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How to Create a Landing Page in 10 Easy Steps

Emily Santos
Emily Santos
Nov 9, 2021
How to Create a Landing Page in 10 Easy Steps
How to Create a Landing Page in 10 Easy Steps

Designing a landing page is a lot like putting a house up for sale. You stage the place, take eye-catching pictures, and list it in hopes of achieving one goal: Selling the house.In the same way, a well-designed landing page gets you to a focused goal: Getting your customer to click on the CTA. Just as you would stage your house for the big sale, you have to make sure your landing page is designed with elements that will entice readers and lead them to click.You don’t need expert-level design skills to achieve a high-converting landing page. Narrowing in on the quality of your content and landing page design elements is a sure way to attain those big results.Are you helping your target audience and meeting their needs? Are you intriguing your customer base to the point of conversion? Think about these questions as you follow along with this step-by-step guide to start designing landing pages that convert.

Know when to use a landing page

Before we go any further, let’s pinpoint if a landing page is the right asset for your goals. Identify what type of page you want to use before you begin designing. Do you need a website or a landing page to achieve your goals?Use a landing page when:

  • You have one focused goal to achieve
  • There are few distractions and one CTA (Call-to-action: The action you want your customers to take)
  • You need to include sign up forms, lead initiating content, sale promotions

Use a website when:

  • You want to explain multiple goals and provide in-depth details
  • There are plenty of info regarding different goals and multiple CTAs
  • You need to build brand awareness and teach customers about your product

Now that we confirmed we need a landing page, you’re ready to jump into the design steps.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

How to build a landing page in 10 easy steps

Landing pages are supportive tools for your business. They work to achieve results like building your email list or driving purchases. Building a landing page requires you to identify the purpose of the page and then implement design elements that align with that purpose. Now let’s get into the nitty-gritty of the design process.

Decide on a campaign goal

By definition, landing pages have one focused goal. Before designing your landing page, determine what your goal will be. Is your landing page going to:

  • Drive sales? Display a specific product where the CTA leads straight to the shopping cart.
  • Boost conversions? Have a clear path to conversion that builds brand awareness.
  • Generate Leads? Grow faster by offering a product demo, free downloadable resource or sign up form.

Once you’ve decided on your campaign-specific goal, choose the template layout that fully supports your goal.

Plan your landing page layout

Your layout is what guides subscribers to achieve the goal of your landing page. The perfect landing page will have a visual hierarchy and includes a headline, your offering, an explanation of the benefits, visuals, a CTA and lead-capture forms.The visual hierarchy of your landing page content will do some of the legwork for you. It creates a natural, easy-to-read pattern for subscribers, which clarifies what action you would like them to take. The F-pattern or Z-pattern layout is recommended for a smooth read.

Also, always remember to prioritize content above the fold. This means that the most important content will be visible instantly upon opening the landing page. Important information and your CTA need to be front and center before you dive into more details.This technique is like a first impression, it gives visitors a quick look at what you have to offer before they scroll, which helps increase conversions faster. It’s also a way to be respectful of a visitor's time.

Write your concise copy

The copy is the driving force of your landing page. It’s how you entice visitors with your offer and communicate the benefits of why your product or service is worthwhile. When writing copy make sure to:

  • Develop a clear headline. State your offer and how it will benefit your visitors. Keep this short and concise.
  • Bring it back to the customer. Simply stating all the highlights of your product/service doesn’t help your visitor. Share the benefits, details and how this is going to help visitors in the short and long term. 
  • Don’t get too technical. Cut the technical jargon and make it simple for visitors to understand what you have to offer. 

Get straight to the point with your copy. Be clear about your explanation of why and how your offer will help customers and meet their needs.

Create your CTA

The CTA is the action you want visitors to take on your landing page. It’s the conversion-driving component and it should be crafted carefully. When designing your CTAs be sure to:

  • Prioritize a main CTA. Having one CTA is best for your landing page, but if you are including more than one, make sure your main CTA is larger and above the fold for visitors to clearly see and be drawn to.
  • Be descriptive. The copy you use inside your CTA will dictate if visitors care to click in or not. If you keep the copy vague, visitors will be less likely to click. Use specific language like, “Start your Free Trial” or “Add to Cart”. 

The simpler the action, the more likely visitors will take that action. Concise copy and visible CTAs is the key to converting visitors.

Choose your images/visuals

Include images that your visitors will connect with on an emotional level. Customers should be able to relate, laugh or feel comforted by the imagery you use. For example, use pictures of dogs if your product/service is related to dogs, or with skin-care products use images of people using your product or close-ups of skin before and after using your product.It all depends on what your product or service is, but make sure to be mindful of the visuals you use for your landing pages. Images that create a more personable experience are what will get customers to buy.For your landing page use images that are personable, emotional and make sure they are optimized. They should also support the copy and other components of your landing page. 

Plug in your design elements 

Stick to the visual hierarchy when you start plugging in your content. This is the best way to limit distractions and ensure visitors will read your content. Use one of BEE’s landing page templates or start from scratch and drag and drop content blocks to make your own template.Be sure to match the landing page with the rest of the assets you create. Visitors and subscribers should be able to recognize your brand when reading your content.Last, be sure to optimize for mobile, and this is made easy with our Mobile Design Mode. This allows you to switch between desktop and mobile view while designing and it will ensure that your content renders on all devices.

Integrate with tracking tools 

Integrate your landing page with Google Analytics and your CRM platform to analyze page performance. See what components are working and not working through this tracking and rework based on that info.It’s also helpful to set your custom domain (with a BEE Pro Agency or Enterprise plan). This is a sure way to raise brand awareness and customer credibility.

Double-check everything and then hit publish

Before publishing your page make sure to:

  • Check the copy
  • Solidify buttons and forms
  • Confirm that you’re focused on one goal

Make sure every component of your landing page is working properly to avoid any issues once it’s published.

Reel in traffic

Now that your landing page is live, it’s time to boast about it. Share your page through:

  • Email marketing
  • Social media handles
  • Social or pay-per-click (PPC) ads

These techniques are the best way to target different audiences and increase conversions at a faster rate.

Improve landing page with A/B tests and optimization

Keep an eye on your landing page. If certain components aren’t achieving their intended purpose then try implementing it in a different way. This could be through changing the copy, the CTA color or any other element that could use some tweaking.Test new elements and optimize everything to make sure the conversions continue to increase.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

How to build a landing page: Expert Insights with our Design Community

Now that you have reviewed each step of the design process and know how to create a landing page, it’s time to run through some insider design tips. Two of BEE’s freelance designers, Betina Todorova and Navid Nosrati blessed us with some expert advice on how to truly make the most of your landing page designs. Let’s take note:

The essentials

Betina: 

  • Define your purpose/goal. 

“The purpose of a landing page is to guide the user to achieve a specific goal, not just roam around your website. A landing page goal like signing people up for a webinar or getting them to subscribe to something. An important part of achieving this goal is to offer an incentive.” 

  • Structure your landing page (hero, body, CTA and footer).

“A hero section is where you have your headline/offering/value proposition,subheading and first CTA.In the body you have to build trust. You can put things like your USP (unique sellingpoints), social proof, reviews, customers you've worked with, etc. This is where you can also offer an incentive to help make up user's minds. For example if your goal is to sign up people for a webinar you can offer them a downloadable mini e-book.Then it's time for your finalCTA. This should be presented in a very clean and precise way so the user knows exactly what to do.”

Navid: 

  • Be purposeful about your layout.

“Having an asymmetrical balance on a page plays a main role. The purpose of a landing page is to create conversion and to do so the page needs to be designed in a way that leads the visitors to different sections of the page.”

  • Understand the weight each element carries and craft accordingly.

“The hero section has to have a clear value proposition and explain to visitors what's in it for them—this needs to be very powerful. Then, a strong call to action. We must tell visitors exactly what they need to do, for example: Click Here, Start For Free, Sign Up Here.And the most important part of a page is the visuals. We want to always show the visitors an image, and that image needs to be very clear and hopefully explain to them what they’re going to get. Normally, I design the images in a way that matches the header of that section so if the visitors are just scrolling without reading by looking at the image they still understand what that section represents.”

The nitty-gritty details

Betina:

  • Create a visual hierarchy.

Hierarchy is important, as this will guide the user along the page. The design of a landing page should be clean, not cluttered with 2 or 3 fonts max.”

  • Include an accent color.

“In your color palette you should have an accent color. Save this color for your CTA to draw attention. Many people make the mistake of using their accent color everywhere and this results in users leaving the page because they're not sure what to do. Also an accent color doesn't have to be bright/neon to draw attention. It just needs to have high contrast from the background color to stand out and not be the same as the copy text for example.”

Navid: 

  • Storytell with a Z-pattern technique.

“Look and feel is quite important. As a designer, my goal is to create a landing page to build trust and offer the visitors a great user experience. I most often use the Z-pattern technique to design my landing page, which is used for pages that follow the storytelling aspect.”

  • Be intentional about each specific element.

“In my designs, I always include:Typography hierarchy: Headlines (no more than 6 words), sub-headers  (compliments the header but does not repeat the wording and no more than 100 characters), and use bullet points (skim-friendly).Call-to-action: Exhibit value of CTA. For example, having a CTA like "Start Now For Free,” provides trust to visitors that they can start using or testing the product without paying.Visual: Images (not complex and evoke emotion), color palette (complementary colors, good contrast ratio and accessible to visually impaired visitors).Social proof: Builds immediate credibility and leverages the bandwagon effect (testimonials or reviews).”

The common mistakes to avoid 

Betina:

  • Too many CTAs, excess information, poor quality images.

“I think a few mistakes that are made are adding multiple CTAs, too much irrelevant information makes it difficult for the user to navigate the page. Also having a lot of menu items that lead to other pages and poor quality images that aren’t optimized.For example, check out Netflix’s site. Their sign up page doesn’t have any menu navigation. So you basically have nothing else to do other than to sign up.”

Navid: 

  • Inconsistent, broken or unstyled elements.

“Having inconsistent, broken or unstyled elements can be really hurtful to the landing page because visitors will see that and subconsciously doubt your brand.Another common mistake I often see is the designer of the page tries to show everything that they have to offer which can be overwhelming. The landing page is a very specific page with a very specific goal therefore it needs to be clear to the visitors and on point.”

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Create landing pages with BEE Pro

Now that you’ve got the steps on how to make a landing page and collected some expert insight, you’re more than ready to design a professional landing page. Head over to BEE Pro to start from scratch and try the step-by-step guide, or quickly input your content into one of our beautifully designed page templates (some created by Betina and Navid).Also, be sure to set your custom domain with BEE Pro. An Agency or Enterprise Pro account allows you to personalize your published landing pages by using your customized domain for a more on-brand experience. Learn more about this here.

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Maximizing your agency’s ROI with Madison Taylor Marketing

Learn the strategies that propelled Madison Taylor Marketing to increase their clients' ROI by over 300%.
Beefree team
Jul 26, 2024

Maximizing your agency’s ROI with Madison Taylor Marketing 

Founded over 15 years ago, Madison Taylor Marketing has become a well-known agency in Denver, Colorado, for its success in bringing unprecedented results to clients. The agency's smart strategies have helped clients ensure alignment, reduce costs, optimize their resources, and, more notably, maximize ROI by almost 300% across all marketing efforts. 

In a live session with Chris Copen, Chief Operating Officer, Cassie Renier, Creative Specialist, and Andrea Davis, Creative Manager, they shared their insight into how agencies can maximize their ROI with email marketing. 

What is ROI? 

“ROI, or Return on Investment, is one of our most important performance indicators as an agency. 

ROI is not just a metric, but it measures the profitability of our business and our investments and helps us understand the value that we're generating from our efforts and resources. 

By tracking ROI, we are trying to ensure that our strategies are effective, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions.

For agencies, achieving a high ROI is really important because it reflects our ability to deliver value to our clients and continually optimize operations. Ultimately, this empowers us to drive growth for ourselves.

For our clients, our ability to achieve high ROI demonstrates our ability to use budgets wisely to deliver maximum value and achieve their business goals efficiently.”

Excerpt from Chris Copen at our live session with Madison Taylor Marketing.
Optimized for readability and engagement 

With a return of $36 per $1 spent, why do agencies struggle to increase email marketing ROI? 

“We have found that that email is a powerful tool for achieving ROI for our clients. It's been around for a long time, and it's a tried and true tactic. While people have changed their media consumption habits, email continues to produce results for us. Email marketing connects our clients directly with their audience segments, allows us to deliver personalized content, and drives conversions.

Despite its potential, though, we have definitely experienced struggles over the years.

For both ourselves and our clients, we’ve found that the main challenge with email marketing is how much time and effort it takes.

Creating visually appealing and effective email campaigns requires significant time and effort.

We have found ourselves really bogged down in the minutiae of design details and trying to craft the “perfect” layout and visual elements. While important, this detracts from strategic activities that might yield higher returns.”

We've also experienced the challenge of hard coding emails and getting those emails to work across platforms. This process is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors. Little mistakes in the code can lead to rendering issues across different email clients, which has obvious consequences for a campaign’s effectiveness and ROI.

In addition to that, there's the issue of too much back-and-forth. When we collaborate on email campaigns, this often involves multiple rounds of feedback and revision. 

All of that just adds to the cumbersome and lengthy process and leads to diminishing returns - addressing all of those is critical in unlocking the full potential of email marketing for ROI. 

Excerpt from Chris Copen at our live session with Madison Taylor Marketing.
Optimized for readability and engagement 

How can agencies optimize their email marketing ROI

“By optimizing our email creation process, leveraging automated tools, reducing manual coding, and streamlining our feedback mechanisms, we were really able to improve our ROI. Cassie has been one of our leaders in helping us find the right tools and helping us increase our productivity and efficiency.”

- Chris Copen

1. Find the email marketing tools 

"Finding the right tool enables and empowers us to execute our vision and our client's vision without hindering their goals.

As a designer, when I'm looking for the right tool for email marketing, there are a few things to look for.

Ease of use is the first thing. Whatever tool you use should be user-friendly, intuitive, and allow me to create and customize designs quickly and effectively. 

Another need is a high degree of flexibility. I need to be able to create unique and visually appealing emails that align with the specific branding of all of our clients. We shouldn’t have to sacrifice elements of a client's brand to fit within the constraints of a design platform. 

The collaborative nature of a tool is also crucial. The right tool should facilitate seamless communication and collaboration, not only with our clients but also internally, throughout the revision process. That includes features like real-time editing, feedback, integrations, approval workflows, and so on. This helps us ensure we are always on the same page internally and with our clients.

Lastly, the right tool should integrate smoothly with other platforms and tools, such as CRM systems, analytic tools, and marketing automation platforms. This helps ensure that we have a cohesive, streamlined process from design to delivery and analysis and are not bouncing between a bunch of different platforms. 

Our previous process before finding Beefree was inefficient and unsustainable. It was clear that our approach was hindering our ability to meet client expectations and deliver high-quality, unique campaigns. 

Recognizing this was the first step toward improving our process. We needed a tool that would propel our agency to go above and beyond what our clients had asked for."

- Cassie Renier

Excerpt from our live session with Madison Taylor Marketing.
Optimized for readability and engagement 

2. Optimize your design and collaboration processes 

“When it comes to making something like email marketing work, alignment between vision and capability is so important.

When we're working as a team of marketers and designers, we need to effectively collaborate on an idea from start to finish.

Often, agencies run into issues executing on a vision because of limitations in capabilities, whether human, tools, or resources.

What we've found that works really well is to first clarify the client's situation and goals to ensure we're moving in the right direction. Involving design teams early in the process is crucial to understanding the full context and aligning on the vision.

Then, we need to be able to move from strategy to deliverables in the most cost-efficient manner. This means reducing the time spent on ideation, creation, and revisions. This is another reason why finding the right tools is important.

Beefree, specifically, allowed us to streamline our processes and enabled us to produce high-quality designs rapidly, ensuring timely and relevant communication with our client’s audiences. With Beefree’s collaboration features, all team members communicate in one place, reducing the time spent on back-and-forth and ensuring everyone is on the same page. Also, with real-time collaboration clients could see changes as they happened, reducing the need for multiple rounds of revisions.

By simply optimizing our email and collaboration processes we were able to reduce the time spent on designing while still producing high-quality assets. This allowed us to respond more quickly to market demands and time-sensitive opportunities, improving our ROI.

Excerpt from Andrea Davis at our live session with Madison Taylor Marketing. 
Optimized for readability and engagement 

How should agencies measure their ROI

“In terms of measuring external ROI, setting clear, measurable goals for each campaign is important. 

Whether it's increasing engagement, generating leads, or driving sales, having specific objectives helps define what success looks like and provides a benchmark for measurement.

Track all related costs accurately. This includes not only direct expenses like ad spend but also indirect costs such as team hours and the cost of tools we use to streamline email creation and deployment. Knowing your total investment is crucial for an accurate ROI assessment.

Analyze your key performance metrics. These metrics might include open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and overall engagement. Analyzing this data will provide insights into how well campaigns are performing and how the use of efficient tools contributes to these results.

Consider both short-term and long-term impacts. Immediate results, such as sales from a campaign, are important, but so are long-term benefits like customer retention and brand awareness. Understanding the broader impact helps paint a complete picture of ROI.

Regularly review and adjust strategies and processes based on our findings. ROI measurement should be an ongoing process, helping refine tactics and improve future campaigns, but also providing internal operations insights. This iterative approach ensures continuous improvement and better outcomes over time.

Evaluating distinctly the ROI of internal investments. This includes the tools and technologies we use to enhance our productivity and efficiency. Analyze the effectiveness of these tools in helping you streamline your processes.” 

Additional insights shared by Chris Copen, Chief Operating Officer at Madison Taylor Marketing. 

How Madison Taylor Marketing cut down email development time by 66% with Beefree

CEO and Founder Aimee Meester shares how her team uses Beefree to create engaging and personalized content faster than ever before. Learn more about the business impact of Beefree on Madison Taylor Marketing.

Beginners Guide to Lifecycle Email Marketing

Discover how to optimize your email marketing strategy by understanding and leveraging the stages of lifecycle email marketing. From awareness to advocacy, learn actionable tips to get started.
Beefree team
Jul 19, 2024

What is lifecycle email marketing?

Lifecycle email marketing is the act of segmenting your email subscribers based on where they are in the customer lifecycle. 

The customer lifecycle is the set of stages your customers go through, from when they first hear about your brand to making a purchase and everything in between. 

The stages of  the customer lifecycle are typically known as:

  • Awareness
  • Consideration
  • Conversion
  • Retention

A survey conducted by Econsultancy found that 74% of marketers experienced an increase in their overall customer engagement rates when using targeted emails. While there are many ways of segmenting your audience, lifecycle email marketing stands out as one of the most effective strategies allowing businesses to send highly relevant content that moves readers to the next stage in the customer lifecycle ending in ideally, unbound brand loyalty. 

Mapping Out Your Lifecycle Email Marketing Key Stages

Lifecycle email marketing is all about customizing emails for each customer’s depending on their familiarity with your brand. Before you can jump in, you’ll need to map out your customer lifecycle stages. The stages are similar for most businesses but they can vary based on the type of product or service you offer or your industry. 

The most common stages within lifecycle email marketing are:

  • Awareness: In email marketing, this is when someone first signs up for your email newsletter. 
  • Consideration: This subscriber has become highly engaged in your welcome series emails and has a desire to learn more. 
  • Conversion: This is when the subscriber has completed the desired action. 
  • Retention: Once a customer has completed the desired action, it’s important to keep them engaged in your brand to encourage a repeat conversion. 
  • Advocacy or referral: In this stage, you want to encourage them to share their experience with the brand through word of mouth of leaving testimonials. 
  • Re-engagement: After a while, subscribers may experience email fatigue and stop engaging with your brand altogether.

As mentioned, these are some of the most common stages of lifecycle email marketing and this might look differently for you. We suggest diving into user behavior, patterns, and data to better understand your customer base and how they move through the lifecycle. 

Getting started with lifecycle email marketing

As mentioned above, your lifecycle email marketing stages may differ depending on your business and industry. Here are some key considerations that will help shape what your cycle looks like. 

Step 1: Understanding your customer lifecycle

We suggest diving deep into user behavior, patterns, and data to better understand your customer base and how they move through the lifecycle. Start by analyzing how your customers first discover your brand, what keeps them engaged, and the touchpoints that lead to conversion.

Look at the entire journey, from initial awareness to post-purchase behavior, and identify key stages where customers might drop off or need extra engagement.

By understanding these nuances, you can tailor your email campaigns to meet your customers' needs at each stage, ensuring a more personalized and effective approach.

Step 2: Audit your existing email karketing

Take a look at your recent email marketing and take stock of what stages you’re nurturing most and which ones may not be targeted as well. You might find that you’ve been sending plenty of emails for the conversion stage but not enough for retention, or maybe you haven’t sent any emails directly for the advocacy and referral stages. 

Identifying gaps like these can show you where to be more focused and strategic in your email marketing moving forward.

Building out your lifecycle emails

Awareness

Customers in the awareness stage are just learning about and getting familiar with your brand. Your goal in this stage is to build a relationship with the customer, introduce them to your products or services, and tell them what you’re all about. 

This is when customers decide whether your brand is a good fit for them (think of it as a first date between your brand and the customer), so it’s important that you make a positive and authentic first impression.

A welcome email to those signing up for your mailing list is an excellent opportunity to make a strong impression and build familiarity. It’s also a great time to send emails highlighting your brand story, mission statements, and other introductions to your brand.

Consideration

In the consideration stage, customers decide whether your business is the right fit for them and compare it to similar solutions. At this stage, you want to compellingly show them what you have to offer and how you stand out.

One way this manifests is through comprehensive emails on your products or services. This means highlighting key benefits, features, and use cases. This is also a great place to show vs. tell. Include animations, videos, and gifs that easily illustrate the value you bring. 

Conversion

In this stage, a potential customer is on the verge of taking action. Emails in the conversion stage significantly influence that decision to buy. 

Personalized special offers can resonate really well with recipients as they can be tailored to their specific needs and interests. This can look like offering deals on items they’ve recently viewed on your website or first-time purchase discounts. 

Retention

This stage is where brand loyalty blossoms. Engaging customers beyond the initial conversion is crucial for retention and repeat purchases. During this stage, you can send service or product announcement emails to regularly communicate what’s new with your offer. A monthly or weekly newsletter is also a great way to keep your audience up to date on your brand’s activities and encourage them to explore other resources you may offer. 

Regardless, the emails you send at this stage should be strengthening and affirming the customer’s connection with your brand.

Advocacy

When a customer has developed trust in your brand and offer, they start recommending your brand or organization to others. Referrals are the one most effective way B2B businesses acquire new customers, and according to Nielsen, people are four times more likely to buy a product if they’re referred by a friend. 

When a customer is in the advocacy stage, you’ll want to send them review requests to encourage them to post testimonials, as well as educate them about any referral incentives you have.

Re-engagement

This is a period when your brand has fallen off their radar—they haven’t necessarily decided to stop following you, but they’re not actively interested in your services, products, or messaging. To continue to remain top of mind, we suggest doing regular re-engagement campaigns.

These types of emails could include special incentives like an exclusive discount, or simply “we’ve missed you” emails to show them what’s new. This is a good time to also reiterate the benefits of your offer as they pertain to their unique interest and preferences.

Best practices for lifecycle email marketing

Here are some best practices we recommend to ensuring that your lifecycle email marketing is optimized to build lasting relationships with your customers and drive ongoing engagement.

Segment your audience

The core of lifecycle email marketing is identifying what stage the individual is at any given time. Specifically for lifecycle email marketing, you'll want to segment your audience based on behaviours. This could include purchase history, website interactions, email engagement, or product usage. Patterns in these areas will help you best determine where to place an individual in the lifecycle stages.

Create personal and relevant content

Once you have an understanding of your users behaviours and patterns, use this to personalize your emails. Address recipients by their names, recommend products based on their past purchases, and tailor content to their preferences.

Ensure your emails provide value to your customers that helps move them to the next stage. Offer exclusive discounts, share useful tips, and provide relevant updates.

Timing and frequency

For lifecycle emails timing is crucial. Set up automated emails that are triggered by specific actions, such as welcome emails for new subscribers, cart abandonment reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups. These timely emails can significantly enhance engagement and conversions.

Monitor and measuring success

Along the way, make sure you’re tracking your metrics for each lifecycle stage to see how successful you are in moving folks through the customer lifecycle. Use these insights to refine your strategies and improve your overall strategy.

Testing

You can also conduct A/B tests to see how different email content, subject lines, and other details perform for people in specific lifecycle stages. For example, in your segment of customers who are in the consideration stage, run a test where half of them get an email every two days while the other half get an email every four days and see which group tends to engage more or convert more. This can tell you how frequently to send emails to this segment.

Just make sure you’re comparing apples to apples by comparing the two email versions for the same lifecycle segment, because customers in different lifecycle stages could have different reactions to the same email version.

Ensure brand consistency

Consistent branding helps recipients quickly recognize your emails, which builds trust and familiarity. According to a study conducted by Edelman, "81% of buyers need to trust a brand in order to buy from them," making trust and familiarity two crucial elements of efficient lifecycle email marketing.

Additionally, consistent branding helps differentiate your brand from competitors. This is crucial in the consideration stage to ensure you remain top of mind.

Designing emails for each stage of your lifecycle email marketing

The tips and strategies above can help you get started with lifecycle email marketing, but the success of your campaigns will also depend on how well you design and target your emails for specific stages and audiences.

That’s where Beefree can help. Our extensive email template library includes templates for many different types of emails that align with each lifecycle stage, and our easy HTML email editor lets you seamlessly customize them for your audiences.

You’ll be able to incorporate all the elements of your brand identity which helps you create brand recognition and build brand loyalty throughout every stage of the lifecycle. Interested in seeing how these templates can make your lifecycle email marketing simpler? Sign up for Beefree and start exploring.

5 Healthcare Email Examples Where Education Meets Promotion"

We’ve compiled 5 examples of healthcare emails done right. These top brands have excelled in the art of healthcare emails by blending informative with promotional content that presents itself as an empathetic helping hand.
Emily Santos
Jul 12, 2024

Effective email marketing in healthcare can have immense ROI. After all, it is a cost-effective and direct line of communication with your patients that, when done right, can drive engagement, encourage repeat visits, and help build ongoing trust and credibility. However, healthcare providers are faced with unique challenges when it comes to using email marketing. 

On the one hand, the goal is to engage patients and provide value to help build long-term relationships. On the other hand, the goal is to promote your services and, ideally, boost revenue via this marketing strategy. This balance can be tricky to achieve due to the sensitive nature of the healthcare industry; however, it is not impossible.


We’ve compiled 5 examples of healthcare emails done right. These top brands have excelled in the art of healthcare emails by blending valuable, informative content that addresses patient’s concerns with promotional content that presents itself as an empathetic helping hand.  

Healthcare newsletter examples

Sending monthly or weekly newsletters is an excellent way to strengthen relationships with patients or customers. These regular communications serve as a direct line to your audience, allowing you to engage and educate them on relevant health topics consistently. 

Each newsletter provides an opportunity to share reliable and practical health tips and update patients about clinic changes, new services, or special offerings. 

Everlywell 

Everlywell offers folks with at-home “health and wellness solutions.” In a recent newsletter they focus their message on addressing stress, a common concern among their audience. The email begins by empathizing with the reader, reassuring them that stress is a widespread issue, therefore establishing an immediate connection with their readers. 

By offering a free solution—specifically, a list of vitamins and supplements known to alleviate stress—Everlywell demonstrates its commitment to customer well-being. Simultaneously, by subtly promoting its own supplements within the email's content, it reinforces the message that Everlywell not only understands the reader's concerns but also provides practical solutions. 

everlywell healthcare newsletter email example
Free newsletter templates: https://beefree.io/templates/newsletter 

Seasonal health campaigns 

Another great way to connect with patients beyond the clinic is to send seasonal health campaigns. These campaigns are highly effective because they relate to current health concerns and conditions prevalent during specific times of the year.

Seasonal health campaigns allow healthcare providers to proactively address issues that are top-of-mind for patients during different seasons. 

Natalist

Natalist offers “fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum essentials.” To ring in the new year, their email “TTC in the new year?” leans into the possibility that with a new year, folks begin to consider trying to conceive, thoughtfully tapping taps into the natural inclination people have to reflect on life changes and set new goals as the calendar turns.

This thoughtful and well-timed campaign exemplifies how healthcare providers can connect with their audience by aligning their messaging with their customers' lives' natural rhythms and aspirations.

natalist seasonal healthcare email example
Browse our catalog of free seasonal templates: https://beefree.io/templates 

Promotional healthcare emails 

Promotional healthcare emails can significantly increase patient engagement. Offers tailored to patient needs can inform and encourage them to consider services they may not have known about. However, healthcare promotion emails come with their own set of challenges, HIPAA being the biggest hurdle.

ivee

Ivee offers “individualized medical care” services directly from home, including urgent care, diagnostic testing, IV therapy, and more. In a promotional email about their Membership and Programs, ivee takes the route of promotion through education.

Promoting medical treatments and procedures can be complex and often leaves patients with numerous questions and uncertainties.

ivee’s promotional email addresses this challenge by ensuring the content is clear, concise, and informative. Instead of overwhelming patients with technical jargon or complicated medical terms, Ivee breaks down the information into 3 digestible segments that guide the reader through their offerings:

  1. What the patient will receive
  2. How the program works
  3. What the next steps are 

ivee’s educational approach in its promotional email informs and empowers patients, building trust and confidence in their services. 

By addressing potential questions upfront, ivee reduces any concern that the patient may have regarding this service. This method of promotion through education is particularly effective in healthcare, where informed patients are more likely to engage with and benefit from the services offered.

ivee promotional healthcare email
Free product promotion templates: https://beefree.io/templates/product-promotion 

Free service promotion templates: https://beefree.io/templates/service-promotion 

Patient testimonials and success stories 

Using patient testimonials and stories in healthcare emails helps build trust and credibility. When potential patients read or hear about others who have successfully navigated similar health challenges, it reassures them of the effectiveness and reliability of the services offered. These narratives humanize the healthcare experience, which can sometimes feel cold and direct, by showcasing real people and their journeys. 

Much like any healthcare email, this one is particularly affected by the US HIPAA regulations. These emails require explicit consent and the careful handling of personal information. 

Additionally, it is crucial that these testimonials and stories remain authentic. Fabricated or exaggerated stories can damage credibility, and it's important to avoid over-promising outcomes. 

GoodRx

GoodRx provides telemedicine to track prescription drug pricing in the United States and offers drug coupons and medication discounts. In an email promoting their telehealth services, they use a patient testimonial to communicate the ease of their service.

GoodRx balances this strategy with maintaining client privacy by using anonymized testimonials and obtaining explicit consent from the patient. Anonymized testimonials protect the identity of the patients by removing any personal identifiers, ensuring that their privacy is not compromised while still providing authentic feedback about the service.

GoodRx patient email example
Free template to feature your client testimonials: https://beefree.io/template/customer-reviews-product-template 

Transactional healthcare email examples

Transactional emails play an important role in healthcare, allowing providers to share essential information that brings ease to the patient’s experience. More specifically, transactional emails improve operational efficiency. Some examples of transactional emails in healthcare include

  • Appointment confirmations and reminders
  • Prescription and medication updates
  • Follow-up care instructions
  • Billing and payment notification
  • Patient portal access 

Hims

Hims is an “online telehealth platform that provides virtual healthcare and support for men's health.” In the order confirmation email below, Hims offers the patient important order information such as order ID, date paid, total charge, and payment method. 

This transparency ensures patients have all the necessary details about their purchase, enhancing their trust in the platform. Additionally, Hims goes beyond just transactional information to offer patients peace of mind by reminding them of all the other free services they receive through their platform.

By highlighting these benefits, Hims reinforces the value of its service and strengthens its relationship with its patients. This approach confirms the purchase and reassures patients that they feel supported in various aspects of their health journey.

hims healthcare invoice email

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Maximizing your agency’s ROI with Madison Taylor Marketing

Learn the strategies that propelled Madison Taylor Marketing to increase their clients' ROI by over 300%.
Beefree team
Beefree team
26 Jul
2024

Maximizing your agency’s ROI with Madison Taylor Marketing 

Founded over 15 years ago, Madison Taylor Marketing has become a well-known agency in Denver, Colorado, for its success in bringing unprecedented results to clients. The agency's smart strategies have helped clients ensure alignment, reduce costs, optimize their resources, and, more notably, maximize ROI by almost 300% across all marketing efforts. 

In a live session with Chris Copen, Chief Operating Officer, Cassie Renier, Creative Specialist, and Andrea Davis, Creative Manager, they shared their insight into how agencies can maximize their ROI with email marketing. 

What is ROI? 

“ROI, or Return on Investment, is one of our most important performance indicators as an agency. 

ROI is not just a metric, but it measures the profitability of our business and our investments and helps us understand the value that we're generating from our efforts and resources. 

By tracking ROI, we are trying to ensure that our strategies are effective, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions.

For agencies, achieving a high ROI is really important because it reflects our ability to deliver value to our clients and continually optimize operations. Ultimately, this empowers us to drive growth for ourselves.

For our clients, our ability to achieve high ROI demonstrates our ability to use budgets wisely to deliver maximum value and achieve their business goals efficiently.”

Excerpt from Chris Copen at our live session with Madison Taylor Marketing.
Optimized for readability and engagement 

With a return of $36 per $1 spent, why do agencies struggle to increase email marketing ROI? 

“We have found that that email is a powerful tool for achieving ROI for our clients. It's been around for a long time, and it's a tried and true tactic. While people have changed their media consumption habits, email continues to produce results for us. Email marketing connects our clients directly with their audience segments, allows us to deliver personalized content, and drives conversions.

Despite its potential, though, we have definitely experienced struggles over the years.

For both ourselves and our clients, we’ve found that the main challenge with email marketing is how much time and effort it takes.

Creating visually appealing and effective email campaigns requires significant time and effort.

We have found ourselves really bogged down in the minutiae of design details and trying to craft the “perfect” layout and visual elements. While important, this detracts from strategic activities that might yield higher returns.”

We've also experienced the challenge of hard coding emails and getting those emails to work across platforms. This process is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors. Little mistakes in the code can lead to rendering issues across different email clients, which has obvious consequences for a campaign’s effectiveness and ROI.

In addition to that, there's the issue of too much back-and-forth. When we collaborate on email campaigns, this often involves multiple rounds of feedback and revision. 

All of that just adds to the cumbersome and lengthy process and leads to diminishing returns - addressing all of those is critical in unlocking the full potential of email marketing for ROI. 

Excerpt from Chris Copen at our live session with Madison Taylor Marketing.
Optimized for readability and engagement 

How can agencies optimize their email marketing ROI

“By optimizing our email creation process, leveraging automated tools, reducing manual coding, and streamlining our feedback mechanisms, we were really able to improve our ROI. Cassie has been one of our leaders in helping us find the right tools and helping us increase our productivity and efficiency.”

- Chris Copen

1. Find the email marketing tools 

"Finding the right tool enables and empowers us to execute our vision and our client's vision without hindering their goals.

As a designer, when I'm looking for the right tool for email marketing, there are a few things to look for.

Ease of use is the first thing. Whatever tool you use should be user-friendly, intuitive, and allow me to create and customize designs quickly and effectively. 

Another need is a high degree of flexibility. I need to be able to create unique and visually appealing emails that align with the specific branding of all of our clients. We shouldn’t have to sacrifice elements of a client's brand to fit within the constraints of a design platform. 

The collaborative nature of a tool is also crucial. The right tool should facilitate seamless communication and collaboration, not only with our clients but also internally, throughout the revision process. That includes features like real-time editing, feedback, integrations, approval workflows, and so on. This helps us ensure we are always on the same page internally and with our clients.

Lastly, the right tool should integrate smoothly with other platforms and tools, such as CRM systems, analytic tools, and marketing automation platforms. This helps ensure that we have a cohesive, streamlined process from design to delivery and analysis and are not bouncing between a bunch of different platforms. 

Our previous process before finding Beefree was inefficient and unsustainable. It was clear that our approach was hindering our ability to meet client expectations and deliver high-quality, unique campaigns. 

Recognizing this was the first step toward improving our process. We needed a tool that would propel our agency to go above and beyond what our clients had asked for."

- Cassie Renier

Excerpt from our live session with Madison Taylor Marketing.
Optimized for readability and engagement 

2. Optimize your design and collaboration processes 

“When it comes to making something like email marketing work, alignment between vision and capability is so important.

When we're working as a team of marketers and designers, we need to effectively collaborate on an idea from start to finish.

Often, agencies run into issues executing on a vision because of limitations in capabilities, whether human, tools, or resources.

What we've found that works really well is to first clarify the client's situation and goals to ensure we're moving in the right direction. Involving design teams early in the process is crucial to understanding the full context and aligning on the vision.

Then, we need to be able to move from strategy to deliverables in the most cost-efficient manner. This means reducing the time spent on ideation, creation, and revisions. This is another reason why finding the right tools is important.

Beefree, specifically, allowed us to streamline our processes and enabled us to produce high-quality designs rapidly, ensuring timely and relevant communication with our client’s audiences. With Beefree’s collaboration features, all team members communicate in one place, reducing the time spent on back-and-forth and ensuring everyone is on the same page. Also, with real-time collaboration clients could see changes as they happened, reducing the need for multiple rounds of revisions.

By simply optimizing our email and collaboration processes we were able to reduce the time spent on designing while still producing high-quality assets. This allowed us to respond more quickly to market demands and time-sensitive opportunities, improving our ROI.

Excerpt from Andrea Davis at our live session with Madison Taylor Marketing. 
Optimized for readability and engagement 

How should agencies measure their ROI

“In terms of measuring external ROI, setting clear, measurable goals for each campaign is important. 

Whether it's increasing engagement, generating leads, or driving sales, having specific objectives helps define what success looks like and provides a benchmark for measurement.

Track all related costs accurately. This includes not only direct expenses like ad spend but also indirect costs such as team hours and the cost of tools we use to streamline email creation and deployment. Knowing your total investment is crucial for an accurate ROI assessment.

Analyze your key performance metrics. These metrics might include open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and overall engagement. Analyzing this data will provide insights into how well campaigns are performing and how the use of efficient tools contributes to these results.

Consider both short-term and long-term impacts. Immediate results, such as sales from a campaign, are important, but so are long-term benefits like customer retention and brand awareness. Understanding the broader impact helps paint a complete picture of ROI.

Regularly review and adjust strategies and processes based on our findings. ROI measurement should be an ongoing process, helping refine tactics and improve future campaigns, but also providing internal operations insights. This iterative approach ensures continuous improvement and better outcomes over time.

Evaluating distinctly the ROI of internal investments. This includes the tools and technologies we use to enhance our productivity and efficiency. Analyze the effectiveness of these tools in helping you streamline your processes.” 

Additional insights shared by Chris Copen, Chief Operating Officer at Madison Taylor Marketing. 

How Madison Taylor Marketing cut down email development time by 66% with Beefree

CEO and Founder Aimee Meester shares how her team uses Beefree to create engaging and personalized content faster than ever before. Learn more about the business impact of Beefree on Madison Taylor Marketing.

Beginners Guide to Lifecycle Email Marketing

Discover how to optimize your email marketing strategy by understanding and leveraging the stages of lifecycle email marketing. From awareness to advocacy, learn actionable tips to get started.
Beefree team
Beefree team
19 Jul
2024

What is lifecycle email marketing?

Lifecycle email marketing is the act of segmenting your email subscribers based on where they are in the customer lifecycle. 

The customer lifecycle is the set of stages your customers go through, from when they first hear about your brand to making a purchase and everything in between. 

The stages of  the customer lifecycle are typically known as:

  • Awareness
  • Consideration
  • Conversion
  • Retention

A survey conducted by Econsultancy found that 74% of marketers experienced an increase in their overall customer engagement rates when using targeted emails. While there are many ways of segmenting your audience, lifecycle email marketing stands out as one of the most effective strategies allowing businesses to send highly relevant content that moves readers to the next stage in the customer lifecycle ending in ideally, unbound brand loyalty. 

Mapping Out Your Lifecycle Email Marketing Key Stages

Lifecycle email marketing is all about customizing emails for each customer’s depending on their familiarity with your brand. Before you can jump in, you’ll need to map out your customer lifecycle stages. The stages are similar for most businesses but they can vary based on the type of product or service you offer or your industry. 

The most common stages within lifecycle email marketing are:

  • Awareness: In email marketing, this is when someone first signs up for your email newsletter. 
  • Consideration: This subscriber has become highly engaged in your welcome series emails and has a desire to learn more. 
  • Conversion: This is when the subscriber has completed the desired action. 
  • Retention: Once a customer has completed the desired action, it’s important to keep them engaged in your brand to encourage a repeat conversion. 
  • Advocacy or referral: In this stage, you want to encourage them to share their experience with the brand through word of mouth of leaving testimonials. 
  • Re-engagement: After a while, subscribers may experience email fatigue and stop engaging with your brand altogether.

As mentioned, these are some of the most common stages of lifecycle email marketing and this might look differently for you. We suggest diving into user behavior, patterns, and data to better understand your customer base and how they move through the lifecycle. 

Getting started with lifecycle email marketing

As mentioned above, your lifecycle email marketing stages may differ depending on your business and industry. Here are some key considerations that will help shape what your cycle looks like. 

Step 1: Understanding your customer lifecycle

We suggest diving deep into user behavior, patterns, and data to better understand your customer base and how they move through the lifecycle. Start by analyzing how your customers first discover your brand, what keeps them engaged, and the touchpoints that lead to conversion.

Look at the entire journey, from initial awareness to post-purchase behavior, and identify key stages where customers might drop off or need extra engagement.

By understanding these nuances, you can tailor your email campaigns to meet your customers' needs at each stage, ensuring a more personalized and effective approach.

Step 2: Audit your existing email karketing

Take a look at your recent email marketing and take stock of what stages you’re nurturing most and which ones may not be targeted as well. You might find that you’ve been sending plenty of emails for the conversion stage but not enough for retention, or maybe you haven’t sent any emails directly for the advocacy and referral stages. 

Identifying gaps like these can show you where to be more focused and strategic in your email marketing moving forward.

Building out your lifecycle emails

Awareness

Customers in the awareness stage are just learning about and getting familiar with your brand. Your goal in this stage is to build a relationship with the customer, introduce them to your products or services, and tell them what you’re all about. 

This is when customers decide whether your brand is a good fit for them (think of it as a first date between your brand and the customer), so it’s important that you make a positive and authentic first impression.

A welcome email to those signing up for your mailing list is an excellent opportunity to make a strong impression and build familiarity. It’s also a great time to send emails highlighting your brand story, mission statements, and other introductions to your brand.

Consideration

In the consideration stage, customers decide whether your business is the right fit for them and compare it to similar solutions. At this stage, you want to compellingly show them what you have to offer and how you stand out.

One way this manifests is through comprehensive emails on your products or services. This means highlighting key benefits, features, and use cases. This is also a great place to show vs. tell. Include animations, videos, and gifs that easily illustrate the value you bring. 

Conversion

In this stage, a potential customer is on the verge of taking action. Emails in the conversion stage significantly influence that decision to buy. 

Personalized special offers can resonate really well with recipients as they can be tailored to their specific needs and interests. This can look like offering deals on items they’ve recently viewed on your website or first-time purchase discounts. 

Retention

This stage is where brand loyalty blossoms. Engaging customers beyond the initial conversion is crucial for retention and repeat purchases. During this stage, you can send service or product announcement emails to regularly communicate what’s new with your offer. A monthly or weekly newsletter is also a great way to keep your audience up to date on your brand’s activities and encourage them to explore other resources you may offer. 

Regardless, the emails you send at this stage should be strengthening and affirming the customer’s connection with your brand.

Advocacy

When a customer has developed trust in your brand and offer, they start recommending your brand or organization to others. Referrals are the one most effective way B2B businesses acquire new customers, and according to Nielsen, people are four times more likely to buy a product if they’re referred by a friend. 

When a customer is in the advocacy stage, you’ll want to send them review requests to encourage them to post testimonials, as well as educate them about any referral incentives you have.

Re-engagement

This is a period when your brand has fallen off their radar—they haven’t necessarily decided to stop following you, but they’re not actively interested in your services, products, or messaging. To continue to remain top of mind, we suggest doing regular re-engagement campaigns.

These types of emails could include special incentives like an exclusive discount, or simply “we’ve missed you” emails to show them what’s new. This is a good time to also reiterate the benefits of your offer as they pertain to their unique interest and preferences.

Best practices for lifecycle email marketing

Here are some best practices we recommend to ensuring that your lifecycle email marketing is optimized to build lasting relationships with your customers and drive ongoing engagement.

Segment your audience

The core of lifecycle email marketing is identifying what stage the individual is at any given time. Specifically for lifecycle email marketing, you'll want to segment your audience based on behaviours. This could include purchase history, website interactions, email engagement, or product usage. Patterns in these areas will help you best determine where to place an individual in the lifecycle stages.

Create personal and relevant content

Once you have an understanding of your users behaviours and patterns, use this to personalize your emails. Address recipients by their names, recommend products based on their past purchases, and tailor content to their preferences.

Ensure your emails provide value to your customers that helps move them to the next stage. Offer exclusive discounts, share useful tips, and provide relevant updates.

Timing and frequency

For lifecycle emails timing is crucial. Set up automated emails that are triggered by specific actions, such as welcome emails for new subscribers, cart abandonment reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups. These timely emails can significantly enhance engagement and conversions.

Monitor and measuring success

Along the way, make sure you’re tracking your metrics for each lifecycle stage to see how successful you are in moving folks through the customer lifecycle. Use these insights to refine your strategies and improve your overall strategy.

Testing

You can also conduct A/B tests to see how different email content, subject lines, and other details perform for people in specific lifecycle stages. For example, in your segment of customers who are in the consideration stage, run a test where half of them get an email every two days while the other half get an email every four days and see which group tends to engage more or convert more. This can tell you how frequently to send emails to this segment.

Just make sure you’re comparing apples to apples by comparing the two email versions for the same lifecycle segment, because customers in different lifecycle stages could have different reactions to the same email version.

Ensure brand consistency

Consistent branding helps recipients quickly recognize your emails, which builds trust and familiarity. According to a study conducted by Edelman, "81% of buyers need to trust a brand in order to buy from them," making trust and familiarity two crucial elements of efficient lifecycle email marketing.

Additionally, consistent branding helps differentiate your brand from competitors. This is crucial in the consideration stage to ensure you remain top of mind.

Designing emails for each stage of your lifecycle email marketing

The tips and strategies above can help you get started with lifecycle email marketing, but the success of your campaigns will also depend on how well you design and target your emails for specific stages and audiences.

That’s where Beefree can help. Our extensive email template library includes templates for many different types of emails that align with each lifecycle stage, and our easy HTML email editor lets you seamlessly customize them for your audiences.

You’ll be able to incorporate all the elements of your brand identity which helps you create brand recognition and build brand loyalty throughout every stage of the lifecycle. Interested in seeing how these templates can make your lifecycle email marketing simpler? Sign up for Beefree and start exploring.

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