Author: Franz Malten Buemann

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If you’re in marketing, chances are you’ve heard about A/B testing. As for whether you’ve actually had time to put it into practice, that’s a whole other story. For small business owners or marketers who are trying to do everything themselves, it can be tough to add yet another task to the ever-revolving list of…
The post How to Do A/B Testing and Why You Should appeared first on Benchmark Email.

What does a great email design look like in the nonprofit space? Is it form or function? Style or substance?
A well-designed email can mean the difference between your readers clicking through your email and donating or not even bothering to open it. 
Today we’re going to talk about components that make up a great email in 2021, such as having a snappy headline, straightforward copywriting, and simple template design.
Grab your reader’s attention
Any non-profit looking to drive donations needs a watertight email strategy. It’s a great way to show readers the impact of their donations and how you’re putting their money to good use. 
The first step you need to take is getting them to notice you. 
A well-designed email with great copy jumps out at the reader from the inbox. It’s hard to resist and demands attention. So, how do you achieve this effect? Let’s start at the beginning.
Nail the subject line
Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it’s an excellent tactic for writing subject lines. If you can leverage curiosity, you can intrigue your reader into opening your email. 
A great subject line:

Highlights the benefits of opening the email
Is concise enough to get the message across without giving too much away
Is personalized to the reader

Spend time writing various subject lines until you find the perfect fit. You only get one chance to interest your reader with the subject line, so make it count. 
Keep it simple
Too many people make the mistake of designing overly complicated emails. While they can look great, it’s not always the best format for email newsletters. 
Simple, mobile-friendly templates with one to three columns are effective because you can use them to direct your reader’s eye to the most critical components of your email.

Source: UNICEF
This email by UNICEF is a great example for several reasons:

It uses the inverted pyramid design to guide readers through the email
It uses powerful images to invoke readers’ emotions
It has a simple message and a clear call to action

Clear, engaging copy
When you study the structure of an email that converts well, you’ll notice there’s a certain something about it. What makes such emails capture readers’ attention? 
It’s simple: Punchy, concise copy.
Most people don’t read email copy in its entirety—they skim. This can be used to work in your favor. Just design your email to include blocks of text with eye-catching copy.
Once the first sentence hooks them, keep them reading until they get to the most important part—the call-to-action. In the non-profit space, this is typically an ask for a donation.

Source: WWT
This email by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust is doing several things right: They’re emphasizing their key message: Donate. The donate-specific links and buttons are highlighted in orange throughout to draw attention. 
The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust also uses specific language like “now is a crucial moment” and “wetland wildlife needs your help like never before” to create a sense of urgency.
It’s worth taking a moment to talk about the effects COVID-19 has had on nonprofits and email marketing. COVID-19 has put a lot of charities under pressure. Vulnerable people are even worse off, and that’s something you can discuss honestly with your readers.
Open rates, click-through rates, and email signups have soared during the pandemic, so you need to think about how to make the most of your email list with design and content curation.
Well-arranged content
Finally, the way you arrange the elements in your email is essential. 
Use the inverted pyramid principle to direct your readers’ attention to those parts of your email that contain the most important information. 
That means starting with an eye-catching headline, then have a few sentences of supporting information, and top it off with a clear CTA at the bottom of the pyramid (i.e. click here).
Wrap up
Now you know how to design an email that stands out and drives donations. You’ve learned the importance of keeping eyeballs on screen, simple templates to focus reader attention, and the power of clear copy.
If you’re ready to take your email strategy to the next level, Campaign Monitor is here to help. 
But before you run off and launch your nonprofit email campaign, be sure to read our ultimate guide to email campaign design.
 
The post What Great Email Design Looks Like for Nonprofits In 2021 appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

Dear CRM experts, I come to you today as I am currently writing my master thesis on the future of CRM software. Following several interviews, I have been able to draw theories on the future of CRM, and now need your help to refine my research. You will find below the link to a short survey: (5 minutes) https://forms.office.com/r/XwgpYfjHA2 I would greatly appreciate your insight as you could provide what I lack in matter of years of experience ! I thank you by advance for your participation and would be delighted to share my research once my thesis completed if it raised your interest.
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That often misunderstood and downplayed role of Chief Customer Officer can help you make a real difference in your business. Learn exactly what the CCO role is and how to leverage its potential.

 

What is a CCO?

 

We’ve become accustomed to positions such as CEO, CMO, or CTO. However, in recent years, we often come across a completely new acronym that makes most of us scratch our heads in an expression of helpless wonder. I’m talking about CCO. 

 

CCO stands for Chief Customer Officer. Just 20 years ago, this position was practically non-existent, and today it is a group of over 6,000 people on LinkedIn. Its sudden appearance has a lot to do with the evolution of business. As the value of customer experience has rapidly increased, it has become the biggest asset for companies, replacing things like product quality. 

 

According to a Deloitte study, customer-focused companies are 60% more lucrative than those that do not prioritize their customers and the experiences they may face during the buying process. That’s why introducing CCO has become a burning issue for many companies providing all kinds of B2C services.

 

The job of Chief Customer Officers

 

One of the biggest challenges for both customers and executives is to properly define what CCOs are and what they are doing. Here we are, rushing to explain! Now, even when asked about the Chief Customer Officer, half-asleep in the middle of the night, you will give a flawless answer! 

 

The main challenge CCOs are facing is to improve the interaction between the company and the customer. As part of the board, we can see them as, to some extent, key influencers. A Chief Customer Officer often referred to as a Chief Client Officer is primarily responsible for designing, building, and implementing a remarkable customer strategy for business. 

 

What it means, that from the moment the company hires a CCO, this person has real-time influence over different company departments related to customers. It can be either Customer Success or Service, Customer Marketing, and even Technical Support, as they do contact the clients directly. 

 

In terms of responsibility for specific workflows, the CCO bears the burden of several key processes such as:

 

increasing Customer Lifetime Value – increasing the total amount of money the customer is expected to spend on the brand, 
ensuring Customer Retention – establishing a set of actions to increase the number of repeat customers,
maintaining Customer Loyalty – assuring that the customer will remain loyal to the brand,  
increasing the likelihood of recommendation – the likelihood that the customer will recommend the company to others,
keeping an eye on the renewal rate – % of the revenue that has been renewed in a given period.

 

Coming down to the merit of what CCOs do, it’s a combination of many tasks swirling around customer’s needs, such as:

 

managing teams that are customer-facing, 
overseeing marketing activities for clients, 
working with customer service representatives,
discussing new releases with developers, 
supporting customer service and customer success management.

 

5 Reasons to hire CCO

 

54% of U.S. consumers say customer experience at most companies needs improvement. For this exact reason, you have to hire a CCO. Here’s what a Chief Customer Officer can do for your company:

 

1. Enable cross-functional cooperation to break down silos

 

In most companies, departments are siloed and do not work together. This often leads to an excessive focus on their own issues, forgetting what is most important: the customer. 

 

The CCO’s job is to make sure that all departments are working together for a common cause, putting the customer at the center of everything. This way, marketing, sales, customer service, and even developers have a unified vision of a customer-centric approach.

 

2.  Improve relationships with customers

 

You might think of the Chief Customer Officer as the representative and voice of customers. In our work culture, when everyone is weighed down by their tasks, it’s easy to lose touch with the customer. The CCO’s job is to advise customer success teams on how to maintain a strong, valuable relationship.

 

3. Manage loyalty programs and feedback

 

CCOs are the people responsible for listening to feedback and increasing customer loyalty. Since customer feedback is what should drive a company’s actions, a person who listens and learns from it is sorely needed. 

 

Without well-addressed feedback, customer-focused activities would simply go in circles without a clearly defined path. The COO can identify the right feedback tools to close the information loop.

 

4. Enhance the process configuration

 

Once the feedback is collected, CCOs can focus on interpreting this data to get to the true customer point of view and develop new processes that incorporate the data. 

 

New processes will help track and map customer expectations, ensuring alignment with customer needs, and redesigning existing, broken processes.

 

5. Invaluable Help in communicating with employees

 

Satisfied customers are the glue that holds together every company that strives to be the best in the market. But we must not forget that the happiness of employees is equally important. An awesome Chief Customer Officer ensures that both customers and employees are treated equally. 

 

The COO’s job in this regard is to make sure they are both up to date on changing company policies, implementation of new procedures, or data ethics, prior to implementation. 

 

And there you go – 5 reasons why you should hire a CCO for your business. I hope you’ve come to understand their role in both – growing and established businesses because they can make a real difference in how you handle the communication, transaction, and loyalty processes with your customers.