When it comes to email marketing for eCommerce, the same-old newsletter update you’ve used in the past just isn’t enough anymore.
Instead, the best email marketing campaigns are centered around a value-driven strategy. The goal is to provide value to your customer on a consistent basis.
The best way to provide an excellent customer experience is by creating personalized content tailored to their needs. Whether the goal is to entertain, educate, or to have customers take action, consistency is key. As a matter of fact, on average, the best frequency for newsletters is no more than twice a week and at least once a month. Studies show that 61% of consumers want to see at least one email a week from brands they follow.
This is where an effective email marketing strategy comes into play, and where email automation can help.
What is Email Marketing Automation?
To put it simply, email automation is the act of sending automatic emails to the right people, with the right message, at the right time.
These are personalized, pre-planned emails sent in a series triggered by a specific customer interaction. These interactions include signing up for an email list or abandoning a shopping cart.
If your ultimate goal is to increase sales and brand loyalty, an automated email series can help to keep you top of mind, increase site traffic, and increase conversions. Plus, with the increase in mobile sales each year, you’re literally delivering products to the palm of your target customer’s hands.
In turn, an effective email marketing strategy with an automated series can save you money — as opposed to advertising — and time; the emails work for you, selling even while you sleep.
To recap:
What Are the Benefits of Email Marketing Automation for eCommerce?
- The ability to personalize based on your customers actions
- Increase email conversion rate
- Helps to increase brand awareness
- Cost saving
- Time saving
We understand the importance of striking the right tone when writing copy for our clients. This helps to build trust. Questions to ask yourself before writing for your customers:
- Why am I writing this?
- Who am I writing this to?
- What do I want them to understand here?
Two of the most popular email automations are Welcome Series and Abandoned Cart.
How Does a Welcome Series in Email Marketing Work?
A Welcome Series allows you to introduce your business after someone signs up to your newsletter list.
For example, we offer eCommerce email marketing automation through our partner Klaviyo, an easy-to-use platform that makes it fast to set up flows and campaigns, which saves time and money while increasing conversion rates, especially when compared to other email marketing platforms.
Their Welcome Series emails deliver as follows:
- Email 1: Sent immediately to introduce new subscribers to your brand and collect their email preferences.
- Email 2: Sent after 3 days to encourage subscribers to like/follow you on social media
- And email 3: This is sent after 4 days and showcases your best-selling products
Instead of jumping right into sales copy too soon, a Welcome Series email campaign warms your customer to your brand, your store, and your products, allowing them to build curiosity, trust, and interest for a longer-lasting relationship.
How Do You Create an Abandoned Cart Email Series?
Did you know that, on average, almost 70% of shopping carts are abandoned? That’s why it’s crucial to follow up with the customer to convert the sale.
The shopping cart is considered abandoned when a shopper adds an item to their cart but does not complete the purchase.
The email flow gets triggered at checkout. Because there’s a filter on the flow excluding anyone who completes their purchase, it only reaches non-purchasers.
In this case, the person who abandoned a cart will be the only shopper to receive the messages in your abandoned cart series. This is one way to increase conversion rates. The average abandoned cart series has been known to increase the conversion rate by 40%.
The Negative Side of Email Marketing Automation
Automation isn’t a perfect solution; it can bring some challenges, depending on the circumstance.
- Spam: Spam report risk increases when your messages aren’t targeted to the right people.
- Undelivered emails: Poorly designed emails are often delivered.
- Design problems: your email must be designed so that it appears as it should across multiple devices and email providers.
This is why we suggest working with an agency that specializes in eCommerce email marketing. For instance, you’ll receive guidance on how to create an effective email strategy, receive design advice or have branded templates created, and understand your audience deeper with analytics reports.
In Conclusion
What are the three key things to remember when creating automated email campaigns?
Keep in mind and track:
- Open Rate. The percentage of prospects who open an email.
- Response Rate. The percentage of prospects who respond to an email.
- Conversion Rate. The percentage of responding prospects who subsequently buy.
It also helps to segment your lists beforehand, allowing you to send more relevant messages to the right audience — which increases your email marketing ROI.
Ready to automate your email marketing and increase conversions? Contact us today to learn more about our eCommerce email marketing packages.
