GoodCents Blog Increasing Email Engagement in EE & DR Programs

Email marketing moves the energy efficiency (EE) and demand response (DR) conversation to the personal space of the inbox. It's a potent, cost-effective tool for generating program enrollments, with an ROI that tops out at 4,300 percent, according to the Direct Marketing Association. Despite these impressive stats, a lot of marketing emails get quickly deleted into oblivion. To make your content count, you need to ensure the emails you send are perceived as a value exchange for your customers, giving them information in exchange for their time.The top goal for email marketers is to increase their engagement rates and improve email personalization. Email segmentation, such as only sending lead generation emails to those identified as most likely to participate in the program, or sending one set of emails to those who have already enrolled in a program but not completed a project, and another to those who haven't yet enrolled, is at the crux of better open and click rates. Narrowing the focus makes your email campaign more relevant. And in the email marketing world, relevance equals engagement. But segmentation alone won't cut it-segmentation needs to be sophisticated, and it must create a user experience that feels personal. When email is customized to customers' needs, it leads to brand loyalty and conversion rates. Consumers want companies to track their purchasing history, communication preferences and the type of information they are most interested in.According to Marketo, three of the qualities that define engaging email are trustworthiness, relevance and striking the right tone. Here's why each attribute matters.