how to send data-driven lifecycle emails that convert every time

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Chris Hexton, co-founder and CEO at Vero How to Send Data-Driven Onboarding Emails That Convert Every Time January 2014

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Page 1: How to Send Data-Driven Lifecycle Emails That Convert Every Time

Chris Hexton, co-founder and CEO at Vero

How to Send Data-Driven Onboarding Emails That Convert Every TimeJanuary 2014

Page 2: How to Send Data-Driven Lifecycle Emails That Convert Every Time

@thuelmadsen #KISSwebinar

Join the conversation on Twitter

Page 3: How to Send Data-Driven Lifecycle Emails That Convert Every Time

Chris Hexton - Vero - @chexton

Chris is the co-founder and CEO of Vero, a

behavioral marketing platform. Based in

Sydney, Australia, Chris is growing an

international team of developers, marketers and

customer success managers.

Page 4: How to Send Data-Driven Lifecycle Emails That Convert Every Time

@chexton #KISSwebinar

Join the conversation on Twitter

Page 5: How to Send Data-Driven Lifecycle Emails That Convert Every Time

1 The Key to Email Onboarding

The Welcome Email

The Quick Win Email

The Milestone Email

2 Examples You Can Replicate

3 Implementation

Table of Contents

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Intro to Successful Onboarding

1

Page 8: How to Send Data-Driven Lifecycle Emails That Convert Every Time

What is onboarding?

• The process of getting customers from “first touch” to “first

value” as quickly as possible

• A series of small conversions leading to a bigger, more

significant conversion.

• The removal of barriers to entry in your product/service.

Product vs. Marketing

• At it’s core, onboarding is a product challenge. Email helps you

communicate value. It can trigger the “light bulb” for new

users.

• Product and marketing have to work together to ensure new

Page 9: How to Send Data-Driven Lifecycle Emails That Convert Every Time

“Having a poor onboarding experience for your

customers can pretty much kill your growth … if

not your business.”

— Lincoln Murphy, Sixteen Ventures

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The Welcome Email

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The Purpose of the Welcome Email

• Build of the momentum of the signup

• Move users to the next step, not the final goal

• Set the tone for their experience

Example goals

• “Complete your profile…”

• “Create your first X…”

• “Import your data…”

• “Download the app…”

Welcome Emails

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SumAll

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Why This Email Rocks

• Simple, clear and bold

• Connecting a new platform to SumAll means they can start

collecting data and therefore create value for users

• Contrasting button, friction-free copy

• Highly focused with a single call to action

SumAll

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Basecamp

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Why This Emails Rocks

• The email is a simple catalyst to get new people logged in

• Basecamp is confident that the product will sell itself

• It employs social proof to make users feel like they will miss

out if they ignore the email (“You’ve joined over 1,500,000

organizations just like yours…”)

Basecamp

Page 16: How to Send Data-Driven Lifecycle Emails That Convert Every Time

The Quick Win Email

2

Page 17: How to Send Data-Driven Lifecycle Emails That Convert Every Time

The Purpose of the “Quick Win” Email

• Get new users engaged with your product

• Introduce them to features you know people love

• Move them from the inbox to the app as efficiently as possible

Tips for great “Quick Win” emails

• Focus on benefits, not features

• Deep link – If the CTA is to “create a new x”, link them to the

exact page

• Use data – Don’t ask people to do things they’ve already done

Quick Wins

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Pinterest

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Why This Email Rocks

• Very useful feature (remember, onboarding is largely a

product issue, email is just a catalyst)

• Piques interest with education, which tees up the CTA

• Includes an example and a deep link to create your own

Pinterest

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Raven Tools

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Why This Email Rocks

• Knowledge is power – the more users understand your

product, the more value they’ll get from it

• Getting users engaged early creates a habit of conversion –

they get used to clicking your emails and engaging with your

brand

• They make it easy – look at the copy:

• “Quick, guided training on your schedule”

• “free, live training”

• “variety of class times to accommodate you”

Raven Tools

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The Milestone Email

3

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The Purpose of the Milestone Email

• Reward people for good behavior

• Reinforce the value your product is delivering

• Build on the momentum by moving them to the next step

Tips for great Milestone emails

• Use upbeat, positive copy to make users feel great about using

your product

• Use micro CTA’s to deepen your relationship (refer a friend,

follow on Twitter, check out our blog, etc.)

Milestone Emails

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Evernote

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Why This Email Rocks

• Rewards engagement – makes the user feel good about it

• Moves users to the next step by explaining advanced features

• Arrives with context – it’s triggered as a direct result of my

behavior and comes almost immediately.

Evernote

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Canva

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Why This Email Rocks

• Gamification is a way turn behavior into habit

• The imagery makes it clear there are move achievements to be

unlocked (“I want the 20 designs trophy!”)

• Micro CTAs – Social media sharing cements a users’

commitment to your product

• Even more micro CTAs – Blogs and social media can inspire

and motivate users to engage more

Canva

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How to get started with triggered onboarding emails

• Ask customers to go on a second date, not get married.

• Define success and map out the steps to get users engaged,

committed and 100% onboard

• Track data with tools like KISSmetrics – make your emails as

specific as possible based on their behavior

• Use tools like Vero for dynamic segmentation and highly

personalized emails

• Avoid time-based sequences – the chances of sending an

irrelevant email are very high

Getting Started

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Places to learn more about onboarding

• Nir Eyal (nirandfar.com): Behavior engineering, habit-forming

products

• Lincoln Murphy (sixteenventures.com): Churn reduction,

growth strategies and increased engagement

• Vero blog (blog.getvero.com): Examples, swipe files and

inspiration

Getting Started

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The “Hail Mary” Email

4

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The Purpose of the “Hail Mary” Email

• Get as many trial customers to convert as possible

• It helps improve the ROI of your top-line spend

• Encourage users to try new features and/or experience your

product again.

Tips for great Milestone emails

• Focus on benefits, not features

• Give an offer or share a new experience/feature/story

• Make it EASY

Hail Mary Emails

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Help Scout

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Why This Email Rocks

• This email actually worked and is how Vero became a Help

Scout customer.

• It was sent 5-6 months after my initial trial expired.

• A decent offer, a simple CTA with a simple next step.

• They use social proof – see quote.

• It’s super clean.

Help Scout

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Sprout Social

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Why This Email Rocks

• There are clear reasons to come back: Sprout highlight new

features and/or feature I may not have seen.

• The process I have to take is three simple steps and gets me to

log back in (means they didn’t delete my account, that’s nice of

them :)

• It looks and feels ‘personal’. I could definitely hit respond and

ask questions or share concerns: great for both Sprout and

me.

Sprout Social

Page 38: How to Send Data-Driven Lifecycle Emails That Convert Every Time

THANK YOU

Chris Hexton

Vero co-founder and CEO