Empathy in marketing communications fosters loyalty and retention, crucial in today's market.

"It's all about loyalty, building loyalty, treating people as people, and loyalty in today's market is so important and so valuable, and we've got to work on that retention of our clients. So putting them first and putting them at the heart of everything, really important."

Takeaway:

• Use empathetic messaging to strengthen customer relationships.
• Prioritize customer needs to enhance loyalty and retention.
• Build long-term success by focusing on human connections.

Proper onboarding and nurturing build strong relationships and improve campaign performance.

"There was a simple welcome email that just said, Thank you, and then kind of left me there. And then straight away, next day, bang into sales emails. No onboarding, no empathy, no value, no relationship building alongside that sales."

Takeaway:

• Implement comprehensive onboarding to engage new subscribers.
• Balance sales messages with value and relationship-building content.
• Enhance customer experience by guiding them through your offerings.

Thoughtful personalization requires consideration of how data is presented to avoid negative reactions.

"With your personalization, put some dynamic content in or exclude them from that email... if I see that I have taken 620 rides... I might look at that and go, Whoa, I'm taking far too many taxis here... So, when you're doing personalization, you've got to think about the humans behind it."

Takeaway:

• Avoid highlighting data that may cause customer discomfort.
• Set thresholds to personalize content appropriately for different users.
• Always consider the customer's perspective when personalizing communications.

Personalization is crucial for delivering thoughtful, empathetic communications that resonate.

"Massive. Absolutely massive. So we need to be using the data that they're telling us on sign-up forms... Recognizing what they've done in another channel over here. That's personalization. It's connecting all of those points together."

Takeaway:

• Utilize collected data to personalize messages across channels.
• Connect interactions to create a cohesive customer experience.
• Enhance relevance and empathy by acknowledging individual behaviors.

Using 'oops' emails may boost open rates but can harm trust if misused.

"They usually get higher open rates at least than normal emails. However, is that the KPI that we're going for?... If you use them at the wrong time, purely to try and... trick the opens, again, we're not going back to being genuine."

Takeaway:

• Be cautious with 'oops' emails to avoid appearing manipulative.
• Ensure mistakes are genuine before sending apology emails.
• Prioritize authenticity over short-term engagement spikes.

Balancing empathetic messaging with commercial goals requires appropriate metrics.

"Putting a conversion metric against that as a KPI doesn't work even at a basic level. So we need to start thinking about those kind of full funnel metrics... Connect the right KPI at the right level for that campaign."

Takeaway:

• Set realistic KPIs that match the objectives of empathetic campaigns.
• Use engagement metrics over direct conversions for empathy-driven emails.
• Demonstrate the holistic impact of empathy on brand loyalty and retention.

As empathetic messages become more common, adapting your approach is key to maintaining impact.

"Now it's becoming more mainstream, we need to adapt how we're doing it. Maybe it's a more subtle, just before your footer... call out for it for a couple of weeks before Mother's Day... But again, dig deeper. Understand your audience."

Takeaway:

• Avoid overusing empathetic messages that may fatigue subscribers.
• Incorporate empathy subtly to maintain authenticity.
• Continuously analyze audience behavior to refine your messaging approach.

Giving customers control over their inbox through snooze emails enhances engagement and trust.

"It gives your customers, your subscribers back control over what they're receiving from you so that you can make sure it's right for them. And certainly something that we recommend to our clients... is having those snooze emails for events that have an emotional connection. Mother's Day, Father's Day."

Takeaway:

• Implement snooze options for sensitive events to respect subscriber preferences.
• Empower customers by giving them control over the communications they receive.
• Enhance customer trust and loyalty through considerate messaging strategies.

Crafting empathetic messages that align with your brand and audience is vital for authentic communication.

"Yes, we need to be empathetic, but the way in which we do that changes depending on who you are, what your business is, what your brand is, and who your audience are, most importantly. So, yes, but be careful with it."

Takeaway:

• Align empathetic messaging with your brand's tone and identity.
• Understand your audience's needs to tailor messages appropriately.
• Avoid sudden shifts in communication style that may confuse subscribers.

Understanding the shift in email marketing from quantity to quality is crucial for modern marketers aiming to improve campaign performance.

"So for me...the difference...you know, moving very much from, let's just gather as much data as we can...to thinking more about how we're using it, what we know about our audience...and then connecting that in now as to how we can use that to be empathetic and deliver the right message to the right person at the right time in the right way for them."

Takeaway:

• Prioritize data quality over sheer volume to enhance campaign effectiveness.
• Leverage audience insights for personalized, relevant messaging.
• Incorporate empathy to deliver messages that resonate authentically with subscribers.