Episode 55 - CRM Marketing Heuristics

📰 Top Story - CRM Marketing Heuristics

Retention is the sum of all experiences the customer has with a brand across product, customer service, customer experience and marketing. 

Retention is not driven by CRM Marketing performance alone, but done well CRM Marketing can directly drive 1000%+ ROI and millions of dollars of incremental revenue (depending on the products / business scale etc). 

But CRM Marketing is the hardest job that looks simple to do. 

Great CRM Marketing is a complex mix of audience understanding, customer data strategy. creativity, behavioural science and technology.

Outside the discipline it looks simple and the reality is bad CRM marketing is easy. 

There are many examples of brands bad at CRM, just take a look at your inbox. 

Because lets face it anyone can slap out an email. 

But good CRM Marketing is hard, because it requires data, creative, psychological and technological smarts. 

CRM Marketing Maturity 

In episode 27 of this newsletter I covered my embryonic retention maturity curve, which includes 5 stages. CRM Marketing maturity is a component of the retention maturity curve. 

Within the Retention Maturity curve, CRM Marketing maturity can broadly be described as: 

1. Immature, list based ad hoc sends, focussed on business goals, not customer outcomes. 

2. Developing, exploring automations e.g. fledging onboarding program and abandon basket strategy. 

3. Evolving, lifecycle programs are in place across multiple stages 

4. Maturing, lifecycle programs are heavily segmented 

5. Excelling, understand that customers realise value (your product does not provide value) and all CRM Marketing interactions are customer centric and personalised, reflecting an understanding of the customer value realisation process leveraging techniques that help customers achieve their desired outcomes and support customers in their overarching experience with the brand. 

Of course your goal is to move up the maturity curve. 

To do this involves understanding your CRM Marketing maturity across the following quality dimensions: 

1. Communications heuristics including look and feel and behavioural science 

2. How well the CRM Marketing initiative handles the customers goals at the specific lifestage it seeks to address, including moments of truth  

3. Segmentation and personalisation  

4. Performance assessment - does the activity work / how does it compare to others at this stage and in this sector and what is the always on testing & optimisation plan 

5. Technology maturity - do you have the right capabilities in place to drive the outcomes you want 

In this newsletter series we will cover all of these elements, but today is focussed on heuristics. 

Communications Heuristics 

Heuristics are essentially short cuts that brands can deploy to get customers to complete the desired action or make an informed decision. 

This is primarily about two things: 

1. How easily and clearly the message is understood 

2. Leveraging behavioural science to nudge customers towards the desired action. 

Different types of CRM Marketing are appropriate in different contexts. A service based apology should look very different to a marketing email launching a new range. 

However all types of CRM Marketing have fundamentals that determine whether your message is easily understood or wether it stimulates action. 

Both are important because as Daniel Kahneman has shown human beings leverage 2 neurological systems to make decisions. 

The slow brain is rationale and considered. 

The fast brain is intuitive, reactive and unconscious. 

Although we like to think all our decisions are considered, the reality is the vast majority of our decisions leverage the fast, unconscious, automatic, intuitive brain. 

Since we all receive so many emails, it is important to connect to the intuitive and automatic system and this is achieved through clarity, storytelling and behavioural science. 

(1) Clarity & Storytelling 

We design the context in which our customers make decisions. 

Small and apparently insignificant details can have a huge impact on CRM marketing outcomes - the power of small details comes from focussing customer’s attention in a particular direction. 

If your communications require too much thought to be understood, customers disengage. Cognitive overload is real. 

If you communications provide too much intrigue, curiosity or have disconnected elements with them, customers will disengage. 

According to a study by Neilsen Norman, only 16% of your audience read your emails word for word, the rest scan.  

While complex language may be great for a dinner party, its not when you are trying to land CRM Marketing with your audience, write for a 10 year old reading age, no matter what sector you operate within or how warm your audience is to your message.  

Create a story that connects the subject line, pre-header, headline, image, CTA and explainer copy into one easily scannable and understood cohesive message. If these elements are not connected into one cohesive message, it wont be easily understood.  

Leverage high quality visual assets. People believe brands more when what they communicate looks good. 

(2) Behavioural Science 

Because 95% of the time we use the fast, intuitive mind to make decisions, CRM marketing heuristics are also about providing your audience with quick decision-making tools that help them to decide wether what you are offering is right for them. 

Social Proof Heuristic - “If others are doing it, it must be good”  

Application:

• Showcase testimonials and user milestones (“Join 50,000 members improving sleep with us”) 

• Include peer behaviour nudges: “83% of members in your area completed this week’s challenge.”

Why it works: Humans are wired to follow the crowd, especially under uncertainty. Social validation reduces friction and create a mental short-cut to action.

Ovsiankina Heuristic - “I should stay consistent with what I’ve already said or done”

Application:

• Reference past engagement: “You completed Week 1 - ready for Week 2?”

• Encourage small commitments early (e.g., daily tips, micro-goals) to build retention momentum.

Why it works: People want to act in ways that are consistent with their past behaviors and self-image.

Scarcity Heuristic - “If it’s limited, it must be valuable”   

Application:

• Time-limited upgrades or personalised perks: “Your bonus content expires in 24 hours.”

• Countdowns for expiring trials, offers, or loyalty rewards.

Why it works: Perceived scarcity increases urgency and perceived value - even for digital goods. 

Loss Aversion Heuristic - “Losing something feels worse than gaining something”

Application:

• Flip benefit messaging into loss prevention: e.g. “Don’t miss out on your 3 free bonus classes, expiring Sunday.”

Why it works: People are more motivated to avoid losses than to make gains. Highlight what’s at risk.

Yeah Whatever Heuristic - “I’ll go with the default—it’s probably the best choice.”

Application:

• Pre-select preferred actions in emails based on your profile “We’ve already set your next workout.”

Why it works: Making decisions effortless increases follow-through.

Peak-End Rule - “I remember the peak moment and the end, not the average.”

Application:

• End onboarding or renewal sequences with delight (e.g., a celebration message, bonus gift).

• Engineer positive “peak” moments: highlight milestones, surprise rewards, or community shoutouts.

Why it works: Memory shapes satisfaction. Positive peaks and strong endings improve perceived value and increase retention.

Final Thoughts 

CRM marketing is the most misunderstood growth lever in your business. 

It’s easy to do badly, hard to do brilliantly - but the ROI of getting it right is massive. 

Today we covered the science of heuristics, your shortcut to more persuasive, action-driving comms.

The smartest brands aren’t just sending CRM Marketing - they are designing contexts, which create automatic decisions. 

Next week, we will dive into how to leverage CRM Marketing at customer retention moments of truth. 

Until next week, 

Tom 

Do you need help with Customer Retention?

When you are ready, contact me to discuss consulting, my fast-track retention accelerator, courses, and training. Or if you are interested in sponsoring this newsletter, get in touch via [email protected]