Think Summit 2022: How to Imitate First Class Brand Campaigns

Everyone loves a good success story. But when marketers feel overwhelmed with disparate data sources, unresponsive teams, or rigid marketing calendars that aren’t resonating with customers, they need more than a polished campaign as an example. A behind-the-scenes look that teaches them how to put those top-tier campaigns into practice is a must.

That’s exactly what Meera Ganesan, Associate Director of Client Success at Movable Ink, wanted to present. At Think Summit 2022, she not only shared stunning client campaigns she walked the audience through why they yield results and how they augment the customer journey. 

It’s not enough to share Movable Ink’s Forrester TEI—an impressive 373% ROI and a 40% reduction in production time—brands must dig deep into the tools and techniques behind that success.

Get a recap of Meera’s presentation and discover how your brand can build first-class campaigns that inspire consumers from their very first interaction, engaging them for a lifetime. 

Make a Winning First Impression

A first impression can either intrigue or disengage a new customer. How do brands make the most of a first meeting and spark customers’ interest? By getting to know them and making them feel understood. The best way to do this is by asking them questions that show the brand cares. 

To ask the right questions, you need the right data. For 88% of marketers, collecting first-party data–customers’ direct interactions with the brand—is their priority. Similarly, 90% of customers are ready to share their behavioral data for cheaper, smoother brand experiences despite the rise in privacy restrictions. An easy way to collect this data while driving engagement? Through polling. 

Here, Aveda uses live polling to better understand customers’ hair care needs. In the first email, recipients choose their primary hair health concern, triggering a follow-up email tailored to their response. The follow-up email features product suggestions that will best mitigate their hair concerns with a hero image to match. To top it off, an exclusive discount is included, motivating them to make a purchase.

For those who didn’t vote in the initial poll, Aveda kept the conversation going by sending a one-size-fits-all email to keep the brand at the forefront of every customer’s mind. 

Palace takes this a step further with progressive polling that walks customers through consideration and purchase cycles. Polls aren’t just a great conversation starter—marketers need to keep the questions coming so they can keep up with customers’ ever-changing preferences. 

There’s something about being remembered that builds trust. Get on a first-name basis with your customers and show them that they left an impression. 

Here, the customer’s name is inserted into an image to drive relevance. When nearly 80% of consumers expect their favorite brands to know who they are and deploy content based on their preferences, personalized heroes are a must. With just this single step towards personalization, conversions increase by 6X on average.

It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it. Add a layer of fun and gamify the personalized experience with product reveal scratch-offs or time targeting quizzes to capture customers’ attention.

Keep Customers Hooked with a Good Story

Don’t let that initial spark of interest die. Show customers you’re paying attention long after they’ve onboarded.

Year-in-reviews are a great way to do that, because everyone loves learning a little more about themselves. Celebrate milestones by giving customers insight into their own purchase habits, and reinforce brand value by displaying all the ways the brand has served them over the past year.

Yearly reviews don’t just work for active customers with stacks of data points. Brands only need one interaction to get started. The key to maximizing these campaigns? Data visualization that is visually engaging  and quick to comprehend.

You don’t have to wait until the end of the year to keep customers in the know. Are they wondering how close they are to premium status? Send a visual progress bar to drive quick action. Is their customer profile just shy of completion? Offer a points bonus for filling out that last question. Maximize uses of existing visualization modules that stay fresh with automated personalization.

Repurposable campaigns not only delight customers, they’re an easier lift on the brand. On average, messaging that’s built from customer behavior reviews, such as the year-in-review, reduces production time by 40% for design, email, and coding teams. It’s time to scrap one-and-done creatives and automate these data-driven campaigns to continually update as customers evolve.

Evergreen Content For Lasting Customer-Brand Relationships

The heart of marketing is building relationships with customers between milestones such as conversions and upsells. Few brands execute this as well as Ulta does. The “all things beauty, all in one place” brand is known for their loyal following, and for good reason. With a vision to deliver the email of the future, Ulta cut out their biggest bottlenecks with the power of Movable Ink and quickly developed a long-term brand experience personalized to each customer.

Meera presented Ulta’s pillar campaigns that consistently produce first-class results. Each campaign uses changeable templates that are easily personalized, making intentional content an easy lift.

Here, Ulta added an evergreen integration for all of their marketing emails: the store locator and abandoned cart trigger. Using APIs to ensure updated information, this set-it-and-forget-it module is easily automated and stays relevant with every send.

Ulta understands the power of live polling to get to know their audience and make them feel known. By consistently collecting customer data, Ulta is always able to suggest the perfect product to complete the look. With Movable Ink, scaling  zero- and first-party data becomes simple and implementing sophisticated personalization becomes the norm.

One of the best ways to keep customer-brand relationships strong is through loyalty programs, and Ulta is known for theirs. Each loyalty email is an engaging 1:1 experience that scales easily no matter how fast their loyalty list grows. In this monthly statement, customers receive beautiful visual graphs and charts that represent their loyalty progress. From points earned to how close they are until  they reach their next membership tier, customers stay in the know and are incentivized to make a quick action.

From product suggestions to activity sum-ups, each message from Ulta is an intentional experience that delights the customer.

A common theme behind all of Ulta’s pillar campaigns? They are all evergreen and can be easily repurposed with the power of Movable Ink’s automated personalization.

Scalable 1:1 personalization is the one-size-fits-all method for every brand. Steal these ideas and many more by viewing all of the insightful Think Summit sessions on-demand today.