Have you been wondering how you can use email to boost your sales? Improving conversion via email is actually easier than you think.
Many eCommerce merchants focus most of their efforts on other aspects of marketing and simply forget about email. Some of them even feel that email campaigns are obsolete and unimportant. But they couldn’t be more wrong. In 2019, email marketing is still the number one traffic-boosting and sales-promoting technique, so read on and find out how to make the best use of it.
Pay attention to design
Imagine this: You’ve set up a gorgeously designed shop. Your customers enjoy a terrific user experience on your website. Everything is intuitive, clear, and easy to navigate. Then you send out emails with awkwardly packed text and skewed images that don’t fit on mobile screens well. Ugly emails, in short. Your customers are confused, some of them even mildly disappointed. The effect of poorly designed, sloppy emails on your sales is direct and, needless to say, most often negative.
Creating well-designed, functional and elegant email templates doesn’t require a lot of your time and it can go a long way in terms of customer loyalty, retention, and conversions.
Remember that your emails have to be:
- Captivating and engaging (with quality images and proper use of formatting like headings and bullets)
- Responsive (look and work well on any screen size)
- Easy to follow (with no more than one or two CTAs (calls to action).
Write good copy
Of course, aesthetics and UX aren’t everything. Your copy needs to be top-notch too. Make it short, sweet and interesting. Capture your readers’ attention and don’t let go. Use smart hooks as openers, but don’t overdo it. Try to sound as natural and friendly as possible, and write for your audience in a voice that speaks to your key demographic.
Make sure your email copy is consistent with the style you’re using throughout your website.
Use automation
These days there are so many email marketing automation tools that there’s really no point in doing anything the old-fashioned way. Automation is more than just a time-saver. It helps you with planning and scheduling and guarantees all your messages will not only get to the right people but get to them at the right point that corresponds with where they are located within your sales funnel.
Most of the tools available these days offer a similar level of reliability and efficiency so take your pick and start using email marketing automation today.
Some of the things that ecommerce marketing automation can help you with include sending:
- Abandoned cart emails
- Personalized messages, anniversary and birthday greetings
- Welcome emails
- Invitations to webinars and courses
- Blog posts and news
2buy1click has helped a number of our clients integrate services like Mailchimp and Dotmailer and utilize it’s eCommerce tools to help clients find new audiences, promote products, boost customer loyalty, and track sales. Contact us to discover more ways to achieve your marketing goals and grow your business.
Promotional sales emails to everyone on the list
Segmentation and targeted promotions are important, but it’s also important to remember that not all your subscribers are VIPs and many of them can be converted from casual visitors to dedicated shoppers. That’s why it is important to use promotions, especially seasonal ones, and to let everyone on your list know about them.
Magento allows you to set up coupons very easily and send them out to your subscribers. Try this around the Black Friday and Cyber Monday season and your sales should soar.
Segmentation and targeted emails
Email segmentation, personalization, and targeted emails are pillars of good email marketing. Segmentation refers to the practice of sorting your email subscribers into groups according to demographics (age, gender, location, income, education, etc.) and other factors (browsing and shopping habits, on-site behavior, click habits, personality, values, etc.).
Segmentation allows you to send out different messages to different groups. Personalized and tailored content makes your subscribers feel special. In addition, you avoid the risk of annoying them with messages that are not relevant to them. That way, you’re building customer loyalty and retention and directly increasing your sales if your message is translating the way it should be.
Coupons and discounts for loyal customers
We all love feeling special. This is particularly true for shoppers who get rewarded for their loyalty to the brand. To encourage them to stick with you in the future, consider offering special VIP discounts, coupons, and freebies to those who’ve been with you the longest. Let them know the offers are exclusive and they’ll keep coming back for more.
You can do this by setting up a loyalty program and using your email marketing service to target repeat customers (those with more than one checkout). Thanks to automation, this will only take a few minutes of your time. Let your loyal customers know they’re special to you and that what they’re getting is exclusive. Don’t forget to put quick links leading them back to your store with special offers.
Ask for reviews
Reviews are very important for every website but they are particularly important for eCommerce ones. When people see that someone has already tried a product and, more importantly, rated it well, they are much more likely to purchase that product or something else from your store. Reviews are essential for the reliability and credibility of your online shop and they represent an important form of social proof.
Sometimes merchants can be too shy or self-conscious when it comes to asking users to leave a review. Using email for this purpose is a great way to overcome this, as you’ll be interacting with users who are already engaged and have already opted in. They are more likely to cooperate and do this little “favor” and you can even spice things up by offering a little something in return, like a discount code or some other loyalty perk.
Split-test the campaigns
Split testing or a/b testing is an easy and quick technique that a surprising number of merchants simply don’t apply. For those who are not familiar with the term, split-testing a campaign means creating two similar but slightly different versions of your emails and sending them to two different groups of subscribers. The next step is to compare them using an analytical tool of your choice and see which one worked better.
Email marketing is all about trial and error. Unless you’re a marketing wiz, you probably won’t hit the jackpot with your campaigns right away and that’s why testing is so essential. You can test everything, too, from email subject to headlines, pictures, CTAs, and more.
Keep growing your list of subscribers
There’s no such thing as too many email subscribers. No matter how long your list is, you definitely want to grow it further, especially considering the high dropout rates most ecommerce lists face. People get tired and unsubscribe and you want to make sure these dropouts are outnumbered by the new subscribers.
Getting new subscribers is easier said than done. If you’re having difficulties in this department try the following:
- Place your email subscription forms in strategic places like the header, footer, sidebar, resource pages, or blog posts.
- Use timed lightboxes, floating bars, splash pages, and welcome gates.
- Ask customers to subscribe at checkout and in transactional emails.
Bottom Line
Hopefully these easy email marketing tips for Magento will help you grow your subscription base, increase traffic and conversions and simply sell more stuff. These days, it seems that new forms of marketing are overtaking the traditional ones. However, proper email marketing is something you simply must do correctly and constantly in order to grow your eCommerce business.
No matter which strategy you choose or if you apply all of them, you need a trustworthy partner that can help you with establishing the bases for your Email Marketing. 2buy1click is highly experienced in implementation of various marketing technics that can help you drive more sales and expand your audience.
