Bradley Gula

Lifecycle Content Manager at Clearbit

Julie Beynon

Head of Analytics at Clearbit

## What is email marketing automation? 

Before we dive into the email marketing automation recipe, let's start with our *mise en place* and set the stage.

First up, what is email marketing automation? 

Email marketing automation turns the manual sending of marketing emails into a workflow that automatically generates recipients based on specific criteria. and then triggers sending emails to those recipients in a pre-set sequence.

But what's the difference between email marketing automation and __*good*__ email marketing automation? 

[Julie Beynon](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbeynon/?originalSubdomain=ca "Julie Beynon LinkedIn"), Clearbit's Head of Analytics and Chief Martech Data Plumber, shares her thoughts.

> To me, good email marketing automation is effectively replicating authentic one-to-one conversations with your prospects and customers — at scale.

This means you need to do more than send automated emails with first name personalization. Context, relevance, and accuracy is critical. Everything that your recipients would expect if you were emailing from your personal email account is just as important when automating.

## How does email marketing automation work?

Now that we know what [good email marketing automation](https://clearbit.com/resources/books/data-driven-marketing/drip-email-sequences) is, how does it work? 

Julie has thoughts on this, too: 

> Good email marketing automation works when you have two really important ingredients. First, __you need great data__. You need to understand who it is that you're sending emails to. This means having as much up-to-date firmographic, demographic, behavioural, and if possible, technographic data on your list as possible. 

In other words, the better your data is, the more relevant your automated emails will be.

Take two variations of the same scenario as an example:

1. You send an automated, but generic "book a demo" email to Rachel Chu 10 days after she joins your mailing list.
2. You send a highly relevant, personalized automated email to Rachel Chu, a marketing manager from Wonka Candy Company (a 100-person, HubSpot-using company with $10MM in ARR) one day after she visits your pricing page. 

Scenario #1 feels like a crapshoot! Scenario #2 feels like good marketing. 

Julie argues that there's one more key ingredient for good email marketing automation. 

> Great data comes first. But you also need __standout content__ —  personalized, authentic emails that people actually want to read because they come at the right time and provide info that's actually useful for them.  

When you have great data and standout content, you're ready to build workflows in your marketing automation platform of choice. 

## What are the benefits of email marketing automation? 

Now we know what email marketing automation is and how it works. But what are the benefits?

### The three major benefits of email marketing automation

1. Flexibility - After the initial investment of setting up a marketing automation platform, it's an inexpensive and flexible channel to generate new revenue
2. Efficiency - Automation of manual tasks increases your marketing efficiency
3. Personalization - If done right, email marketing automation lets you [personalize your communications at scale](https://clearbit.com/blog/onboarding-with-clearbit-attributes/)

And if you're lucky, prospects and customers won't only take notice, they might even go out of their way to share some compliments.

Here's a great LinkedIn shout-out for our newsletter (we're very proud!):

<img src="//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/41RFjYsvjw6IcAuJEIecTd/c45af0b6f22efec4b59e133f21ef694d/Screen_Shot_2021-04-27_at_3.01.22_PM.png" alt="Clearbit Newsletter positive feedback from LinkedIn">

And here are two email responses to automated messages that made our day:

<img src="//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/4KijUyV6Wis0Y7LnHQZlev/917f74169c6042a31a24be1fd9af7416/Screen_Shot_2021-05-07_at_9.00.06_AM.png" alt="email reply with positive feedback to email marketing automation campaign">

<img src="//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/4H9RkhIYNR8RZvv8xlnZmq/c341f2c128502b2089acaaa893aba266/Screen_Shot_2021-05-07_at_9.00.22_AM.png" alt="email reply with positive feedback to email marketing automation campaign">

> <em>By the way, if you're interested in engaging stories and exclusive data [join our Clearbit monthly newsletter](https://clearbit.com/resources/landing/newsletter "Clearbit Newsletter Subscription Link"). It's only $100/month. Just kidding — it's free!</em>

## How to personalize email marketing automation

Now, how about we learn how to cook up a personalized email automation campaign of your own with an example recipe? 

We'll walk you through how to connect Clearbit-enriched data from Salesforce (our CRM) to Customer.io (our marketing automation platform), and then how to use that data to personalize automated email workflows. 

## Step 1: Connect Clearbit to Salesforce

First, make sure you've [connected Clearbit to Salesforce](https://help.clearbit.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014934848-Install-Clearbit-for-Salesforce "Install Clearbit for Salesforce"). Once you're a [Clearbit for Salesforce](https://clearbit.com/salesforce "Clearbit for Salesforce") customer, it's a super simple process that involves installing our app from the Salesforce AppExchange. 

![Clearbit in Salesforce's AppExchange](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/3FLQTwEy482BgKBp8fWKb6/7aaeac598c870725052b2d419f161850/sfdc_gif.gif)

Next, make sure you've [configured all of your field mappings](https://help.clearbit.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006782554-Configure-Enrichment-Field-Mappings "Configure Clearbit Enrichment Field Mappings for Salesforce"). 

![Clearbit for Salesforce Field Mapping](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/3sqzEKVbCNmXFFONR2ENUT/892c5cc6c095c82737aef35e8a8582d3/Screen_Shot_2020-09-29_at_3.46.22_PM.png)

Once these two steps are complete, you're ready to send newly enriched Salesforce Account and Contact data to your marketing automation platform. 

## Step 2: Connect Salesforce to Customer.io

For this recipe, we're going to use Customer.io, which is our marketing automation platform at Clearbit.

We have a custom integration that connects Salesforce to Customer.io, so we won't dive into the details. Customer.io does have a [built-in Zapier integration with Salesforce](https://fly.customer.io/integrations/Salesforce "Customer.io Integration with Salesforce via Zapier"), which is very easy to configure.  

> Note: Connecting Salesforce with your marketing automation platform will vary depending on what platform you use. You'll typically find straightforward native or third-party integrations with Salesforce.

## Step 3: Create your segment

Now that you have all of your Salesforce data available in Customer.io ([enriched by Clearbit](https://clearbit.com/enrichment "Clearbit Enrichment")!), you have access to a huge list of attributes to help build your automated segment. Accurate, up-to-date data points like job title, number of employees, company location, and technologies used are now at your fingertips.

Start by giving your segment a name.

![Name Segment in Customer.io](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/4v5kHcCAoZQQvtDbzG9pNW/f63ed406606cecdb42557390afc48c29/Screen_Shot_2021-05-06_at_3.45.52_PM.png)

Then, select all of the conditions that you'd like your email recipients to meet in order to enter your segment. 

![Set Segment Conditions in Customer.io](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/5kcp77tobedRPaotV7xKDv/8dfccfb71a6746ceb65c9f22b046419f/Screen_Shot_2021-05-06_at_3.48.21_PM.png)

## Step 4: Set your trigger 

With your new segment complete, select it as the trigger for your email marketing automation.

![Set Customer.io Trigger](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/2u3GaaYuVSDdrxExhZn4mR/42f4e65c833d068e3ebab8db9534e609/Screen_Shot_2021-05-06_at_3.50.59_PM.png)

Once you've completed this step, any time someone meets the conditions of your new segment, they'll automatically enter your automated sequence.  

## Step 5: Build your automated workflow

Here's where you get to use data, delays, and flow control options to build your own custom workflow. 

In the example below, we set up a simple time delay so that recipients will get our automated email one day after entering our segment in Customer.io. But this is only scratching the surface of what you can do. With the various delay and flow controls, you'll be able to create more complex workflows to deliver the custom experience you want to deliver to your sendees.

![Build Customer.io Workflow](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/3jfbHix0XwSi69hafkguEi/e4b0be43d7e40c5f562a62a51c685b16/Screen_Shot_2021-05-06_at_3.52.12_PM.png)

## Step 6: Create your personalized messages

Time for the fun part. Create your email(s), and don't forget to use all of the Clearbit-enriched Salesforce data that's now available to personalize your messages. Here’s what that level of detail in your message may look like.

![Create Personalized Email in Customer.io](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/2Vcwq39EYAc3UesoKXVkOb/b005d886690219dbd1e7ed16c1c197bd/Screen_Shot_2021-05-06_at_3.59.12_PM.png)

Once you've had an initial read-over, check out your email(s) in preview mode for a quick spot check. This lets you see all of your Salesforce-derived personalization tokens completed with real recipient data.

![Preview Email in Customer.io](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/4N2BCBHuGCvbMNtmh4zAJz/e85ccfaaec71c201be5a69a671acea26/Screen_Shot_2021-05-06_at_4.03.07_PM.png)

Now that everything's set up and you're sure it's working, move on to the final step to set your automation live. 

## Step 7: Set your automation live

You made it! This is the last step in this recipe and all it requires is a final review. 

Now take a deep breath and set your email marketing automation live. 

![Turn on Customer.io Worflow](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/6oCoWQ07SS27LxA8Ra1V8K/faac8ed924cf4c39d8d8cd4ffd759d3f/Screen_Shot_2021-05-06_at_4.06.15_PM.png)

Congrats! You've now built an automation that will send relevant, personalized messages to a very specific audience at exactly the cadence you want. 

## Quick recap

When you pair accurate, up-to-date data in your marketing automation platform with accurately personalized messages, you empower your team to have relevant, authentic conversations, at scale. 

In other words: you're creating really good email marketing automation. 

All it takes is: 

1. Connecting Clearbit to Salesforce
2. Connecting Salesforce to your marketing automation platform 
3. Building automated segments, workflows, triggers, and messages with your newly accessible Clearbit-enriched data attributes

That's it! Here's to sending fewer generic messages – and more hyper-relevant emails to build more revenue for your business. 🚀 

This recipe will show you how to send authentic, relevant automated email messages by integrating enriched Salesforce data into your marketing automation platform.

Personalize your email marketing automation

Zachary Swetz

Senior Product Manager at Clearbit

## What is search retargeting? How is it different than site retargeting? 

Before we jump into the recipe, it's worth answering a question we hear often: What is the difference between site retargeting and search retargeting?

__Site retargeting__ entails serving ads to people who've already visited your website. You've probably seen or experienced this — after visiting a site, you see ads for that company's products or services reappear as you browse other places. Google offers site retargeting via [remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA)](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2701222?hl=en "Google remarketing lists for search ads"). 

__Search retargeting__ on the other hand does not involve targeting people who've visited your website. Instead, it enables you to retarget people based on specific keywords they input into a search engine, most commonly Google. The goal with this retargeting approach is to serve ads that have already exhibited some level of intent for your company, products, or services. 

Although the two retargeting tactics are very different in terms of who they target, they share the common problem of being susceptible to serving ads to the wrong people. 

Examples of people that that you likely don't want seeing your retargeting ads, but have a good chance of seeing them anyway, include: 

- Your own team
- Direct partners and competitors
- Existing customers (except for upsell of renewal campaigns)
- Job seekers 
- Non-ICP prospects (or "bad fit" accounts)

This is where creating exclusion audiences with [Clearbit Advertising](https://clearbit.com/advertising "Clearbit Advertising") can help. 

## Why to optimize search retargeting ad spend?

One of the trickiest aspects of search retargeting is figuring out how to only show ads to certain, ideal people. 

Whether they're existing customers, competitors, or even prospects that don't fit your ideal customer profile (ICP), the last thing you want is to spend any advertising budget retargeting people that will never end up buying your products or services.  

With this simple recipe, you'll learn an optimization tactic to exclude the people who you don't want your retargeting ads to reach. This'll help you spend advertising dollars more efficiently and reserve more of your budget for the target audience.

## Step 1: Create a new exclusion audience

First, log in to Clearbit X. 

> [Clearbit X](https://help.clearbit.com/hc/en-us/categories/360001739433-Clearbit-X "Clearbit X") is the platform that houses Clearbit Advertising and [Clearbit Alerts](https://clearbit.com/alerts "Clearbit Alerts") products. 

Within your Clearbit X UI, navigate to the Audiences tab and click *Create New Audience*. From there, select *Advertise to Website Visitors*. 

![Create a New Visitor Audience in Clearbit X](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/210sYuMDEy8Q6F3pDqB7Oq/a672e2ce2e0644a46c1b16c9b70abc67/ScreenRecording2021-02-10at04.47.22PM.gif)

This will allow you to define an audience that you can tell Google not to serve ads to (a.k.a. your new exclusion audience). Without these people catching sight of your ads, you'll get better return on your send.

## Step 2: Define who shouldn't receive your ads

Use the attributes provided by our audience builder to define exactly who you don't want to spend money on with your retargeting campaign. 

> If you're unfamiliar with what targetable attributes Clearbit offers, options include all of [Clearbit's 100+ business attributes](https://clearbit.com/attributes "See Clearbit's 100+ business data attributes"), visit behavior on your website (including week-over-week changes), and [synced fields from your Salesforce account](https://help.clearbit.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500007074182-Sync-your-Salesforce-data-to-Clearbit#h_01F37A748MR06Q4YG762N7B35Z "Define your object and field-level Salesforce permissions in Clearbit X"). 

In the example below, we are defining an exclusion audience that contains current customers and non-ICP prospects.

Remember, the plan is to tell Google to exclude this audience, so we want the audience to be comprised of people we don't want to serve ads to! 

![Create exclusion audience for search retargeting with Clearbit Advertising](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/2C6eqDiThnYVz8TEedQljG/22dcf63bca456a56645c54a4af9f5f25/unnamed.gif)

## Step 3: Sync your exclusion audience to your Google account

Now that you've defined your audience, simply select the Google account you use from the dropdown and click *Create & Sync Audience*.

This new audience will start populating in your Google dashboard. Once it does, go in and update your Google search remarketing campaign to now exclude this audience.

![Add exclusion audience to Google Ads](//images.ctfassets.net/osv85d77hkdf/4yh6weqT7V0utFiNzvKCbI/0bd4074455bd3073e23dd7eedf3650e1/Screen_Shot_2021-04-26_at_3.02.16_PM.png)

## Quick recap

By using Clearbit Advertising to create exclusion audiences for your Google search retargeting campaigns, you'll take a massive step forward torwards running more targeted, efficient advertising. No more wasted ad spend on people who'll never purchase from you.

All it takes is: 

1. Creating a new exclusion audience in Clearbit
2. Defining that audience with Clearbit, website visit, and Salesforce data attributes
3. Syncing that audience with Google Ads

That's it! Here's to more budget being left over to reach more of your future customers. 🚀

This recipe will show you how to save money on your search retargeting campaigns by not serving ads to customers, competitors, and other unwanted audiences. 

Personalize your email marketing automation

Optimize your search retargeting ad spend

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