by Ignore email marketing at your own risk.
Sure, social media may garner plenty of trendy “how-to” strategy and tips headlines, but we are here to tell you: Email marketing is a game-changer for any business’s ecommerce sales.
Here at Emagine, we know a little bit about both email marketing and ecommerce, so trust us when we say that this is not a tool any business that sells its products or services online should ever exclude from its marketing toolkit.
Email is cost effective
Go ahead and consider your business’s advertising and marketing budgets. If we told you that there was a line item that resulted in $40 revenue for every $1 spent, you’d consider investing more money in that area of the budget, right? We sure hope so.
That line item would be email.
Email delivers such a high bang for your buck because many of your business’s customers are already highly dedicated to checking their inboxes. In fact, 99% of consumers check their email inbox every day, according to the Data and Marketing Association.
Email reaches customers on any device, too, especially mobile. One study reported that 46% of all email opens occurred on a mobile device.
Emails get noticed
Many people don’t just check their inboxes once per day, either. No, they spend about 2.5 hours per day at work checking emails, according to Convince and Convert.
That’s why emails to your customers have a strong chance of being seen. All you need is a strategy that includes high-quality, easy-to-read, useful email messages.
Here’s how to put together a great email marketing strategy that leads to results, specifically ecommerce sales.
The basic elements of a strong email
All successful marketing emails need to share a few basic elements no matter the end goal.
That includes a subject line that is both catchy but makes clear the value a person will get out of opening and reading the message. You can gauge the effectiveness of your subject lines by tracking open rates.
Solid email messaging strategy also requires the use of high-quality images relevant to content, concise text, a simple design that’s easy to read, the ability to track actions taken by readers once they have opened the email and – most importantly – a strong call to action message.
Set a schedule for regular emails
Once you have the basic building blocks of a successful email down, it’s time to set a schedule for sending emails on a regular basis.
Don’t underestimate how often your customers want to hear from you, either. Many ecommerce businesses fall into the trap of not sending emails often enough to customers.
The concern is understandable. They don’t want to be seen as sending spam. But if you can find the balance of sending both promotional emails and emails with useful or helpful content, then your customer base will learn that your emails hold more than a sales pitch, but actual value that they can use, too.
The critical element to remember here is that you do not always need to be selling when it comes to email, at least not explicitly. Sure, remind people where they can find your products online in each message, but don’t overload messages with sales pitches every time you hit send.
Switch up the types of emails you send
One way to provide valuable content in emails is to rotate between different types of emails that your customers will find helpful or informative.
Neil Patel has several examples over at his blog of emails that he has seen be successful for driving sales.
Case study emails
Patel says 89% of marketers report that case study emails are one of the most effective because they build trust with your audience. A good case study shows readers that you – or your customers – achieve desired results with the product or service you offer.
Q&A emails
Q&A emails are a great way to push frequently asked questions that you answer from customers. Patel suggests either publishing a few FAQs in emails or asking email subscribers for their own questions and answering those directly.
How-to emails
Think of these as product guides or a starting point for people to get introduced to a specific task they can accomplish with your product or service. Patel points out that this is a great opportunity for a strong call to action.
For more ideas, be sure to visit Patel’s blog post on types of emails you can send that will drive sales.
Personalize emails to each customer
No matter the type of email you send, one other key element that every message should include is a bit of personalization.
Use the individual customer’s name in either the subject line or in the body of the message (or both) to achieve a more personalized tone, which will help you build a connection and trust.
And don’t worry: Many email campaign services offer ways to personalize each message without having to go in and do it yourself each and every time.
Continue to grow your mailing list
The best email mailing lists are the ones that are always growing. If you want to convert website visitors into customers, then a good way to do that is to find creative ways to invite them to sign up for your email messages.
There are many ways to do this, including adding signup forms throughout your website and on your social media profile pages, writing a brief ebook and requiring an email address to download for free, including opt-in forms in blog posts and social media posts and holding contests that require an email address to enter.
Set up an email marketing strategy and campaign
Let’s work together to get your business started with an email marketing strategy and campaign that drives ecommerce sales for your business.
We can help you take these tips for crafting attractive, on-brand messaging that includes valuable content your customers will appreciate.
Reach out to schedule a free consultation today and we’ll start developing a strategy that generates real results for your business.
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