Game of Email Marketing – Email Marketing Lessons from Game of Thrones
- Updated on: 2018-10-19
- Read original article here
Game of Thrones
Winter is here!
Well, winter is here (finally!) and I am sure you must be all geared up supporting your houses and bearing their Siegel.
However, as all the houses are preparing for the battle of thrones, you as an Email Marketer, would also like to ensure that in the
battle for drawing customers, you are equipped with the right tools to succeed.
Monks have derived some striking similarities between the much-popular Game of Thrones and the much-loved Email
Marketing business. Now to make sure that you get our message loud and clear, we will be relating the traits of the characters to
the email marketing lessons to be derived from them - because when you play the Game of Thrones you win or you die, there is
no middle ground!
John Snow Stay True To the Purpose
One thing that clearly stands out in our Lord Commander is that irrespective of the tag, be it that of an “Illegitimate son” or “The King in the North”, he always stays true to his Values.
In terms of Email Marketing, your take should be to stay true to the purpose of your email campaign, whether it is about celebrating 1 year anniversary or rewarding your regular client, let go of the “*Conditions Apply” and avoid setting any improper expectations. Make sure you stay true to your purpose and it always resonates in your Email. Lastly, always Man the wall or in this case Man the values.
Arya Stark Be Adaptive to be Successful
The Daughter of Ned Stark has displayed tremendous will power till now and the thing that made her a survivor is her Adaptability! She started off as a Royal Princess and worked her way up to be an assassin, enhancing her skills and putting them to test at every opportunity.
Email Marketing is no different from her personality. You start small with a selected customer base and you expand your database by adapting to the latest trends and adding eye-catching variations like embedded video, animation or interactive elements in your Email. With this you ensure that when the tides turn, you will always end up on the favorable side.
Oberyn Martell Impact of the email content matters over the email size
One thing that Prince Oberyn’s fight with the Mountain displayed, apart from his un-paralleled valor, was that “Size does not matter” and what matters is how much heart and soul you display when the time comes!
So do not waste time in creating huge content that your recipients would be too bored to read! Instead, focus on packing the punch with the “Less is more” concept. Generate curiosity by using elements like Accordion & Collapsible carousel as this not only makes the email content short and crisp but also ensures that your message has been conveyed in a right way!
Syrio Forel Say ‘Not Today’ to eBlast
“There is only one God & his name is Death” and there is only one thing that we say to death, “Not Today”. Well, in this case there is only one God that is our Customer but we need to apply the “Not Today” concept. Here’s how:
When a lead turns into an SQL and our first instinct would be to immediately convert them into a client and shower them with emails about Testimonials, Welcome offers, etc. This is where we fall short. Let the lead have some buffer time to actually read your email and contemplate on it.
So choose your content wisely based on their preferences and see how things go. Check out which area client focuses on and present the next email with relevant content accordingly. The next time any such temptation kicks in, you know what to say!
Daenerys Targaryen Earn the loyalty of your customers
As the Mother of Dragons sets march to Westeros with her army of Unsullied, you cannot help but wonder the loyalty her army has shown towards her. That sort of loyal customer base would be any Email Marketer’s dream! Imagine the Click rates and Open rates.
Now do not get disheartened if you have a small subscriber base. Remember how a couple of seasons back, Daenerys did not even have a handful of soldiers at her disposal!? Well, that didn’t stop her so why should you stop? Build your way to a large subscriber base, reward them for their loyalty every now and then, increase your client engagement and see for yourself how slowly but surely you create your own army of unsullied.
Lord Varys Learn your Customers and Personalize
The Master of Whisperers started off as a slave and resorted to stealing to make ends meet until he realized that “Information is far more valuable than any stolen goods”. His strong spy network of little birds earned him a spot in the small council. His Journey shows how crucial information can be if used at the right moment.
Know your customer, personalize your emails by addressing them by their name and not just sending sequential emails, know the important dates in their life and suggest them products based on their purchasing history. Knowledge is Power and what you do with it will determine whether you end up in the small council or in a dungeon. Choose wisely!
Jaime Lannister Don’t be afraid to take chances
This valiant warrior, throughout the entire series, has been taking chances and in the end, the odds generally work in his favor. Be it his stabbing the Mad King or his secret expedition to Dorne, he always sorted to tactics that were out of box or “Off the tower” quite literally in this case!
Similarly, it is rewarding to step out of your comfort zone and build your Email in an unorthodox manner wherein you let go of the stereotypical content, repetitive subject line and try out a different campaign at different time of the day/week & figure out what’s working for you and what’s not. Once you have figured out the right time to attack, go ahead with the killer campaign.
Cersie Lannister Unsubscribes - Burn them all
The thing that Cersie displays with utter class is the way she crushes her haters along the way and not to forget the fireworks at the sept of Baelor.
Now the positive take from this for email marketers is to burn down your email subscriber list, ‘burn’ out the email addresses of the clients who have opted to unsubscribe and let go of the clients who have been inactive for a quarter now! As harsh as this might be it will be helpful in the longer run. Not to mention that there are thousands of houses to approach out there, start proposing Alliance right away!
Takeaways
Use relevant information and personalize your Emails.
Build loyal customer base and reward them.
Send Timely Emails at proper intervals.
Burn them all - Unsubscribes & Inactive ones. Focus on potential ones instead.
Adapt your Email to latest trends.
