Email marketing has become one of the most effective ways of reaching customers. It allows retailers to communicate directly with consumers without having to rely on third parties like Facebook and Twitter. The rise of mobile devices means that emails can reach people at any time and anywhere they may be.
In this blog, we'll look at why email marketing is still relevant for retailers, and offer useful tips on the types of email campaigns to capitalize on. We'll also go over the benefits that retailers can realize by using these email marketing strategies and offer a list of useful email marketing tools.
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In an era where we are looking for omnichannel marketing, email becomes one of the important channels to establish a fruitful rapport with potential customers. Research shows that eCommerce retailers are capitalizing on personalized emails much more than they did in 2019. So, from 38%, it has increased to 60% in 2020 - the pandemic year (Litmus). This clearly shows that the pandemic has got a hand in making email marketing a vital part of the omnichannel marketing strategy.
Another interesting trend GetResponse has charted out is how more than 8 out of 10 people open a welcome email. In fact, these kinds of emails generate four times as many opens and ten times as many clicks as opposed to the other kinds of email campaigns out there.
Having said that, capitalizing on the welcome campaign series can do your eCommerce retail business whole good. But don't overdo it! GetResponse again has found out that your audience will cater towards higher open and click-through rates when you send not more than five newsletters a week.
Reiterating: Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach customers. It’s cheap and easy to set up and it has high engagement rates. But it’s not always the best way to communicate with customers. Some types of emails are better suited to certain audiences than others as those statistics have proved.
For example, if you want to send out a discount code, then sending an email will likely be more successful than posting something on social media. If you want to keep your customers informed about new products or special offers, then email is the best option.
Having said that, let's introduce you to the series of email strategy campaigns tailored for unique retail events.
1. Welcome emails for new subscribers and first-time shoppers
The welcome email series is a good way to captivate the attention of your new email subscribers and first-time shoppers. Although it might not be a common kind of email strategy, it's by far the most effective out there. Your welcome series can have anywhere between three to five emails. By then, you would be able to factor in some familiarity with your mailing list.
In this welcome series, you can introduce your brand, invite them to follow you on social media, ask them for their birthdates. But do keep in mind to wow them, showcase your brand, and incentivize them to push them deeper into their shopping lifecycle with you.
2. Promotional emails for prospects and customers
These kinds of marketing emails are so common and we believe it's one you are most familiar with. Unfortunately, they are less strategic in use. So, instead of sending a blast of one-off emails promoting your products, you could plan out a progressive campaign so that the previous email leads to the next one.
You can send discounts, coupon codes, endorse referrals, offer free shipping, and if it works, even free gifts.
3. Transactional emails for regular customers
You can automate transaction-based emails so that upon specific user action, a series of relevant content would be triggered.
For instance, a visitor could have added some items to the cart but could have failed to check out. This could trigger a cart abandonment recovery email series. Simultaneously, your customer could have browsed through some product categories. You could then trigger an email that shows products similar to the ones the customer browsed.
These are just a few examples but are generally dependent on what your email marketing tool has to offer. Email marketing automation tools in CRMs like Ingage would help you segment customers based on their behavior and then send targeted and personalized emails. Moreover, Ingage could capture specific eCommerce events and help you trigger transactional emails.
This way, using a good email client can help you expand the automation level for your transactional emails—be it using it for list management or campaign management, or referral management.
Besides these aforementioned email strategies, you can also leverage email newsletter (sent at specific intervals of time), cart abandonment emails, segmented email campaigns, discount emails, post-purchase emails, customer loyalty program emails, customer engagement emails, and various other email sequences of automated campaigns.
Email marketing has become one of the most effective ways to reach customers and drive sales. It allows retailers to connect with customers at any point during their buying journey, whether it’s before they start shopping, after they’ve made a purchase, or even after they’ve left the site.
Here are three important benefits of leveraging effective email marketing campaigns.
1. Get a good Return on Investment (ROI)
Retail marketers need a unique strategy to engage shoppers by analyzing their purchase behavior. So, it's very different from the other industries. That said, any retailer has to ensure that he has a growing email list and a well-thought-through email marketing plan. If the retailer can check these two boxes, then there is a brighter probability that the bridge between customer acquisition and conversion is connected well.
The following email marketing statistics support the claim:
- 72 % of those surveyed prefer to receive promotional content through emails.
- As compared to other digital channels, email marketing helps retail brands the most in driving more conversions.
- It is surprising to see that marketing messages sent through emails have a five times better chance of being viewed rather than popular social media channels like Facebook.
2. Easy to customize the email marketing efforts
Another reason why email programs are highly sought after and used lies in their versatility. Email marketers have the liberty to go as creative as they wish. They can employ dynamic content, render a responsive design, and prune the email communication to better resonate with the target audience. Depending on the strategy used, the type of email can be simple or complex, as befitting the goal to achieve and the audience to connect with.
In fact, in a survey undertaken among US online retailers by Retention Science, we see a big proportion of 44.9% of them using personalized product recommendations. 31.5% of marketers address customers by name and send over unique welcome messages. 27.6% of retailers also have abandoned cart emails as part of their email marketing strategy.
3. Increase sales by sending online coupons
A study conducted by Deloitte relays 27% of US online shoppers signing up for email newsletters to enjoy the perks and benefits that come along with it. This includes offers and discount coupons. Another research by Shop.org shows 64% of Us online shoppers to have printed a discount coupon from email.
This clearly proves that discount coupons are something that could only be effectively used with emails while realizing a better uptick in sales.
In order to benefit from email marketing, you not only need a good strategy but also need a robust tech stack. That brings us to the best email marketing automation tools available for retailers. Here's a curated list for your pick.
Email marketing is vital for your retail store. It is still relevant and highly actioned on by your customers. Not to forget—it renders a whole lot of benefit for you to connect and engage with your customers.
Plan out your email strategy and sequences and invest in a robust email marketing tool. Should you need help in taking the first step, talk to us, we will be happy to help!
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