The good news is that prompting is a skill you can pick up fast. It’s less about finding a magic phrase and more about giving clear, specific direction, the same way you’d brief a new team member on a task.

This post covers the habits that make any agent prompt more reliable, then shows how they play out in two agents built into Dotdigital: Segment Agent and Content Agent.

Why prompting matters

An AI agent isn’t a mind reader. It only has two things to work with: the instructions built into it and whatever you type. If your prompt is vague, the agent has to guess what you mean, and a guess is only ever going to be a guess.

This matters more with AI agents than with a general chatbot. A chatbot will go along with almost any request. An agent usually has one job, like building a segment or drafting an email, and it works best when you ask for things specific to that task. Ask it to go outside that lane, and you’ll get a workaround at best, or nothing useful at worst.

Five habits that make any prompt more reliable

1. Say exactly what you mean

A vague request forces the agent to fill in the gaps, and it won’t fill them in the way you would. “Find my best customers” means five different things depending on the day. “Contacts who’ve bought more than three times in the last 90 days” means one thing. Give the agent conditions, values, and dates it can act on, not ideas it has to interpret.

2. Build it in steps 

You don’t need the perfect prompt on the first try. Get one part right, check it, then add the next. Most agents are built for back-and-forth conversation, and a series of small, correct steps beats one long prompt trying to do everything at once.

3. Use your real field and list names, not general terms 

If your data has a field called “Loyalty tier” or a list called “VIP customers,” say that, not “important customers.” Agents built to work in your marketing platform are designed to match what you type to your account data, but they can only match what’s there. The closer your wording is to your real fields, the less room there is for a wrong guess.

4. Check the output before you use it

An agent can build something fast, but fast isn’t the same as correct. Read through the logic, the copy, or the rule it’s generated before you rely on it. Treat it like a first draft from a new team member: useful, but yours to sign off on.

5. Ask it to explain itself

If a result looks complicated or you’re not sure it did what you asked, ask the agent to summarize what it built or walk you through its reasoning. It takes ten seconds and catches a wrong assumption before it goes anywhere near production.

What does this look like inside Dotdigital

Dotdigital has two agents where these habits make a real difference. Segment Agent helps you build and edit audience segments, and Content Agent helps you draft and check email copy inside your email builder. Here’s what applying these habits looks like in each.

Segment Agent

Segment Agent builds and edits segments from a plain-language request and can summarize the logic in a segment you already have. It’s designed to match field and list names to your account data even if your wording is a little off. For best results, be specific and build your segment gradually rather than describing a complex segment in one go.

Start simple:

• Create a segment of contacts subscribed to email
• Build a segment of contacts whose country is the UK and who are subscribed to email

Then refine with follow-ups:

• Also include contacts subscribed to SMS
• Exclude contacts who purchased from any catalog in the last 30 days
• Limit this segment to contacts in the VIP list

Once it’s built, check your work:

• Summarize this segment.
• What rules are being used in this segment?

Worth knowing: Segment Agent is a doer, not a brainstormer. It won’t suggest ideas or scan your data to surface new segments, and it won’t tell you how many contacts match until the segment runs. But bring it a clear idea, and it’ll bring it to life and build it fast.

Content Agent

Content Agent lives inside our email builder and helps with the copy itself: brainstorming angles, drafting a first version, tweaking tone or length, checking a draft before you send, adding personalization, and generating or editing images. Nothing it produces goes into your campaign until you’ve reviewed and approved it.

The same habits apply. Start specific:

• Brainstorm ideas for a “we miss you” email after 90 days of inactivity
• Draft a paragraph explaining the benefit of signing up

Refine rather than starting over:

• Change the tone of the email to be friendly but not overly familiar
• Shorten this paragraph to two sentences

And use it to check your own work, not just generate new copy:

• Check my email copy against my brand voice
• Check whether this paragraph is too salesy for our brand voice

For the best results, set up your brand voice details in your Dotdigital account first. The more Content Agent knows about how your brand sounds, the less editing you’ll do later.

Start small, then build the habit

Treat AI agents like a new team member. Give them specific tasks, clear direction, and simple, step-by-step explanations, then check in before moving on.

Pick one prompt from this list and try it for yourself. These habits become second nature fast, and that’s how prompt writing goes from something that slows you down to something that helps you get through your to-do list faster.

Learn more:

• Segment Agent overview
• Use Segment Agent to build and edit segments
• Content agent overview | Dotdigital Marketing Help Centre
• Content agent prompt guide | Dotdigital Marketing Help Centre

But that creates a different question: what should you do with the time you’ve gained?

As AI takes on more manual work (like building reports, analyzing data, creating content, and building segments), marketers’ day-to-day is changing. The to-do list is still long, but now there’s more room to improve campaigns, analyze results, and plan campaigns that deliver stronger results.

So, where should you invest your time? Here are four marketing skills that can help you get even more from every campaign, along with practical ways to start developing them.

1. Turning data into decisions, not dashboards

Getting answers from your marketing data is becoming much easier. Connected platforms and integrated AI assistants mean you can spend less time building dashboards or digging through reports, and more time understanding what the data is telling you.

You’ve now got more time to dedicate to spotting patterns, challenging assumptions, identifying what’s worth testing, and deciding what to do next. AI can bring insights to you, but turning them into better marketing decisions still depends on you.

Skills to focus on

The insights you get depend on the questions you ask of your data. Whether you’re using AI features built into your marketing tools or working with an AI assistant like ChatGPT or Claude, thoughtful prompts help uncover insights you can act on.

Understand campaign performance

Start by understanding what happened before deciding what to do next:

• How much revenue did email generate compared to the same period last year?
• Which campaigns contributed the most assisted revenue?
• Which customer segments generated the highest revenue per recipient?
• Which campaigns performed above or below expectations, and why?
• Were there any unusual changes in open rates, click-through rates, conversions, or unsubscribe rates this week?
• Which journeys generated the highest revenue with the fewest sends?

Spot trends you can repeat

Knowing what performed well will help you find patterns you can apply to more campaigns:

• What do my top-performing campaigns have in common?
• Which subject line styles consistently drive higher open rates?
• Do shorter or longer emails generate more clicks for different audiences?
• Does sending at different times change engagement for different customer segments?
• Which calls to action (CTAs) generate the highest click-through rate?
• Are there content themes that consistently lead to more conversions?

Turn insights into action

Finally, move from reporting to planning. Ask AI to help prioritize your next steps rather than simply summarizing performance: 

• Based on this data, what are the three biggest opportunities to improve performance?
• Which campaign should we test first, and why?
• Which audience segments are underperforming, and what should we change?
• Where are we losing customers in the journey?
• If you were planning next month’s email calendar using this data, what would you prioritize?

Knowing which insights deserve your attention and which ones are worth acting on is one of the most valuable marketing skills you can spend time developing. With data backing up your decisions, it’s much easier to create customer journeys that deliver real value.

2. Owning the strategy behind the automation

A clearer understanding of your customer journey helps you identify the moments where automation will have the biggest impact. Focus on the journeys that will make the biggest difference to your customers rather than trying to automate everything.

Skills to focus on

A strong automation strategy isn’t about creating more journeys. It’s about choosing the ones that solve a genuine customer need.

Identify the moments that matter

Check whether key moments in customer journeys have automation flows in place:

• New email subscriber or account creation
• Abandoned cart 
• Abandoned browse
• Post-conversion (e.g., post-purchase)
• Review request 

With those covered, use your reporting to uncover the moments unique to your customers:

• Are customers churning thirty days after a purchase? Build a re-engagement flow to keep customers engaged
• Does customer engagement spike around a specific date in your calendar? Create a journey that builds anticipation ahead of the event
• Is there a specific product customers love above all others? Turn every new product launch into an automated journey for your biggest fans

These insights help you decide which customer journey flows to build next.

Build a testing calendar

Once your core journeys are running, your time shifts from building more automations to improving the ones you already have. Regular testing helps you understand what resonates with your audience and gives you the confidence to keep refining your campaigns over time.

Here are some top testing tips: 

• Test one automation flow at a time 
• Choose one element to test at a time, for example
  • Subject lines 
  • Content length
  • Email style or layout
  • Images used 
• Keep track of your results 
• Run your optimized campaign for three months before testing again

With key customer moments automated, the next step is to make every message feel relevant, so you’re addressing them directly in the moment.

3. Making every message more relevant

Only 15% of 4,000 shoppers surveyed in the Customer trend index consider the marketing they receive to be relevant in the moment. That doesn’t mean you have to personalize every message, but you do have to go further than a first name. AI can help you personalize at scale, but deciding who needs a different experience and when is still up to you.

Skills to focus on

Personalization should be intentional. As you build your campaigns, decide which audiences need a different experience and what will make that journey more relevant.

Identify your most important audiences

AI agents can help you build the segments in seconds, leaving you more time to decide which audiences matter most. Try prompts like these:

• Build a segment with customers who haven’t engaged with an email in the last 90 days
• Create a segment of customers who have made two or more purchases in the last six months
• Find customers who browse regularly but haven’t completed a purchase
• Build a segment with customers who are close to becoming VIPs based on their purchase history
• Create a segment of customers who have never redeemed a loyalty reward
• Identify customers who bought from a specific product category but haven’t purchased again in the last six months
• Find customers who consistently open emails but rarely click through
• Build a segment with customers who joined in the last 30 days but haven’t made their first purchase

Personalize the experience

After you’ve identified the right audience, think carefully about what actually needs to change. Sometimes it’s the offer, sometimes the message, and sometimes simply the timing. 

The most effective personalization solves a customer problem or makes the customer journey smoother. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Win-back campaigns
  Tailor messages in your win-back campaign to speak to customers differently depending on their customer lifetime value (CLV). Customers with higher CLV receive a free gift with their next order, while those with lower CLV see an offer of free shipping to tip them over the line.

• Localized banners
  Update messages or images based on the segment’s geographic location, like showing winter clothes to a shopper in New York in December and your summer collection to those in Sydney. 

• Replenishment campaigns
  Send replenishment reminders based on when customers typically reorder, rather than a fixed number of days, so it lands at the best time for them.

Every relevant interaction gives customers another reason to come back. Over time, those moments strengthen the relationship and create more opportunities to keep customers engaged.

4. Building relationships that last

The strongest retention strategies give customers reasons to come back long before they’re at risk of leaving. AI can now identify customers at risk of churning, uncover loyalty opportunities, and recommend the next best action. That gives you more time to think beyond reactive marketing and create experiences that keep customers engaged for the long term.

Skills to focus on

Retention works best when it’s planned with the same care as acquisition. Instead of treating it as the final stage of the customer journey, build a strategy that continually engages customers.

Build retention with intention

Loyalty programs are one of the most effective ways to turn retention into an ongoing strategy. Our Customer Trend Index found that loyalty programs influence 53% of shoppers to feel more loyal to brands, while loyalty program members spend 67% more than non-members on average. A well-designed program gives customers a reason to come back between purchases, rather than only hearing from you when you’re trying to win them back.

Here are a few ways to build a loyalty program that customers genuinely value.

1. Reward the behaviors that matter
   Build your loyalty program around the behaviors you want to encourage. If customers naturally buy from you again, rewarding repeat purchases makes sense. If they don’t, or if you have a longer buying cycle, consider rewarding other actions that build a stronger relationship, such as reviews, referrals, or product engagement. 
   
2. Create rewards customers actually want
   Customer data gives you a much clearer picture of what drives your audience. Use those insights to shape rewards that feel genuinely worthwhile rather than offering the same incentives to everyone. When rewards reflect what your customers need, they’re far more likely to keep engaging with your brand.
   
3. Keep improving your program
   Launching your loyalty program isn’t the final destination. Customer expectations change, new opportunities emerge, and what motivates one audience today may not work tomorrow. Set aside time to review performance, listen to customer feedback, and refine your rewards so the program continues to deliver value for both your customers and your business.

There’s a lot more to loyalty program design than these three points. The Dotdigital Academy course on building customer loyalty covers it in full.

Where to invest your time

Now that AI is doing more of the manual work, how you spend your time matters just as much as the tools you use.

Understanding your customers better helps you design more thoughtful customer journeys. Those journeys create more relevant experiences, and relevant experiences build stronger customer relationships over time.

With more of the execution handled for you, there’s more time to focus on the decisions, creativity, and customer understanding that shape better marketing.

The more you invest in these skills, the more valuable every campaign, customer journey, and customer relationship becomes.

That’s the idea behind human-to-human (H2H) marketing. Your audience is human first and customer second, whether you sell to businesses (B2B) or straight to consumers (B2C). A company has never bought anything; the people inside it do. 

In this guide, we’ll cover what H2H marketing means, how it fits alongside B2B and B2C, why it matters more in the age of AI, and how to put it into practice.

What is human-to-human marketing?

Human-to-human (H2H) marketing is an approach that treats every marketing interaction as a conversation between two people, rather than a transaction between a business and a target segment. Instead of asking “how do we message this audience,” it asks “how would we talk to this person?”

In practice, that means marketing built on empathy, plain language, honesty, and genuine two-way communication. You’re still meeting a customer’s needs, but you’re doing it in a way that shows there are real people behind your brand, and that those people can be trusted. It’s the model that responsible marketing is built on, which is relationships with customers and prospects based on long-term trust and respect.

H2H vs B2B vs B2C: what’s the difference?

Whether you’re B2B or B2C, a person makes the final call. The marketing manager choosing a platform and the shopper choosing trainers are doing the same thing: weighing up options, working out who to trust, and deciding who to buy from. So, B2B and B2C are your industries; H2H is your approach.

Why is human-to-human marketing important?

Our Customer trend index found that only 15% of consumers say marketing messages feel very relevant to them, down from 23% last year. When so few messages connect, every campaign has to work harder for a smaller share of attention.

The same research points to what people respond to instead. Friends and family are 45% more likely to influence a customer’s loyalty to a brand than they were a year ago, which tells us that when a recommendation comes from a real person, people trust it enough to act on it.

Your marketing can’t replace a friend’s recommendation, but you can move it closer to one by writing like a person, showing the people behind your brand, and talking to customers the way you’d want to be talked to. The more your marketing feels like a conversation with a real human, the more trust it builds along the way.

When you get this right consistently, three things happen:

• People trust you more. Trust builds one interaction at a time, and every message that feels honest and personal adds another layer of it

• People forgive you more. Everyone slips up from time to time, whether it’s a broken link, a mistimed send, or a pricing error. When your brand has a human voice, a genuine apology lands better, and people move on rather than heading for the unsubscribe button

• People buy from you more. Feeling understood is persuasive, and a message that speaks to someone’s situation will always outsell one aimed at a broad segment

Best of all, this costs you nothing extra. Your team is already full of humans who know how to talk to people, so human-to-human marketing is less about new investment and more about letting their personality show up in the work.

Standing out when everything sounds like AI

We first published this article in 2021, a year before AI platforms like ChatGPT existed. Back then, AI worked behind the scenes of your marketing, like deciding when to send your email or which products to recommend, but a human still wrote every word your customers read. Nobody was worried about their emails sounding like a machine wrote them, because machines weren’t writing them.

These days, it can help write your emails, design your creative, and build entire campaigns. And with AI now built into most marketing platforms, almost every brand is using it to some degree.

The thing is, though, your customers have noticed. They’re wading through AI-written emails, AI-generated ads, and chatbots every day, and they’ve developed a sharp instinct for spotting them. People are getting tired of it, and when something feels automated, they scroll past without a second thought.

Which is exactly what makes the human stuff land better. A specific point of view or a bit of wit is what makes someone stop and think there’s a real person behind this brand. 

None of this is an argument against using AI. The point is to use AI the right way. Let it handle the work that eats your team’s time, like building segments, picking send times, running tests, and pulling reports, so the humans get those hours back for the work machines can’t do, which is: 

• Talking to customers
• Writing with personality
• Noticing what your audience cares about right now

How to build a human-to-human marketing strategy

1. Get your tone of voice right

Your brand voice is one of the first things customers notice about your brand. To build stronger connections with your audience:

• Be real: authenticity is about saying what the reader needs to hear, not what they want to hear
• Be empathic: let your audience know that you understand them, that you’ve been in their shoes
• Be personal: get to know your customer, know their names, likes and dislikes. It all goes a long way

Here’s an example:

Take the welcome email. Most are just a logo, a generic hello, and a discount code. Now imagine one that reads like a personal note: here’s what we’re about, here’s what you can expect from us, and if you fancy replying, a real human will read it. Nobody replies to a noreply@ address, but people will happily reply to a person, and those replies tell you more about your audience than any survey.

A helpful tip:

Before anything goes out, read it aloud, and if you wouldn’t say it to a customer, rewrite it until you would.

2. Ditch the jargon

Stuffiness, formality, and jargon put a wall up between you and your audience. Every acronym you don’t explain and every sentence that needs a second read is a small signal that you’re talking at people rather than to them. 

Write the way you’d explain something to a colleague or friend, using plain words, short sentences, and skip the fancy words. Talking to your audience as equals is one of the fastest ways to build connection, and it costs nothing.

3. Tell people what’s going on

Trust is built on openness, so tell your audience about the decisions that affect them. Explain why you’re collecting their data and what you plan to do with it. 

Here’s another example

KitKat showed how this works when thieves stole 12 tonnes of its chocolate in transit. The brand’s first move was a straightforward statement addressing what customers would want to know, which was that there were no concerns for consumer safety, and supply wasn’t affected. 

With the serious part handled, the brand had some fun with it, joking that someone had clearly taken the “have a break” slogan too literally, and eventually created a tracker that let people check whether their own bar came from the stolen batch. The post became the most-liked in the brand’s history, over 100 other brands joined in, and what should have been a supply chain headache turned into a Cannes-winning moment.

Now, you’ll probably never have 12 tonnes of chocolate go missing, but the same thinking applies to a broken link or a mistaken send: tell people about it openly, add a bit of personality (where it’s appropriate), and you’ll build far more trust than hoping nobody notices.

4. Make your automation feel personal

Use the data you hold to make experiences genuinely better, like:

• A well-timed reminder about something they left behind
• A recommendation that reflects what they’ve browsed
• A birthday message that arrives on the right day

A helpful tip:

The test for every automated touchpoint is whether it makes the customer’s experience smoother or more relevant. Let your customer journey data show you where you can add real value.

5. Make it easy to reach a human

In a two-way conversation, customers have a direct connection to the people behind your brand. Live chat, social media, and messaging apps all give people a direct line to your team, and how those conversations feel matters as much as how fast they happen. Let your support team write like themselves, sign off with their names, and drop the script when the script isn’t helping. 

A helpful tip:

If you’re using AI or bots, be upfront about it, and always give customers a quick way to reach a real person.

6. Join the conversation on social

Social media was built for conversations between people, which makes it a natural home for human-to-human marketing. Answer questions, reply to comments, share what your customers create, and post content that is both light-hearted and useful. Going live, showing your team, and joining conversations rather than broadcasting into them all remind people there are humans behind the logo. The brands that get this right are easy to spot because their replies could only have come from them.

One more example:

Duolingo turned its owl into one of the most-followed personalities on TikTok by being genuinely funny rather than brand-funny. You don’t need a mascot or a viral moment, though. You just need your replies to sound like someone on your team wrote them, because they did.

Marketing made human

Behind every open, click, and purchase is a person who can tell when a brand is talking to them and when it’s talking at them.

Human-to-human marketing is the decision to act on that. Write like you’d talk, be honest about how you work, let AI take the repetitive jobs, and give your team the room to bring some personality to the rest. None of it needs a bigger budget or a new strategy deck, because the humans who can do this are already there.

And with so much marketing now generated at the push of a button, sounding like a real person is your brand’s biggest advantage. 

In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know, including:

• What a martech stack is
• What the key components are
• How it maps to the customer journey
• How it’s changing with AI
• How to build or improve yours

By the end, you’ll have a better idea of what you’ve got, what you might be missing, and where to go next.

What is a martech stack?

A martech stack is the collection of marketing technology a business uses to plan, run, and measure its marketing. Your email platform, your CRM, your analytics tool – that collection of tech is your martech stack. 

According to the State of Martech 2026 report, the martech landscape now includes over 15,000 tools. That’s a lot of options, and a lot of potential for your stack to become more complicated than it needs to be. The challenge for most marketing teams is knowing whether the ones they already have are working together properly.

The importance of a martech stack

Your martech stack is what sits between your marketing ideas and your marketing results. When it’s working well, your data flows freely, your campaigns run without manual intervention, and your team spends less time on admin and more time on strategy.

A well-connected stack gives you a clearer picture of your customers at every stage, from the moment they first discover your brand right through to repeat purchase and retention. That means better targeting, more relevant experiences, and a much stronger understanding of what’s driving results.

When it’s not working well, you end up with gaps in your data and a customer experience that feels inconsistent, which is why getting it right matters.

What are the key components of a martech stack?

Every martech stack looks a little different depending on the size of the business, the channels they use, and the goals they’re working towards. But most stacks are built around a core set of tools that cover the same fundamental needs.

Customer relationship management (CRM)

Your CRM is where your customer data lives. It stores contact information, purchase history, interactions, and anything else that helps you understand who your customers are and where they are in their journey with you.

Email marketing platform

Your email platform is where you build, send, and track email campaigns. It’s one of the most direct ways to reach your audience and, when connected to your CRM and other data sources, one of the most effective.

Marketing automation

Automation tools let you set up campaigns and customer journeys that run in the background, triggered by customer behavior, such as welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, and re-engagement campaigns.

Analytics and reporting

Your analytics tools tell you what’s working and what isn’t. From website traffic and email open rates to revenue attribution and customer lifetime value (CLV), good reporting is what turns data into better decisions.

Content management system (CMS)

Your CMS is where your website and blog content lives. It’s how you publish and manage the content that attracts, informs, and converts visitors.

Personalization

Personalization tools let you create bespoke customer experiences, whether that’s dynamic content in an email, product recommendations on your website, or targeted messaging based on behavior.

Ads and retargeting

Paid media tools help you reach new audiences and re-engage people who’ve already shown interest in your brand. They work best when connected to your customer data, so your targeting is as accurate as possible.

How does a martech stack work together?

Buying a great tool and then watching it sit in isolation can be frustrating, but a well-connected stack fixes that. Data moves freely between your tools, so no one has to manually export, upload, or piece it together. When your tools are connected, every action feeds the next one:

• When a lapsed customer re-engages via a paid ad, your CRM updates
• When a customer makes a purchase, your automation platform triggers
• When they browse a product page, your personalization tool takes note

Everything talks to everything else, and your marketing becomes more relevant as a result.

The most common way tools connect is through integrations, either native connections built directly between platforms or via Application Programming Interface (APIs) that let different systems share data. Some businesses also use a customer data platform (CDP) to act as a central hub, pulling data from every tool into one place and pushing it back out again so every platform is always working from the same customer profile.

When your stack isn’t connected properly, it shows quickly. You end up with:

• Duplicate contacts
• Inconsistent data
• Campaigns that don’t reflect what a customer has already done
• A team spending more time fixing data problems than running campaigns

More tools don’t mean better marketing. The goal is a stack where everything connects, everyone can see the same customer, and nothing gets lost on the way.

The martech stack and the customer journey

Your martech stack does more than just support your marketing. It maps directly to how your customers move through their journey with your brand. Different tools do different jobs at different stages, and understanding that is what helps you spot where your stack might be letting you down.

Awareness

This is where potential customers first discover you. Your ads, social media, SEO, and content tools are doing the heavy lifting here. The goal is getting in front of the right people at the right moment.

Consideration

Once someone knows you exist, they start weighing up their options. Your CMS, personalization tools, and email platform help you stay relevant during this stage, giving people the information they need to move forward with confidence.

Conversion

Your ecommerce integrations, forms, landing pages, and automation tools are what close the gap between interest and purchase. A well-timed abandoned cart email or a personalized offer can make the difference here.

Retention

Getting a customer is one thing, but keeping them is where the real value is. Your CRM, loyalty platform, and automation tools work together to keep customers engaged, reward repeat purchases, and spot early signs that someone might be drifting.

Advocacy

Happy customers tell other people. Review platforms, referral tools, and social proof integrations help you capture that goodwill and put it to work, turning your best customers into your best marketing asset.

The important thing to remember is that your stack needs to support the full journey, and not just parts of it. Gaps at any stage mean customers slipping through, and that’s where the new blog we mentioned earlier comes in handy.

How the martech stack is changing

The martech landscape has always moved fast. But right now, it’s changing in ways that are reshaping how marketing teams work.

AI is moving from assistant to agent

A year ago, AI in marketing meant content suggestions and subject line recommendations. Now it’s doing a lot more. AI agents can build audience segments from a plain-English description, write and refine campaign content, and show insights from your data, all without you having to log into five different tools to do it. The shift from AI as a helper to AI as a doer is happening quickly, and the stacks that are built to take advantage of it will have a real edge.

MCP is changing how tools connect

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a relatively new standard that lets AI tools connect directly to your marketing platforms. In practice, that means you can ask questions about your campaign performance, contact data, or customer behavior directly inside tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, without switching tabs or logging into your marketing platform. It’s early days, but MCP has the potential to change how marketers interact with their entire stack.

Consolidation is winning over complexity

The days of adding a new point solution for every marketing problem are fading. Marketers are increasingly looking for platforms that do more in one place, reducing the number of integrations to manage, logins to remember, and places where customer data can get lost. 

First-party data is more important than ever

With third-party cookies largely gone and privacy regulations tightening, the data you collect directly from your customers has never been more valuable. The stacks best positioned for the future are the ones built around first-party and zero-party data, such as preference centers, forms, behavioral tracking, and loyalty programs that give customers a reason to share.

How to build your martech stack

Whether you’re starting from scratch or taking stock of what you’ve already got, the process is the same. It starts with seeing what’s working and what isn’t.

Start with your goals

The biggest mistake marketers can make when building a stack is starting with the technology rather than the problem they’re trying to solve. Before you look at any platform, get an idea of what you’re trying to achieve. More subscribers? Better retention? Faster campaign turnaround? Your goals should drive your tool choices, not the other way around.

Audit what you already have

Most marketing teams are sitting on tools they don’t use, tools that duplicate each other, and tools nobody quite knows how to turn off. A quick audit of your current stack – what you have, what it does, what it costs, and whether it connects to everything else – is a useful starting point. You might find you need less than you think.

Prioritize integration over features

A tool with slightly fewer features that connects well with everything else in your stack will almost always outperform a feature-rich tool that sits in isolation. When you’re evaluating anything new, the first question should be how well it plays with what you already have.

Think about your data flow

Follow the data. Where does it come in? Where does it go? Where does it get stuck? A good stack has clean, consistent data moving freely between tools, so your CRM, your email platform, your analytics, and your personalization tools are all working from the same customer picture.

Don’t overbuild

There’s always a temptation to add more. A new AI tool here, a specialist platform there. But every tool you add is another integration to manage, another login to remember, and another place your data can get lost. Build for what you need now, which also gives you room to grow.

Review it regularly

Your stack should change as your business changes. What worked two years ago might not be the right fit today. A regular review, even just once a year, helps you stay on top of what’s earning its place and what’s quietly adding cost without adding value.

Examples of martech stacks

Every stack looks different, but here’s a simple example of what a typical ecommerce brand might be working with:

In Dotdigital’s case, a lot of these layers live in one platform, which means less time managing integrations and more time using your data. But whether you’re using one platform or several, the principle is the same. Each layer needs to feed into the next, so your marketing always reflects what your customers are actually doing.

Your martech stack is never really finished

Building a martech stack isn’t a one-time project. It’s something you come back to as your business grows, your goals shift, and new tools worth adding come along. The marketers with the strongest stacks aren’t necessarily the ones with the most tools. They’re the ones who are honest about what’s working, quick to cut what isn’t, and deliberate about how everything connects.

If you’ve read this far, you’re already ahead when it comes to understanding what a martech stack is and how to get the most from it.

The next question is whether your current stack is helping you hit your goals or quietly getting in the way, which is something we dig into in our next blog. Find out how to spot and fix the gaps in your marketing tech stack.

Here’s how to migrate your marketing software in five simple steps.

1: Planning and strategy

Planning is the part of the project that makes everything else go smoothly.

Define your migration goals

Before diving into the technical stuff, it’s best to take a moment to think about why you’re switching. Maybe you’re:

• Looking for better automation
• Trying to cut costs
• Struggling with deliverability
• Need certain integrations that your current platform doesn’t support

Whatever your reasons, writing your goals down gives you a clear direction for the migration, helps you choose the right platform, and makes it easier to prioritize as you go.

Audit your current setup

It’s worth taking stock of everything you’re working with before you start moving things across. 

Here’s what to cover:

• Email lists and segmentation: Note down all your active email lists, how you’ve segmented them (by persona, engagement, purchase history, etc.), and any tags you’re using

• Assets: Pull together all your templates, reusable content blocks, landing pages, and sign-up forms

• Mapping automations: Document all your active workflows, such as onboarding sequences, nurture campaigns, and re-engagement workflows. Note the triggers, logic, timing, and steps involved in each. Screenshots or flowcharts can be really handy here

• Key metrics and data: Work out which performance data (conversion rates, engagement scores, pipeline data, list growth) you’ll need to benchmark against after the migration

• Integrations: List every tool connected to your current platform, like your CRM, ecommerce platform, analytics software, or any customer data platforms (CDPs). Understanding how these connections work will make setting things up in your new platform much easier

Select your new marketing platform

Now that your goals are defined and your current setup audited, it’s time to find the right platform for you. Here are a few things worth considering:

• Features: Look for segmentation, automation, testing, and reporting tools that match your needs

• Ease of use: The interface should be easy to use for your whole team

• Pricing: The pricing structure should fit your budget and grow with you as your needs change

• Growth: The platform should be able to keep up as your business and contact lists grow

• Support: Look for options like email, phone, chat, and even a dedicated Customer Success Manager. Check reviews to see what others say about their support experience, too

• Integration capabilities: The new platform should connect easily with your existing tools, like your CRM or ecommerce platform. If possible, ask for a demo or trial before committing

Set your timeline

A platform migration is a big undertaking, so having a practical timeline can be the best way to stay on track throughout the process. It’s worth breaking down the tasks from your audit, assigning them to the right people, and setting clear milestones along the way.

For example, your marketing manager might own the overall strategy, your platform specialist can handle rebuilding templates, and your IT team can take care of any technical changes like domain name system (DNS) updates. Regular check-ins help keep everyone on track and the project moving forward.

2: Pre-migration tasks

With your plan in place, it’s time to get your data and systems ready for the move. These steps are worth taking your time on; they’ll save you a lot of hassle later.

Clean your data

Good data hygiene makes for a much smoother migration. So, before exporting your contacts, review and remove things like:

• Duplicate or invalid records
• Contacts who’ve been inactive for 6-12+ months
• Anyone who’s opted out or withdrawn consent
• Outdated or incomplete contact details

Back up everything

Before you make the move, make sure everything is backed up. Once you leave your old platform, getting back in to get your data isn’t always straightforward.

• Contact lists: Export all your contacts, including any custom fields, how they’re segmented, when they opted in, and how engaged they are

• Opt-out records: Export anyone who’s withdrawn consent or opted out. This is important for staying compliant

• Templates and assets: Save the files for all your key templates and reusable content

• Automation logic: Take screenshots or create diagrams that show the structure and rules of your workflows

• Performance reports: Export past campaign data, contact growth stats, and any other reports you might need for future reference or benchmarking

Keep stakeholders in the loop

Keeping all the relevant people in the loop about the migration process and timelines lets everyone know what’s changing and when. That includes:

• Your marketing colleagues
• The sales team
• Your IT team
• Your customer support team 

Good communication helps avoid surprises and keeps everything running smoothly.

Set up your new platform

Get the basics set up in your new platform before the migration begins, including:

• Setting up your account profile
• Adding your team members with the right permissions
• Filling in any company information the platform needs

Spend some time getting familiar with the dashboard and how everything is laid out.

Plan for IP warming (if applicable)

If you’re using a dedicated IP address in your new platform (rather than sharing one with other senders), you’ll need to warm it up first. This means gradually increasing your sending volume over a few weeks to build a good reputation with internet service providers (ISPs).

A good place to start is by sending to your most engaged contacts first. Most platforms will give you specific guidance and schedules for this, so follow their recommendations closely to avoid any surprises.

3: The migration process

All that planning pays off here. It’s time to start moving your data and rebuilding everything in your new platform. Take it one step at a time, and you’ll be up and running before you know it.

Import your contacts

Start by uploading your contact lists into your new platform. Take care to map your custom fields correctly so you don’t lose any valuable data. Import your opt-out records first to see if the platform can handle this, so you don’t accidentally send to contacts who shouldn’t be contacted. Once everything’s uploaded, double-check your contact counts to make sure nothing’s gone missing.

Recreate your assets

Now it’s time to rebuild the things your contacts see and interact with:

• Templates: Use your new platform’s editor to recreate your key templates. Rebuilding from scratch rather than importing old files gives you better compatibility and a chance to improve them while you’re at it.

• Sign-up forms: Recreate your sign-up forms and replace the old ones on your website and landing pages. Test them to check if new contacts are being added to your lists correctly

• Landing pages: If your old platform hosted any landing pages, rebuild them in your new platform or your website’s content management system (CMS)

Rebuild your automations and workflows

Your audit notes come in handy here. Use them to recreate your automated workflows in the new platform, paying close attention to triggers, delays, and any conditional logic so nothing gets lost in the move. A thorough test before anything goes live will give you peace of mind that everything is working as it should.

Set up your integrations

With your data and assets in place, it’s time to reconnect your new platform to the rest of your tech stack. This usually means setting up connections to your CRM, ecommerce platform, CMS, analytics tools, and any other relevant software.

Most platforms provide integration guides to help with this. Once everything is connected, test that your data is syncing correctly across all your tools.

Configure your authentication settings

This is more of a technical step, but an important one. Depending on your new platform, you may need to update your domain name system (DNS) records to confirm your platform has permission to send on your behalf. This can involve setting up sender policy framework (SPF), domain keys identified mail (DKIM), and domain-based message authentication, reporting & conformance (DMARC) records.

Your new platform will give you the exact values you need. Bear in mind these records can take up to 48 hours to update across the internet, though it’s often much faster.

4: Post-migration

The hard work is done, but you’re not quite finished yet. This next step is all about testing, keeping an eye on things, finalizing the move, and getting your team ready.

Test everything

Before you start relying on your new platform, it’s a good idea to take the time to check everything is working as expected, including:

• Run through your key workflows from start to finish to check that the logic, timing, and content are all correct
• Test all your forms and entry points to check new contacts are being captured correctly
• Check that data is flowing correctly through all your integrations
• Get a small group of internal users to test the platform and flag anything that doesn’t look right

Run your IP warming plan (if applicable)

If you set up an IP warming plan in the pre-migration phase, then now’s the time to put it into action. This is an important step because rushing your sending volume too soon can hurt your reputation with internet service providers (ISPs) and can impact your deliverability. Start with your most engaged contacts in small batches and gradually increase the volume following the schedule you created.

See how things are performing

The first few weeks after migration are important because this is when issues are most likely to appear. Keep a close eye on your key metrics, including:

• Data accuracy: Check that contact records, custom fields, and segmentation are all correct

• Engagement: Track how your contacts are interacting with your content compared to before

• Workflow performance: See if your automated workflows are firing correctly and delivering the right results

• Integration health: Keep an eye on whether data is syncing correctly across all your connected tools

Compare these numbers to your benchmarks from your old platform. If anything looks off, reach out to your new platform’s support team straight away.

Don’t switch off your old platform just yet

For a week or two after the migration, keep your old platform active as a backup. This gives you a safety net in case anything unexpected comes up. Run all your activities from the new platform during this time. Contacts getting duplicate communications or data falling out of sync is the last thing you want.

Only cancel your old platform when you’re confident that everything is working as it should on the new one, such as:

• Your data and assets have all moved across correctly
• Your integrations are up and running
• Your performance looks stable
• Your IP warming is complete (if that was relevant for you)

Get all your backups in place before you make the final call.

Get your team up to speed

Once everything is live, get everyone who’ll be using the new platform up to speed and feeling confident with it. Point them towards any help documentation, or set up training sessions with the platform vendor if they offer them. The sooner your team feels confident, the sooner you’ll start getting the most out of your new platform.

Before you start comparing platforms

If you’re still weighing up which platform to move to, here’s something that might help. G2 has ranked Dotdigital as a leader across 13 categories, based entirely on reviews from marketers who use it every day.

Here’s what those marketers consistently value most:

• Cross-channel marketing: Reach your customers across email, SMS, WhatsApp, and social media, all from one platform

• Personalization: Create dynamic content that adapts to individual customer behaviors, so every interaction feels relevant

• Reporting and insights: Get a clear picture of how your campaigns are performing and use that data to make better decisions

• Room to grow: Whether you’re a growing business or an established enterprise, Dotdigital is built to keep up with you

• People-first support: From onboarding to ongoing strategy, you’ll have access to a team of marketing experts, deliverability specialists, and customer success managers

Wherever you end up, the same advice applies

Switching platforms can feel like a race against the clock, especially when you’re excited about what’s waiting for you on the other side. But taking shortcuts here can lead to things like lost data, broken workflows, and a lot of unnecessary headaches.

Take the time to work through each step, test everything, and bring your team along with you. A well-planned migration sets you and your team up for long-term success, and the effort you put in now will show in your results.

There’s no shortage of platforms out there. The hard part is working out which one is right for your team, your goals, and the way you work day to day.

That’s what this guide is for. We’ll walk you through everything worth checking before you commit, so you can make a decision you won’t be disappointed with six months down the line.

We’ll show you how to:

1. Review your current email setup

2. Know what your email marketing goals are

3. Check ease of use

4. Compare automation and personalization features

5. Explore reporting and analytics

6. Review integration with your existing tech stack

7. A platform that grows with you

8. Compare support options and learning resources

9. Understand security and compliance

10. Compare pricing and what you get for it

11. Trial platforms before you commit

12. Get insights from real user experiences

13. See if it works for businesses like yours

Step 1: Review your current email setup

Bear with us here, this one sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people skip straight to the demos without actually stopping to think about what they need. So, before you let someone tell you what your problems are, take a few minutes to figure out:

• Which parts of your current process work, and which make you want to scream?
• Where’s your time going? What feels repetitive with every send?
• What can’t you do right now that’s holding your results back?
• If you could fix one thing about your current setup, what would it be?

Step 2: Know what your email marketing goals are

Before you get dazzled by features in a demo, it helps to know what you and your team want to achieve. It might be getting more subscribers, improving engagement, or increasing revenue per send. The clearer you are on the outcome, the easier it is to pick the right platform. 

Match your goals to the features that matter

Once you know what your goals are, it’s easier to spot which features will help deliver those results: 

• Subscriber growth: sign-up forms, landing pages, easy segmentation
• Engagement: automated welcome series, drip campaigns, dynamic personalization
• Retention: triggered emails, loyalty integrations, win-back campaigns
• Efficiency: drag-and-drop editor, reusable templates, agentic AI
• Revenue: ecommerce integrations, dynamic product recommendations, conversion tracking

Think short-term and long-term too

What you need today might look very different from what you’ll need in 12 to 24 months. Maybe right now it’s email newsletters, but soon you might want to add:

• Transactional emails
• SMS and MMS
• Advanced personalization
• WhatsApp
• Social retargeting

Picking a platform with room to grow saves you from having to do all of this again in two years. 

Step 3: Check ease of use

Nobody wants to file a ticket just to change a subject line. You need a tool your team can pick up and use from day one, instead of waiting on developers or long onboarding processes. 

Look for:

• A platform your team can learn and use quickly
• Drag-and-drop tools and ready-made templates that help you get campaigns out faster
• Automation builders that make it easy to create and manage customer journeys

When a platform is easy to use, your team can work faster and with more confidence. You’ll spend less time solving problems and more time creating campaigns that drive results.

Quick tip: 

Don’t just try a demo – get hands-on experience with the platform. You’ll learn more from a twenty-minute trial, creating campaigns and building segments, than any feature comparison chart. 

Step 4: Automation and personalization

The best email marketing does two things well. It gets the right message to the right person at the right moment without anyone having to manually manage every step. And when it lands, it feels like it was written just for them rather than fired out to everyone on your list.

Here are some things to look for:

• Automated journeys for welcome emails, abandoned carts, or win-back campaigns
• Behavior-based triggers and dynamic content, tailored to the individual
• AI that suggests what to send, who to send it to, and when they’re most likely to open it

The more tailored the email, the better it performs. Automation saves time, while personalization makes emails relevant and thoughtful, helping your brand stand out in crowded inboxes.

Quick tip:

Map your most common campaigns and customer journeys to see if the platform can handle them out of the box or with minimal setup. If it can’t handle your everyday marketing, then it’s probably not the right fit.

Step 5: Reporting and analytics

You’ve sent the campaign. Now comes the fun part, with you, staring at a spreadsheet on a Monday morning, trying to work out if it actually worked. Sound familiar?

Good reporting shouldn’t feel like detective work. The right platform gives you a clear picture of what’s working, what isn’t, and what to do differently next time, without you having to piece it together from five different places.

Look for dashboards that go deeper than just opens and clicks. You want to be able to drill down into segments or individual campaigns, run A/B tests, and track conversions, so every send makes the next one a little better.

Step 6: Integration with your existing tech stack

If your email marketing platform can’t talk to your CRM, ecommerce platform, or analytics software, you’ll end up having to carry out data uploads yourself, which is how everyone wants to spend their Friday afternoons – said no marketer ever!

Strong integrations make sure your data stays clean, workflows run smoothly, and campaigns perform reliably. Look for native integrations in the email marketing platform or strong APIs that let you sync contacts, trigger automated emails, and pull in performance data without someone in your team becoming a part-time data engineer.

Quick tip:

Make a map of your current tech stack and check that any new email marketing platform can integrate with your most important systems first.

Step 7: A platform that grows with you

Your email needs today might not be your email needs in 18 months. A platform that grows alongside you makes sure you’re not re-platforming again when you buy new marketing tech. 

Look for a platform that can handle:

• A growing marketing list without sudden price jumps
• Adding new channels like SMS, push notifications, or transactional emails
• Managing multiple brands or accounts from a single platform

Flexibility matters here, too. The best platforms let you change your workflows, templates, and campaigns as your strategy shifts, so your team can stay agile and responsive.

Quick tip:

Check how easily it grows as your needs change, whether that means upgrading your plan or adding new features.

Step 8: Customer support that feels human

Every platform will tell you its support is great. But there’s a big difference between a chatbot pointing you at a help article and a real person who understands your setup, your goals, and what you’re trying to fix.

Look at what’s included beyond the email marketing software itself. That might be live chat, email or phone support, onboarding sessions, training materials, or an active community of users. Fast, human support in your time zone is just as valuable as a help center.

Also, check out third-party review sites to see how other marketers rate the platform’s support. Consistent praise for responsiveness and expertise tells you even more about your prospective email marketing provider.

Step 9: Look at security and compliance

You already know data privacy matters. What’s less obvious is that not every platform makes it easy to stay on top of GDPR, CPRA, or other regional compliance requirements. 

A platform that takes security seriously protects your data, reduces risk, and lets you focus on running campaigns instead of worrying about compliance or having 2 am panics about data breaches.

Check for real security certifications like: 

• ISO 27001 or SOC 2 compliance
• SSL encryption for data in transit
• Routine security audits
• Two-factor authentication for your team

Step 10: Compare pricing and what you get for it

Pricing varies widely between email marketing platforms. Some charge based on contact volume, others by feature tier, and some by both. Always read the fine print. 

Check what’s included in each tier. Are key features like automation, segmentation, or reporting locked behind higher plans? Costs will rise as your list grows or you add channels. That’s normal. What matters is whether the growth in cost feels predictable or like a trap door. 

Watch for extras like:

• Add-on fees for advanced features
• Charges for additional users or accounts
• Premium support costs
• Overage fees if you exceed send limits

The goal isn’t to pick the cheapest platform. It’s to choose one that gives you room to grow and delivers clear value for the results you expect from email marketing.

Step 11: Trial email platforms before deciding

Once you’ve made your shortlist, it’s time to try them out. Most email marketing platforms offer demos or free trials, so take advantage of them.

While you’re in there, test the stuff you’ll do every week, like:

• Building and sending campaigns
• Setting up automated journeys
• Connecting to your existing tools
• Pulling reports and presenting dashboards

Get your team involved, too, especially if they’ll be using the platform daily. They’ll spot any friction points you miss, before you’ve signed anything. 

Step 12: Get insights from real user experiences

Demos show you the best-case scenario. Real user reviews show you how people are using the platform day-to-day, how reliable it is, and what support feels like in real situations.

Skip the star ratings and read comments about things like:

• Ease of use once you’re past onboarding
• Whether it holds up on high-volume send days 
• What is support like when something breaks 
• Whether updates and new features actually help
• Any common pain points that show up again and again

Third-party sites like G2 or Trustpilot are good places to start. Patterns across reviews tell you more than any five-star post, and they’re a lot more honest than a sales deck. 

Step 13: See if it works for businesses like yours

Not every email marketing platform is built for the same kind of business. Some are made for ecommerce brands sending high volumes of promotional emails. Others fit B2B teams running long sales cycles and slow-burning nurtures. 

Look at case studies and customer stories, and see whether those businesses resemble yours in size, structure, or goals; not just industry.

It’s also worth checking:

• Whether the platform supports your specific use cases
• If it plays well with tools common in your industry
• How it handles the kind of data you rely on
• Whether multi-brand or multi-region support is available if you need it

One last thing before you go

We should probably mention that Dotdigital is an email marketing platform too. And not to toot our own horn, G2 has ranked us #1 for email marketing, and recognised us as a regional leader for 13 categories across EMEA, APAC, and the Americas, based entirely on reviews from marketers like you.

Here’s what many teams value most:

It’s easy to use

You can build emails, segment audiences, and launch campaigns without relying on developers. The interface is designed to feel easy, so your team can move quickly and confidently.

It connects with your existing tech stack

Whether you’re syncing CRM data or pulling in ecommerce insights, Dotdigital integrations are straightforward. With no more data silos, you can put your data to work faster.

It grows with you

As your contact list grows or your strategy expands into new channels, Dotdigital grows with you. You can manage multiple brands or accounts from our single platform and adapt as your needs change.

Support that feels human

From onboarding to ongoing optimization, you get support that’s tailored to your business goals. You’re not left alone, trying to figure it out.

Security and compliance built in

Dotdigital is built to help you feel confident about data protection. Things like strong safeguards and alignment with data privacy regulations mean customer data is safe and secure.

If it ticks your boxes, we’d love to show you what it looks like in practice. And if it doesn’t, we hope the guide was useful anyway.

By the time you’re ready to launch your loyalty program, you’ve already done the hard part. You’ve set your goals, you know what you want your program to achieve. You’ve mapped out earning rules and used customer insights to design rewards that will make joining your program worth it for customers. All that’s left is to launch. 

But what happens if you go live and no one signs up? 

Even the best-designed loyalty program will fall short of delivering results if it’s not properly promoted. Customers can’t join a program they’ve never heard of, and they won’t join if the value isn’t clear.

Your active member rate, your redemption rate, your ROI — none of these are meaningful until you have enough members in the program to measure anything. A well-promoted loyalty program should enroll 30–50% of your customers within the first six months. Enrollment is the metric that everything else is built on. 

This article covers everything you need to hit that number, including:

• How to build a sign-up page that actually converts
• How to make loyalty visible at every point in your customers’ on-site journey
• Which marketing channels to activate and in what order
• The metrics to track once the program is live

If you’re not sure if a loyalty program is right for your business, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. 

Step 1: Build your loyalty program sign-up page

Your loyalty sign-up page is the most important part of your entire enrollment strategy. Everything else, from your emails, on-site promotion, and social media posts, all exist to drive traffic to this page. If it doesn’t drive conversions, none of the rest matters. 

Here are our recommendations for creating a great signup page and what to avoid.

What works

Lead with the benefit to the customer

“Earn rewards every time you shop” will outperform “Welcome to our Loyalty Program.” Your headline should answer the question “what’s in it for me?” before customers even ask. 

Put the welcome bonus front and center

Show customers what they get just for joining before they’ve done anything. That immediate value is what tips hesitation into action.

Show customers how it works

Customers shouldn’t have to read three paragraphs to understand how the program works. A simple visual flow removes the cognitive effort that kills conversion.

Make the rewards clear

Show customers what their points are worth. “500 points = free shipping, 1,000 points = $10 off, 2,000 points = free gift” converts. “Exclusive rewards” doesn’t. If customers have to guess what their points are worth, they’ll assume the answer is not very much.

Talk about your tiers if your program has them

Show the thresholds and the benefits available at each level. The top tier should feel aspirational, while the first tier should be immediately within reach.

Use a single, prominent sign-up call-to-action (CTA)

One button, one action. ‘Join now’, ‘Start earning’, ‘Get 500 points’. Secondary CTA’s can sometimes dilute the customer’s decision and make it harder for them to act.

Add social proof 

If you already have enrolled members, share it. “12,000 members already earning” adds credibility and reduces hesitation. It tells customers the program is worth joining before they’ve even read a word about it.

What to avoid

Walls of terms and conditions

Link to full terms and conditions, but don’t paste them on the page. Anything that looks like small print signals risk, and risk kills sign-ups.

Asking for too much information upfront

Loyalty should feel like a benefit, not an application process. The simpler the form, the higher the conversion.

Hiding what points are worth

Being transparent builds engagement and trust. Customers who understand the value of what they’re earning are far more likely to stay active in the program.

Assuming customers know they’re already enrolled

If customers are automatically enrolled, make that clear when they sign up for your marketing or make their first purchase. The focus of your loyalty program landing page is no longer to convince people to join; it’s to help them understand what they’ve already got and how to make the most of it.

Step 2: Build loyalty into your website

Your sign-up page can’t do all the work on its own. For enrollment to reach the numbers that make a loyalty program worth the investment, loyalty needs to be visible everywhere a customer might encounter your brand on-site.

Header or navigation link

A permanent link in your site navigation keeps the program in view on every page, for every visitor.

Top tip: Label it clearly, like a simple “Rewards” or “Loyalty”, and avoid burying it in dropdown menus where customers can’t find it.

Site banner or hero

A banner on your homepage or category pages drives awareness among visitors who aren’t actively thinking about loyalty yet.

Top tip: Lead with what they’ll earn, not what the program is called. “Earn 500 points on your next order” will outperform “Join our rewards program.” 

Enrollment pop-up or slide-in

A pop-up or slide-in that appears at a defined trigger point (e.g., time on site, scroll depth, or exit intent) invites visitors to join the program.

Top tip: Trigger it on exit intent or after 45 seconds or more on the page, not the moment someone arrives. Lead with the incentive, keep the form simple, and make sure it’s not showing to customers who are already enrolled.

Product page loyalty widget

A small widget on product pages that shows how many points a customer would earn for the product they’re currently looking at.

Top tip: “You’d earn 47 points on this order. Join to start earning.” works well because it’s specific and contextual. The customer is already in purchase mode, so the prompt feels helpful rather than interruptive.

Checkout prompt

A message at checkout showing non-enrolled customers the points they’re about to miss, with a one-click option to join.

Top tip: Show non-enrolled customers the points they’ll miss out on. “You’re earning 0 points on this order. Join and earn 120 points” is more motivating than a positive framing of the same information. Customers who can see exactly what they’re leaving on the table are more likely to act.

Step 3: Promote your loyalty program on your marketing channels 

Your website reaches the customers who are already there. Your marketing channels reach everyone else, including people who’ve bought from you before and have no idea a loyalty program now exists. 

Launch announcement email

A dedicated email campaign to your entire customer base announcing your new loyalty program

Top tip: Customers who’ve already bought from you are your most likely early enrollees, as they already have a reason to come back. Lead by sharing a welcome bonus and keep the email to a single CTA.

Post-purchase sequence

An automated email is sent 24–48 hours after a purchase, inviting customers to join while their experience with your brand is fresh.

Top tip: Frame it as a natural next step: “You just earned your first points. Here’s what you can do with them” positions enrollment as activating something they’ve already started building up, which is far more exciting than asking them to sign up to something new.

Re-engagement series

An automated sequence that uses the loyalty program to encourage lapsed customers to come back.

Top tip: Lead with the points, waiting for them, rather than offering a discount. “You have 340 points about to expire” creates urgency without giving anything extra away, plus it’s personal in a way a voucher code never is.

Order confirmations

A loyalty mention in every order confirmation, showing non-enrolled customers the points they missed on that order.

Top tip: Order confirmations have the highest open rates of any email you send. Using them to promote loyalty enrollment costs nothing and is one of the easiest touchpoints you have. 

SMS

A dedicated message to your opted-in customer list announcing the program or promoting a limited-time enrollment bonus.

Top tip: SMS works well when there’s a deadline attached. “Join our loyalty program by Sunday and get 500 bonus points” is short, specific, and urgent, which is exactly what SMS does best.

In-store or Point of Sale tech (POS)

Staff promote the loyalty program to customers at checkout, with support from till prompts and printed materials. 

Top tip: Customers who buy in-store are often completely unaware that an online loyalty program exists. Give staff a simple script and make sure the point-of-sale screen prompts enrollment for anyone who isn’t already a member.

Packaging inserts

A card or flyer in every dispatched order, with a QR code linking directly to the loyalty sign-up page.

Top tip: Customers are at their most engaged when they open a package. They’ve just had a positive experience with your brand, so it’s the perfect time to introduce your loyalty program by including a flyer in their package.

Referral loop

Enrolled members share referral links or codes with friends, bringing new customers directly into the program.

Top tip: When a new customer uses a referral code, make sure they’re enrolled automatically. Redirecting them to a separate sign-up page can turn off referrals that would otherwise have converted.

Sequencing tip

Avoid the temptation to activate everything at once. At launch, start with your email database; they’re your fastest route to early numbers. Layer in on-site automation and post-purchase triggers in the first two weeks, then bring in SMS and any offline channels once the core flows are running smoothly.

Measuring loyalty and KPIs to track

Loyalty programs generate a lot of data, and once your program is live, the data will start to tell you what’s working and what isn’t, but only if you’re looking at the right things. These are the numbers that matter, so you can see how your program is performing and the impact it’s having on sales.

Loyalty program health metrics

These metrics tell you if the program is working, and whether customers are joining, staying active, and finding the rewards worth having.

Commercial impact metrics

These tell you whether the program is generating a return. In other words, whether loyal members are more valuable than non-members, and by how much.

Engagement and communication metrics

These metrics tell you how well your loyalty marketing is performing, whether customers know what they’ve earned, what tier they’re in, and what rewards are available to them. 

Dotdigital Loyalty: Loyalty that lives where your marketing does 

Designing a great loyalty program and getting people to join it are two things most platforms make you solve separately. Dotdigital Loyalty is built differently. 

Your loyalty data and your marketing automation live side-by-side, so the two work together from day one, rather than talking to each other through botched connectors that cause lags in experiences and gaps in data. 

Most marketing platforms can tell you what emails a customer opened and what products they browsed. Dotdigital also knows:

• What tier they’re in
• How many points do they have
• When their points expire
• When they joined the loyalty program
• What rewards they’ve redeemed

That’s a richer picture of who a customer is and where they are in their relationship with your brand. It makes every campaign, automation, and personalized experience more relevant than anything a standalone loyalty platform could power on its own. 

What’s the benefit for marketers?

Every reward lands at the right moment

When a customer earns points or hits a new tier, your automations respond immediately because the data that triggers them syncs smoothly with the tools that act on it.

You’re up and running fast

Just one click from the Shopify App Store, and 8+ ready-made storefront blocks mean your loyalty program can go live without developers, agencies, or a long implementation project.

Expert support from the start

Dotdigital loyalty experts work closely with you. From bespoke onboarding to personalizing your program, we’re with you every step of the way.

Everything is included from day one

Pricing is based on order volume, not which features you want to use. Every capability is available from the moment you start, and all on one invoice.

If you’re ready to build a loyalty program that works with your marketing rather than alongside it, Dotdigital Loyalty is coming very soon. Register your interest and be the first to know when it’s ready.

It’s a good question, but not the only one you should be asking. A better question would be, how can we grow more organically? Or how can we make our existing customers spend more? What can we do to keep customers coming back? The answer to all of these is simple: build a loyalty program. 

Loyal customers spend more, buy more often, and bring new customers with them at no extra cost to you. There’s solid data supporting this, too: 

• It can cost 25x as much to acquire a new customer as to retain an existing one
• 80% of future revenue typically comes from just 20% of existing customers
• It’s 5x more likely that a loyal customer refers a friend to your brand
• Recommendations from family and friends are now 45% more influential than they were 12 months ago
• On average, loyalty program members spend 67% more than non-members
• Over the last 12 months, 45% of shoppers spent more to reach the next tier of their loyalty program

We’ve got a full breakdown of the business impact of loyalty if you want to dig deeper into the numbers. 

The case for having a loyalty program is strong, but knowing how to build one that actually delivers big numbers is harder. This article dives into the details. We’ll walk you through the earning rules you can build into your program, the business goals you can hit with a well-structured program, and five ready-to-use templates you can adapt to your brand. 

What to reward and how to reward it

Trying to reward everything devalues your loyalty program and tells customers that you’re not quite sure what you’re trying to achieve. The most effective loyalty programs are built backward, starting with the goal you want to reach first. 

Here’s a breakdown of the earning rules worth building into your program and the thinking behind each one. 

1. Rewarding customers for spending

This is the foundation of most loyalty programs. Spend-based rewards are easy for customers to understand, easy for marketers to communicate, and they reinforce the behavior that matters most – repeat purchases.

2. Rewarding customers for connecting with your brand

3. Rewarding customers for being advocates

4. Rewarding your customers for time spent with your brand

Loyalty strategies for every business goal

Loyalty programs aren’t one-size-fits-all. The most effective ones are built around specific business objectives, rather than points for purchases. Here are seven ways you can tailor your loyalty strategy based on your team’s goals.

1. Increasing customer lifetime value

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total revenue a customer generates over their entire relationship with your brand. Your highest-value customers tend to share a few things in common: they buy regularly, they engage with your communications, and they feel a genuine connection to your brand. A loyalty program strengthens all three.

How to tailor your loyalty strategy to boost CLV

• Tier programs give customers a long-term reason to keep spending; the higher the tier, the better the benefits, which means every purchase feels like it’s building toward something

• Anniversary rewards sent on the date of a customer’s first purchase are a simple, personal way to reinforce the relationship and prompt a return visit

• Points multipliers on categories a customer already buys from make the program feel like it was built for them specifically, and that personal relevance keeps customers more engaged and more likely to come back

2. Reducing churn and re-engaging lapsed customers

Every brand has customers who go quiet. The question is whether they’ve moved on or just lost momentum. Loyalty programs give you a way to find out and a reason for lapsed customers to return that doesn’t rely on discounting.

How to adjust your loyalty strategy to cut churn

• Points expiry reminders let customers know their balance is about to disappear, creating urgency without giving anything extra away when they realize they have something to lose

• Win-back campaigns built on loyalty data let you reach lapsed customers with something personal (like a message that references their last tier, their points history, or the products they actually bought) rather than a generic voucher that could have gone to anyone

3. Increasing average order value (AOV)

Loyalty programs are one of the most effective tools for encouraging customers to spend a little more per visit without offering blanket discounts that reduce what you make on every sale.

How to tweak your loyalty strategy to increase AOV

• Spend thresholds tied to points multipliers, like “Spend $75 to earn double points this weekend,” work better than a flat promotion because it’s personal, clear, and time-bound

• Tier benefit ladders (where higher tiers unlock better rewards) give customers a long-term reason to spend more on every visit to get to the next tier to unlock 20% their next order

• Bonus points on specific products draw attention to higher-value items without reducing the price of those items directly

4. Improving conversion rate

A loyalty program gives you something extra to show customers at the moments they’re most likely to hesitate. Sometimes that’s all it takes to tip them toward completing a purchase.

How to tailor your loyalty strategy to get more conversions

• Points balance reminders at checkout show customers exactly what they’re earning in real time, turning the act of spending into visible progress toward a reward

• Reward redemption at checkout gives customers an immediate reason to follow through on a purchase they might otherwise have left, like a $5 reward sitting unused in their account

• Welcome bonuses for new members give first-time visitors a real reason to make that first purchase, and adding a bonus offer that activates when they buy drives them into further action

5. Building brand advocates

The most underrated output of a great loyalty program is advocacy. Customers who feel genuinely rewarded talk about it, and that word of mouth carries a level of trust that paid advertising simply can’t buy.

How to use loyalty for advocacy

• Two-sided referral rewards (points for the customer referring, a discount for the friend they bring in) create a loop that has both sides winning, which makes people far more likely to share

• Social engagement rewards for following your brand or sharing content encourage customers to spread the word across their whole audience

• Exclusive benefits for top-tier members (like early product access, event invitations, personalized gifts) make loyalty feel like something worth telling people about, rather than a points balance sitting in an app somewhere

6. Launching a new product or collection

When you have something new to launch, your loyalty program gives you a ready-made audience of people who already like you and a way to reward them for being first purchasers or early adopters.

How to use loyalty to launch new products

• Bonus points on new product categories during a launch window give loyal customers a reason to try something new without needing to discount it on day one

• Tier-exclusive early access gives your best customers the chance to get there first. That sense of exclusivity drives real excitement and often generates social buzz before the product is even available to everyone else

• Limited-time earning campaigns focused on the first two weeks of a launch concentrate purchase behavior in the window where momentum matters most

7. Collecting reviews and social proof

Genuine customer reviews are one of the most persuasive things a potential buyer can come across. A loyalty program gives you a reliable way to collect them without resorting to tactics that undermine their authenticity.

How to use loyalty for social proof

• Points for verified reviews give customers, who’ve already bought, a timely reason to share their experience while it’s still fresh

• Follow-up sequences triggered after a purchase reaches customers at exactly the right moment, with loyalty points giving them a reason to act straight away, rather than put it off and forget

Five loyalty program templates you can steal

The best loyalty programs are built around how your customers shop. Most follow recognizable patterns, though, and that’s what makes them a good starting point. Here are five templates worth adapting, each designed for a different type of ecommerce business, with a structure you can pick up and make your own.

The essential points program

Best for: Brands launching loyalty for the first time. Simple to build, easy for customers to understand, and effective at building the habit of returning.

Earning rules

• 1 point per $1 spent
• Double points on first purchase
• Birthday bonus (2x points)
• Points for email and SMS subscription

Rewards and tiers

• 100 points = $1 off
• Free shipping at 500 points
• Free gift at 1,000 points

Dotdigital tip: Set up an automated welcome email that fires the moment a customer enrolls, showing their starting balance and exactly how many points they need to reach their first reward. When customers can see where they’re headed, the journey feels worth starting.

The VIP tier program

Best for: Brands with customers who buy four or more times a year. Tiers give your most loyal customers something to work toward and benefits that go well beyond a discount.

Earning rules

• 1 point per $1 spent
• 2x points on new collection launches
• 3x points during birthday month
• Points for product reviews
• Point for social media follows

Rewards and tiers

• Bronze: standard redemption, free shipping at 300 points
• Silver: 1.25x point value, early sale access
• Gold: 1.5x point value, exclusive rewards, free shipping on every order
• Platinum: 2x point value, early product access, personal stylist/advisor

Tiers are evaluated on a rolling 12-month basis.

Dotdigital tip: Set up an automated email that goes out 30 days before a customer’s tier is reviewed, showing them exactly how much they need to spend to hold or improve their status. Customers who can see the finish line are far more likely to push for it.

The high engagement loyalty program 

Best for: Brands where customers buy frequently and feel genuinely invested in the product or category.

Earning rules

• 1.5 points per $ spent
• Bonus points for repeat purchases of the same product
• Points for leaving verified reviews or sharing experiences
• Triple points during birthday month 
• Points for completing a customer profile

Rewards and tiers

• Redeem points for products, services, or exclusive offerings
• Free trial or sample rewards
• Early access to new launches or features for top-tier members
• Exclusive members-only packages

Tiers: Newcomer > Enthusiast > Expert

Dotdigital tip: Use your loyalty data to send replenishment reminders just before a customer is likely to run out or re-engage. A well-timed message with a points nudge is relevant and helpful rather than promotional, and that distinction is what keeps customers coming back.

The high-value, low-frequency program

Best for: Brands where customers spend more per order but don’t buy as often.

Earning rules

• 1 point per $1 spent
• 5x points on first purchase over a threshold value
• Bonus points for sharing usage testimonials or creative content
• Two-sided referral rewards
• Points for detailed reviews

Rewards and tiers

• Redeem points for vouchers or account credit
• Free shipping or priority access for loyalty members
• Exclusive access to premium products or services
• Personal consultation or setup service for top-tier members

Tiers: Member > Insider > Partner

Dotdigital tip: For categories where customers don’t buy very often, tie points expiry to inactivity rather than a fixed date on the calendar. Points that expire after 12 months of no activity feel fair. Points that disappear on January 1, regardless of behavior, feel random, and that frustration sticks.

The subscription and recurring engagement loyalty program

Best for: With ongoing delivery cycles or regular engagement like subscriptions, refills, or membership-based services.

Earning rules

• 1 point per $1 on one-off purchases
• 1.5 points per $1 for recurring subscription purchases
• Double points for trying a new product or feature
• Points for completing a preferences or feedback profile
• Bonus points for referrals or gifting subscriptions

Rewards and tiers

• Redeem points for complimentary products or services added to the next delivery
• Tiered discounts for subscription members
• Free delivery or early access for members
• Exclusive products available only to loyalty members

Tiers: Newbie > Regular > Devotee

Dotdigital tip: A quarterly loyalty summary showing what subscription customers have earned and redeemed, alongside personalized recommendations based on their history, is a low-effort way to remind them that the relationship is worth keeping.

Building loyalty that lasts

A loyalty program is only as good as the thinking behind it. The earning rules you choose, the rewards you offer, and the moments you decide to recognize all send a message to your customers about how well you understand them and how much you value the relationship beyond the transaction.

The templates and frameworks in this article are a starting point. To get the most from your loyalty strategy, you need to treat it as a living strategy, testing what works, acting on what the data tells you, and continually finding new ways to make customers feel like staying is the obvious choice.

If you’re thinking about what that could look like for your brand, Dotdigital Loyalty is coming soon. Register your interest and be the first to know when it’s ready.

But WhatsApp isn’t just another channel to add to your marketing stack for the sake of it. It’s delivering standout engagement that exceeds expectations, and if you’re not already using it as part of a thoughtful, permission-based strategy, now’s the time to start.

What marketers are saying about WhatsApp (and why the numbers back them up)

WhatsApp has 2.5 billion monthly users. The average person spends 33 minutes a day on the app. In Dotdigital’s Global Benchmark Report 2026, we found that it delivers an average click-through rate of 51.1%, which is ten times higher than email.

When you look at those numbers together, it’s easy to see why marketers are investing in WhatsApp. It’s where customers already spend time and actively engage, making it a natural part of the channel mix.

And when WhatsApp sits alongside your email and SMS on the same platform, it becomes even more powerful. You can trigger messages from the same customer data, build it into your existing journeys, and manage it without needing to jump between tools, manually export or import customer data, or have more places to manage marketing consent

Here at Dotdigital, we’re big fans of WhatsApp, but don’t just take our word for it. We went straight to the source and asked marketers already on the channel to share how they’re finding it.

How Ultima Media uses WhatsApp to reach 90% open rates across event journeys

Ultima Media is a B2B media company that connects the automotive manufacturing, logistics, and design industries through expert content and professional events.

Like most event-led teams, email was doing a lot of the heavy lifting. But with crowded inboxes and fast-moving schedules, important updates weren’t always being seen when they needed to.

The brand now uses WhatsApp to manage the full attendee journey across three stages:

• Pre-event: Branded messages with imagery and multiple links to build anticipation and share logistics

• During the event: Real-time updates, timing reminders, relevant articles, and links like photo albums

• Post-event: On-demand content distribution and promotion of related products

Open rates have reached as high as 90%, which shows how engaging WhatsApp is as a marketing channel, particularly for messages that contain important updates or are time-sensitive

To keep things running smoothly, Ultima Media now captures WhatsApp opt-ins at registration. Mobile number is a required field, so every new attendee enters the journey WhatsApp-ready.

“We use WhatsApp as a real-time concierge throughout the entire attendee journey. Unlike email, which gets buried in crowded inboxes, WhatsApp is more likely to get read. And unlike SMS, it lets us send fully branded messages with rich imagery and clear link previews, so attendees feel confident clicking. WhatsApp keeps the entire event journey in one continuous thread. It feels like a reliable resource rather than a series of disconnected alerts.”

– Giada Nacucchi, Marketing Manager, Ultima Media

What this means for you

What’s interesting here isn’t necessarily the open rates, but it’s more about how WhatsApp fits into the wider customer journey.

For Ultima Media, it works because the communication is time-sensitive, structured, and part of a clear experience from start to finish. Nothing feels isolated, and each message supports the next step in the attendee journey.

Using WhatsApp marketing gives teams a way to keep high-attention moments in a single, continuous thread, especially when timing really matters.

The takeaway is thinking less about WhatsApp as a standalone channel and more about where it strengthens the journeys you already have in place.

How Lease Loco grew a new WhatsApp channel to 80%+ open rates in three months

Lease Loco is a car leasing comparison site with an established email and SMS program, but they wanted a way to share richer, more detailed offers than SMS allows. So, WhatsApp felt like the natural next step.

The team uses it to share its best deals with either its full subscriber list or targeted segments, with full deal specs, pricing, and imagery that SMS simply doesn’t have space for.

It gives the brand a more flexible way to communicate offers that need more than a short line of text.

Open rates now range from 78% to 81%, with the WhatsApp subscriber base growing by 43% in just three months.

“We’ve built WhatsApp into our marketing mix as a natural next step after email and SMS,and it’s already proving its worth. What makes WhatsApp exciting for us is the freedom it gives you compared to SMS. No character limit, rich imagery, emojis, full deal specs. For context, our WhatsApp lead volume is already around a third of our SMS channel, despite having a much smaller, newer subscriber list.”

– Michaela Crawford, Digital Marketing Manager, Lease Loco

What this means for you

What stands out here is how quickly WhatsApp can slot into an existing setup.

Lease Loco extended their strategy rather than doing a full rebuild because email and SMS were already driving results. WhatsApp just gave them another way to show high-intent offers with more detail and more visual impact.

The takeaway is that WhatsApp doesn’t need to start as a big, complex programme. It can begin as an extension of what you’re already sending, especially for content that needs more space than SMS allows but more immediacy than email.

How Bolsover Cruise Club drove 80%+ open rates with personalized WhatsApp messaging

Bolsover Cruise Club is one of the UK’s leading independent cruise specialists. With a strong SMS program already in place, WhatsApp gave the team a way to build on what was already working, with richer and more flexible messaging.

The team uses it to reach both existing and prospective customers with exclusive offers, new cruise launches, and partner campaign updates. What’s changed is the variety in how these messages can be displayed, and how it fits into the recipients’ day, landing on a channel that they’re already spending time on.

WhatsApp has opened up more room for personalized, automated communication, with richer content and a cadence that feels natural rather than intrusive.

And that’s reflected in the results, with open rates sitting above 80%, and early sign-up demand exceeding their expectations.

“We’d already seen sustained success with SMS, but WhatsApp opened up a whole new level of personalization and automation, with richer, more engaging content and the ability to communicate more regularly without it feeling intrusive. We use it to reach a mix of existing and prospective customers with exclusive offers, new product launches, and key partner campaign updates.

The appetite for sign-ups has been incredible, and the engagement speaks for itself. WhatsApp currently has far less noise than email, which means your messages genuinely cut through. We’re still in the early stages, but I’m convinced the best is yet to come. 

My advice to any travel brand on the fence? Be an early adopter. Get ahead now while the opportunity is there.”

– Danny Forsythe, Head of Marketing, Bolsover Cruise Club

What this means for you

This example shows how WhatsApp works best when it’s used consistently and not just for standalone campaigns.

For Bolsover Cruise Club, WhatsApp has become a way to deliver more personalized messaging, support automation, and keep engagement high, without feeling crowded. 

The opportunity here is building WhatsApp into your broader communication strategy early, while attention is still strong.

How a UK pub chain drove 82%+ open rates by shifting from telesales to WhatsApp

This UK hospitality brand was relying heavily on telesales and email to reach customers. With email engagement declining, the team needed a better way to stay connected with its audience without adding complexity to its setup.

The brand now uses WhatsApp to send promotions, business updates, and service messages, targeting either specific customer groups or its wider base, depending on the message.

By changing to this strategy, the brand has seen open rates at around 82%, compared to 48% for email, which shows how much more attention WhatsApp is getting.

“Before WhatsApp, we relied heavily on telesales and email to reach our customers. With email engagement declining, it made sense to diversify, and WhatsApp was the obvious next step. If you want to make sure your message is actually seen, add WhatsApp to the mix. Every customer has different preferences, and covering more channels means more of them hear from you.”

– Anonymous, UK pub chain

What this means for you

This shows what’s possible when you’re willing to rethink your channel mix. For this brand, email engagement was slipping, and telesales alone wasn’t enough – so the team brought WhatsApp in to fill the gap, not as a replacement, but as another route to reach its customers.

Where WhatsApp is working right now

Across very different industries and use cases, one pattern stands out. Messages perform better when they appear in channels people already use and in formats that make them easy to read and respond to.

WhatsApp is becoming part of the marketing mix for more brands, and those using it now are already seeing stronger engagement rates and deeper connections with their customers.

Claudia, the eco-conscious freelance designer, looks great on a slide deck, but she was built from assumptions and has never actually bought anything from you. Meanwhile, the customers who converted most often last quarter have something in common. They had a specific problem, at a specific moment, that made your solution the obvious answer. That’s buyability.

To find out what they have in common and connect with more potential customers facing similar problems, you need to dig deeper than a basic buyer persona. You need to build an ideal customer profile (ICP) that tells you what to look for. 

ICP vs. the buyer persona

There are a lot of people out there who use the terms ICP and buyer persona interchangeably, but they’re not the same thing. 

• Ideal customer profile: Your ICP is the type of customer or company that gets the most value from what you sell, defined by real data from your existing customers
• Buyer persona: This is the individual themselves; their motivations, pain points, behaviors, and channel preferences

Both are valuable, but there’s an order to follow. Your ICP should always come first. If you’re building personas before you’ve identified the customers who are a good fit, you may be creating detailed profiles of the wrong people. 

Put your ICP to the test

If you want to know whether you have a buyer persona or an ICP, ask around. If marketing, sales, and product developers all give you different answers to “who is our ideal customer?”, chances are you don’t have a real ICP. 

Sellability vs. buyability

Most marketing starts with a product or service and asks a simple question: “Can we sell this?” There’s a product, they figure out who might want it, and then come up with ideas to convince people they should get it.

This approach focuses on the sellability of your products. It’s often based on ideas and not data — crafting messages around the person you hope will buy, not people who have bought. 

But buyability flips that. It starts with the buyer and marketers asking who already has the problem and what motivates them to buy. Understanding what makes someone ready to buy means digging deeper to identify what your ideal customers have in common. Once you understand them, finding more of them will be easier. 

This matters because customer behavior has changed a lot in the last few years. The majority of research is happening before they speak to sales or add anything to their shopping cart. By the time they’re ready to convert, they already have a brand in mind. 

Figuring out who those people are and showing up in their world means you’re reaching the right people earlier, before competitors do. But their world looks different depending on who they are, and that varies significantly by generation and market. 

Dotdigital’s Customer Trend Index can help build out a strong ICP with data on where different shoppers actually discover new brands: 

• In-store and real-world experiences are the top channel for 49% of global consumers 
• 39% of Gen Z have discovered new brands through influencer content
• 42% of Gen Z in Australia “always” or “often” use AI to discover new brands 
• In the UK, search engines are the favorite discovery channel for 41% of Baby Boomers
• 50% of American shoppers turn to family and friends for new brand recommendations

Start with customers you’ve already won

You don’t have to host a big workshop or turn to an expensive external consultant to identify your ideal customer profile. The answer is sitting in your existing customer base. 

Look at who you consider to be your best customers. Not the biggest group, but the most valuable. The customers who spend the most, shop with you frequently, engage with your marketing, attend your events, shout about you on social media, and refer you to their friends and family. 

When you figure out who they are, find out what they have in common. These may be a mixture of demographic and behavioral signals, like: 

• Age
• Location 
• Products purchased
• Ads interacted with 
• Purchase recency
• Email engagement 
• Industry 
• Preferred channel 
• Company size 
• Referral source 

But many ICPs fall short because they don’t consider behavioral data. If you’re only focused on who the customer is, not on what they experienced before becoming a customer, you’re only building half a profile. Knowing who your best customers are is just the start. 

To create an ICP that focuses your marketing strategy, you need to listen to and learn from your best customers. Your ICP should be a living document that changes as customer behavior shifts. 

Use customer data to build an even bigger picture

Bringing all your customer data together into a single source of truth helps you identify patterns in customer behavior you might otherwise miss. It’s just one of the many benefits of having a unified tech stack. 

These patterns are based on data collected throughout the customer experience, from email engagements to browsing behavior. Two sources in particular reveal the most about who your customers really are: 

Zero-party data and preference centers

There really is no better source to discover what customers want than the customers themselves. Preference centers give you direct insight into what your customers care about; that’s why they need to go beyond just collecting first names and birthday dates. Ask them to share the products or services they’re interested in, and which channels they want to hear from you on. 

Dotdigital’s Customer Trend Index reveals that email is the preferred channel for 45% of customers, while 40% of Gen Z love using apps for brand experiences. You’ll only know where on the spectrum your customers fall when you ask them. 

Web behavior and content engagement

This is where you’ll discover what people are reading, which pages they’re visiting, and what topics inspire them to click through in your emails. It also helps you see which stage of the customer journey they’re in. 

If they’re looking at pages about contract renewal, you can see what else they’re looking at, or what messages they’re engaging with to get a better understanding of motivations at that stage. Similarly, if someone repeatedly clicks through on links about your ‘Essential Oils’ collection, you’ll learn what products are hot topics for them.  

How to make sure your ICP is successful 

When you go through the effort of building a well-informed ICP, you don’t want to see its value degrade too soon. This often happens because ownership is ambiguous. Sales, product, and marketing all claim ownership, which ultimately results in no one overseeing its maintenance. 

When multiple groups don’t agree on who the ideal customer is, every handoff in the funnel introduces friction. Marketing generates leads that sales doesn’t want. Sales chase accounts that marketing never targeted. And the ICP document gets updated once and then sits untouched.

The only way around this is greater cross-team collaboration with regular check-ins with the ICP as customer behavior changes. Thankfully, a unified customer data platform makes it easy for all teams across your business to feed valuable customer insights into a single source. This makes sure all teams are adequately represented as your ICP develops. 

Know your customers, grow your marketing

For marketers, the need for an ICP has never been greater. Only 15% of customers think the marketing they get is “very relevant” to them. They need personalized experiences that speak to their needs and wants in the moment. But you can’t personalize to people you don’t know, and you can’t really know your customers based on a buyer persona that isn’t grounded in real customer behavior. 

Taking the time to build your initial ICP arms you with a better understanding of your customers. You’ll be able to target similar audiences more efficiently by knowing which discovery channels they use, how often they engage with their favorite brands, and which channels they use to convert. 

To get started, read Dotdigital’s Customer Trend Index to discover where your customers are, what they want, and how they like to be reached.