Hook E-Commerce Shoppers with Email Marketing Strategies
Email marketing remains an invaluable tool for e-commerce businesses. Studies demonstrate that a significant chunk of revenue over 20% for multi-channel retailers comes from email campaigns and communications. In this post, we will look at some of the most effective email strategies to employ at various stages of the e-commerce customer journey from bringing back abandoned shoppers to nurturing loyal repeat buyers.
Save Abandoned Carts with Triggered Emails
Have you ever filled a shopping cart online but left the website without checking out? This experience, known as cart abandonment, is all too common in e-commerce. Over 65% of online shopping carts end up abandoned, representing huge missed revenue opportunities for retailers.
Luckily, savvy e-commerce stores have a proven strategy to combat abandoned carts – triggered emails. These automated messages are deployed when someone adds items to their cart but leaves your website without purchasing. Triggered emails remind distracted or hesitant customers to come back and complete their checkout. Studies demonstrate triggered cart emails enjoy much higher open and conversion rates compared to general mailings.
To make your abandoned cart emails highly effective, include the following elements:
- Send the email within 1-2 hours of cart abandonment. Remind customers while the experience is fresh in their minds.
- Keep subject lines short, personalized and compelling. For example, “[Customer Name] – you left something behind!”
- List the specific products/quantities the customer left in their cart. Add a notification about shipping thresholds being met for free delivery or other discounts.
- Offer an immediate incentive for checkout completion, like a discount code or free gift. Maintain the scarcity with short expiration windows under 24 hours.
Onboard New Subscribers with Welcome Emails
Onboarding emails shouldn’t be overlooked when developing e-commerce email marketing funnels. After a customer subscribes to your mailing list or creates a user account, sending a carefully crafted welcome email makes a big impression. Welcome emails have exceptionally high open rates compared to other types of emails.
An effective welcome email has a singular focus – welcoming and orienting new subscribers. Resist the temptation to overstuff welcome emails with too much information. Allot generous whitespace and keep copy short and scannable with bullet points. Relevant images are highly recommended over dense paragraphs.
Great welcome email content should cover:
- A warm greeting thanking subscribers for joining.
- Logistics about email delivery cadences they can expect. Set proper expectations.
- Links to top website pages/product collections they may enjoy based on any data collected.
- An exclusive promo code for their next purchase as a signup “freebie”.
- Instructions for account creation/management if applicable.
VIP Loyalty Programs To Retain Customers with Email
Transitioning one-time shoppers into loyal repeat customers is the endgame for e-commerce retailers. This is where high-value loyalty programs come into play paired with targeted email communication. Membership tiers granting customers special status, rewards and access drives ongoing engagement. Brands find email the most effective channel for promoting new loyalty programs and keeping enrolled members engaged.
Thoughtful program design is important in structuring benefits that actually compel loyalty across tiers such as:
- Generous signup perks – free products, big initial discounts on first X orders
- Earning points/credits with monetary redemption value
- Early access to new product releases and sales
- Free gifts, loyalty coupons on special occasions like birthdays or annual tenure
Once your program mechanics are established, use email to support rollout and continual promotion. Create VIP announcement emails welcoming new members. Maintain engagement with regular email updates spotlighting point balances, new redemption items and status advancement opportunities as spending thresholds are met.
Harness Holiday Sales Fever with Email
Promotional sales are a great technique to clear old inventory, generate buzz and incentivize customer purchases. For e-commerce retailers, major holidays like Black Friday or store anniversary events are proven drivers for sales email success.
Prepare by segmenting your email list based on past purchase behavior, order frequency and lifetime value. Avoid sending every promotion to subscribers showing little customer activity – fatigued by spam they are unlikely to engage anyway. Tailor email content and sales specifics toward top customers who drive a disproportionate share of revenue.
As for format, include exciting subject lines that grab attention like “48 hours only – save 50% storewide”. Share specific top deals and savings amounts available along with promotional codes and links to discounted products. Urgency and scarcity elements work very well to compel desired customer behaviors within limited-time sales events.
Summing Up
Success today requires e-commerce brands optimize beyond web and social channels alone. Email marketing remains unrivaled reaching customers in high-converting ways throughout the entire shopper lifecycle. Strategically deploying triggered emails to re-engage cart abandoners, welcoming new subscribers, promoting sales and building loyalty programs enables retailers to cost-effectively build sustainable revenue streams. Experiment with the email templates and best practices outlined to boost results across the metrics that matter most.
