How to Make Email Marketing Work for Your Ecommerce Business
How to Make Email Marketing Work for Your Ecommerce Business
Make the most of your ecommerce business's email marketing campaigns.
Although it's not exactly the newest online marketing method
in town
, email marketing is still an extremely effective method for
communicating with customers and increasing ecommerce sales. The reality is
that the grand majority of people who visit your ecommerce website won't make a
purchase and will quickly exit your website. In fact, according to Forrester
Research, 88% of consumers admitted to abandoning shopping carts. The main
reason why they do it is because they're not ready to buy. That's where email
marketing comes in.
Even if your website visitors aren't ready to make a
purchase, try to get their lead information for email marketing purposes. Email
marketing enables you to stay in touch with customers, so your brand is top of
mind when they're ready to make a purchase.
Nurture Leads
Lead nurturing involves sending consumers a series of emails
at set intervals after they complete a specific action. Lead nurturing enables
ecommerce businesses to engage with their prospects over time. It is commonly
used after prospects provide their email addresses in exchange for a free
downloadable guide. For example, if you have an ecommerce website that sells
swimsuits, you could offer visitors a swimwear buying guide. A couple days
after they download the guide, send them an email asking if they have any
questions and provide them with a special coupon code. If they don't buy
anything, you could send them another discount or limited-time offer a few days
later to encourage them to make a purchase. The process can be completed until
the customer completes the desired action.
In conventional lead nurturing campaigns, the time intervals
between emails increase. In reverse lead nurturing campaigns, the time
intervals between emails decrease to build a sense of urgency among prospects.
Reverse lead nurturing campaigns typically lead towards a specific event, such
as a semi-annual sale or the end of a special offer.
Run a Sweepstakes or Contest
Running a sweepstakes is an excellent way to generate buzz,
collect email addresses, and market to potential customers. Require prospects
to provide their email addresses in order to enter into a sweepstakes for a
chance to win a prize. You can also hold a contest that drives people to take
action in order to win a prize. Make the contest as simple as possible to
encourage more people to participate.
Make It Relevant
To obtain maximum results from your email marketing campaigns,
make sure that your messages are highly relevant. You can increase the
relevancy of your emails by personalizing them with details like the recipients'
names or specific purchases they made in the past. You could also send
date-triggered emails, such as "Happy Birthday" emails and "We Miss You"
emails, or behavior-triggered emails, which are emails that are directly tied
to visitor behavior. For example, if customers add items to their shopping carts
and then abandon them, you could send them an email to recapture lost sales.
Need Help with Your Ecommerce Website?
efelle offers a full range of services for ecommerce
businesses, from ecommerce
website design to merchant
account integration. We also offer a fully-customizable website
shopping cart called CommerceFusion that enables you to create multiple
email newsletter lists, so you can stay in touch with your customers and send
them targeted, relevant messages. For more information, give our ecommerce
specialists a call at 206.384.4909 or fill out our online contact form
to set up a free consultation.
See Also:
How eCommerce Business Can Drive More Traffic and Sales with Pinterest
10 SEO Tips for eCommerce Website