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January 17, 2025 - Articles

Email Peeps 58: Chris Behrens

“Chris

How did you get into email? 

My first job out of college was at a large advertising agency, working as a CRM analyst supporting a global CPG brand. In this role, I helped analyze email campaigns and email program performance. 

The CPG brand was personalizing all emails based on past behaviors, engagements, and consumer profile attributes, resulting in highly sophisticated segmentation and weekly email campaigns that included 50-60 different creative versions. The level of personalization astonished me (and was hugely impactful) and made me into the true email nerd I am today. 

I’ve been working in email marketing ever since, supporting retailers and professional sports brands. I absolutely love it and can’t imagine doing anything else. 


What is something interesting you have learned since starting the BearMail newsletter?

Since starting the BearMail newsletter, I’ve been surprised to learn how many people actually reply to newsletters they receive in their inbox. 

I typically will receive between 2-4% of subscribers replying directly back to emails to ask further questions about what I write or thank me directly for the tips I provide about email marketing, data, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud. 

I genuinely did not expect engagement outside of click-throughs on the newsletter itself. 

I’ve found it very enjoyable to be able to connect with subscribers individually in these newsletter replies. 


What’s your top email marketing tip for new email marketers?

New email marketers are often tempted to focus on learning specific email marketing technology (specific ESPs) inside and out as their sole focus. 

I’d challenge this assertion and encourage new email marketers to focus on not only learning the technology but also about the people and processes that make email marketing come to life. 

There are literally hundreds of ESPs brands can choose from, all of which largely have the same principles for how they function at a basic level. 

Learning how people and processes fuel email marketing programs with the support of technology is an essential step to eventually progressing in your email marketing career. 


What’s in your email marketing toolbox?

Hardware: Two screens are essential for me!

  • Laptop,
  • External monitor
  • Water
  • Cup of coffee
  • Family picture
  • Phone charger
  • Pair of blue light glasses. 

Software:

  • Whichever ESP I’m working in that day (Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Klaviyo, HubSpot, etc.)
  • Google Docs / Slides to support documentation and presentations. 


Are you using AI? How?

Yes – every day. 

WIthin an ESP, I typically use AI to:

  • Predict and deploy campaigns to subscribers based on the individualized ideal time to engage with content. 
  • Generating engagement scores based on past email engagement to support lifecycle marketing programs and promotional campaign targeting. 
  • Selecting content for subscribers based on their propensity to engage with similar content in the past. 
  • Refining and generating subject line & body copy based on brand tone of voice. 

Outside of ESPs, typically use AI to: 

  • Capture key takeaways and action items on all client calls. 
  • Support ideas for content creation for specific segments and campaigns. 

What’s your favorite email campaign of all time? Why?

In my time working as the Director of Business Intelligence at Sporting Kansas City, a professional soccer team, I watched the Sporting Kansas City play at their home stadium. 

Sporting Kansas City had just won an epic playoff match

The team was advancing on to the next round of the playoffs. 

Tickets for the next home playoff match were set to go on sale the following morning. 

To build anticipation for the next home playoff match, we created a strategy that allowed fans to receive the first notification when playoff tickets were officially on sale. 

Not early access to buy tickets – just the first to be emailed when tickets were on-sale. 

All fans had to do to opt in for this notification was to click through a button in an email sent immediately after that epic playoff win.

Fans would then receive an email one hour before the rest of email subscribers to buy tickets for the next playoff match. 

The results were insane

  • 10% clicked through the email to get notified first when playoff tickets would be on sale. 
  • These 10% of fans who clicked through this email represented 90% of all ticket sales the following day. 

The takeaway? Subscribers LOVE early access to events and love to be the first. 

I’d recommend brands create a special early-access opt-in list for early access to the best deals before any other subscribers. 

Opt-in to the early access list can be collected via a simple web form that’s advertised in the final days before the brand’s best deals of the year. 

Brands then advertise to this list when the best deals are going to drop, creating even greater anticipation from the list. 


How do you see email changing over the next five years?

  1. AI will democratize on-brand email content production (subject lines, copy, and creative images) to allow marketers to finally create personalized content at scale that actually feels like human beings created it – not machines.
  2. The barrier to entry to learning how to use a new ESP will be dramatically lowered over time, as companies will use AI to teach and allow marketers to use ESPs more rapidly – particularly through user-friendly text-based commands and prompts.
  3. Email  marketers who thrive in five years will have:
    1. A deep understanding of how to use AI to create and execute data-driven email marketing strategies
    2. Ability to create and deliver cross-channel marketing journeys with a baseline knowledge of how other marketing channels function. 
    3. A great understanding of personalization principles and techniques
    4. Thorough understanding of global data privacy regulations, consent management, and zero / first-party data strategies. 

Much love,
Andy

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @emaillove

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