In today’s hyper-competitive e-commerce landscape, every brand is on the lookout for that secret sauce to not only attract new customers but also to keep them engaged and coming back for more. Well, my friend, that secret sauce is none other than ecommerce email marketing.
Did you know that according to a recent study, email marketing has an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent? That’s right, and it doesn’t stop there! Research also shows that over 59% of consumers prefer to receive marketing communications via email.
But here’s the catch – to truly maximize customer engagement and retention, it’s essential to employ the right strategies and best practices.
So, buckle up as we dive into the world of Email Marketing Ecommerce and explore the top best practices that will help you not only engage with your new and existing customers but also foster long-lasting relationships that keep them loyal to your brand. Let’s get started with some basics!
What is Ecommerce Email Marketing?
Ecommerce email marketing refers to the use of email marketing strategies and techniques to promote and sell products or services through an ecommerce platform. It involves sending targeted and personalized emails to subscribers with the goal of increasing sales, boosting customer engagement, and building brand loyalty.
Ecommerce email marketing can involve a variety of different types of email campaigns, such as welcome emails, promotional emails, abandoned cart emails, and post-purchase follow-up emails, all designed to encourage customers to take specific actions that support the growth and success of an ecommerce business.
Why Ecommerce Email Campaigns Are Crucial to Growth
Ecommerce email marketing is critical for the success of your online business because it allows you to directly communicate with your customers and drive sales. With email marketing, you can build and maintain relationships with your subscribers by delivering personalized content and relevant product recommendations.
Additionally, you can use email marketing to segment your audience and tailor your messages to specific groups of customers based on their interests and behavior. By sending targeted and engaging emails, you can increase customer engagement, loyalty, and retention. Ultimately, a well-executed Ecommerce email marketing campaign can help you increase revenue, grow your customer base, and achieve long-term business success.
Choosing the Best Email Marketing Software for Your Ecommerce Business
Choosing the right email marketing platform for ecommerce emails is crucial to the success of your campaigns.
It’s important to consider factors such as ease of use, automation capabilities, integration options, and pricing when selecting a platform.
It’s also a good idea to look for a platform that offers features specific to ecommerce, such as abandoned cart recovery, product recommendations, and segmentation based on purchase history. Be sure to do your research and choose a platform that fits the unique needs and goals of your ecommerce business.
Lucky for you, I’ve tried and tested most platforms and here are my top 5 recommendations for WooCommerce and Shopify Email Marketing:
Building an Email List for Ecommerce
The importance of a quality email list
Having a quality email list is crucial to the success of your Ecommerce email marketing campaigns. A quality email list consists of subscribers who have opted-in to receive your emails and are genuinely interested in your products or services.
By targeting these engaged subscribers with personalized and relevant content, you can increase the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns, driving higher open rates, click-through rates, and ultimately, sales. In contrast, a low-quality email list can result in high bounce rates, spam complaints, and low engagement, which can negatively impact your deliverability and overall email marketing success.
Therefore, investing in building and maintaining a quality email list is essential for maximizing the impact and ROI of your Ecommerce email marketing efforts.
Strategies for building your email list
1. Opt-in forms
Opt-in forms can be placed on various locations of your website such as the homepage, blog posts, or landing pages to encourage visitors to subscribe to your email list.
2. Lead magnets
Lead magnets, such as free ebooks or guides, can be offered in exchange for email addresses to attract potential customers to your email list.
3. Social media campaigns
Social media campaigns can be used to promote your email list and encourage followers to sign up.
4. Referral programs
Referral programs can be implemented to incentivize current subscribers to refer friends or family to join your email list.
5. Incentivized sign-ups
Incentivized sign-ups, such as offering a discount code for subscribing to your email list, can be used to motivate visitors to join your email list.
Ecommerce Email Marketing Strategy
Overview of email campaign types and strategies
There are various types of email campaigns that you can include in your ecommerce email marketing strategy and utilize to engage with their subscribers and drive sales.
Some popular email campaign types include:
- Welcome emails
- Abandoned cart emails
- Post-purchase follow-up emails
- Promotional emails
- Newsletters
Each campaign type has a specific objective and strategy to achieve the desired outcome. To create effective email campaigns, it’s essential to understand your audience and segment your email list accordingly.
Welcome emails
Welcome emails are the first impression that subscribers have of your brand, making them an essential part of your Ecommerce email marketing strategy. They offer an opportunity to introduce your brand, set expectations, and begin building a relationship with your customers.
Abandoned cart emails
Abandoned cart emails are a key component of any Ecommerce email marketing strategy, aimed at recovering sales that would otherwise be lost. By reminding customers of the items they left in their cart and providing incentives to complete their purchase, you can increase conversions and revenue.
Promotional emails
Promotional emails are a great way to inform your subscribers about upcoming sales, discounts, and special offers. They can help increase customer loyalty and drive sales by creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity.
Post-purchase emails
Post-purchase emails are designed to engage with customers after they have made a purchase, offering an opportunity to thank them for their business and encourage repeat purchases. They can include product recommendations, customer reviews, and other personalized content to increase engagement and build brand loyalty.
Re-engagement emails
Re-engagement emails are a way to win back customers who haven’t engaged with your brand in a while, by reminding them of the value you offer and providing incentives to re-engage. They can be a useful tool for maintaining a healthy email list and improving the effectiveness of your Ecommerce email marketing campaigns.
Ecommerce Email Marketing Examples:
Personalization and Segmentation
One of the most effective best practices in email marketing is personalization. Personalized emails help you create a unique and tailored experience for your subscribers, making them feel valued and understood. By leveraging customer data, you can deliver content that resonates with their interests, preferences, and past interactions with your brand.
Let’s say you have an ecommerce store that sells fitness apparel and accessories. You can segment your subscribers based on their fitness preferences, such as yoga, running, or weightlifting.
Then, you can create personalized Ecommerce email marketing campaigns for each segment, highlighting the products, offers, or content that specifically cater to their interests.
For instance, if you’re sending an email to your “yoga enthusiasts” segment, you might include a subject line like “Unlock Your Inner Zen: New Yoga Collection Just for You!” and showcase your latest yoga wear and accessories in the email body. This level of personalization will make your subscribers feel seen and more likely to engage with your emails, ultimately leading to higher retention rates and increased customer lifetime value.
Ecommerce Email Automation
Ecommerce Email Automation emails are automated messages sent in response to specific subscriber actions, such as abandoning a cart, making a purchase, or signing up for a newsletter. These emails are highly targeted and can be customized to provide subscribers with relevant and timely information, increasing engagement and driving conversions.
Advanced Ecommerce Email Marketing Strategies
A/B testing
A/B testing involves comparing two versions of an email campaign to determine which performs better with subscribers. By testing different elements, such as subject lines, images, and calls to action, businesses can optimize their Ecommerce email marketing campaigns for improved engagement and conversion rates.
Dynamic content
Dynamic content allows businesses to create personalized email campaigns that change based on the recipient’s behavior, preferences, and other data points. By delivering relevant and timely content, dynamic content can improve engagement, increase conversions, and drive revenue for Ecommerce businesses.
Retargeting
Retargeting involves showing ads or sending emails to people who have previously engaged with your brand, such as by visiting your website or adding items to their cart. This strategy can help to bring potential customers back to your site and increase conversions, making it a valuable tactic for Ecommerce businesses.
Upselling and cross-selling
Upselling and cross-selling are techniques used by Ecommerce businesses to increase the value of each transaction by suggesting complementary or upgraded products to customers. These tactics can be effective for driving revenue and improving customer satisfaction by providing additional value and options to shoppers.
Email Marketing Metrics to Track
There are several key metrics that Ecommerce businesses should track to measure the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns. Monitoring these metrics, will help you optimize your Ecommerce Email Marketing campaigns and improve your overall email marketing performance.
Open rates
Open rates are a critical metric to track for your Ecommerce email marketing campaigns. Open rates reflect the number of subscribers who opened your email, providing insight into the effectiveness of your subject lines and overall email content.
Click-through rates
Click-through rates are an important metric to track for your Ecommerce email marketing campaigns. As a marketer, click-through rates reflect the number of subscribers who clicked on a link within your email, indicating their interest in your products or services and the effectiveness of your email content.
Conversion rates
Conversion rates are a key metric to track for your Ecommerce email marketing campaigns. As a marketer, conversion rates reflect the percentage of subscribers who took a desired action, such as making a purchase, in response to your email, providing insight into the effectiveness of your email content and offers.
Bounce rates
Bounce rates are an important metric to track for your Ecommerce email marketing campaigns. As a marketer, bounce rates reflect the percentage of emails that were undeliverable, indicating potential issues with your email list hygiene or sender reputation.
Unsubscribe rates
unsubscribe rates reflect the percentage of subscribers who opted out of receiving future emails from your business, providing insight into the relevance and quality of your email content and overall email program.
Best Practices for Ecommerce Email Marketing
There are several best practices to keep in mind when executing email marketing campaigns.
Follow email marketing laws and regulations
Following email marketing laws and regulations, such as the CAN-SPAM Act, ensures compliance and maintains the trust of your subscribers. This includes including clear opt-in and opt-out options, including your physical address in your emails, and honoring unsubscribe requests promptly.
Use a professional email address
It’s important to use a professional email address for your email campaigns to convey credibility and trust to your subscribers. Avoid using personal or free email accounts, and instead use a branded email address that aligns with your business domain. If you don’t have a professional email, you can purchase one through Google here.
Keep your emails short and to the point
Keep your Ecommerce email marketing emails short and to the point, with one main call-to-action (CTA), to increase the likelihood of engagement and conversions from your subscribers. Unlike other emails, such as newsletters or promotional emails, your Ecommerce emails should prioritize simplicity and clarity to effectively communicate your message and drive action and increase sales.
Use clear and compelling subject lines
Using clear and compelling subject lines in your Ecommerce email marketing campaigns will ensure you capture the attention of your subscribers and increase open rates. Your subject lines should be concise, descriptive, and accurately reflect the content of your email to avoid misleading or disappointing your subscribers.
You can use Free Subject Line Testers such as:
Make sure your emails are mobile-friendly
When creating your ecommerce email marketing campaigns, it’s important to ensure that your emails are mobile-friendly so that they can be easily viewed and read on different mobile devices. With Over 61.9% of emails are opened on mobile devices, this is a must. Creating mobile-friendly campaigns ensure that your subscribers have a positive experience with your emails, which eventually leads to higher engagement rates and better overall results.
Hire an Ecommerce Email Marketing Agency
If you don’t have the time or expertise to handle ecommerce email marketing on your own, hiring an agency could be a great option for you. They can help you create and execute email campaigns that are tailored to your business needs and goals. An Ecommerce Email Marketing Agency has the expertise and specializes in targeted campaigns to grow your ecommerce business. Schedule a discovery call to see how we can help you grow sales with email marketing.
Ecommerce Email Marketing: Summary
Ecommerce email marketing is an essential tool for any online business looking to increase sales, build customer loyalty, and drive engagement. By leveraging various email campaign types, automation, personalization techniques, and email marketing metrics, businesses can create effective and impactful email marketing strategies.
To get started with ecommerce email marketing, it’s recommended to choose the right email marketing platform, focus on building a quality email list, and adhere to best practices and email marketing regulations. With the right approach, ecommerce email marketing can help businesses achieve their goals and drive success.