby:  “5 Bands Nashville Jazz Lovers Need to See”
• Birthday and product: “Add this Bracelet to Your Birthday Wish List”
• Profession and interest: “What Every Physician Should Know Before Starting a Private Practice” 

7.  Use A/B Testing for Everything

Companies that make A/B testing a routine part of their campaign launches cite marketing returns that are 37% higher than companies that do not routinely use A/B testing. 

Consider leveraging A/B testing not only on your subject line, call-to-action or image but within “segments” of your “segments.”  Create A/B tests that can deliver generational insights. Marketing to different generations requires careful attention and an understanding of how Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Z respond to messaging. If you are not sure about what those distinctions are, be sure to download our report on Gen Z and the 2023 Consumer Trend Index which delves into communication and purchasing differences between generations. 

Conclusion

The power of automation, data, and technology has made email marketing more valuable and efficient for building a brand but conversely, it has become a more crowded and competitive space when it comes to standing out in the crowd. 

The experts at Sailthru can help you tap into not only the best automation and data strategies for your business but can help create customized solutions for every stage in your customer lifecycle. To read more about creating subject lines that stand out, download the guide from Emma, also part of the Marigold family of brands, Email Subject Line Tips and Best Practices for 2023.

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