When strategy development meets client immersion

Laying claim to the title of the ‘UK’s fastest-growing marketing automation platform’, there’s no denying Force24 has a bold reputation to upkeep. But since the brand’s inception in 2010, the team has made this look like light work, to say the least.

Fighting the marketer’s corner with continual investment into the user-centric tool, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Force24 needn’t do much more to raise the stakes in the martech industry. Yet, with a commitment to providing best-in-class support, our client takes customer excellence one step further by successfully delivering over 14 in-person events per calendar year too.

And last month, our resident copywriter Rosie Holt, and account manager Alice Kelly, had the privilege of attending one for themselves.

Hosted in Liverpool’s quaint, cool, and perfectly on-brand Love Lane Brewery, the email masterclass was just one of a UK-wide series of face-to-face events. Following a warm drinks reception and a whistle-stop intro to Force24, experienced digital marketer and Force24 CEO, Adam Oldfield, delved deeper into some of the industry’s best kept secrets.

Here are the must-know insights from the day…

The key principles of marketing automation

The reality is, your digital comms are less important to your recipients than they are to you. So, your challenge is to reverse that – and marketing automation is your Holy Grail.

According to Adam, email recall time is just 8-12 hours, which means only the most targeted and hyper-personalised of messages will be retained. By constantly gleaning information from your contacts to meet their of-the-moment needs and interests, you can ensure you’re delivering the right message, to the right person, at the right time.

Adam also suggested that the ‘rule of six’ formula is a sure-fire way to get the best out of any audience: introduction, social proof, ‘fear’, need, and urgency. This is because it takes an average of six digital touchpoints to truly engage people in your marketing message, so nurturing recipients through a tried-and-tested sequence is key.

How to approach segmentation

If you segment your audience properly, by placing them into categories with individuals who share a common denominator, emails can add real value.

Because consumers are now in the driving seat, there’s an increased focus on building equity in their brain – and communicating with them when they need you, and not vice versa. Again, this need lends itself heavily to personalisation.

In exploring the notion of cadence versus spamming, Adam suggested that it’s not the marketer who sends spam – but the recipient who choses to view content in such a way. For optimum cadence, you need to know more about your audience in order to curate content that truly resonates, and therefore drives engagement – whilst simultaneously enhancing email deliverability.

The refinement of creative assets

It’s important to remember that email is just the ‘hook’, not the full execution of content. That’s why it’s important to keep your comms concise, and rational. You should be able to convey your message in 10 words, and a single button, says Adam – and if you need more, it’s a sign that you should be sending more than one email.

In the same breadth, Adam confidently encouraged event attendees that it’s okay to break rules that don’t work for your business – providing you have the confidence that there’s another winning formula on the undercard.

Either way, artwork commodification – creating standard templates and iterating them for improvement – are the key to working smarter, not harder, and relieving precious time from your workload. With spare minutes – or even hours – industry professionals could scrutinize untapped data to supercharge future campaigns, for example.

Arguably the most important takeaway from the event, which can also apply to wider circumstances, was that every email should pass the ‘squint test’. If your content doesn’t wow you in a hazy-eyed second or two, it’s time to rethink.

Until next time!

It's always a bonus when fuelling the comms flame comes hand in hand with seeing our clients in action – not least when they do such a stellar job.

And while we were already in awe of Force24’s work, and admittedly big fans of the team already, there’s nothing quite like a face-to-face meet, to get further under the skin of the experts.

A huge thanks to the marketing automation afficionados for not only igniting the spark for our own digital strategies, but for fuelling some inspiration to support the Force24 brand even further in our future endeavours together.

We know we’re biased, but we’d definitely recommend a day of self-development, courtesy of Force24, if you happen to be near any upcoming events. Or, if your schedule doesn’t allow for a full day out of the office, there are plenty of webinars on the cards that could offer some food for thought.