Podcast Summary: The Digital Marketing Podcast – "Effective Email Marketing"

Hosts: Ciaran Rogers, Daniel Rowles
Guest: Philip Storey (Enchant Agency)
Date: February 12, 2018

Episode Overview

This episode delivers a masterclass on effective email marketing, focusing on maximizing the power of email as a customer relationship channel. Email expert Philip Storey shares advanced insights on lifecycle-driven strategies, the evolving toolkit for marketers, and practical advice for creating successful automated sequences. The discussions explore common pitfalls, actionable methodologies, and how marketers can elevate the customer experience beyond one-off campaigns.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Email’s Enduring Value and Underutilization

[01:16 – 02:00]

• Philip Storey emphasizes that despite the allure of newer channels, email remains the highest performing channel for return on investment (ROI) ([01:16]).
  • “The money is still there with email marketing. The truth is, 99% of companies are really just scratching the surface.” – Philip Storey [01:21]
• Many marketers get minimal results yet neglect deeper potential due to the perceived adequacy of “good enough” tactics.

2. Creating Effective Email Sequences: The "Give/Get" Approach

[02:02 – 04:11]

• Sequences = Automation. Start by simulating what a real human conversation would be like, focusing on customer needs and questions.
  • Don’t skip to your goals—be customer-centric.
  • Use the "give/get" methodology: offer genuine value (not just discounts) before asking for conversion actions.
• Practical advice: Overwhelm inhibits action; prioritize, start small, and build iteratively.
  • "It’s about starting small and doing something and prioritizing everything and making sure that you take things one step at a time.” – Philip Storey [04:04]

3. Where to Start with Automation

[04:11 – 05:03]

• Identify key customer interactions to automate, such as app downloads, website browsing, or cart/basket abandonment.
  • "Make a list of all the different types of interactions that someone might have with your brand...even the most obvious one to go for straight away is basket abandonment for a retailer.” – Philip Storey [04:29]

4. Mapping the Customer Lifecycle with Email

[05:03 – 12:08]

• Visualize the lifecycle as a wheel with phases like:

  1. Attraction/Acquisition: How you gain subscribers and start relationships.
  2. Consideration: Nurturing interested prospects (e.g., browse triggers).
  3. Experience (Pre-delivery): Value during anticipation and onboarding.
     • Highlight: Brands like Sony sending instructions/resources post-purchase ([07:50]).
     • "Once you’ve placed your order...they’ll send you an email saying, 'We hope you’re looking forward to getting your new camera,' and give you the instructions as a PDF download.” – Philip Storey [07:51]
  4. Retention, Advocacy, Loyalty: Convert first-purchase to repeat/lifetime customers; generate referrals.
  5. Re-engagement/Win-back: Act before customers lapse; design real, human conversations to re-energize your audience.

• Encourage cross-department collaboration—marketers should support post-purchase experience, not hand off at conversion.

  • “The trend...is marketers helping other departments because we’ve got all the tools...we need to help these other departments with the tools and technologies that we have invested in.” – Philip Storey [09:48]

5. Essential Tools for Modern Email Marketing

[12:08 – 16:45]

• Email Service Providers have lagged in innovation; often require extra tools for true automation.
  • Fresh Relevance: Excellent for basket abandonment, live content in emails ([13:27]).
  • Autopilot: Budget-friendly, straightforward automation ([13:43]).
  • HubSpot: Gold standard for B2B, complete platform integration ([13:55]).
  • Taxi for Email: Simplifies creative design and HTML without tech headaches ([14:51]).
    • “Coding emails is a nightmare...so templating is absolutely critical.” – Philip Storey [15:12]

6. Overcoming Roadblocks: Integration and Single Customer View

[16:45 – 18:23]

• Legacy platforms and CRMs can be hard to integrate, leading to piecemeal solutions.
• Shockingly, some sizable brands still lack a proper CRM, relying on email platforms as makeshift solutions.
  • "To run a company without a single customer view is...not a place I would like to be in my organization." – Philip Storey [17:36]

7. Data-Driven Personalization & Cross-Channel Consistency

[18:23 – 23:12]

• The biggest power in email is "listening": using data signals to proactively personalize and automate follow-ups.
  • “The greatest power of email marketing...is the ability to listen.” – Philip Storey [18:53]
• Humanize your communication—pick up where the last interaction left off, don’t treat each email as a reset.
• Integrate with paid social for greater consistency; your customer expects the same experience across every channel.
  • "Customers...expect the same experience in each of those spaces." – Philip Storey [20:37]
• Start small and manageable, prove ROI, then expand—be “ruthlessly subtractive.”
  • "Don’t promise your organization that you’re going to do something really, really complex...be ruthlessly subtractive. Take stuff away." – Philip Storey [22:14]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "You can get away with doing it badly and still make a good return on investment." – Philip Storey [01:38]
• "You can’t walk away from a relationship on the first kiss. You need to develop that and actually, you know, you need to nurture that relationship." – Ciaran Rogers [08:46]
• On cross-function collaboration: “Marketers should help other departments with the tools and technologies that we have invested in.” – Philip Storey [09:59]
• "Listening and doing something, something like the basics of automation, to be proactive at following up on that engagement that you’ve listened out for, is really, really important." – Philip Storey [19:30]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:16] Email remains the most profitable channel
• [02:30] Starting point for strong automated sequences
• [05:13] Customer lifecycle approach and visualization
• [07:51] Enhancing post-conversion experiences (e.g., Sony’s onboarding emails)
• [13:27] Recommended tools for automation and design
• [17:36] The danger of a missing CRM
• [18:53] The power of listening and using engagement data
• [20:37] Cross-channel consistency and collaboration
• [22:14] Simplifying strategy for successful adoption

Conclusion

This episode provides a deep dive into moving beyond basic email blasts. Marketers are encouraged to:

• Think in terms of relationships over transactions,
• Map and address the entire customer lifecycle,
• Adopt and integrate the right tools,
• Focus on data-driven, cross-channel experiences,
• And to start simple to ensure sustainable, measurable growth.

For more on Philip Storey’s agency: enchantagency.com