Marketing Cloud Content Builder has multiple features that marketing teams should consider using to analyze and optimise the email campaign sent through Marketing Cloud. In one of many surveys on email marketing, 47% of respondents claim that email marketing is the most effective way for increasing customer loyalty and retention.
If you’ve invested in Marketing Cloud, you should be taking advantage of all that Content Builder can offer. Here are 5 features any modern marketer should consider using.
1. Responsive Email Templates and Content Blocks
Create responsive email designs with pre-built templates, layouts, and content blocks.
Content Builder allows you to create email with content blocks. The main advantage is when filling in the layout blocks, you don’t need to worry about responsive email design — they will automatically adjust to every device and email service.
With content block drag-and-drop capabilities, they are a powerful combination to empower every marketer regardless of email development skills.
Pre-built layouts save time to focus, instead on creating engaging content rather than development. Even if you require highly customizable emails designed using your HTML and CSS, you can still benefit from these pre-built layouts.
2. Interactive Email Content
Increase engagement and click-through (CTR) with interactive content.
Interactive content, such as Email Forms and Image Carousels, mean that your subscribers can enjoy a more engaging experience.
Interactive Email Forms: allow marketers to capture subscriber data such as preferences, reviews and leads directly from embedded forms in an email.
Image Carousel: add up to five rotating images into the email body, to provide a visual overview of products and services, for example. Note: this feature is only available for customers using Apple Mail or iOS Mail, otherwise the receiver will see the primary image only.
The main purpose of email marketing is to lead the recipient to make an action. With the new in-built forms, this can be far more effective, as the action steps are shorter. The recipient has everything readily available enabling them to complete forms easily.
Popular Use Cases for Interactive Email:
- Welcome email: ask several questions to gather the subscriber’s preferences. You can then personalize subsequent content and interactions.
- Product interest email: when a customer browses a specific product category on your website, you can send an email with an image carousel to highlight the different features. With an embedded button “add to basket” customers are able to instantly make a purchase.
Feedback form: this can be a real pain point. Adding a review form directly in an email will increase the chances of getting feedback in the moment, while their experience is fresh in their mind.
Be careful not to add forms everywhere. Interactive Email Forms will not work if there are too many in one email, causing overload and confusion for the subscriber.
Another tip is to ensure the email content guides the reader gently through the interactive elements with clear call to actions at regular intervals.
3. Email Personalization with Marketing Cloud
Deliver relevant, highly personalized content with 1-to-1 personalization
There are multiple options for boosting personalization in Marketing Cloud:
Dynamic Content: deliver targeted content for each specific audience segment, displayed as content blocks depending on the subscribers’ attributes, for example, show variation A for subscribers in the UK, and variation B for those located in France.
Personalization Strings: insert subscriber data or system data to the subject, preheader and email body, for example, the recipient’s name, location, address, specific dates booked or products bought, etc.
AMPscript: a scripting language to leverage advanced dynamic content scenarios. When using AMPscript, you’ll be able to control logic, configure data formatting and validations. For example, you can set the tone of voice for each customer, more formal communication for some, and more casual emails with humour for others.
4. Marketing Cloud Einstein for Email
Optimize email campaigns with the power of AI
Leveraging AI may not be the first thing you think about when running campaigns, but those that have access to these capabilities are able to minimize the effort involved in deploying campaigns and take advantage of analytics and recommendations.
Einstein Content Selection
Einstein will automatically choose the right asset from the asset pool which is likely to engage customers better and lead to the recipient completing a desired action. All you need to do is provide Einstein with assets and customer information!
Einstein Send Time Optimization (STO)
Uses machine learning to analyze email engagement data for each subscriber and determine the best timeframe to send a message (sending the right content at the right time).
For example, you define any time frame for an email campaign – let’s take a week. Einstein will choose the day and time to send this email to each customer: one customer will receive it on Monday at 11 am, another on Sunday at 8 pm — depending on the predicted likelihood of the message being opened.
Einstein Copy Insights
Einstein helps create engaging subject lines by analyzing previous subject lines to define the top performers and share recommendations.
Einstein Splits in Journey Builder
Design longer, more interesting journeys for the recipient, based on if and when they took the previous call to action in the journey, eg. email open, click, convert, unsubscribe etc.
5. Content Builder Approvals
Automate routine process with Content Builder Approvals.
A common need for marketing teams: a new email template requires approval from management before sending. Instead of an ad-hoc, manual process (which is prone to disorganisation and error), automate this process with Content Builder Approvals.
Emails can be submitted by the user, and must be approved before it can be sent to an audience.
Bonus: Litmus
Litmus is our bonus tool which we recommend for everyone working with custom email design. When we can’t use pre-built content blocks and layouts, we create an HTML email layout. In this case, the email requires thorough testing to ensure it will be delivered correctly. Litmus can be seamlessly integrated with Content Builder and allows you to test emails for any email service and device.
Summary
Leveraging these Marketing Cloud capabilities in the right way will increase engagement and email campaign ROI. The best results always come with a comprehensive marketing strategy involving multiple research elements and providing customers with omni-channel interactive experiences. Aligning email campaigns to Customer Journey will provide insights and optimisation capabilities, elevating your email marketing strategy to a whole new level.