If you’re similar to the majority of e-commerce marketers, you are putting your resources into email marketing. You are actively expanding your email list, dispatching well-crafted email campaigns, and captivating repeat visitors with personalized messages on your website.
Although email marketing is effective, it is insufficient as a standalone strategy.
The reason is that e-commerce email marketing is not focused on having the correct strategy, but rather on having the correct order or arrangement.
If you send emails to the wrong prospect at the wrong time, you risk people opting out of your emails or even switching to a competitor. However, if you send the right emails to the right prospects at the right time, you will not only gain lifelong customers but also create brand evangelists.
E-Commerce Email Marketing
E-commerce email marketing is a promotional platform that enables you to inform your subscribers about new products, discounts, offers, and other marketing campaigns. Moreover, it serves as a means to subtly persuade your audience by educating them about your brand’s worth, consequently establishing and maintaining subscriber engagement beyond purchases.
1. Welcome Email
Making a good first impression is crucial because if you fail to have a memorable introduction to a new subscriber, your subsequent campaigns will also be forgettable. The welcome email is an essential part of your collection of campaigns as it generates three times the transaction and revenue per email compared to any other promotional mailing.
When you think step by step, the text can be rephrased as follows: The function of it is to express gratitude to subscribers for joining your list, establish expectations for future communications (such as the frequency of emails), and, when executed correctly, streamline your sales process. There are some factors to take into consideration:
- Aim for originality. If you want to rise above the noise in your audience’s inbox, you need to be original. And that means doing something that subscribers aren’t expecting. Offer a discount. Speak their language. Tell them to reply to your email. Give them everything they need to inform them that they’re in the right place.
- Design for simplicity. If you have a big product range, remove barriers for making purchases. Whether that’s by product category or something else, make it easy for new subscribers to browse what they’re looking for.
2. Curation Email
The popularity of the curation email among e-commerce marketers is not surprising because people love buying the best products, whether it be music or physical items.
If you don’t know, the purpose of the curation email is to distribute a brand’s top assets. The reason curating the best works well is because it gives subscribers the opportunity to select what they are interested in learning more about. That’s why numerous websites have “start here” pages and why product pages are frequently filtered by bestselling by default.
However, there is an additional reason why it is successful.
Email marketers are able to segment recipients depending on their interests.
Example: Text: “John went to the store and bought some milk.” Rephrased: “John visited the store and made a purchase of milk.” Text: “The cat jumped off the table and landed gracefully on the floor.” Rephrased: “The cat gracefully landed on the floor after jumping off the table.” Text: “She woke up early and immediately began preparing breakfast.” Rephrased: “After waking up early, she promptly started preparing breakfast.” Text: “The car broke down on the way to the airport, causing them to miss their flight.” Rephrased: “Due to a car breakdown on the way to the airport, they missed their flight.” Text: “The students attentively listened to the teacher’s lecture and took diligent notes.” Rephrased: “The students paid close attention to the teacher’s lecture and diligently took notes.” Text: “He carefully placed the fragile vase on the shelf, ensuring it wouldn’t fall and shatter.” Rephrased: “He made sure to place the fragile vase on the shelf with care, ensuring its safety from falling and breaking.” Text: “After a long day at work, she went for a relaxing walk in the park.” Rephrased: “Following an exhausting day of work, she decided to unwind by taking a peaceful walk in the park.” Text: “The dog eagerly wagged its tail and gave the owner an excited welcome.” Rephrased: “The dog joyfully wagged its tail, giving the owner an enthusiastic welcome.” Text: “They carefully followed the recipe instructions and successfully baked a delicious cake.” Rephrased: “By closely following the recipe instructions, they managed to bake a scrumptious cake successfully.” Text: “The child anxiously waited for the ice cream truck and eagerly selected their favorite flavor.” Rephrased: “The child waited with anticipation for the ice cream truck, excitedly choosing their preferred flavor.”
If you were operating an online furniture store, picture your newsletter choosing the finest furniture according to these categories:
- Seating
- Lighting
- Storage cabinets
- Decorative objects
- Tables
- Serveware
- Other
If you are using an email service provider (ESP) such as Infusionsoft to tag subscribers, you can start scoring them according to their actions. For instance, if a user exclusively clicks on promotions related to seating, then it is reasonable to assume that you can concentrate your promotional campaigns solely on seating.
3. Engagement Email
During the golden age of direct response marketing, copywriter Gary Halbert gained fame for including “grabbers” such as dollar bills with his mailings.
Why is it necessary to rephrase the text below while preserving the same meaning?
In order to remain visible in their inbox, it is essential to invite subscribers to engage with your emails, considering the fact that the average office worker receives up to 122 emails per day.
Although it may not be feasible to associate cryptocurrency with campaigns, alternative methods can be employed to enhance engagement without incurring significant expenses.
Brooklinen understands that shipping often leads to cart abandonment. Therefore, they not only provide free shipping to subscribers but also offer a method to enable it. Additionally, they employ a clever strategy, recognizing that individuals appreciate items they need to earn, including free shipping.
Campaigns such as the one described not only promote interaction but also establish a mutual connection between Brooklinen and its customers. Therefore, whether you are providing complimentary shipping or inviting users to embark on a free trial, ensure that your campaigns offer readers a motive to engage and, most importantly, make it memorable.
4. Referral Email
Inviting customers to refer their friends and family to a brand is a well-known way to acquire free leads. A recent survey conducted by BigCommerce reveals that word-of-mouth carries great weight for 74% of consumers when making purchasing decisions.
Brands invest time in setting up good referral programs because of the impressive numbers. If you are not already asking for referrals on your thank you page, you should be. However, are you also doing it in your email campaigns?
While you may not be capable of providing complimentary socks for each referral like only a few can, you do possess adequate funds within your marketing budget to express gratitude (or at the very least, acknowledge with an online gesture).
5. Discount Email
The strategy of discounting proves to be effective in e-commerce marketing.
Apuls, along with other brands, achieve conversion rates as high as 5.13%, which is easily understandable. As per a study conducted by VWO, 72% of Millennial shoppers are receptive to being retargeted through discounts. Additionally, if abandoned products are reintroduced at a reduced price, 54% of shoppers are inclined to make a purchase (further details will be discussed soon).
Discounting can be effective, but it is important to find a balance. If you discount too frequently, your profits will decrease significantly. On the other hand, if you discount too little, you may lose customers to your competitors. The solution is to offer discounts exclusively to subscribers who actively engage with your campaigns, such as by opening emails or clicking on links.
6. Founder Email
This email campaign enables direct communication of your brand values to the customer, aiming to make them feel heard, understood, and important. Implementing a well-crafted founder’s email can pose challenges due to the potential for excessive complexity and information overload.
A useful tip is to ensure that the founder’s email focuses equally on both the customer and the founder. By sharing your story, but relating it to the customers, you will have the desired impact.
7. Cart Abandonment Email
When contemplating strategies to boost sales via email marketing, it is advisable to prioritize crafting an exceptional cart abandonment email. It is approximated that cart abandonment results in ecommerce brands losing around 18 billion USD annually.
An effective transactional email for businesses is the cart abandonment email, which encourages customers to complete their purchase of items in their cart that they did not proceed with (usually due to common objections such as unclearly understood fees, taxes, or shipping charges).
The issue lies in the fact that the majority of abandoned cart emails lack excitement and individuality. Customers have grown weary of the repetitive “you left something in your cart” emails. Therefore, incorporating humor, personalization, or an incentive can help avoid being overlooked.
8. Quiz Results Email
To educate customers about their hair type and the suitability of the recommended products, the haircare brand Curlsmith employs an Octane AI quiz. Post-quiz, Curlsmith offers a results page that prioritizes education and subsequently presents customers with a haircare routine that can be effortlessly added to their cart.
Alright, you may be wondering about the role of email and why sending an email is necessary when quiz results can be viewed directly in the browser.
Hmm…
By utilizing the Octane AI and Klaviyo integration, Curlsmith has established an automated email system that delivers quiz results directly to customers via their inboxes. Remarkably, this singular automation accounts for a significant 2.5% of Curlsmith’s total revenue.
There may be customers who are not immediately ready to make a purchase, so by sending them their quiz results through email, you provide them with an additional chance to explore your brand and find the products that are most suitable for them.
Receiving a personalized quiz result via email is an effective method to promote your brand, provide a convenient way for customers to add products to their cart, and convert site visitors into buyers. The best part is that this email automation can be accomplished with a single action.
9. Order Confirmation Email
The order confirmation email is a simple transactional email that aids in establishing trust and credibility with customers who have made a purchase.
In order for customers to thoroughly read and not hastily skim or delete an order confirmation email, it is important that the email clearly confirms the success of their purchase and verifies the accuracy of all the details.
Although an order confirmation email may not result in an immediate chance for another purchase, it does contribute to increased brand loyalty and offers a chance to show appreciation and further strengthen the relationship with your customer.
To ensure prompt delivery, an email confirming the order should be sent right away. Utilizing a reliable ecommerce email marketing automation tool can assist in accomplishing this. It is important to inform customers about possible shipping delays due to ongoing supply chain challenges.
10. Shipping Confirmation Email
This transactional email serves as a means of communication between you and your customers, notifying them that their product(s) have been shipped and providing an estimated delivery time via a tracking code. It is an email that customers find particularly thrilling and can be utilized to cultivate customer engagement and loyalty.
Polaroid employs inclusive and positive language in their shipping confirmation email to take advantage of the customer’s heightened excitement. Additionally, they utilize this email as an opportunity to educate customers and direct them back to the website, recognizing the high open rates of order and shipping confirmation emails.
11. Upsell or Cross-sell Email
We previously talked about the advantages of selling to an existing client rather than acquiring a new one, as it is a more time and cost-effective approach. This is where the upsell or cross-sell email can be highly beneficial for a DTC business. However, it is important to note that there is a distinction between the two.
Upselling encourages customers to buy a higher-quality product than the one they have previously purchased, whereas cross-selling motivates customers to purchase items that are related or lateral. Both strategies enable brands to capitalize on the loyalty and trust they have established with their current customers.
To ensure that upselling and cross-selling emails appear less robotic, more relevant, and more impactful, make sure the products you are offering to your customer closely match their previous purchases.
