It should come as no surprise that email marketing remains the most effective digital channel for driving ROI. It is direct, effective and efficient, no wonder it is the channel most consumers prefer to use when hearing from brands. Email should be at the heart of your e-commerce business strategy. If your e-commerce company isn’t doing email, then you need to start. If you are already using email, you can’t stop there. You should always be on the lookout for new ways to improve its performance. These tips will help improve your email program and increase sales for your e-commerce site.
-
Capture Email Addresses:
If a consumer is interacting with your brand on social media or by browsing your site, you have an opportunity to continue the conversation by asking for their email address. Make sure that email capture forms are clear and visible on your site so that it is easy for consumers to share their information with you. Consider offering promotions in order to incentivize people to share their address, such as free shipping or 15% off their purchase. -
Adopt Welcome Emails:
There is no better time to interact with a consumer than when they have just raised their hand by signing up for your mailing list. Take advantage of this engagement by sending them an email thanking them for signing up for your program and revealing what they can expect from your program. Detail how email subscribers get special discounts, first-looks at products and notifications of sales and product launches. Also consider explaining how frequently you send email and let subscribers set preferences. This approach helps set expectations and avoid consumers feeling overloaded. -
Be Relevant:
If someone has purchased a pair of women’s shoes from your site, don’t send them an email about men’s belts. Use what you know about a customer’s browsing and past purchase data to send relevant messaging that is more likely to be opened. Remember, your customer’s inbox is full of brands promoting their latest products, so be sure you are sending an email they want to get. -
Set up Cart Abandonment Triggers:
If an email subscriber has added products to their cart but failed to convert, it’s time to send a cart abandonment message. Depending on your product, this message might go out the minute they close their browser to the next day or two. Determine the timing that works best for your business and set up triggers to remind them to make the purchase. Consider giving an offer, you don’t want to lose the sale to another site over price. -
Write Concise Subject Lines:
You’ve got five seconds to capture the attention of your customer as they browse their inbox. Your goal: to get that subscriber to open your email. Simple and clear or punchy and loud, write subject lines that will quickly capture the attention of your client in this short time frame. After all, they have to open the message if you want the conversation about your brand to continue. -
Use Strong Photos:
A picture is worth a thousand words, and this holds true for email. If someone opens your email, it’s a matter of seconds before they move on. But in this moment, you have an opportunity to show off your products with big beautiful photos to capture their attention and get them to click through to your e-commerce site. Use a photo that counts. -
Send Birthday Greetings:
Everyone loves a little birthday love and many people often treat themselves to birthday gifts. Give back to your customers by offering them a 10% off discount to celebrate their big day. This kind of personalization is simple to employ and has the benefit of building customer loyalty. -
Offer Attractive Incentives:
Consumers sign up for email lists because they want to be in the know, but they also like a good deal. Not every email has to have an offer, but by sending exclusive coupons to your loyal email subscribers, you will ensure that subscribers keep interacting with your message and coming back to your site. -
Upsell in Your Transactional Messages:
If you are sending out a confirmation email to let your customer know that the t-shirt they ordered is on its way, you can use part of the email to let them know about a pair of jeans that would match the shirt. These messages tend to have high open rates, so there is no harm is adding a little upsell to the email. But don’t get carried away, you don’t want to end up in the spam folder. -
Test, Test, Test:
You’ll never know if a campaign is working for your company unless you test. You should always A/B test different campaigns and strategies in order to optimize your mailings to consumers. These tests will help you reach your goals.
