Email marketing is one of the most effective strategies for growing an ecommerce business. With billions of emails sent every day, email remains one of the dominant forms of communication and a vital touchpoint for connecting with customers.
For ecommerce businesses, email marketing provides a powerful channel for building relationships, driving repeat sales, and increasing revenue.
In this guide, we’ll explore some of the key ways email can benefit your ecommerce business and provide tips to help you create an effective email marketing strategy.
Specifically, we’ll cover topics like:
- Building your email subscriber list
- Sending welcome and promotional emails
- Reaching customers who abandon their carts
- Designing emails for maximum impact
- Improving open and click-through rates
- Leveraging automation and segmentation
- Tracking key email marketing metrics
- Avoiding common mistakes
By the end of this guide, you’ll have actionable tips and strategies to help you develop an email marketing approach that grows your ecommerce business. Let’s dive in!
Build Your Email List
Building a quality email list is the cornerstone of any successful email marketing strategy. Here are some of the best ways to grow your email subscribers for ecommerce:
• Offer incentives for signups
Give your site visitors a reason to share their email address with you. Offer a coupon code, exclusive discount, or free gift in exchange for signing up for your list. Make sure the incentive aligns with your products or brand.
• Have signup forms on site and in communications
Place email signup forms prominently on your website, including your homepage, product pages, checkout page, popups, and site menus/headers. Also include signup forms or links in your social media bios and site/product announcements.
• Use social media and paid ads to grow list
Promote your signup incentives on social channels and run targeted ads driving people to a dedicated landing page to convert them into subscribers. Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads can help expose your brand to new audiences.
• Import customers into your list
Your existing customer base is a valuable asset. Import their details into your email list after obtaining their consent to market to them. Sending them ongoing promotions and offers fosters repeat business.
• Make it easy to unsubscribe
While you want to build your list, give subscribers the option to easily unsubscribe to avoid getting marked as spam. Your emails should always have a clear unsubscribe link.
Welcome Emails
The welcome email is one of the most important emails you can send to new subscribers. This first impression sets the tone for your future relationship with subscribers. Your welcome email should:
- Be sent immediately after a customer signs up. Don’t make them wait days for your first email or they may forget who you are. Send the welcome email within a few hours of signup.
- Offer a discount or free shipping. Give subscribers an incentive to make their first purchase and show your appreciation for their signup. Even a small discount of 10-15% off can work.
- Provide valuable content like an ebook, coupon, or exclusive tips. This gives new subscribers something helpful right away.
- Set expectations for future communications so subscribers know what to expect from you. Let them know the frequency, types of content, and value you’ll provide.
- Have a friendly and excited tone. Make new subscribers feel welcome and happy they signed up.
- Direct them to your products or services. Remind subscribers what you sell and prompt them to browse your website.
The welcome email lays the foundation for an ongoing relationship with your new subscriber. Take the time to make it valuable and engaging so subscribers eagerly anticipate your next email.
Promotional Emails
Promotional emails are one of the most effective ways to generate sales through email marketing. You can use promotional emails to notify subscribers about discounts, sales, new product launches and more.
Some best practices for crafting effective promotional emails include:
• Offer time-limited sales or discounts
Adding urgency with discounts or promotions that are only available for a short time can encourage subscribers to take action. Make sure to prominently display how long the promotion will last.
• Personalize with browsing history or products viewed
Use segmentation and behavioral data to show subscribers products they recently viewed or that complement their browsing history. Personalized product recommendations can boost click through rates.
• Share new arrivals and back in stock alerts
For new products or items that are back in stock, send emails letting subscribers know about these latest offerings. Give them first access before announcing widely.
• Send promotional emails on a schedule
Consistency is key. Establish a schedule for your promotional emails so subscribers know when to expect them. For example, send a weekly “Tuesday Promo” email.
• Test different subject lines
Grab attention by A/B testing different subject lines. Some options could be “20% off coupon inside”, “Your personalized promo code”, or “Flash Sale – Ends Tonight”. Track open rates to see which perform best.
By creating promotional emails that provide exclusive access, time-sensitive offers and personalized deals, you can incentivize your email subscribers and grow your ecommerce sales. Follow these tips to maximize the impact of your promotions.
Cart Abandonment Emails
Cart abandonment emails are a highly effective type of promotional email that targets shoppers who added items to their online shopping cart but didn’t complete the purchase. These emails incentivize customers to return and complete their order.
The key to cart abandonment emails is triggering them when there are still items left in the online shopping cart. They should be sent shortly after the cart was abandoned, such as within 1-3 hours. The message should be timely and relevant, reminding customers what they left behind.
You can offer an exclusive discount or coupon code that is only valid for a short time period if they complete their purchase. This provides a strong incentive for the customer to return and convert their abandoned cart into a paid order. Make sure to prominently display the savings they will receive if they use the coupon code.
The email copy should be personalized and conversational. Address the customer directly by name and remind them of the items they added to their cart. Let them know their cart is still waiting for them and provide a link for them to easily resume checking out.
Keep cart abandonment emails concise, actionable, and focused entirely on convincing the customer to complete their transaction. With timely triggers, personalized copy, and enticing discounts, you can win back a high percentage of customers who previously abandoned their carts. This will directly increase sales and revenue for your ecommerce business.
Email Design Best Practices
A well-designed email helps drive open and click-through rates. Follow these best practices when designing your ecommerce emails:
1. Use a mobile-friendly, responsive design
Over half of emails are opened on mobile. Make sure your emails look great and are easy to read on any device. Use larger fonts, tap targets, and a single column layout.
2. Include clear calls-to-action (CTAs)
Tell subscribers exactly what you want them to do, whether it’s Shop Now, View Details, Learn More, etc. Place the CTA prominently and use contrasting colors.
3. Incorporate quality images
Images help draw attention and break up text. Use high-resolution product photos and lifestyle images relevant to your brand. Optimize images for fast loading.
4. Maintain consistent branding
This includes using your brand colors, logo, and fonts so your emails are instantly recognizable. Customers should know it’s your brand without reading the “from” name.
5. Highlight key information
Bold important text, use bullet points for key features/benefits, and break up long paragraphs. Don’t make customers hunt for essential info.
6. Limit distractions
Avoid excessive ads or links. Keep the focus on your primary CTA. Use white space between elements. Clutter distracts the eye.
With a well-designed email focused on engagement, you can capture attention and drive conversions.
Improving Email Engagement
Email engagement is critical for building relationships with subscribers and driving conversions from your campaigns. Here are some tips for improving open and click-through rates:
• Segment your lists
Dividing your list based on interests, purchase history, and activity ensures emails are highly relevant to each subscriber. For example, set up segments for recent purchasers, frequent shoppers, or subscribers who opened your last email.
• A/B test subject lines and content
Try different subject lines, calls-to-action, content, and design elements. See which versions perform best to further optimize your emails.
• Ensure mobile optimization
Over half of emails are opened on mobile. Use responsive design for a flawless experience on any device. Limit width to 500-600 pixels for easy mobile reading.
• Send behavior-triggered emails
Welcome new subscribers, re-engage inactive ones, or offer promos to those who recently made a purchase. Sending the right email at the right time boosts engagement.
• Personalize content dynamically.
Insert subscriber names, purchase history, interests, and other data into subject lines and content. Dynamic personalization can increase click-throughs by over 50%.
• Improve deliverability
Ensure your emails aren’t getting caught in spam filters by properly authenticating your domain and maintaining good sender reputation.
Email Automation
Automation is powerful and underutilized when it comes to email marketing. By setting up automated email workflows, you can send triggered emails based on certain customer actions or inactivity.
For example, you can set up an onboarding sequence to automatically welcome new subscribers and educate them about your products/services over a series of 3-5 emails. Or you can create a re-engagement campaign to win back customers who haven’t purchased in 6 months by sending a series of offers.
When a customer abandons their cart, you can trigger an automated abandoned cart email to remind them to complete the purchase. If they still don’t return, you can set up a series to send follow-up emails every few days with additional incentives.
By tracking opens and clicks, you can automatically remove inactive subscribers from future campaigns. You can also segment customers based on behavior or attributes and tailor your automated workflows.
Automation takes the manual work out of sending timely, relevant emails. It allows you to scale your email marketing efforts as your list grows. Just set it up once, and let automation do the rest!
Email Metrics to Track
Once you have your email marketing program up and running, it’s important to track metrics to understand how your emails are performing. This allows you to continually optimize your campaigns for better results. Here are some of the key email marketing metrics to monitor:
- Open Rates. This metric shows what percentage of your recipients opened the email. An open rate above 20-25% is considered good. If your open rates are low, try improving your subject lines and email previews.
- Click-Through Rates. Click-through rate (CTR) measures how many people clicked on links within your email. For retail promo emails, aim for a CTR above 2-3%. For engagement emails like newsletters, a CTR above 5% is solid. Optimizing your email content and calls-to-action can improve CTR.
- Conversion Rates. For promotional and cart abandonment emails, conversion rate is an important metric. This shows how many people who clicked ended up converting into customers. Track conversion rates over time to see if your email performance improves.
- Revenue and ROI. Ultimately, you want your email marketing costs to translate into revenues and profits. Set up tracking to monitor the revenue generated from your email campaigns. Calculate your ROI by dividing revenue by costs like email service fees and labor. Aim for an email marketing ROI of 4X or higher.
- List Growth. Growing your email subscriber list means your audience and potential sales reach grows too. Aim to drive a steady rate of list growth over time through lead generation tactics. Slow list growth can indicate problems like high unsubscribe rates.
By regularly tracking these metrics, you can gain insights to refine your email approach for better results. Improving open, click, conversion, revenue, and list growth rates signifies your email marketing is on the right track.
Common Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
Buying low-quality email lists can do more harm than good for your email marketing efforts. Purchased lists often have high bounce rates, invalid contacts, and people who did not opt-in to receive your emails. This results in spam complaints and inactive contacts cluttering your list. Focus instead on organically growing your email subscriber list through your website, social media channels, promotions, etc.
Overwhelming customers with too many emails is another common mistake. While you want to have an active email marketing strategy, inundating subscribers with daily emails will likely get your messages ignored or marked as spam. Send a maximum of 2-3 emails per week, and give subscribers control over their preferences and frequency.
Don’t neglect mobile optimization in your email design and content. With the majority of emails being opened on mobile devices, a non-mobile friendly email hinders engagement. Use responsive templates that reformat for mobile screens. Write concise copy with clickable buttons, and include content previews. Testing your emails on mobile prior to sending is key.
By avoiding common email marketing pitfalls like these, you can ensure your program follows best practices and delivers results for your ecommerce business. Focus on acquiring engaged subscribers, sending relevant content with good mobile optimization, and not oversaturating customers. This helps build trust and long-term relationships with your audience.
Start Optimizing Your Email Marketing Campaigns!
Email marketing is a huge asset for ecommerce companies and one that needs constant updating and refinement. Building the right strategy is important but understanding how it’s performing and what you can do better is even more important.
