If you haven’t yet incorporated email marketing into your digital marketing strategy, it might be time to give it a try. As a highly effective way of ensuring your brand is at the front of someone’s mind when they’re making a decision to buy, it’s not something that should be overlooked.
What is email marketing, and why should an eCommerce business invest in it?
Email marketing remains one of the most effective means of building and maintaining relationships with both potential and existing customers. By delivering consistently engaging content to your email database over time, and being strategic with the way you segment and personalise it, your business can successfully nurture leads and turn them into loyal customers. In the same way, email marketing also helps keep your brand top of mind for those who have already purchased from you.
Types of email marketing for eCommerce businesses
- Welcome emails: Welcome emails (the ones you send out when someone first joins your mailing list) have a 42% higher open rate of any other kind of email according to Campaign Monitor, which makes them a vital opportunity to make a positive impression and ensure they’ll open future emails from you.
- Drip campaigns: A drip campaign is an automated campaign set up in advance that sends out an email every week, fortnight or month over a period of time. It’s a great way to ease in those who are new to your database, familiarising them with your brand first before sending them emails with more promotional content.
- Reminders: These are automatically generated emails that remind people when they have items in their cart, encouraging them to return to your online store and make the purchase.
- Newsletters: It’s a great idea to send out a regular email to your database that’s segmented according to your customers’ interests and behaviour. Ideally these should include a range of content, such as your latest business blog offering tips and advice, staff profiles, and updates on initiatives your business is supporting.
- Promotional emails: Send these out when you have a great offer and want to let your database know it’s a great time to buy.
eCommerce email marketing best practice
- Build your email list in a non-pushy way: People are more likely to sign up to your database if they think they’ll be getting something back. Consider offering some form of educational or inspirational content like an eBook or series of webinars that provides something valuable in return for them handing over their information.
- Personalise: Research shows that people prefer to buy from people, not brands. By greeting your database by their name rather than a generic “Hey there”, you’re showing that you’re human, and they’ll feel like you’re really talking to them. Similarly, if the email received is from a real person (as opposed to marketing@yourcompanywebsite.co.nz) people will be a lot more likely to engage with your emails.
- Make sure people have opted in: As a New Zealand business you’ll need to ensure your email marketing adheres to The Privacy Act 1993, which deals with the collection, storage and use of personal information about your customers. You need to make sure that the people you’re sending your email to have opted in to receive them, and that you offer an unsubscribe button.
- Add value: The Marketing Association of New Zealand’s Brand Authenticity Report 2019 found that one of the key things that characterised our most authentic brands in the eyes of consumers was a commitment to continuously reshaping value. So, offer some value inside every email. This can be in the form of the latest tips and advice on how to use your products, informative videos, or interviews with inspirational leaders in your industry.
Email marketing can be an excellent tool for eCommerce businesses if it’s done right. There are plenty of platforms out there that can integrate with Shopify websites, letting you set up effective email campaigns with ease.
Find out how we can help you get started by getting in touch with us.
