Building trust in email marketing with Cornell’s Ashley Budd

Insights Unlocked

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Show Notes

In this episode of Insights Unlocked, hosts Nathan Isaacs and Lija Hogan sit down with Ashley Budd, Senior Director of Advancement Marketing at Cornell University, to explore the art and science of effective email marketing. Ashley, a leading voice in higher education marketing, shares insights from her experience, including strategies for building trust with audiences through authenticity, empathy, and logic—the pillars of her "trust triangle" framework. They also discuss how to optimize email engagement by connecting these principles to measurable outcomes, such as open rates and unsubscribe rates.

Key Themes & Takeaways:

• The Trust Triangle Framework:
• Ashley introduces the concept of the "trust triangle," composed of authenticity, empathy, and logic. This framework helps marketers craft emails that build and maintain trust with their audience. By applying these principles, marketers can foster stronger relationships and drive higher engagement.
• Optimizing Email Communication:
• Emails are a powerful but cluttered communication channel. Ashley emphasizes the importance of creating clear, concise, and authentic messages that resonate with recipients. She explains how being honest about who is sending the email, avoiding exaggerated claims, and keeping content relevant can make all the difference in driving engagement.
• KPIs and Trust:
• Ashley ties her trust-building approach to measurable KPIs like open rates and unsubscribes, suggesting that audience trust directly influences these metrics. She shares how tracking these indicators can reveal whether email strategies are resonating or falling short.
• The Role of AI in Email Marketing:
• The conversation explores how AI is shaping email marketing by increasing the volume of emails sent and improving productivity. However, Ashley warns that AI-generated content often lacks the nuanced touch needed to build trust and suggests ways marketers can use AI tools without sacrificing quality.

Notable Quotes:

• "The trust triangle—authenticity, empathy, and logic—is essential for building relationships, whether you're talking to a colleague or sending a marketing email."
• "We're all in a noisy inbox, and people are making split-second decisions about whether they trust you enough to read your email."
• "With AI, we're going to see more emails, but we'll also need to be more clear and authentic to avoid getting filtered into junk folders."

Episode links:

• Mailed It – A practical guide for crafting emails that build relationships and get results.
• Visit ashleybudd.com for to sign up for Ashley’s newsletter
• Ashley on LinkedIn
• 8 usability testing tips to get the most out of your research