6 ways social media impacts consumer behavior

Whether consumers are laughing at their favorite brand’s infotainment content, buying products through live shopping or tuning into a try-on haul, social media is a daily staple in their lives. In The Sprout Social Index™, we found 54% of consumers say their social media usage has been higher over the last two years than the previous two years.

With more people flocking to networks than ever before, social media and consumer behavior have evolved in lockstep, so understanding how to reach your target audience remains a necessity.

In this article, we’ll discuss the top six ways social media influences consumer behavior and what each means for your brand’s social strategy.

1. Consumers buy directly from social

Index data shows the top reason consumers follow brands on social media is to stay informed about new products/services, followed by getting access to exclusive deals and promotions.

But why is social commerce so popular? One reason is that it meets consumers where they already are. According to data from McKinsey, the majority of consumers use at least three channels for each purchase journey. For many, checking Facebook, Instagram or TikTok daily—whether they’re casually scrolling or searching for new products—has become as routine as brushing their teeth.

Networks continue to experiment with and formalize ecommerce capabilities to bring convenience to consumers and present brands with new revenue streams. For example, TikTok Shop launched in September 2023, enabling users to find and shop for items even more easily.

US annual social commerce sales per buyer are projected to double from $628 million to $1.224 billion in 2027, based on a forecast from Insider Intelligence.

How you can use this insight

Social commerce makes it infinitely easier for brands to deliver the seamless purchase experience buyers want. You can turn a casual scroller into a new customer in a couple of clicks. For example, if you’re a retail business and a holiday is coming up, you can create a shoppable Facebook ad or offer a limited time offer using Instagram Shops for your seasonal product lines.

If you’re not already, look into what social commerce functionality is available on the channels your audience spends the most time on. From TikTok to YouTube livestream shopping, there is a growing number of ways to connect with ready-to-buy consumers.

If you’re a Sprout user, take advantage of our integrations with Shopify and Facebook Shops by connecting your product catalogs with our platform—you can quickly add product links in your outbound posts and customer replies.

2. Consumers expect two-way engagement with brands

Social media adds another dimension to the brand-customer relationship. A brand is no longer a remote, faceless entity that we only learn about in publications, press releases or Google searches. Looking at a brand’s social networks helps you gauge their values, relevant news and offerings, and how they relate to their audience.

Social lets consumers engage and interact with businesses in a multitude of ways, from liking posts and following their accounts to sharing brand-related content, shouting out brand love or asking product questions. And of course, social shopping makes conversions faster.

Don’t be too shy to engage with your audience, jump on relevant trends, ask questions or run polls and Q&As. And don’t forget to respond to direct messages, comments and @-mentions.

The Index found 51% of consumers said the most memorable brands on social respond to customers. Across all age groups, consumers want to know they’re being heard.

Brand authenticity will drive a customer to choose you over a competitor—and stick with you. This means upholding your organization’s claimed values, listening to your audience, discussing what matters to them, anticipating their needs and delivering on the promises you make.

How you can use this insight

Engagement happens perpetually across multiple channels and formats. With a tool like Sprout’s Smart Inbox, you can set up rules to automatically tag and categorize inbound messages so you never miss an opportunity to engage.

Analyze trends and patterns across these conversations to gain a deeper understanding of your customers. What’s delightful and what’s frustrating them? What are they praising, and what are they criticizing? What are they sharing about your brand and your competitors with their own audiences?

Of course, brands should address complaints and negative inbound messages, but tools like Sprout can help brands get the answers to these questions so they can proactively engage versus reactively. For example, with social listening, you can uncover opportunities to surprise and delight your customers.

Elicit and listen to feedback and share it with your organization. Channel this feedback to your colleagues across the business from sales and marketing to product and operations to deliver more tailored customer experiences in the future.

3. Consumers turn to social media for customer service

The evolution of social media and consumer behavior has transformed customer service interactions. Before social, consumers could expect to interact with a brand by calling, emailing or visiting locations in person—complete with the infamous wait times to talk to a representative. Today, social is consumers’ preferred choice for sharing feedback and reaching out with a customer support issue or question.

The days of long telephone hold times punctuated by elevator music are dwindling. Consumers with a product question or order issue are much more inclined to reach out via a brand’s Facebook page, X (formerly known as Twitter) @-mention or Instagram direct message. But social media moves fast, which means customers expect faster answers.

Index data shows customer service isn’t just about responding quickly either. Although 76% of consumers value how quickly a brand can respond to their needs, 70% expect a company to provide personalized responses to customer service needs.

Regardless of whether it’s a busy season, customer service teams may already be spread thin or lack resources, which can result in missed messages, slower responses and suboptimal replies. Prevent frustration, reduce delays and improve communication by evolving your approach to social customer service.

Social customer care starts even before a customer reaches out to you. It means getting a clear understanding of what your customer wants from you, reducing room for error and building long-term relationships with your audience.

How you can use this insight

How can you create and maintain a social customer care strategy? Start by making it easy for customers to find you. Include relevant contact info on your organization’s social media profiles and bios. Make sure you’re monitoring Meta Messenger and direct messages on X, Instagram or TikTok (or consider recruiting a chatbot’s help) if that’s the communication channel your customers flock to most.

If your business has dedicated teams for social media and customer care, collaboration across departments is a must. Implementing a social customer relationship management (CRM) tool gives you a single source of truth to provide customer service while getting a more holistic view of customer behavior.

Another critical step is proactive message management. If a customer feels like they’re being ignored, they’ll move on to a more attentive competitor. Do you have ways to centralize inbound support messages across different social networks? Can your social customer care agents easily access important client information via CRM or help desk integrations? Do you have an efficient process for approving replies to customer questions on social?

If you answered “no” to any of these, don’t be afraid to turn to tools like Sprout to help your team work smarter and build stronger customer relationships.

4. Consumers demand authenticity in the age of AI

Index data shows authentic, non-promotional posts are ranked as the number one content type consumers don’t see enough of from brands on social. However, with limited bandwidth and resources, it can be difficult to consistently produce authentic, creative content at scale. Enter: artificial intelligence (AI).

And although 81% of marketers say AI has already had a positive impact on their work, consumers aren’t as eager to jump onto this technology wave. Over a third (42%) of consumers say they are slightly or very apprehensive about the use of AI in social media interactions.

How you can use this insight

So how does this impact your brand’s content strategy? Consider pulling back on trendjacking and prioritizing original content that’s true to your brand.

Shaping genuine connections and building community can’t be replicated by machines alone, but adding that golden human touch requires time. Leverage AI to handle manual, time-consuming tasks like social media reporting. If you use AI to create spreadsheets and reports, marketers can focus their energy and efforts into developing more impactful content and engagement strategies. Research and identify where to incorporate AI across your teams’ tasks and workflows.

5. Consumers want more transparency and less performative activism

A few years ago, consumers wanted brands to take a stand on important causes. The latest Index shows only 25% of consumers think brands must speak out on causes and news relevant to their values to be memorable on social.

Consumers want brands to share more about their business values and practices, and how their products are made/sourced—but they aren’t necessarily looking for them to “take a stand” on larger issues. Due to the rise of performative activism, some efforts read as disingenuous and inauthentic. In other words, consumers don’t just want brands to talk about their values, they must walk the walk too.

How you can use this insight

This slight shift in consumer behavior is an opportunity for social teams to collaborate with colleagues beyond marketing. Work to develop messaging around your company’s supply chain, operations, labor practices and culture that will resonate on social. Consider featuring more employees in your social content such as a behind-the-scenes series, or connect with C-suite executives to refine their social presence and thought leadership on platforms like LinkedIn. And to amplify those efforts even more, implement employee advocacy into your content strategy.

6. Consumers are heavily influenced by social media reviews

Social media is a living document for social proof—which is increasingly a make-or-break factor for buying decisions.

Data from the Yale Center for Customer Insights shows almost 90% of`consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations. And half of consumers 18-54 look for online reviews before deciding to visit a local business.

Even the most dazzling, high-budget television ads can’t always deliver what social media offers for free: authenticity. Consumers take to channels like X and review hubs like Yelp and Google Reviews to praise, champion and criticize different products and businesses. Buyers are more likely to trust this unfiltered peer feedback from people who have already tried a product or engaged with a brand.

 

From a brand perspective, reviews are key for audience growth and reputation management. Every review post, comment and @-mention is either an opportunity to reflect on ways your business can improve—or a glowing testimonial worth sharing more broadly with your audience.

How you can use this insight

Online review management is tricky, but it’s a must for maintaining a positive reputation. It’s hard to distill review data from disparate sources into a quantifiable metric. With a social listening tool like Sprout’s, you can easily analyze the sentiment of messages that mention your brand so you can dig into positive, neutral and negative feedback.

Sprout’s review management capabilities ensure you never miss a message (or a chance to engage) by centralizing reviews from Facebook, Glassdoor, Google My Business, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Google Play Store and Apple App Store in one place.

You can also conduct sentiment analysis in Sprout’s Smart Inbox and Reviews feed. Sprout will automatically assign sentiment to messages in your Smart Inbox and Reviews, but you can dig in further by adding filters and custom views.

Social media and consumer behavior: An ongoing transformation

Social media leveled the playing field between buyers and brands. Consumers can learn about and engage with brands more easily, and vice versa. Brands can listen to what matters to their audience at the most individual level and help solve problems faster.

Thanks to social, consumers expect much more from the businesses they support. With the right tools, organizations of any size can rise to the challenge.

Looking to learn more about social media and consumer behavior and the right next steps? Learn more data insights in The Sprout Social Index™.

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How to avoid emails going to the spam folder – words to avoid and more

Let's face it, nothing feels more frustrating than pouring your heart into a carefully crafted email, only to discover it's taken an unexpected detour to your subscriber’s spam folder.

It’s not as if you can send an email to your subscribers asking them to safelist you, because those emails will just end up in spam. It’s a vicious cycle.

But what can you do to avoid your emails from going to spam?

To increase your chances that your emails make it safely into your subscribers inbox, there are some basic steps you can take to avoid spam filters.

In this blog we’ll highlight those simple and easy to implement steps to avoid emails going to spam. 

Plus we’ll share a well documented tip for staying out of the spam folder that, in actuality, has ZERO impact on where your emails end up.

1 - Avoid these spam trigger words

Do a Google search of “email spam words” and the top post list 188 or 168 or even 750 spam words to avoid. Yes, there is one blog that states 750 spam words to avoid.

These posts are stating you can’t use “buy”, “act now”, “limited time”, “urgent”, “weight loss”, “free”. So if you’re a health coach or someone trying to sell a product - good luck.

But do these words really trigger spam filters? The answer is NO.

This is an outdated concept.

Inbox service providers (ISPs) no longer rely on trigger words to label emails as spam. ISPs have learned from years of receiving emails what truly warrants an email ending up spam.

So, rest easy knowing that it's not just about avoiding a naughty list of words anymore. And anyone telling you there are “spam words” you should be avoiding, really doesn’t know how email deliverability works.

Now let’s get into the actual ways to avoid the spam folder…

2 - Send from a professional email address

Gmail and Yahoo have new sender requirements which will take effect in February 2024 that will prohibit using a Gmail and Yahoo sending address. So you will need to send your emails using a professional email address with your own domain name.

Mailbox providers like Gmail and Yahoo Mail are going to start sending your emails to the spam folder if you’re not using a professional email address like sean@reallycoolbusiness.com. Just for knowledge reallycoolbusiness@gmail.com is not a professional email address.

Just listen to what email expert Brian Minick, the Chief Operating Officer at ZeroBounce says:

“Free email accounts, like gmail.com or aol.com, are not intended for commercial sending purposes. They’re also heavily abused and therefore, you have a higher chance of landing in spam or being blocked altogether when you use them for mass sending.”

3 - Ensure emails are authenticated

Once you have your professional email, you’ll need to set up DKIM and DMARC. 

You might be wondering “what is DKIM?"  It’s like a digital signature for emails. A way for the sender (you) to prove the email is really from you and that it hasn't been changed by anyone in between. It helps keep emails trustworthy and secure.

What about DMARC?

DMARC is like a traffic signal for emails: SPF and DKIM set the rules for safe driving (authentication), and DMARC acts as the traffic police, directing the flow and instructing what to do when an email doesn't follow the rules that you have set.

To avoid the spam folder, DMARC authentication is required if your daily send volume is over 5,000 emails. 

4 - Keep those complaints low

Your email complaint rate should be below 0.1%. Anything above that is a red flag to mailbox providers that your content is not wanted by your subscribers, so they’ll start placing your email in the dreaded spam folder.

Here are some ways you can lower your complaint rate.

5 - Send content your audience loves

One of the biggest factors in whether or not your emails reach the inbox is positive subscriber engagement. Good deliverability relies on high subscriber interaction, low complaints, and low bounces.

To get your subscribers to consistently engage (open, read, and click!), your email content must be valuable to them. 

You can add value to your emails by including educational content in them, like blog posts or videos, or even showing subscribers how your product or service will improve their life. If your emails solve subscribers’ problems and pain points, they’ll open them every time!

Not sure what your subscribers will find valuable? Simply ask them! Send a survey in your welcome email or ask them to reply to your welcome email and share what they’d like to learn.

You can use these ideas to craft valuable content your subscribers will love to receive. And that can increase your email engagement and your chances of reaching the inbox.

6 - Set expectations on your sign up form

Your subscribers shouldn’t be surprised by the emails they get from you. If they are, they might mark them as spam.

To avoid surprises, clearly explain on your sign up form what type of content you include in your emails and how often you send messages.

For example, Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at Marketing Profs, describes the type of content she sends and how frequently she emails her audience on the landing page for her newsletter TotalAnnarchy.

7 - Build a segment of your most-engaged subscribers

One of the biggest problems we see is subscribers who go months without opening or clicking within an email. If your subscribers are not engaging with your content, you need to avoid sending to them regularly. 

One solution is to create a segment of subscribers who have opened your emails or clicked a link in one of your emails in the last 3 - 6 months and send directly to those groups.Sending to segments like this is a great way to increase engagement from your subscribers and improve your overall sender reputation. 

While this is a great way to target your engaged users, you shouldn’t ignore the rest of your list. Send to your entire list at regular intervals as well, however if someone has not opened or clicked in  6 - 12 months, it is likely time to remove them from your list. 

Keep in mind that users have clicked links in your emails will be considered your most engaged group of subscribers. They are the ideal group to target and are more likely to open and click future emails.

8 - Make sure you have permission

It’s illegal to send emails to people who haven’t subscribed to your list. And sending unsolicited emails is a sure-fire way to end up in the spam folder.

If you purchased an email list, delete those subscribers immediately. They’re just hurting you. Plus, they didn’t give you permission to send them emails anyway, so they are much more likely to mark your emails as spam or not open them at all.

9 - Make it easy for people to unsubscribe

A complaint hurts your email reputation which can (and will) cause your emails to end up in the junk or spam folders. 

An unsubscribe safely removes them from your list. 

If a subscriber doesn't want to receive your emails, they will take one of these actions. Which would you rather they take? 

10 - Include your physical address in all emails

A requirement of the CAN-SPAM act is that all marketing emails must include your business address. This helps show that you’re a real business.

Related: How to Include a Physical Address in Your Emails Without Revealing Where You Live

Stick to the plan. Reach the inbox.

By following these steps, you can increase your chances of reaching the inbox and build a healthy list of people who want to receive your emails!

But remember that mastering the art of staying out of the spam folder is an ongoing process. Keep your content relevant, engage with your audience, and maintain a healthy sender reputation. 

Want to use an email marketing platform that helps more people reach the inbox? Create a free account with AWeber.

Fun history - why is spam called spam?

The modern meaning of the word “spam” has nothing to do with spiced ham. In the early 1990’s, a skit by British comedy group Monty Python led to the word’s common usage. “The SPAM Skit” follows a couple struggling to order dinner from a menu consisting entirely of Hormel’s canned ham.

Repetition is key to the skit’s hilarity. The actors cram the word “SPAM” into the 2.5 minute skit more than 104 times! This flood prompted Usenet readers to call unwanted newsgroup postings “spam.” The name stuck.

Spammers soon focused on email, and the terminology moved with them. 

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Instagram automation: Strategy and tools to do it right

Automation is a close friend of any social media marketing strategy—Instagram included. This is because automation can help take care of mundane tasks, like scheduling, compiling reports and even responding to common questions asked in DMs.

However, there still needs to be a human element to your Instagram strategy. Instagram automation can alleviate some of the repetitive tasks while allowing your social mean more time to develop creative campaigns. To help you find the right balance, we’ve put together a guide discussing what Instagram automation is, what can be automated and several tools to help you get started.

Let’s dig in.

What is Instagram automation?

Instagram automation refers to the use of third-party software to manage your account, carry out tasks and/or interact with users without a human present.

Simply put, Instagram automation tools can be put into two buckets:

1. Services that effectively “take control” of your front-facing interactions with users such as likes and comments
2. Tools that automate Instagram behind the scenes, taking care of tasks such as publishing, reporting and analytics

But does Instagram automation make your business look lazy? We say no—but only if you do it right. As with any other tool or strategy, there are pros and cons to weigh in how your team will implement automation.

Here are some pros and cons to help you decide if you want to start automating certain tasks on Instagram.

Pros:

• Save time on smaller, tedious tasks. Growing an Instagram presence organically definitely requires a combination of time and strategizing. Instagram automation tools can pick up some of the slack trimming, down time spent on tedious tasks.
• Grow your follower count faster. Automation undoubtedly helps you boost your follower count. Simply spending time on the platform and interacting with accounts in any way, shape or form will set you up for more engagement by default.
• Uncover important insights about your audience. There’s no doubt that automation tools help you learn more about your target audience. From breaking down what hashtags people use to suggesting accounts to follow, bots encourage you to take a deeper dive into your audience’s preferences.

Cons:

• Instagram isn’t a fan of automation “hacks.” Instagram has a history of taking action against  tools that they consider spammy. The platform wants its users to engage authentically and organically, so Instagram put together limits and penalties for tactics they see as potentially gaming their algorithm. More on this in the next section.
• Poor automation looks spammy. People can spot a bot at a glance. Automating likes and comments is a recipe for a potential social media crisis. Brand accounts should emphasize human interactions and avoid anything that looks spammy.
• Potentially miss out on important customer interactions. The more you automate on Instagram, the fewer opportunities you have to interact with followers and customers. You can’t provide personalized service with purely automated interactions. Instead, only automate aspects of your Instagram account that encourage you to spend more time with your followers.

Is Instagram automation allowed?

As we’ve discussed, there are pros and cons, but those are subjective. Let’s talk about legalities—or at least, what abides by Instagram’s Community Guidelines—so your account doesn’t get penalized.

The short answer is yes, Instagram automation is allowed. The long answer is that certain types of automation cheapen the experience and make your business look bad online. And some types of automation can even get your account banned.

First, let’s talk about the good kinds of automation—the kinds of automation that can assist your social team and improve your strategy.

What can be automated on Instagram?

If you’re interested in using automation to your advantage, here are a few tasks on Instagram that you can get some robot help with.

• Likes: Set up a bot with a group of hashtags so the bot can like posts you say are relevant to your brand.
• Comments: Similarly, a bot can also leave social media comments—on your posts and others. Sprout Social’s Saved Replies and Asset Library are a perfect example of this.
• Follows and unfollows: Follow and unfollow relevant and irrelevant accounts, respectively. This can help you grow your own follower count.
• Direct messages: Send and respond to DMs with the help of a bot. You can even set bots up to send messages to people who comment on your posts with a trigger word.
• Scheduling and publishing: Scheduling Instagram posts is a form of automation—an essential form that every social media team needs.
• Reporting: Automation tools can also help you monitor your Instagram analytics with insights and reports showcasing your performance.

Things you need to be wary of are engaging too much too quickly—faster than a human typically could—or Instagram could put a limit on your account. Buying likes and followers is also frowned upon. And you’ll want to avoid working with bots and tools that don’t have access to Instagram’s API as they’re not considered legitimate Instagram partners.

9 Instagram automation tools to streamline your work

Want to get started with basic—and allowed—Instagram automation? These nine tools can help give you a head start.

1. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is an all-in-one social media management tool that helps with a number of automation aspects and making Instagram management as seamless as possible for your team. Sprout can assist with a number of tasks, like publishing, response management, productivity tools and analytics. Through automation and other Sprout features, your team can effectively plan, post and manage your Instagram campaigns.

Instagram automations available:

• Scheduling and publishing
• Auto-responders and suggested replies in DMs
• Hashtag discovery
• Sourcing UGC

2. SocialPilot

SocialPilot is an Instagram automation and analytics tool that helps brands streamline their Instagram strategies. Access features that help you publish content, engage with your audience, view analytics and more. This software allows you to schedule up to 500 posts at once, whether on Instagram or another platform. And the option to save evergreen content and responses for frequent reuse helps social teams respond faster.

Instagram automations available:

• Scheduling and publishing
• AI caption generation
• Reporting
• Watermarking

3. Kicksta

Kicksta is an AI-based tool dedicated to helping Instagram users grow their followers. Its AI tool focuses on leaving authentic comments and engagement on other Instagram accounts in order to help you grow your following—without buying followers. You provide the guidelines for who to engage with based on a list of competitors, brands and influencers with similar audiences, then Kicksta does the hard work.

Instagram automations available:

• Comments
• Likes

4. Nitreo

Nitreo is another Instagram automation tool focused on helping brands get more followers on Instagram. Nitreo’s tool also engages with real accounts, helping you to keep up Instagram engagement and remain an authentic online presence without ending up with thousands of bot (or bought) followers.

Instagram automations available:

• Comments
• Likes
• Story views
• Profile visits

5. Tailwind

Tailwind is an Instagram automation tool that focuses more on scheduling and publishing—but takes a unique approach. This tool is only available for Instagram and Pinterest, ensuring its services are catered to specific needs in the market.

Instagram automations available:

• Post idea generation
• Copy generation
• Graphic and design generation
• Hashtag discovery
• Publishing and scheduling

6. NapoleonCat

NapoleonCat is a social media management tool focused on helping brands engage with and support their online customers. Get this tool’s help with moderating and responding to comments and messages, scheduling out your content in advance and generating useful analytics reports.

Instagram automations available:

• Scheduling and publishing
• Comment moderation
• Auto-responses for both comments and DMs
• Reporting

7. Inflact

Inflact provides an entire suite of tools that can be used for Instagram automation. From interacting with other accounts to publishing content, Inflact offers an intuitive dashboard for accessing all of its useful features.

Instagram automations available:

• Send bulk DMs
• Follow and unfollow
• Likes
• Hashtag discovery
• Scheduling and publishing

8. Iconosquare

Iconosquare is another option for social media managers looking for a range of features dedicated to Instagram automation. Use this tool for scheduling, monitoring analytics, social listening and more.

Instagram automations available:

• Scheduling and publishing
• Reporting
• Unread comment/mention discovery

9. OnlySocial

OnlySocial is another useful option for Instagram automation and management. One of its top features in regards to automations is the ability to create Instagram messenger chatbots so that followers can message you and easily get helped by a customer service or sales chatbot.

Instagram automations available:

• Scheduling and publishing
• RSS feed auto-publishing
• Instagram messaging chatbot
• Reporting

Are you using Instagram automation the right way?

There’s plenty to automate on Instagram, granted you let a human take the reins.

If you’re looking to speed up your Instagram growth via automation, your head is in the right place. After all, marketers should always look to add tools to their toolbox in order to engage with more customers.

To learn more about how Sprout Social can help with your Instagram automation journey, request a free demo.

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User-generated content (UGC): what it is and why it matters for your brand

You’re scrolling through Instagram, and suddenly you see it—a photo of a friend sporting the latest sneakers, captioned with pure excitement. That, right there, is user-generated content (UGC), the authentic snapshot of everyday brand love that’s become the heartbeat of social media marketing. Because let’s face it, we all trust a friend’s recommendation over a polished ad.

In this guide, we’ll dive into the what, why and how of UGC, so you can use all types of media content like candid snapshots, rave reviews and spontaneous videos to boost your brand’s relatability.

What is user-generated content?

User-generated content is unpaid or unsponsored content your customers create related to your brand—think reviews, photos, videos and even social posts. It’s real, it’s authentic and it’s priceless for your credibility.

Encouraging and featuring UGC on your social accounts shows that people are loyal to your brand. Sharing and resharing UGC multiplies a content asset’s reach and attracts more eyeballs toward your brand.

For example, Growth Marketing Manager at Biteable, Haily Moulton (@hailymoulton), created a reel on how to use AI as a social media manager.

She discusses people’s burning questions regarding AI. Haily is also a Sprout Ambassador who swears by our all-in-one social media tool. By reposting her reel, Haily gets new eyes on her video and we get valuable content.

Types of UGC

UGC comes in all shapes and sizes. Customers can feature your brand in multiple ways, including:

Customer reviews and testimonials

Users showcase their love for your brand through posts and stories.

Project management tool Trello, for example, reposted this Tweet from Tony Lango, the world’s first Engagement Relationship Manager (ERM):

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Trello by Atlassian (@trelloapp)

Posts like Tony’s are personal endorsements on platforms like Instagram and X (previously known as Twitter). This content generates positive buzz and attracts lots of attention to your brand.

Photos

Photos of your brand or products by customers add credibility and social proof. They also have the potential to attract new customers who want to see your product in action.

Gymshark’s Insta feed, for example, is full of fitness influencers posting high-quality photos of themselves wearing the brand’s activewear.

Regular UGC showcases the products in use and highlights the influencer’s loyalty and trust in the brand.

Videos

Your audience posts videos using your product. It’s like digital word-of-mouth. Benefit, for example, reposted this TikTok from makeup artist Colleen (@colleen.makeupp).

@benefitcosmetics

Comment in emojis your aesthetic: pumpkin or strawberry? 💬🎃🧡🍓💌🧺⁠ ⁠ 👩‍🎨: @colleen.makeupp ⁠ ⁠ #benefitcosmetics #strawberrymakeup #pumpkinspice

♬ Pretty (Sped Up) – MEYY

This timely Halloween makeup post using Benefit’s products is a great example of UGC that showcases the brand’s products in action. It also highlights the creativity and talent of their customers, making it relatable and aspirational for other potential customers.

Blogs

Sometimes, your customers write detailed experiences or stories about your products on their blogs.

Hostinger, for example, featured Grammarly as the best grammar assistant in its roundup article.

Grammarly can then reshare this blog, feature a snippet from the review or collaborate with the blogger for future content. Collaborations build a positive relationship and expose Grammarly to new audiences through the blogger’s followers.

Comments

Comments are a treasure trove of opinions and insights. Glassdoor created this Facebook post from existing responses in its Interview Tips Bowl, a social media series featuring interview tips from its audience.

These comments have a twofold effect: they show other users actively engage with your brand and also give valuable audience insights.

Why user-generated content is good for your brand

UGC turns your customers into your biggest fans and your most authentic spokespeople. Here’s how it impacts your brand:

Provides a consistent source of inspiration

Struggling with content ideas? You’re not alone—29% of marketers, per the Content Benchmarks Report, feel that pinch. Luckily, UGC is a goldmine for inspiration. It hands you a content bank brimming with customer posts, reviews and stories.

Here’s why a rich content bank is important: The Sprout Social Index ™ 2023 shows that 68% of consumers follow a brand on social to stay informed about new products or services.

Staying visible means staying on top-of-mind. Plus, UGC is original. The same research highlights that 38% of customers believe the most memorable brands prioritize original content over following trending topics.

A consistent and regular social presence keeps your brand top-of-mind. Each customer interaction is a potential post that keeps your feed active and your audience engaged.

Builds social proof and drives purchase intent

User-generated content turns customers into your most credible salespeople—every photo, review or testimonial is an authentic endorsement. And here’s why that matters: people trust people.

When they see others—real users, not actors—enjoying your product, it’s like a recommendation from someone they know. Social proof uses the ‘follow the herd’ instinct people have. If everyone’s buying this, it must be good, right?

This kind of validation makes potential customers feel more comfortable and confident in their decision to choose you. It’s the reassurance they need to take the leap from interested to invested.

Now, consider this—the Content Benchmark report also shows 26% of consumers find UGC the most engaging type of content in their social feeds. That’s a quarter of your audience that doesn’t just scroll past UGC—they stop, they look, they engage. Why? Because it speaks to them on a personal level. It’s relatable and, therefore, more believable.

Generates brand awareness

UGC puts your brand on the radars of new audiences. Every share, tag and mention extends your reach and spreads your brand’s message.

Brand awareness is the first step in the marketing funnel. Familiarity breeds trust—when people recognize your brand, they’re more likely to consider you when they’re ready to buy.

Each user’s content is a personal shout-out to your brand, and their followers are all ears. It’s a network effect—every post introduces your brand to a new circle. And because it’s coming from someone they trust, it makes a lasting impression.

Creates authenticity

UGC puts your brand on the map in a way that feels organic, not intrusive. It’s shared by real people in real-time, giving it an authenticity that paid ads just can’t match.

Our research highlights an obvious gap in brand content—consumers don’t see enough authentic, non-promotional content on social media. Even when they work with influencers, our research shows that 62% of marketers encourage influencers to share their real experiences, while 50% choose influencers who are genuine fans of their product.

There’s an opportunity for brands to bridge this gap and curate content that resonates on a personal level and builds trust.

When you showcase UGC, you’re not just adding content to your feed—you’re building a community around your brand. You’re telling your customers, “We see you, we hear you and we value what you have to say.” This recognition motivates them to engage more and even contribute their own content.

Builds brand loyalty

When you actively showcase user content, you acknowledge and celebrate your customers. It makes people feel connected to your brand and feel like they’re a part of something.

You notice your customers and they’ll stick around—1 in 5 consumers will happily spend 50% more on brands they trust.

Every piece of UGC is a chance to boost that trust and build brand loyalty. Your most loyal customers are your biggest cheerleaders. Actively building a relationship with them and acknowledging their efforts encourages them to invest more in your brand—with money and more user-generated content.

3 real user-generated content examples

These three UGC strategies show how brands can use real customer content to drive engagement and authenticity and build brand loyalty.

1. Nutrisense

Health and technology company Nutrisense provides personalized nutrition advice based on continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) data. Users wear a CGM device that tracks their blood glucose levels in real-time, providing insights into how their body responds to different foods.

Nutrisense’s platform analyzes this data and pairs users with registered dietitians to optimize metabolic health, improve diet and support weight loss.

In July 2021, Nutrisense had about 25,000 followers across its social media profiles. The brand wanted to amplify its presence so it started creating UGC and paired it with Sprout’s insights.

Sprout’s reports highlighted the kind of content that resonated with its target audience. By the end of 2022, Nutrisense’s social media engagement grew by 45% and their community had expanded to more than 130,000—an increase of 469%.

 

2. Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift isn’t just a music superstar—she’s a master at making fans the heart of her brand. Instagram account, Taylor Nation, is a part of Taylor’s PR and marketing muscle and acts as her official fan club too. The account pumps life into user-generated content campaigns that fans absolutely adore.

For the “TS The Eras Tour,” Taylor Nation called on fans to post their tour outfits using #TSTheErasTour. Fans went all out—they showcased their Swift-inspired looks, complete with glitter and friendship bracelets.

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A post shared by Taylor Nation (@taylornation)

But Taylor Nation didn’t stop there—they reposted their favorite picture. Fans got to be the stars, and it happened in every city on the tour.

UGC is one trick in a detailed customer marketing strategy in how Taylor and her team create a tight-knit community. Fans don’t just buy a ticket—they buy into a shared story and a collective experience.

3. Wahl Professional

Wahl Professional specializes in the production and sale of professional grooming equipment, including hair clippers and trimmers. Professional barbers and stylists trust Wahl for its durable, reliable and precise tools.

Wahl has been around for 97 years. It needed a fresh strategy to target and appeal to a new generation of customers.

Since June 2015, Wahl’s pivoted its approach to active engagement and used Sprout Social to manage and monitor conversations across multiple Instagram accounts, particularly @wahlpro. This shift led to a curated strategy of sharing UGC content.

Wahl’s target audience—a vibrant community of stylists and barbers—was already sharing their work with the hashtags #Wahl and #WahlPro.

Wahl monitored these Brand Keywords with Sprout and transformed its social feed into a showcase of professional talent and authentic user experiences.

In less than a year, @wahlpro increased its engagement on Instagram by 4,307% and grew its followers by 84,788 with Sprout.

5 tips to help you add UGC to your content strategy

Adding UGC isn’t just hitting the reshare button now and then. It’s about listening to what your customers are sharing, and weaving it into your brand’s narrative in a way that feels seamless and authentic.

Here are some tips to help you make UGC a cornerstone of your content strategy.

1. Find and repost UGC on relevant social platforms

You need to know where your audience lives on social media and where potential advocates have the most influence. For example: Instagram is naturally great for sharing visuals, but reference the data to double-check if that’s the network where your target audience lives.

Consider your audience and goals when choosing a social network. Select the right network and create a social environment to deliver content and engage with customers to nurture long-term relationships.

At the same time, identify what types of UGC perform best on each network and how to present them based on each app’s culture.

• Facebook: Use Facebook to share full video content and stories that boost engagement (and possibly go viral). Facebook’s algorithm is tough for organic reach, but don’t rule out posting user-generated content on ads.
• X: Despite the smaller character count, X is a great platform for image-sharing. If you host events, consider using this space to create a live X feed for real-time coverage and easily capture UGC to reshare. Using X this way is a great opportunity to capitalize on hashtags.
• Instagram: As the mecca of visual sharing, Instagram is the go-to for UGC. It’s critical to know how to regram, use Instagram Explore and find content through hashtags. Seeing products in action makes Instagram the spot for brands to get creative and connect with those who support your business. Reposting Story mentions (maybe even making a Highlight for them) is a great low-lift way to show off your customer UGC. The user may even repost the repost, leading more of their following to your page.
• TikTok: There’s no shortage of UGC on TikTok, and it’s not hard to find. TikTok’s culture is all about authentic, scrappy videos, rather than refined reviews or stories. Engage with a customer in the comments of their video, ask permission to share and credit properly on your own page.
• LinkedIn: This is the world’s largest social network for professionals, so vet any UGC you share here and make sure it’s relevant to your brand’s goals. This isn’t the spot to repost just any user’s content. Instead, use LinkedIn to promote above and beyond user-generated content that aligns with your brand in a professional sense.

And then, bring it all together with Sprout. Centralize posting on one platform and create a single source of truth. With analytics, posting features, and content calendars under one roof, executing your UGC strategy requires only a fraction of your time.

2. Always ask permission and credit creators

When you spot a gem—a user post that just nails it—you’re halfway to great UGC. But before you hit ‘Share,’ ask for permission. It’s about respect and legality. You don’t want to be the brand that gets called out for taking someone’s creativity for free.

Send a quick message—it can be as simple as, “Hey, we love your post! Can we feature it on our page with credit to you?”

A simple “Photo by @username” or even a tag in the caption (like how skincare brand La Roche Posay does it) is enough.

It shows respect and keeps things transparent. Plus, it builds a sense of community. When creators see you treating others well, they might want you to feature them, too. Tagging the creator might even give you a boost. Their followers see it, and you potentially have new eyes on your brand.

Take the gratitude a step further. A DM saying “Thanks!” can turn a one-time poster into a brand ally. Relationship-building makes UGC a permanent part of your content strategy.

3. Use employee advocacy to amplify UGC

Turn your team into brand ambassadors with employee advocacy. Encourage them to share and engage with user-generated content on their personal channels.

When employees share UGC, it does two things: it amplifies the reach and puts a human face to your brand. A post from a person rather than a brand page often gets more traction, feels more genuine and can spread like wildfire.

Start by creating a culture where sharing is celebrated. Offer guidelines, sure, but don’t micromanage. You want authenticity, not a copy-paste vibe.

Instead, offer templates. Templates give employees a headstart and make them more likely to post. Our report shows that 72% of engaged users would post about their company if content was written for them.

Pro tip: make it fun. Throw in a monthly contest or highlight the best employee-shared UGC. Make your team feel like they’re part of the brand’s story.

And lastly, track your progress. Use employee advocacy tools like Sprout Social to identify and distribute content that resonates most, increase employee participation with curated content and increase social ROI.

An employee advocacy strategy that covers all bases turns your workforce into a powerhouse of authentic brand promotion 

4. Monitor the impact of UGC with a dedicated tool

To bring it all home, if you want your UGC strategy to work, you have to measure. No matter what your goals, benchmarking is a must.

According to The 2023 State of Social Media report, 91% of marketers agree data from social enables them to better their target audience. This finding emphasizes the crucial role good reporting plays in a UGC strategy.

With Sprout Social, you have social analytics tools to track your overall engagement with UGC.

Whether you’re posting to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram, access detailed audience reports that reveal which content is driving the most engagement and growth on your profiles. 

Using our social listening tools, analyze your social data to understand the content and conversations happening around your brand.

Insights on what others are tagging you in are quite useful to your brand’s UGC strategy, too. Sprout’s tag report pinpoints how well your UGC is doing compared to your campaign imagery. Use this data to allocate budgets to different creative assets based on how engaging it is.

Whether it’s contextual analysis of keywords, hashtags or customer experiences, these powerful social tools let you measure your efforts and uncover new opportunities to source and share user-generated content.

5. Check music copyright

When adding UGC to your content mix, check the music copyright. It’s easy to get caught up in the visuals and forget that tunes need clearance too. If there’s music in any user-submitted videos, make sure it’s all above board.

And here’s why—it’s not just about following the law (which you should). It’s also about respecting creators’ rights. That song in the background? It’s someone’s art and they deserve credit (and maybe royalties).

Before you repost that catchy customer review or that dance-off video featuring your product, check if the music is licensed for commercial use.

Sometimes, it’s as easy as reaching out to the artist. Other times, you might need to swap the track with royalty-free options. Bottom line—clear those tunes. It’ll save you a headache and keep your brand on the right side of copyright law.

Add the power of UGC to your workflow

UGC is that secret sauce you need to add authentic flavor to your brand’s social presence. But it isn’t just a one-off strategy. It’s a steady conversation.

Make UGC a cornerstone of your social strategy. Keep asking for that content, keep crediting those creators and keep that content flowing. And manage it all with Sprout Social.

Sprout keeps a pulse on the UGC that resonates with your audience, helping you track, curate and showcase the content that tells your brand’s story through the eyes of your customers.

Want to see how it fits into your workflow? Try it out today and see how it streamlines your UGC strategy.

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18 Email marketing ideas to boost opens, clicks and sales

You know email marketing is a super effective way to nurture leads, turn them into paying customers, and retain existing customers.

But achieving your goals requires sending emails consistently and frequently — likely at least once per week. And coming up with that many email marketing campaign ideas is tough.

Maybe you’ve hit a creative dead-end. Maybe your previous activity hasn’t delivered the desired results. Maybe you’re new to email and just don’t know where to start.

Either way, you’re experiencing a major case of writer’s (or emailer’s) block.

Don’t worry, because we’ve rounded up 18 email marketing ideas to inspire your next campaign, backed up with real-world examples and segmented across the following common goals:

• Generating more sales
• Increasing email open rates
• Getting more clicks
• Nurturing leads
• Increasing sign-ups
• Boosting customer retention

Relax, take a deep breath, and let’s get into it…

Goal: Generate more sales

Promote a sale

Before we start discussing how to promote your latest sale through email marketing, let’s make one thing clear:

Sales aren’t a silver bullet. 

Run too many and you risk devaluing your brand. Also, consumers base their buying decisions on a range of factors, not just price. The biggest motivators are:

• Customer ratings and reviews (cited by 94% of respondents) 
• Price of product (91%)
• Free shipping (78%)
• Brand preference (65%)
• Friend/family recommendations (60%)

So there are no guarantees a sale will even move the needle.

However, used effectively, sales can still be extremely impactful, with a high proportion of consumers across age groups saying they wait for discounts before buying online.

Now, let’s look at a real sales promotion email from interior decor brand Bougié, which effectively combined two of the top five buying factors we mentioned above by: 

• Offering a discount on the product price
• Providing free shipping

Of course, a lot of sales span multiple product categories (or even entire websites), rather than focusing on a single product like in Bougié’s example. If you’re planning such a specific promotion, your best bet is to target customers who’ve shown interest in a relevant product category.

In Bougié’s case, this could be people who:

• Browsed other coffee tables
• Browsed other Pitch Drop products
• Browsed or recently purchased other living room furniture

Send cart abandonment emails

An astonishing 70.19% of online shopping carts end up being abandoned. It’s a tragedy for ecommerce stores; just think of all that lost revenue.

But it’s not all bad news, because cart abandonment emails consistently see open rates of 43% or more.

Not only that, but these emails convert at a rate of 18.64% — way higher than the average email conversion rate of around 8%.

The best abandoned cart emails contain the following elements:

• Order summary
• Product pricing
• Product imagery
• At least one CTA to complete the transaction

Let’s look at an example from menswear brand Huckberry:

As well as getting the basics right, Huckberry goes a step further by promoting “more good stuff”, just in case the recipient isn’t interested in buying the products they abandoned:

Use this tactic to recommend other products or categories the customer has previously browsed, or just to point them toward your top sellers.

Share social proof

Social proof is a massive source of buying inspiration. For instance, three-quarters of consumers “always” or “regularly” read reviews when browsing for businesses in their area.

But social proof isn't just about customer reviews. Other types include:

• Testimonials
• Industry awards
• Recommendations from influencers, thought leaders, or industry publications
• Customer success stories
• Accreditations

In our next example, furniture brand Keeps Home rounded up some of its most glowing press coverage from interior design and consumer review sites:

As you can see, this email also featured a prominent CTA. So if the email recipient is won over by all those impressive industry reviews, they can easily click through and shop the Keeps range.

Use scarcity and urgency

Want to motivate your audience to buy right now? Try adding scarcity or urgency (or both) to your messaging.

Scarcity and urgency are similar, but they’re not the same:

• Urgency is about limited time. For instance, you might tell customers they only have 24 hours to take advantage of a discount.
• Scarcity is about limited quantity. For example, you could say there are only 50 spaces available on your next course.

In our next example, Wix created a sense of urgency by making it clear the discount was a limited-time offer, as visualized by the countdown timer beneath the introductory copy:

Wix could have made this email even more impactful by combining urgency and scarcity, such as limiting the 50% discount to the first 100 customers who signed up. That would have created a real rush to the checkout.

Goal: Increase email opens

Split-test email subject lines

Email subject lines are your #1 tool for boosting open rates, with almost half of email recipients opening emails based on the subject line alone.

So if you’re trying to increase email opens, the subject line should be your first port of call. But while we can offer you dozens of inspirational email subject line examples, the only reliable way to figure out what works for you is to run a split-test.

That’s precisely what the folks at online marketing education company Authority Hacker did. Across 78 email outreach campaigns, they trialed three slightly different subject lines:

• Question?
• Quick question?
• Question for you?

Similar as those options sound, the three top-performing campaigns in terms of email open rates all had the same subject line:

That’s right: between Campaign A and Campaign E, they managed to increase their open rate by 12.5%, just by removing the word “quick” for the subject line!

Before you start your own subject line split-test, remember not to change the other elements that affect email open rates (namely the email preheader and sender name — more on them later). That way, you can be sure any changes you see to the open rate are down to the subject line alone.

Use a complementary email preheader

The email preheader is a snippet of text that appears next to or underneath an email subject line, depending on your device and inbox provider. Confusingly, it’s also known as the Johnson Box or preview text. But whatever you call it, you can use it to increase your open rate by reinforcing or expanding on your subject line messaging.

For example, Sensi Graves Swim used the subject line to promote limited-availability products, then increased the feeling of scarcity with a preheader explaining there were “only one or two” left in stock:

Test different sender names

We’ve covered subject lines and preheaders, but there’s another — often-overlooked — element that can have a big impact on email open rates: the email sender name.

Should you use your brand name, like in this example…

…or choose a personal name plus your brand name to create a more human feel?

There’s plenty of evidence to suggest small changes to your sender name can yield massive impacts, with one organization reporting 50% higher open rates after adding a real person to its sender names.

But the simple answer is: you won’t know the right approach for your brand and audience until you test it yourself.

Pro tip: For best results, test subject lines, preheaders, and sender names to find the combination that delivers the highest open rates.

Goal: Get more clicks

Build emails around one CTA

When brainstorming email marketing ideas, you should identify one clear “goal” for each email you send. Use that goal to create a single CTA that prompts readers to take the desired action.

Add conflicting calls-to-action to an email and you risk leaving people confused — which means fewer clicks and conversions.

Adobe got it right in this email, which was solely geared toward driving downloads of a specific piece of content:

The lack of “noise” increases the chances of people clicking and downloading.

Use negative space in email design

Some emails make you feel like you’ve got a migraine.

I’m not talking about that out-of-the-blue message from your boss asking if you’ve got time for a “quick chat”.

Instead, I mean those marketing emails that are crammed with different GIFs, colors, fonts, images, emojis, and other visual bells and whistles.

When it comes to email design, less is more. Create more impactful emails by using negative space (also known as “white space”): empty areas in an email that help other design elements to stand out.

This example from Codecademy is an exercise in email design restraint, with the wealth of negative space naturally drawing your eye toward the offer and the CTA button:

Pro tip: Not sure where to start with email design? Don’t worry, because AWeber has a library of 600+ customizable email templates to inspire your next campaign.

Describe how your product will change the reader’s life

In a world that’s obsessed with audio and visual content, it’s easy to overlook the importance of email copywriting.

But the words in your emails play a key role in helping would-be customers picture what their lives would be like after buying your product or service. Which, in turn, makes them more likely to click through to learn more.

SectionSchool uses this tactic in our next example:

The email copy encourages readers to imagine themselves after three months of learning with Section and spells out the benefits they can expect. It’s exactly the sort of messaging that would resonate with someone interested in self-improvement.

Pro tip: As a general rule, your email copy should contain lots of “you” and “your”, and not so much “we” or “our”. Remember, it’s all about the customer, not you.

Goal: Nurture leads

Provide personalized product recommendations

Consumer expectations around personalization are increasing, with 73% of respondents to a 2022 survey expecting brands to understand their unique needs and expectations, up from 66% in 2020.

Which means one of the most effective email marketing ideas for nurturing leads is to provide personalized product recommendations.

Luggage and accessories brand Bellroy evidently understands this. In this email, it rounded up a bunch of relevant products based on the recipient’s browsing and buying behavior:

Importantly, Bellroy made it clear that these weren’t generic recommendations by using phrases like:

• Just for you
• Personalized to your tastes
• Your picks
• Hand-picked

Because why go to all the trouble of providing dynamic product recommendations if you’re not going to tell people about it?

Share relevant content

Email personalization isn’t just about introducing your audience to products they might love. It’s also about pointing them in the direction of content they’ll find interesting or useful (or, ideally, both).

For example, imagine you’re an HR manager looking to get more value from your organization’s learning and development spend.

During your research, you sign up for Filtered’s email list, but you’re not quite ready to request a product demo.

Then you receive this email:

There’s a good chance you’d join the webinar to learn more. Which, in turn, makes it more likely that Filtered will be front of mind when you’re ready to buy.

Celebrate milestones

Milestones are a tailor-made opportunity to nurture leads (and maybe persuade them to purchase something). There are various types of milestones, including:

• Customer / lead birthdays
• Company birthdays
• Anniversaries since a specific user action (such as subscribing to your newsletter)

Our next example, from language learning platform Busuu, demonstrates how milestone emails can be used to encourage a lead to upgrade from a freemium product to a paid account:

Busuu essentially uses the three-month “anniversary” as an excuse to offer a big discount off its premium plans.

Goal: Increase sign-ups

Send referral emails

If I tell you to buy something, you’ll probably think: “Why should I listen to this guy? I don’t even know him. And how did he get my phone number?”

But if your mom or your partner or your best friend recommends a product or service, there’s a decent chance you’ll listen. In fact, consumers trust referrals more than any other channel: 

• Referrals (trusted by 40% of respondents)
• TV adverts (31%)
• Influencer recommendations (1%)

For that reason, referral emails are one of the most effective ways to increase sign-ups for an online course, event, or webinar. But if they’re going to deliver the desired results, you need to come up with incentives for both the referrer and the person they’re referring, just like online training company GeeksforGeeks.

The brand built a simple but effective referral scheme that rewarded both parties:

• The referred customer got a 10% discount on any GeeksforGeeks course
• The referrer earned a 5% commission on the sale

That’s a real win-win.

Tease new course content

Just as an ecommerce company might launch a new product to boost sales, online course sellers can drive sign-ups by introducing and promoting new course content.

In our next example, the Content Marketing Institute teased its new content marketing certification, created in partnership with the American Marketing Association:

Don’t worry if you don’t fancy reading all that copy, because it basically says: this new course is launching soon, sign up to get notified when it drops.

Goal: Boost customer retention

Run win-back campaigns

Between 2013 and 2022, the average ecommerce customer acquisition cost rose by a staggering 222%, so retaining customers has never been more important.

Which brings us neatly to win-back campaigns. Also known as re-engagement or reactivation campaigns, they can help you keep hold of leads or customers who’ve stopped engaging with your emails or buying your products.

There are various types of win-back campaigns, but one of the most impactful is the last-chance email, which basically forces customers to opt back into your marketing list. If they don’t, they’ll be unsubscribed, so they’ll stop spoiling your email engagement metrics.

Let’s look at a last-chance email example from temporary tattoo brand Tattly:

Sure, this feels kind of counterintuitive: why would you encourage subscribers to leave your marketing list?

But when someone chooses to stay subscribed, that’s a clear sign they’re interested in what you have to say. And remember: it’s better to have a smaller pool of engaged customers than a massive list full of people who barely remember your name.

Reiterate your value proposition

The customers you’re trying to retain liked you enough to buy from one once upon a time. With a gentle reminder of why you’re so amazing, they might be persuaded to do it again.

Beauty brand AILLEA shows us what that reminder might look like:

First up, this email reiterates the brand’s value proposition, which is all about helping customers develop a more sustainable, eco-friendly beauty routine.

AILLEA goes on to ask the recipient two questions that are directly related to its value proposition:

By doing this, it subtly encourages the recipient to consider why they might want to shop with AILLEA. This messaging is supported by CTAs that prompt customers to browse the brand’s collections.

It’s all about persuading people to take another look at the AILLEA store, where they’ll hopefully find something they love.

Ask for feedback

There are two ways to figure out why a customer has stopped engaging with your emails, using your product, or buying from you:

1. Consult a soothsayer
2. Ask them

Personally, I prefer option #2.

Asking for customer feedback has a couple big benefits for brands:

• Customers like being asked for feedback (provided you act on it). Four in five consumers say they feel more loyal to brands that respond to and resolve their complaints.
• Even if a customer leaves, you can learn from their experience. Find out what put them off about your product or marketing — and fix it.

Here’s a textbook customer survey email example from dairy brand Tillamook:

Tillamook gets three things right in this email:

• It tells the recipient what’s expected of them (i.e. answering three questions)
• It clearly states the purpose of the survey (finding out if recipients find the brand’s emails useful and interesting)
• It promises some sort of benefit (using the feedback to deliver better content)

Stick with this formula to get more responses from your feedback emails.

Successful email marketing requires the personal touch

Whether you’re encouraging a new email subscriber to make their first purchase, asking existing customers to recommend you to their friends and family, or trying to stop a previously loyal customer from leaving, one thing applies:

You stand a far better chance of success if you speak to people as individuals.

What are their pain points? What do they like about your product? What would persuade them to perform the desired action right now?

That sort of personalized messaging is impossible to deliver without the right email marketing platform.

With AWeber, you can use tags and custom fields to create dynamic segments that update automatically based on individual customer actions like: 

• Browsing a product page
• Making a purchase
• Opening a specific email

That way, you can send the right email content to the right person exactly when they need it, which can increase your profitability and sales.

See for yourself by signing up for a free AWeber account.
Get started here!

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