So, you’re new to Customer.io, and you need help? You’ve come to the right place.
It’s 2023, and our business landscape has never been more challenging. You need to take care of effective customer communication to succeed in such a setting.
That is essential if you want to build meaningful relationships, boost loyalty, and ultimately drive growth.
That’s where a tool like Customer.io can help.
Let’s take a look.
What Is Customer.io?
Customer.io is designed for data-driven businesses in various industries, including SaaS, B2C, and more, that require personalized messaging at scale.
With its comprehensive segmentation, detailed reporting, and A/B testing features, Customer.io allows businesses to optimize their email marketing efforts better.
This marketing automation tool is known for its user-friendly interface and flexibility, making it particularly valuable for marketers who may need a background in coding but know their way around tech.
However, like any other tool, Customer.io has its unique definitions and workflows, which may require some time to become familiar with.
But don’t worry, helping you understand them is the main point of this mini-guide.
Start With Customer.io
Making an account is the first step in this process.
To access the platform's features and functionalities, join up and create your account. Once you've logged in, you'll see the Customer.io dashboard, where you can begin navigating and exploring your various choices.
Understanding basic terms like Campaigns, Lists, and Segments is critical as you get to know the platform.
Campaigns are the communications you'll send to your clients, while Lists and Segments are tools for organizing and managing your audience.
Understanding how these concepts interact can assist you in developing effective and targeted advertisements for your clients.
Furthermore, Customer.io offers various integrations that may allow you to integrate it with your existing tools, such as your CRM or email service provider.
This connection might help you to improve your workflows and use your existing data to build more personalized and impactful marketing.
Take the time to investigate and configure these in order to get the most out of your Customer.io experience.
It’s Time To Set Up An Email Campaign
Keep in mind that you need to take care of two elements to set up an email campaign using Customer.io:
- Segment: people that meet specific requirements (they will receive your emails);
- Campaign: sets of emails based on triggers and conditions.
Segment
Data-driven Segments in Customer.io allow you to automatically define the conditions a person must meet to be included in the segment.
People are automatically added or removed from these segments based on whether they meet the conditions set, and you cannot manually add individuals to a data-driven Segment.
To create a new segment, you can go to the Segments tab and click on "Create Segments", where you can fill in the details and define the conditions for your segment.
You can also add conditions based on Attributes, Events, Pages, and Devices.
Attributes in Customer.io can be of two types: Customer attributes and Event attributes.
Customer attributes allow you to send information about your users, such as their first name, account manager status, or the number of projects they have.
On the other hand, event attributes are specific to the information included in a particular event, such as details about a specific purchase.
If you include event data in your events, you can use that information to segment your audience. For example, you can create a segment to identify users who have purchased a specific item, such as a baseball cap.
Campaign
To create an email in Customer.io, you'll need to set up a campaign first.
In Customer.io, campaigns are workflows consisting of multiple messages that are sent in response to user behavior.
This allows you to customize your email communication based on how your users interact with your platform. It's worth noting that campaigns may have different names in other marketing automation tools, such as Workflows, Flows, Engagement Studio, Canvas, etc.
To create a campaign in Customer.io, go to the Campaigns tab and click "Create Campaign."
From there, you can define the messages, triggers, and actions that make up your campaign, allowing you to tailor your email communication to your users in a strategic and automated way.
There are several reasons why a person may enter a campaign in Customer.io, including transactional emails, drip campaigns, and date-based triggers.
Transactional emails are sent in response to specific user actions, such as a purchase confirmation or a password reset.
Drip campaigns are a series of emails sent over time based on predefined triggers, such as when a user signs up for your newsletter.
Date-based triggers allow you to send emails on specific dates or anniversaries, such as a birthday email or a renewal reminder.
Broadcasts
A broadcast refers to a message or workflow that you initiate or schedule for a specific group of individuals.
Unlike a campaign, it is not actively sent, but rather you send, schedule, or trigger it for a particular group. Individuals outside of that group will not receive the broadcast unless you resend it.
When setting up a new broadcast, you have the option to choose between a Newsletter or Messages triggered via API as the Broadcast Type.
A Newsletter is a single message that you want to send to a group of people, which can be scheduled or sent immediately. Newsletters offer a straightforward way to broadcast a message to your audience without the need for a complex campaign setup.
On the other hand, Messages triggered via API are referred to as an API-triggered broadcasts. This allows you to set up a complete workflow, similar to an event-triggered campaign, but with the ability to send the trigger call to our API for multiple recipients.
Dynamic Variables
In Customer.io, dynamic variables are referred to as "liquids." To add liquids to your email, click "more" and select "add liquid" from the options.
You can also edit the content, images, and other elements directly in the editor. Click " Preview " to preview your email and ensure the formulas work correctly on desktop and mobile devices.
Once you are happy with your message, click "Save" to save your changes.
The next step is to set a Goal or Exit for your campaign. For example, in this case, you should set an exit condition for when a person receives the confirmation email that their order has been dispatched.
Before launching your campaign, reviewing everything and ensuring all components are working as planned is important.
You can review your campaign and make any necessary adjustments to ensure its success before launching it.
Drip Campaign
The main distinction between drip campaigns and transactional campaigns is the event triggering them.
In the case of transactional campaigns, they are triggered by a specific event being performed, such as a purchase or a sign-up.
On the other hand, drip campaigns are based on conditions being met. The trigger condition for drip campaigns is typically tied to a segment condition, where users who meet the specified criteria are automatically enrolled in the campaign.
Time Delays And True/False Branches
It is essential to check that adding an item to the shopping cart does not immediately initiate sending an email.
For instance, you can set a time delay to wait for one hour by dragging the time delay item onto the canvas and selecting the waiting time to that value.
Moreover, you can include a variety of conditions for each of your workflows. This can be done by using True/False branches.
Take Full Advantage of Customer.io: Top 5 Tips
Before you jump in and start your first Customer.io campaign, take a look at our handpicked tips:
- Personalization and relevance in campaigns: Customizing your campaigns to be relevant and personalized to your audience will greatly enhance engagement and drive better results.
- Testing and optimizing campaigns for different devices and email clients: It's crucial to thoroughly test and optimize your campaigns for various devices and email clients to ensure they render correctly and deliver a seamless experience to all recipients.
- Ensuring compliance with email marketing regulations (for instance, CAN-SPAM, GDPR): Adhering to email marketing standards such as CAN-SPAM and GDPR is critical for maintaining subscriber confidence and avoiding legal difficulties.
- Regularly updating and cleaning your email lists: Keeping your email lists up-to-date and clean by removing inactive or unengaged subscribers will help improve deliverability and campaign performance.
- Monitoring and analyzing campaign performance to make data-driven decisions: Regularly monitoring and analyzing your campaign performance data will provide insights to make data-driven decisions and optimize your campaigns for better results.
Let Wired Messenger Help!
As you can see, Customer.io is a powerful tool when used correctly. If you want to boost customer communication, this is the tool to use.
Here you had a chance to see the crucial points you’ll need to take care of for a great start. Remember, don’t be afraid to explore and experiment with different features.
If you have any questions or need assistance with Customer.io, do not hesitate to contact Wired Messenger!