We know how important segmentation is in allowing you to target your subscribers with the most relevant content. So in the last few months we’ve been doing a lot of work on our segments feature, including releasing our new segments builder and extending the way rules could be created.

We’re now excited to unveil one of our most popular feature-requests – segments in autoresponders. You can now use what you know about your subscribers to send them more relevant autoresponder emails and combine the power of the most relevant message with sending it at the best time.

Here are a few ways you might want to use segments in autoresponders:

Personalized welcome emails

Say you run an online clothing store and capture whether someone is male or female when they sign up. Now you can use that information to send gendered versions of your welcome email and make your communications highly targeted from the very beginning.

Targeted birthday emails

If you’re sending birthday emails to customers using the anniversary of a date autoresponder option, you could apply segments to make the campaign even more relevant. For example, you could identify VIP customers based on how much they’ve spent with you over the past year, and then target the VIP customer segment with an extra special birthday gift.

Subscription renewal series

Or finally, say you sell annual virus protection software subscriptions. Using the exact match of a date autoresponder option you could set up a series that sends a renewal notification out 30 days before the subscription expiration date. You can then use information on whether someone has paid or not paid, to target those who have not renewed at the 15 day mark and then again at the 7 day mark. Each email in the series would only be sent to those who fell into the segment ‘have not paid’, which would automatically refresh each time updated payment information was uploaded.

We know a lot of you were have been looking to see this feature so we’re really excited to share it with you. We look forward to seeing how you use it to improve how you communicate with subscribers and ultimately drive better results from your email marketing.

Auto-responders make it easy to stay on top of key aspects of your email campaign. Most companies use an auto-responder to welcome new subscribers, but these email gems are often overlooked when it comes to other types of contact. Ready to branch out? Consider using auto-responders in the following instances to help you stay connected with your subscribers.

Event News

Event registration, confirmation, announcements, and reminders can all be automated to reduce the workload for you while keeping your subscribers informed at the same time. Whether you’re planning a conference or a sales event, auto-responders will help you get the news out on time.

Birthday Offers

You don’t have to be a restaurant to send birthday offers. People love to feel special on their birthdays, so take advantage of that natural inclination toward opening this type of email and offer a discount or freebie to every member of your subscriber list using an autoresponder.

Abandoned Cart Follow-Up

How many sales does your website lose to shopping cart abandonment? Too many? Consider following up on abandoned carts with an auto-responder that reminds the subscriber of his recent searches. You can also save cart content using a cookie and send a follow-up email after a specified number of days to renew interest in those items.

Evergreen Newsletters

An evergreen newsletter uses the same content over and over again for each new subscriber. For instance, Subcribers A, B, and C will all receive the same Issue 1, Issue 2, and Issue 3, even though they each sign up three months apart. By using auto-responders to send these newsletters, you can stay connected with your new subscribers even if you don’t have time to generate unique newsletter content on a regular basis.

Loyalty Programs

Do you have a loyalty card that enables your customers to earn points or freebies based on how much they spend? Keep them shopping by sending regular reminders of how many rewards they’ve earned and how far they have to go before earning the next free item or discount.

Auto-responders are a great way to keep in touch with both new and old subscribers, long after you’ve sent the welcome email. Create customized drip-email campaigns through eConnect Email, sending emails based on the time, criteria and frequency you define. You can also use behavioral data, demographic information, or customer surveys to define email triggers that will keep your subscribers engaged and clicking.

The explosion of social media and mobile devices has proved to be a game-changer for email marketing. While email marketing is alive and thriving, strategies must change to capitalize on consumer behavior in order for companies to leverage their email marketing campaigns most effectively.  As we look back over 2010, we can note the shifts in online behavior and use those to project the coming trends for email marketing in 2011.

1. Consumers want real-time value.

The ability to post instant updates, tweets, and comments have trained consumers to expect those things from marketing campaigns as well.  You can begin incorporating real-time value into your email marketing by tracking customer behavior on social networks and using that data to create automated campaigns that deliver relevant messages based on triggers and auto-responders created with eConnect Email.

2. Mobile versions increase in popularity.

Some experts predict that 2011 will see mobile device sales outperforming PC sales for the first time in history.  Because people check email on mobile devices more frequently than ever before, you’ll need to make sure your email templates/ campaigns are designed to accommodate these users.  Curious how your email campaign will display within a specific email system or mobile devices?  We’ve got you covered, check out Inbox & Mobile Previews, a premium feature available within eConnect Email.

3.     Social media takes center stage.

2010 was the year social media came into its own, and 2011 will be the year that it takes center stage in a wide variety of marketing efforts, including email marketing. You can incorporate you social media efforts into your email marketing campaign by including links to Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites within your email campaigns. You can also include eConnect Email’s built in social sharing tools which will allow your subscribers to share your email campaigns via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Buzz (talk about expanding your reach).  Now also available is a feature that allows you to integrate a Facebook “Like” option into your email campaign, the whole process takes less than 10 seconds!

4.     Social media gives back.

Not only can you use email to help promote your social media efforts, but you can also begin using social media to increase email opt-ins. By placing opt-in opportunities on your Facebook fanpage and in your Twitter posts, you can increase the number of overall subscribers.

5.     Dynamic content becomes the norm.

As people share their opinions and product review information, they’ll become more likely to expect businesses to incorporate this data into their marketing campaigns. Using eConnect Email’s Dynamic Content tools will allow you to create a one-to-one email marketing experience which will keep your subscribers engaged!

As email marketing sets sail in 2011, businesses will need to embrace social media and look for tools that will enhance and engage your subscribers like never before.  eConnect Email can help you stay on course by giving you the tools you need to meet and exceed user expectations every time.

In the aftermath of Black Friday and with Christmas just a couple days away, most businesses are operating on full-throttle holiday adrenaline. Promotional emails and advertising messages flood customer inboxes, but if businesses could step inside the mind of the reader as they’re faced with all these emails, what would they find?

During the week of Black Friday (and also, incidentally, Thanksgiving) I received nearly 70 promotional messages from dozens of retailers between my two email accounts. One of those retailers sent me six messages during that week—seven, if you count the email I received on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Of those 70 emails, only two acknowledged the holiday that supposedly enjoyed the limelight that week. Call me sentimental, but I enjoyed being wished a Happy Thanksgiving, even by a company with whom I rarely shop.

What’s the point? It’s that customers like to be appreciated and treated as people. Not every email you send has to say thanks, and there is definitely a time for promotional emails that advertise special sales events. But there’s also a time and place for letting your customers know you appreciate them—and not just after they’ve made a purchase. Here are some tips for crafting a thank you message that will keep you on your customers’ nice list this holiday season.

• Personalize

Include the customer’s name and other relevant info such as the last product they purchased. Use eConnect Email’s custom fields/ mail merge features to further personalize email for every customer you contact.

• Invite Feedback

Ask your customers how their purchases worked for them and whether they have any comments about the service they received. Make it easy for them to reply and communicate your desire to hear from them.

• Be Timely

If you’re thanking a customer for his or her purchase, make sure they receive your email within 24-48 hours of the transaction. You can use eConnect Email’s personalized autoresponder/ email trigger capabilities to make sure emails arrive in a timely fashion.

• Include freebies or special discounts

If you really want people to know you appreciate them, give them a little something extra. An additional 10% discount or a free gift with purchase can go a long way toward cementing your relationship with your customers.

Whether you’re responding to a purchase or just checking in with a subscriber you haven’t heard from in a while, a thank you email can boost your company image significantly in the eyes of your customers. Use the personalization and list management tools available from eConnect Email to design a thank you note that will fill your readers with holiday cheer.

Do you read the welcome emails that show up in your inbox? For most people, the answer would be “probably not.”  For me it depends on whether the subject line captures my attention, whether I remember the company, and whether I think it’s going to be worth my time. Fail to achieve any of these goals and you can kiss your readership good-bye. Superb welcome emails show personalization, relationship, timeliness, and value for the reader. With eConnect Email, these key elements are easy.

Personalization

“Dear Stella” works much better than “Dear New Member” when it comes to capturing a viewer’s attention. Make the reader feel like you value him enough to remember his name and he’s more likely to keep reading past the salutation. In addition, sign your letters with a person’s name rather than with a generic “thank you from the team.” Make your welcome emails look like a letter, not like a form. Keep it personal by using the custom fields/demographics feature that eConnect Email offers to merge subscriber data into each welcome email you send.

Relationship

Your welcome email should say more than “welcome.” It should also include a hint for the reader of what they can expect out of their relationship with you. Intrigue them, but don’t put all your cards on the table at once. For instance, if you’re a fitness gym, talk about a six-week program to achieve the goal the user specified at sign-up.

Timeliness

Have you ever received a welcome email from a company you don’t remember interacting with? This usually happens because the company sends welcome emails out in batches, meaning that an individual subscriber might not receive his letter for two or three weeks when the next batch gets sent out. Keep readers interested in your company by using autoresponders to send an immediate message to new subscribers. Also, don’t forget to personalize the messages too by using eConnect Email’s merge tags, or dynamic content to create unique content for each subscriber.

Value

Because of the sheer number of  email messages competing for your subscribers attention, it’s vital that you communicate value to your readers from the very first email you send. Offer a discount, give them a sneak preview of an upcoming event, or provide a tip of the week.

Takeaway

By incorporating personalized, timely messages that communicate value and build relationships, you can capture your readers’ attention from day one. Use the tools available through eConnect Email’s customizable delivery system to deliver brilliant welcome emails that will leave new subscribers hungry to read more.

I recently subscribed to Entertainment Weekly and naturally gave them my email address when I created my profile online. Not long after, I received an email from Entertainment Weekly that said I could register for the Advance Screening Program and see new Hollywood movies before they hit the theaters.

Unfortunately, the email was too good to be true. After reading the first paragraph it was pretty clear that this email was not recently updated as it referenced Shrek The Third, which came out in 2007 and Dreamgirls, which was released in late 2006. Rush Hour 3 which is pictured in the movie poster was also released in 2007.

It appears that this email was set up as an autoresponder but was later abandoned by Entertainment Weekly. Do they still offer advanced movie screenings to their subscribers? Do they even realize that their subscribers are still receiving these emails? Surely, if they realized that the emails were still being sent they would take the time to update them every few months with more recent movies. It’s just good advertising.

If you have autoresponders and triggers set up, think about their content. Will any of it become dated? How quickly will your autoresponders become irrelevant? How often should you update them? Do you need to set up a system to remind you to update that information frequently to keep everything in your triggers fresh?

Updating your triggers and autoresponders won’t take much time and it will keep your content from looking as dated as last summer’s top ten list.

Until just a few years ago big city newspapers like the NY Times were the premiere news source for people who wanted more news than the fifteen or so 30-second clips they could get on the evening news TV shows.  Times have changed dramatically.  Now those same sources are scrambling to find ways to compete successfully with sources that provide free access to all sorts of news to customers who access portals at virtually any time of day of night.  Some newspapers are trying to find ways to monetize their content and information.  Theirs is a delicate balance; they must move carefully so that they don’t jeopardize their reputation for accurate reporting while at the same time trying to figure out how to get readers to pay for what some provide free-of-charge.  The situation is a marketer’s nightmare, for sure.

In a day of real-time anything, wise media companies need to focus first on creating great content and then on getting it to their customers quickly.  The customers will choose for themselves which content/access combination they feel is best, and will utilize that one.  Companies in this situation also need to broaden their thinking regarding the service they provide.  To compete effectively, a media company must view itself as competing with all sorts of providers.  It’s not enough to simply see yourself as a radio station, a newspaper company or a TV station in competition with other local radio stations, newspapers or TV stations.  Internet, RSS and email have essentially reshaped several media markets into one giant market.  The customer still wants great news content delivered quickly, but now it needs to be delivered right to his inbox or as a feed on Twitter.

Winning in this market will require that the content and the delivery are just right.

One media company’s example.

Even though generating good content is important and has its challenges, doing so is not the major difficulty faced by the average media firm.  The key challenge is to get that information through the available channels in a way that an audience wants it.  A major issue here is whether or not a website has the capacity to regularly update its content.  The consumer looking for headlines doesn’t want to read from a page that’s no longer current. So, how does an audience know that content is updated?

We realize that email marketing is not the only way to reach customers.  However, since we are an email marketing service provider, we are obviously biased toward that medium as a preferred method.  Not long ago we assisted a traditional TV network with 14 affiliates as it started delivering headlines and breaking news alerts directly to customers’ inboxes twice daily.  At the same time in the morning and in the afternoon customers found updated news pieces waiting in their inboxes.

To accomplish this we used our RSS-to-Email technology combined with our advanced triggers/advanced scheduling. The network employees do the jobs they know best; they create and publish excellent articles.  Our technology allows them to automatically deliver that great content twice daily to thousands of inboxes.  They don’t have to do a thing.

Now that this first step is implemented, this media firm can start working to integrate social networking and mobile alerts.  This first step has shown that customers want information quickly and that by accessing the available information they are indicating their preference for it in particular format.  The message to this firm—and a host of other companies—is clear.  It’s time to look beyond a single information channel and be willing to provide information how, when and where the customer wants it.  Companies that don’t do so may find themselves without an audience.