There are three game-changing themes that are reshaping the martech industry: AI that truly enhances human capabilities, customer service that’s genuinely strategic, and data flexibility that turns information into action. Cordial is challenging the status quo with these themes and creating a fundamental shift in how brands understand and engage with customers. The future of marketing is here, and it’s more exciting – and more human – than you ever imagined.

Data flexibility: The foundation of personalization

The dream of true 1:1 marketing has been around for decades, but legacy marketing clouds and data silos have kept it out of reach. Data flexibility is the cornerstone of effective marketing. It’s not just about having access to data from any source; it’s about being able to collect, integrate, transform, and use that data in real-time across all your marketing efforts. This is where Cordial shines, with our advanced data collection capabilities, built-in data transformations and universal connector that simplify integrations with any source. “Reference customers love that Cordial integrates so easily with other technologies,” noted The Forrester Wave: Email Marketing Service Providers, Q3 2024. 

The era of isolated point solutions is over. Forward-thinking brands are seeking consolidated solutions around integrated data, orchestrated multi-channel messaging, and customer identity resolution – all while flexibly adapting to each brand’s unique tech stack.

AI: Beyond content creation

While many vendors are touting AI capabilities, it’s crucial to understand that AI’s true potential in marketing goes far beyond mere content generation. At Cordial, we believe that AI should enhance marketers’ productivity and drive tangible business value.

As noted in The Forrester Wave: Email Marketing Service Providers, Q3 2024, “Cordial’s AI outshines other vendors’ by enhancing marketer productivity and email value, not just creating content.” Our top-rated vision and AI approach focuses on empowering marketers to work smarter, not just automate tasks or generate content. By leveraging AI to analyze vast amounts of message and customer data, we enable marketers to uncover deep insights and deliver truly personalized experiences at scale. This isn’t about replacing human creativity – it’s about augmenting it with data-driven intelligence.

Moreover, we’re using Cordial AI to understand – understanding your customers, your messages, and you, the marketer to drive better results. This human-centric approach to AI empowers platforms to engage marketers in more meaningful ways, fostering a connection that goes beyond traditional data points to enhance user experience and achieve business objectives effectively. This level of sophistication is what sets apart truly effective AI implementations in marketing.

Strategic services: The human touch in an automated world

In a world of automation, we believe that AI cannot replace the human expertise, strategic guidance, nuanced understanding and relationship-building capabilities of a seasoned professional services team.

Cordial’s approach to customer service goes beyond traditional support. We provide a full spectrum of professional services, with cross-functional experts driving rapid and precise implementations, offering strategic consultation, and proactively anticipating needs. This white-glove service is not just a nice-to-have – it’s essential for enterprises focused on driving real business results.

Our commitment to service excellence, in our opinion, has not gone unnoticed. As Forrester Research shared in the Forrester Wave, “Cordial’s values, transparent pricing, flexible technology, professional services model, and customer-informed development roadmap deliver…” This human-centric approach has earned us top scores in customer satisfaction and made us the preferred choice for enterprises seeking true partnership.

Cordial’s industry-leading services team builds loyal partnerships through human conversations that AI simply can’t match. They tailor strategic guidance forged from experience, understanding each brand’s unique objectives and context. 

In the coming months and years, it’s clear that success will hinge on the ability to harness AI intelligently, provide strategic human guidance, and maintain ultimate flexibility with data. At Cordial, our dedication to these principles is unwavering. We believe this is reflected in The Forrester Wave, which recognizes ‘Cordial’s strongest current offerings are its integration, AI, and agency services.’ We are committed to maintaining our leadership in these areas, helping brands build strong customer relationships and send a better message.”    

As you evaluate your marketing technology stack and strategy, consider how these three pillars – AI, strategic services, and data flexibility – align with your goals. The future of marketing is here, and it’s more personalized, more intelligent, and more human than ever before.

Get instant, form-free access here to The Forrester Wave: EMSPs and discover why Cordial was named a Strong Performer.

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Many consumers frequently jump between channels – from email to SMS, in-app, and beyond – as they evaluate the products they want to purchase. Given all the channels for companies to market and for consumers to engage, marketing interactions can easily become disjointed or the data lost. Marketers have the important and lofty task of keeping up with the when, how, and why behind where consumers are interacting. Being able to trigger an action based on data—immediately—rather than waiting five days, is critical to staying top-of-mind with customers.

The competition to gain new customers and maintain their loyalty is at an all-time high. Companies can’t afford to sit on the sidelines—the time to level up your marketing game is now. But not all marketers have access to real-time customer data. Once marketers unlock data access, companies can reach new levels of personalization, relevance, and customer connection.

What are the pitfalls of delayed data?

Imagine a prospective customer is in the market for a new tent. As they research your website, they fill out a form for a discount, browsing information picks up on their activity, and your marketing platform starts sending promotional messages for tents. They purchase the tent and are eager to embark on their next adventure, but still might need additional equipment. This presents a prime upsell opportunity.

However, your purchase and browsing data are delayed, and you are still sending tent promotions days later, missing the chance to sell related items. This poor experience misclassifies the customer as a “prospective tent buyer” rather than a “committed buyer” ready for other camping gear. The issue lies in the data being days too late. Purchase, checkout, and browsing data are delayed too long post-purchase, due to a lack of data availability, portability, and flexibility.

You can seize major business and upsell opportunities by giving customers what they want, where they want it, and when they want it. In this case, you could achieve better conversion (and a better connection with the customer) through timely messaging promoting related camping gear. Having a deep customer profile updated in 5-minutes or less determines long-term wallet share, brand perception, and loyalty potential. You only have one chance to make a great first impression, so don’t mess it up by sending irrelevant or outdated messages.

How can retailers leverage real-time data effectively?

A retailer that excels at leveraging real-time data to provide hyper-relevant experiences is REVOLVE. Their marketing team uses Cordial’s platform to trigger personalized email, SMS, and app campaigns based on customer behaviors like cart and browse abandonment and events such as birthdays, weather data, and anniversaries. By combining complex business and customer data, REVOLVE deploys highly relevant marketing messages, such as low inventory alerts for favorite items or new arrivals from preferred designers. Through this data-driven approach, REVOLVE maintains an impressive average order value of $279, with 79% of merchandise sold at full price. They’re not regularly discounting to make the sale—they’re using data to create a custom experience for each customer. By acting on customer data in real-time, REVOLVE tailors each shopper’s online experience to their individual preferences and needs, fostering loyalty and driving revenue growth.

What does it take to leverage real-time data?

To fully leverage real-time customer data, you need a marketing platform with these key capabilities:

• Data transformations: Unify, transform, and enrich all of your data from any sources in real time.
• Segmentation: Create audience segments based on real-time data to ensure messages reflect recent customer behavior up to the time of send.
• Identity resolution: Leverage an identity graph to resolve anonymous users and engage more customers across channels.
• AI-powered insights: Optimize the custom journey by automating routine decision-making, bolstering creativity, and serving as a trusted advisor to make smarter decisions.

Using real-time data to connect with your customers is the ultimate key to growing your business. Choosing a marketing technology partner with a powerful data platform that integrates with your tech stack is the first step to creating the most personal and meaningful customer experiences.

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The goal is to reignite interest and recapture the attention of customers who are showing little-to-no engagement with your brand. When you understand customers as individuals, sales become easier and affinity grows. Lifecycle automation is the key to retention, referrals, and organic revenue growth over time.

We’ve compiled 6 proven lifecycle automation strategies into an actionable ebook designed to reactivate each customer. From seasonal campaigns to targeted win-back offers, read on for actionable tips to recapture attention and drive repeat purchases.

1. Remind customers to buy again

Similar to a replenishment campaign, this doesn’t require a product to be a consumable (e.g., food, cosmetics). Instead, you can suggest a customer repurchase a product based on numerous factors. For instance, if they bought one chair, you could suggest they buy another to complete a set. Repurchase reminders demonstrate you understand their tastes and nudge repeat buys.

2. Nudge customers to complete the set

Emails with personalized product recommendations have higher click-to-open rates versus generic messaging. Include a “complete the set” call-to-action with product recommendations that complement a previous purchase. For example, furnishings that match a customer’s new sofa, or winter accessories to go with their latest jacket purchase. Matching items keep customers engaged after initial purchases and inspires return visits.

3. Re-engage customers with exclusive offers

Re-engage customers who are lapsing— meaning they haven’t clicked or made a purchase over a predefined period of time. This could include a special offer, a contest to spark their interest, a loyalty rewards balance, or an exclusive experience to make them engage again. Limited-time exclusives add urgency to take action. Special deals and contests help re-engage subscribers who haven’t interacted with your brand in a while. Tailor the offers to customers’ interests based on past behaviors.

4. Send timely replenishment reminders

Triggered replenishment campaigns can earn some of the highest engagement. The key is sending timely reminders when a previously purchased consumable item is likely running low. Follow up based on past purchase history and product usage data. You can also use replenishment touchpoints to upsell the next purchase or provide complementary product recommendations. The reminders demonstrate you understand the customer’s needs and offer convenient re-ordering.

5. Deliver seasonal relevance

As seasons change, so do your customers’ needs and wants. Personalize product recommendations and offers based on the season, past purchases, customer location, and weather patterns. For example, promote warm weather apparel as temperatures rise in your customer’s geographic areas. Localized, seasonal relevance boosts interest and conversion.

6. Win back lost customers

Aimed at subscribers who are “lost” and are no longer considered active. There are several approaches including preference updates, a compelling offer, or something outside the box. Protect your deliverability reputation by automatically including a small portion of lost users back into daily send segments. Win-back outreach demonstrates your commitment to ongoing relationships beyond initial purchases.

With the right lifecycle automation strategies, you can reactivate customer relationships and inspire lasting loyalty. Download the full ebook for expanded tips, real brand examples, and stats on each customer reactivation technique. Investing in lifecycle automation now will pay through through retention, referrals, and repeat purchases. Read more about how to activate and convert customers.

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We’ve compiled 11 proven lifecycle automation strategies into an actionable ebook designed to nurture each customer. From back-in-stock alerts to wishlist conversion campaigns, this guide connects data-driven automation tactics to customer loyalty.

The goal is to demonstrate value, build trust, and make it easy for shoppers to keep engaging. When you understand customers as individuals, sales become easier and affinity grows. Lifecycle automation is the key to retention, referrals, and organic revenue growth over time.

1. Back in stock campaigns

When a shopper browses or signs up for an alert about an out-of-stock item, let them know as soon as it’s available again via SMS or push notifications for immediacy and high open rates. Give them the option to purchase with one click right from the alert while excitement is high. Back in stock alerts show you care about availability of desired items. They demonstrate your commitment to inventory management and desire to satisfy customer needs.

2. Browse abandonment campaigns

Remind customers about products they’ve recently viewed but haven’t purchased by sending browse abandonment emails. Recommend complementary items based on their recent browsing behavior and categorized page visits. Send personalized product suggestions and special offers through their preferred channel based on past engagement. For example, if a customer viewed hiking boots, recommend matching wool socks, durable pants or walking sticks. Make it easy for them to pick up where they left off.

3. Buying time affinity campaigns

Match products and offers to time periods when customers are most likely to buy. Connect seasonal items to relevant weather data and leverage historical purchase patterns. For instance, when the first snowfall is forecasted, suggest snow shovels, salt and cold weather accessories proactively. Remind customers of yearly needs around the same time, like school supplies in late summer. Timely outreach shows you understand their purchase behaviors.

4. Cart abandonment campaigns

Notify customers who’ve left items sitting in their online carts by sending cart abandonment emails. Include personalized offers like percentage discounts or free shipping to nudge them towards completing their purchase. Add social proof with reviews and testimonials for context. Let them know their business matters by offering an incentive to close the sale. Send timely reminders before their cart expires.

5. Low stock alerts

Prompt action by letting customers know via real-time channels like SMS when products they’ve viewed or added to their cart are running low in stock. Create a sense of urgency and exclusivity. Low stock alerts demonstrate your inventory is turning over quickly, implying positive demand. They also show your organization wants to help customers get coveted items before they sell out. Limited quantity scarcity tactics can effectively nudge conversions.

6. Milestone campaigns

Surprise and delight customers on their birthday or when they reach a loyalty status milestone. Offer an exclusive discount code or small gift as a token of appreciation. Customers will feel valued when you remember special occasions and achievements. Personalized milestone messaging fosters deeper brand connections, boosts satisfaction and encourages loyalty.

7. Post-purchase campaigns

Follow up after a purchase with order confirmations, delivery updates, product education, recommendations for complementary products, and more. Thank customers for their business and keep the relationship thriving through excellent service. Share unboxing tips, style guides and suggestions for items from the same collection that complement their purchases. Post-purchase touchpoints show you care about providing a positive experience even after the sale.

8. Price drop alerts

Urgency and value prompt action. When prices fall on items customers have shown interest in, notify them in real-time through mobile push notifications or SMS. Give them first access to deals on desired products. Price drop alerts demonstrate your commitment to offering competitive value and appreciation for their business. Timely notifications empower customers to get items they want at the best prices.

9. Product affinity campaigns

Drive highly personalized product recommendations by analyzing customers’ favorite brands, browsing history, past purchases and more. Create tailored dynamic product carousels based on their brand affinities. Help them easily discover relevant items from your inventory that align with their preferences. When customers feel understood, it builds trust and sales become easier.

10. Upsell campaigns

Entice customers to upgrade their purchase during checkout or after their initial transaction. For instance, suggest add-ons that perfectly complement items already in their cart. Offer perks for extending a subscription or upgrading to the next tier. Appropriate upsells provide value through personalized recommendations relevant to their needs. When executed consistently over time, small upsells add up.

11. Wishlist conversion campaigns

Notify customers when favorited items go on sale, have new options added, or become available after being out of stock. Give them early access to releases and special offers tied to their wishlists. When the products customers want most become attainable, they’ll be thrilled you let them know right away. Wishlist alerts demonstrate thoughtful attention and build anticipation.

The key to lifelong loyalty is understanding your customers as individuals. With the right automation platform in place, you can deliver unique value every step of their journey. Want the full guide? Download the free ebook to unlock more examples, data and tips for each strategy and start connecting with customers in new ways.

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But how can you effectively activate customers at each stage to drive repeat purchases and lifetime value? Personalized, automated campaigns targeted to each lifecycle stage are key. When you personalize messaging around customers’ preferences and behaviors, engagement and conversion skyrocket.

Our new ebook, Activate: 9 Lifecycle Automation Strategies for Retailers, provides a blueprint for captivating customers from sign-up and beyond. Here’s a preview of the nine activation strategies covered:

1. Brand Affinity

Send highly personalized product recommendations by analyzing customers’ favorite brands, browsing history, past purchases, and more. If a customer frequently buys athleisure from a brand, suggest relevant items like new leggings in their size and colors, or sports bras with features they tend to prefer. Tailor dynamic product carousels and browse abandonment emails around their brand affinity. This helps customers discover relevant new items easily.

2. Contest/Sweepstakes

Contests and sweepstakes are proven to boost engagement and grow your active subscriber list. Offer compelling prizes like experiences related to your brand or your latest products. Promote the contest across channels like email, SMS, mobile push notifications and your website to maximize reach. Adapt the contest style and prizes to align with your brand. Collect opt-ins during the entry process to build your subscriber base. Contest prize data can also provide insights into your audience’s preferences.

3. Cross-Channel Acquisition

Reduce churn and strengthen engagement by connecting with customers across multiple channels. Offer email subscribers exclusive discounts or early access to sales if they opt-in for SMS alerts from your brand as well. Or provide a special coupon code to loyalty members who enable mobile push notifications about new collections or events. Coordinating messaging across different channels makes customers more likely to engage and reinforces the value of being subscribed.

4. Location-Based Messaging

Location-based triggers enable sending timely, personalized messages tied to physical locations. When customers enter a brick-and-mortar store location, you could send an SMS coupon for $10 off a $50+ purchase valid for that day only. For customers near a store, geofencing could promote new in-store exclusive products. Location-based messaging adds convenience and relevance. Keep copy and design consistent with your brand while taking advantage of the timely, geotargeted nature of location-triggered messages.

5. Loyalty Campaigns

Loyalty programs encourage repeat purchases from your best customers. Segment your members by loyalty tier and cater rewards and experiences to each level. For example, high-tier members could get surprise upgrades like free expedited shipping or early access to new arrivals. During loyalty members’ birthdays, offer a complimentary gift or discounted order based on their tier’s perks. Tailoring exclusive perks and offers to each tier makes the VIP experience more personalized and meaningful.  Leverage loyalty data to deepen emotional connections with your brand.

6. Referral Programs

Referrals from existing customers can be one of the most effective acquisition channels due to established trust and peer influence. Offer existing customers incentives for successful referrals of their friends and family. For example, provide $20 off for both the existing customer and the new referral once the referral makes their first purchase. To encourage sharing, make it easy to access referral codes and links from account dashboards and post-purchase thank you pages. Sweeten the deal with extra rewards when milestones like 5 or 10 successful referrals are hit. Referral rewards help turn your satisfied customers into brand ambassadors.

7. Review Collection

Product reviews and customer testimonials provide social validation that builds trust and credibility for your brand. Prompt customers to leave ratings or reviews after a purchase by sending a simple email or post-checkout survey. To incentivize quality responses, offer a discount code usable on their next order when they leave a review. Curate and display the best reviews prominently across your online store, website pages, emails, and other channels. The impact of reviews demonstrates the influence of peer opinions on purchasing decisions.

8. Surveys and Quizzes

Inject fun while gaining valuable customer insights using short interactive polls and quizzes. Add a quick qualifying quiz during your sign-up flow to gauge customers’ needs and interests before they hit your website. For example, an outdoor apparel brand could ask “What is your adventure style?” or “Which activities do you participate in?” Fashion retailers might poll preferred colors, styles, and shopping habits. Keep surveys short and personalized based on existing data like past purchases or browsing behavior. Surveys also provide first-party data to inform future personalization and product development.

9. Welcome Campaigns

The first impression you deliver to new subscribers sets the tone for the entire future relationship. Welcome new email or SMS subscribers with fun, branded creative that reflects your style. Include personalized content catered to their interests, like top products based on their quiz answers during sign-up. Offer an exclusive discount code as a ‘thank you’ for joining to incentivize first purchases. Send new loyalty members a branded welcome kit with their status perks. A thoughtful welcome experience gets customers excited to engage further. Make new subscribers feel special right off the bat.

Ready to learn more?

Start activating customers from the very first interaction. This ebook packs nine proven automation strategies to help you grab your audience’s attention and keep them hooked throughout the customer lifecycle. You’ll discover the best channels, key data points, real stats, and tips for these strategies.

Ready to create lifelong customer connections? Download the ebook now for actionable insights on engaging customers across the entire journey with tailored, automated campaigns.

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Most cloud-based email service providers (ESPs), some built on ‘90s infrastructure, are complex with too many constraints that hamper efficiency, impede revenue growth, and restrict creative potential. But is it worth the “hassle” of migrating* to a new platform? Here are four signs it’s time to consider upgrading:

*Migrating to Cordial is the opposite of a hassle, see why here.

Sign #1: Your revenue gains seem maxed out

Advanced segmentation, dynamic content personalization, and true cross-channel orchestration allow modern email marketing platforms to drive continuous revenue growth in ways legacy providers simply cannot match. If your email marketing revenue and engagement have plateaued over the last 12-18 months, your current system very likely is leaving money on the table. Before dismissing a migration as not worth the hassle, make sure to carefully evaluate potential new platforms on their tried and true ability to drive revenue growth. 

Sign #2: Your creative requirements have outgrown the platform’s rigid structure

Outdated architectures hamper creativity. Technical constraints and long development queues stifle innovation, wasting your talented team’s creative potential on uninspiring, templated campaigns. Modern email marketing platforms break down those barriers by providing marketer-friendly tools flexible enough to bring new campaign ideas to life quickly. Dynamic content and templates, advanced audience segmentation, cross-channel orchestration—if you can dream it, you can build it. Unlock your team’s creativity by removing the technological barriers holding your marketing innovation back.

Sign #3: Load times and support requests are taking forever

Think back to dial-up internet speeds—does your current platform feel that slow? Lagging performance drastically cuts into productivity as your team wastes precious time waiting for support to get back to you, and data to update. Beyond mere frustration, delays at scale significantly drag campaign velocity and limit how quickly marketing can move. Prioritize your team’s time and attention above all else by upgrading to a platform engineered for speed and turnaround.

Sign #4: You’re unable to seamlessly integrate multiple channels

Contextual cross-channel messaging simply cannot happen without underlying technology support. If your current email marketing platform falls short on critical capabilities like SMS, push notifications, or integrating data with other channels, you are severely limited in your ability to craft the seamless customer experiences that modern consumers expect. Seek out a platform purpose-built to unify messaging across all critical channels.

Making the switch

If one or more of these signs hit home for you, your team is likely ready to upgrade. Contemplating a migration can feel daunting, but rest assured, with Cordial it does not mean starting from scratch. We can help you seamlessly migrate — so you can activate your data faster and in ways you never thought possible. Learn how Cordial enables you to fully automate your marketing strategies across email, SMS, and mobile app.

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The problem with near real-time data

Have you ever had a laggy video call where people talk over each other? Or maybe you’ve experienced spotty cell phone coverage where you miss part of the conversation. These “near real-time” communication experiences are frustrating and diminish the quality of engagement.

Unfortunately, this is the kind of experience many consumers have today with companies because of near real-time data limitations. Even for sophisticated D2C and digital native companies, near real-time data causes a disconnect between the consumer and the companies that leaves both parties unsatisfied. Consumers share negative experiences like being offered irrelevant promotions or outdated rewards that seem disjointed from their journey.

The issue lies in the inherent lag between when consumer actions occur and when near real-time data is used to trigger relevant messaging. If this delay is even just minutes or seconds, it causes messaging to seem out of sync with the consumer’s experience. For example, a customer may provide their email to receive a coupon, but get an outdated offer instead of the expected reward due to data lag.

On top of this fundamental timing issue, near real-time data workflows bog marketers down with tedious, repetitive manual tasks like constantly downloading, cleaning, reformatting and re-uploading data. This leaves little time to focus on critical activities like strategy development, creative campaigns, and tackling complex business problems that drive growth. It often feels like no sooner than marketers execute a query or data task, they need to walk away and get coffee while waiting for systems to process.

Why real-time data changes the game

Shifting from near real-time data to true real-time data transforms the consumer experience and unlocks new potential for marketers.

With real-time data, companies can react to consumer behavior and actions the instant they happen, regardless of channel. This means sending targeted, contextually relevant messages attuned to where the consumer is in their journey. No more talking over each other or feeling out of sync.

Additionally, real-time data alleviates the tedious, manual processes that eat up marketers’ days. Cleaning, transforming, and loading data can happen automatically in the platform. Marketers are freed up to focus on creativity, testing ideas, and tackling complex business problems.

The Cordial difference: data speed, scale and throughput

Cordial is the only marketing platform built specifically to help companies leverage real-time data for automated, personalized messaging at an unlimited scale. This drives increased revenue growth through better customer experiences.

Our powerful data platform seamlessly collects real-time data from all your systems without limitations. Any data you need to better understand customers is instantly available to inform your messaging.

We refer to this unmatched capability combining data speed, scale, and complexity as personalization throughput. Cordial uses real-time data across unlimited contacts and attributes to generate 1:1 relevant messaging that would make other platforms bog down.

Combined with multi-channel delivery, Cordial enables companies to react instantly to signals and behaviors. This creates highly relevant messaging and experiences that foster loyalty and trust.

Don’t settle for the disconnect of near real-time data. Empower your brand with Cordial and the authenticity of real-time data.

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