One of the most fundamental forms of communication around the world is the art of welcoming someone. You do it when guests visit your home, companies do it when onboarding new employees and even dignitaries do it when they host other world leaders.
The majority of business communication now happens digitally, yet so many brands—particularly B2B brands—miss the mark on mastering the art of a digital welcome. Marketing automation technologies leave no excuse for the absence of a welcome campaign, even in its simplest form.
Industry research (also supported by data from our experience at Simantel) indicates that a welcome campaign communication is five times more likely to solicit an email Open than other promotional mailings. And more importantly, up to seven times more likely to receive an email Click.
But where do you start? Here are some tips on a few key opportune moments for brands to consider ‘welcoming’ their customers or prospects to their brand experience.
Online Interaction with Your Brand’s Website
Sending an official welcome post-form submission is one of the easiest and most critical ways to welcoming new contacts. A website is the digital “storefront” of your brand.
In this situation, a welcome email gives the chance to put your best foot forward by introducing audiences to the brand family and initiating a dialogue. In the following example from our partners at Caterpillar, the Cat® Filters and Fluids business unit chose to incorporate an offer to entice users to set their subscription preferences.
A Brand Partnership
Sometimes contacts are made aware of your brand through a partnership, such as an association, network or two brands working together to build an offering. These partnerships can open doors for building your database and often times, officially welcoming new contacts is overlooked.
However, as a rule of thumb—always acknowledge the partnership that the contact came from right off the bat. It is not a best practice, nor recommended, to blindly email a list of contacts that haven’t opted-in for communication.
In fact, in several places internationally, it goes against anti-spam laws to email contacts without their explicit opt-in. If you are working globally, make sure to read up on international opt-in requirements to ensure you’re following international laws.
An In-person Exchange with the Brand
If your brand is heavily involved in the more traditional forms of marketing, like tradeshow or expo events, you may think that digital communication isn’t as relevant for your current tactics—think again!
Technology available today allows for instant digital communication with something as simple as the scan of a show badge. A digital welcome in this situation can open up opportunity for communication with some of your most valuable customers or leads. There are immense benefits to reap from tying your offline communication with your online marketing.
These three scenarios only scratch the surface of the marketing automation opportunities that are out there for B2B and B2C brands. There are so many other layers of customization, such as dynamic, data-driven content and account-based marketing, that can be added to these scenarios to make for an even better experience.
Download our infographic to find out 5 Marketing Automation Solutions or check out Abby’s Quick Take video below on building a brand experience.
So the next time your team is evaluating your brand’s digital experience, don’t forget about a welcome campaign!
For more information, contact our certified marketing automation specialist. We’d love to spark a conversation with you!
