Ecommerce email marketing (or "email commerce") refers to using emails specifically targeted to subscribers as a method for increasing sales for an online store. Through targeted emails that target specific subscribers, marketers can drive immediate traffic and sales results.
Email allows brands to engage their customers directly and craft an exceptional brand experience for them, all while inspiring loyalty from one-time buyers who then become brand evangelists.
Segmented Email Campaigns
Email personalization has become an essential component of
brand building. Targeted emails that reflect recipients' specific interests
create stronger engagement with your brand, while email marketing automation
tools make sending targeted campaigns easy based on subscriber behavior
profiles and characteristics.
Email list segmentation can take many forms; among the most
prevalent methods are demographics, purchase history, and device type. A
retailer might segment by gender to provide tailored product recommendations,
or a software company could address senior management executives with messaging
that speaks directly to their unique business needs.
Email marketing provides another powerful means of reaching
potential customers based on their geographic location. This strategy can be
particularly effective for e-commerce retailers looking to offer discounts in
specific regions or nonprofits inviting donors to events nearby - showing that
the brand truly understands and cares about its audience's success.
Personalized Product Recommendations
Product recommendations can be an effective way to engage
customers on your website. They help prevent shopping cart abandonment by
offering products related to past purchases while also increasing engagement by
encouraging visitors to spend more time browsing your site and positively
affecting search engine ranking.
Personalized product recommendations can increase average
order values and encourage customers to buy additional items. But it's
essential to know when and how best to implement such tactics for maximum
effectiveness.
To maximize the potential of personalized product
recommendations, it's wise to incorporate them in both campaign emails and your
website. For example, if a customer hasn't made any purchases within three
months on your website, display a widget of products they might enjoy or
include it in an abandon cart email as a reminder for items left behind - Tarte
has found that personalized recommendations at checkout have increased AOV by
as much as 30%!
Abandoned Cart Recovery
An email follow-up campaign with customers who have
abandoned their carts can be an effective way to recover sales that may
otherwise have been lost. Such emails should focus on reminding shoppers what
products were left in their cart, as well as provide tempting images designed
to draw them back and complete their purchases.
Use dynamic product blocks in cart abandonment emails to
suggest other products the customer might like and create urgency, thus
increasing conversions. This strategy has proven more successful than simple
reminders in driving customers back through checkout processes.
Retargeting ads are another tool you can use to recover
abandoned carts. Reminding shoppers about the items left behind in their cart
and showing them exactly which products were of interest can help keep your
brand top of mind with customers; you could even offer discounts or promotional
codes as incentives!
While these strategies can help recover lost sales, it is
equally as essential to prevent cart abandonment by optimizing your website and
checkout process. By eliminating points of friction, it will allow customers to
spend more time browsing your site while making purchases more easily.
Limited-Time Offers and Flash Sales
One effective strategy for driving sales is offering
limited-time discounts or flash sales. Such promotions generate excitement
among your customer base while increasing brand recognition and expanding brand
recognition.
The key to using this strategy successfully is creating
urgency and scarcity through visual elements and email copy. For instance,
Brooklinen used a countdown graphic and eye-catching email copy to drum up
excitement around its flash sale event.
Upselling customers on related products is another effective
strategy to encourage them to buy. iHerb relies heavily on upselling emails as
an incentive to sell additional skincare or supplement items to its clients -
this technique serves to turn first-time buyers into repeat purchasers while
simultaneously increasing revenue for your ecommerce store.
As well as increasing trust, user-generated content (UGC) is
also an effective marketing tool; furniture retailer Selsey doubled their
conversion rates of cart abandonment emails using UGC to double sales
conversion. People tend to seek advice before making purchasing decisions.
Mobile Optimization
Email marketing offers marketers unparalleled control of how
their brand is represented to its target market. They can set the mood with
subject lines, designs, messages, and signatures - creating a consistent
experience that builds brand recall and loyalty among subscribers.
Email personalization is the cornerstone of increasing
conversion rates. Your audience doesn't expect you to communicate in ways
relevant to their interests; therefore, make sure your emails include
segmenting based on demographics, preferences, and behaviors so that each email
feels like an individually addressed high five!
Since many of your customers access email from mobile
devices, it's essential that it's optimized for viewing on these screens. Even
making small adjustments like switching the layout from horizontal to vertical
can drastically improve readability on mobile. Furthermore, be sure that
contact details are easily visible with links leading directly to live chat or
customer service emails for instantaneous communication - or include phone
numbers if customers prefer calling instead of emailing.
Customer Loyalty Programs
Customer loyalty programs can be an effective way of
building brand recognition and driving repeat sales. While customer loyalty
programs come in various forms, all should align with your business goals - for
instance, a points-based program can incentivize repeat purchases by giving
customers rewards with every purchase made.
Tier loyalty programs encourage repeat purchases by offering
different tiers with more exclusive benefits for higher-ranking members, like
Sephora's Beauty Insider program, which grants customers special discounts and
exclusive products.
Subscription services provide ongoing benefits in exchange
for regular payments, making this an effective strategy to build customer
loyalty. These types of subscription services work especially well for
companies selling consumable or replenishable goods like food and beverage
companies, cosmetic brands, or cleaning supplies. Family-run oat bar company
Eat Bobo's has taken an innovative approach with its subscription model by
branding it "Love Mitt Club," using it as an effective way to foster
community among its customers.
A/B Testing for Optimization
A/B testing allows businesses to experiment with various
versions of digital assets - like websites, emails, and call-to-action buttons
- in order to determine which version yields optimal performance in terms of
sales or conversions. Businesses monitor visitor actions to compare results
between versions before selecting their optimal version for further
implementation.
Implementing an A/B test requires setting clear goals.
Testing multiple goals simultaneously may cause confusion and yield confusing
outcomes.
At first, a business must select which element of its
website it would like to optimize before building a hypothesis for what change
may produce the desired outcomes, such as changing the color of a CTA button or
the wording in a headline. Once their hypothesis has been developed and tested,
the next step involves conducting an experiment: for instance, dividing an
audience into two groups and driving half of their traffic towards page 'A'
while sending half to page 'B' respectively.
Conclusion
Email marketing is a highly effective strategy for
e-commerce companies to build customer relationships and drive engagement and
conversions. Email allows brands to be direct and personal when communicating
with subscribers compared to other forms of promotion.
By employing sophisticated email segmentation techniques,
online retailers can deliver tailored content directly to each subscriber -
which enhances the overall email experience, increasing customer retention
rates and ultimately growing sales revenues.
Ecommerce marketers can utilize various strategies to grow
their email lists, including offering discounts or freebies in exchange for
subscriptions, setting up exit-intent popups, offering an email sign-up option
at checkout, and using social media as a promotional vehicle for the store.
Although building an email audience takes time, focussing on building qualified
and responsive ones is crucial in increasing engagement and ROI. E-commerce
brands can enhance the effectiveness of email marketing by including
user-generated content (UGC) in campaigns; welcome emails can include photos or
reviews from pleased customers, while browsing abandonment emails may nudge
prospective buyers towards making a purchase decision.