Marketers seem to talk too much about social media. However, let’s not forget about email. It continues to be the most effective platform for business growth.
What is the reason?
As a preferred form of communication, people favor receiving emails from companies over other options. A recent survey by MarketingSherpa proves that 72% of American adults favor contacting companies through email over social media, texts, and phone calls combined.
Let’s take it one step further and talk about email automation. For sure, it’s one of the pillars of eCommerce marketing. It saves a lot of time. It reduces human errors and removes manual tasks. It drives a great ROI.
Get hooked? Great! Let’s talk about six automation strategies that you can start to implement right away.
What is E-commerce Marketing Automation?
Ecommerce automation does all your marketing tasks for you 24/7. It doesn’t require your direct participation. Need to send out emails or run campaigns based on preset scenarios? Sure, Ecommerce marketing automation does this for you. Many tools help you set up various automations.
6 E-commerce Automation That Anyone Can Set Up Today
1. Welcome Emails
The average open rate for welcome emails sent to new subscribers is 50%. This open rate is 86% higher than the one for regular newsletters. Wordstream reports that welcome emails generate 320% more revenue than other promotional emails.
By greeting new subscribers and showcasing product features, you can attract their interest in your store and show them your appreciation for joining your newsletter. This is also a great chance to provide introductory discounts, setting the stage for their initial or future purchase.
Goals for Your Automated Welcome Emails
The main objective of a welcome email campaign is to turn your subscribers into paying clients. Consider this when you send out these emails.
Plus, welcome emails serve as a fantastic method to inform your audience about the advantages of interacting with your communications (such as discounts, exclusive sales, previews of new products, etc.). This is sure to increase the chances of them opening future emails. So, you need to monitor the open rate for these emails.
Tips on How to Set Up Your Automated Welcome Email Campaigns
- Send welcome emails automatically and quickly whenever a new person opts in for your newsletter.
- Welcome emails have a rather high open rate, which means they are great for promoting your high-value products. Take it one step further and customize the featured products according to the customer’s online behavior.
2. Personalized Email Onboarding Journeys
An automated series of welcome emails (aka campaigns to onboard and nurture leads) is a classic marketing strategy for eCommerce shops.
The goal is to make your email subscribers get their first order as cheaply and quickly as possible.
Sure, it’s possible to have the same onboarding sequence for all your subscribers. However, it’s always better to personalize the onboarding flow for each segment. Here are three things you can do.
1. Create a separate onboarding flow for users who are actively browsing a particular category on your website or application.
2. Create different onboarding journeys for each lead source (e.g., email newsletters, in-person stores, social media, etc.). For example, use Linkedin Prospect Finder by Snov.io to find their emails through social media. This extension allows you to save emails along with Linkedin profiles.
3. Show custom product suggestions in your onboarding flows to subscribers in different locations (e.g., warm vs cold countries).
3. Post-Purchase Email to Create Loyalty-Building Experiences
These are emails that are sent out after a customer makes a purchase from your online shop. Here are some types of post-purchase emails. Transactional emails (shipment notifications and delivery status updates). Marketing emails (surveys and thank you emails).
The type of email you choose depends on your overall brand image or product. Also, consider what content would be really helpful to new clients and add it to your emails.
It could be:
- Community invites
- User guides
- Styling tips
- Invites to follow your brand on social channels
- Info about the loyalty program
A pro tip: set up a drip sequence for post-purchase communication. It’ll cover all your client’s needs.
The email about order confirmation is the first touchpoint after each sale. It’s a smart move to automate it. These emails get the highest open rates and CTR. That’s why use these emails wisely. Add UGC images, customer reviews, or suggested items your clients might want to purchase.
4. Send Customers Personalized Product Recommendations
Automated email marketing gives you an excellent opportunity to show your current and future clients personalized recommendations based on their interests. It works well. According to Barilliance, the average order value goes up by 369% when clients engage with at least one personalized product recommendation.
Plus, emails with product recommendations are sure to help you build stronger relationships with your customers. They are a great way to cross-sell and upsell new products to clients who are likely to purchase them.
Goals for Product Recommendation Emails
Emails with product recommendations have two main objectives. They encourage repeat sales from previous clients. Monitor conversions and clicks of each recommendation to evaluate how effective your emails are.
Here’s another thing. Sending such emails to your customers shows that you are aware of their preferences and appreciate their loyalty. Nobody wants to receive recommendations for items they have no desire to purchase. Conduct a customer survey to determine how accurate your suggestions are.
Tips on How to Set Up Your Emails with Product Recommendation
- Always create emails with product recommendations based on your clients’ purchase data. You could show them products similar to those they’ve purchased, those that complement them, etc.
- Experiment with when you send these emails with personalized product recommendations. It could be a few days after a purchase. You can also send your recommendations in your order confirmation emails.
5. Automate Discount Emails Based on Customer Behavior
Automated email marketing is a great way to strategically send out discounts. Adoric states that 44% of customers expect branded emails to give them discounts and deals.
To fully take advantage of the perks of discount emails, your promotions should be activated based on customer actions. For example, if a client has shown interest in a particular product, such as browsing it, you could offer them a discount code in your email.
6. Send Customer Feedback Emails to Gain Valuable Insights
There are few things that are as beneficial or useful for an online retailer as detailed customer feedback. Automation allows you to set up email surveys that gather this vital data regularly (on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis). You also have the option to set them up for sending after important interactions such as conversations with customer service returns, purchases, and returns.
In customer feedback emails, you can also ask your customers to give reviews for the products they bought. Gift cards and small discounts are great incentives for clients to leave feedback.
Goals for Your Emails with Customer Feedback
Although most email marketing campaigns for ecommerce are all about conversions, the purpose of customer feedback emails is somewhat different. The objective of such emails is to collect input from your clients in the form of online reviews or survey responses. Track click-through rates and open rates for these campaigns.
Tips on How to Set Up Your Customer Feedback Emails
- Send your first email in this campaign one week after the delivery date.
- Add links to your survey form to get feedback on your online store. Link to top review sites and build up social proof.
Benefits of Email Automation
- Enjoy a higher ROI. Get $36 for every dollar invested.
- Save time and eliminate many repetitive tasks. Marketing stacks have become so complicated that businesses now require dedicated operations teams to ensure smooth operation. Automation helps you simplify complex things, avoid monotonous work, and focus on tasks that are higher priorities.
- Minimize human errors. Companies that use automation correctly experience fewer errors in their workflows. That’s because their processes are less dependent on people’s concentration and memory.
- Keep your clients more satisfied and engaged. Also, email automation is a great way to engage your customers with your brand. Data from Return Path indicates that 45% of subscribers who receive re-engagement emails, known as “win back” emails, will later open additional emails.
Wrap up
Follow these six e-commerce automation strategies because they are easy to set up and effective. Schedule consistent messages to help you to retain your clients.
