Shopify

6 min read

10 Jul 2020

How To Successfully Use Email Marketing For Your eCommerce Store

How To Successfully Use Email Marketing For Your eCommerce Store

In the digital world, a decade is a long time.

Something trendy today will most likely become outdated in 10 years.

But it's not the same for email marketing.

You see, emails have been around for close to a half-century. It was when Ray Tomlinson sent the first electronic mail in 1971.

But the good news is... email is still going strong today.

From peer-to-peer communication to business interactions.

And despite the rise of new digital marketing strategies, email still maintains a strong influence in the industry.

So, if you want to connect with your customers and promote your eCommerce store... you need to include email marketing in your marketing strategies.

That's why you need to finish this blog to know how you can use eCommerce email marketing for your store!

But before that, let's talk about...

 

eCommerce Email Marketing Statistics You Need To Know

Here are some eCommerce email marketing statistics for you!

If you're still not yet sure if you want to dabble in eCommerce email marketing, you should know that...

  • In 2020, there were around 3 billion email users globally.
  • Sending a welcome email can up your user engagement up to 50%.
  • Personalizing emails can have higher open rates.

See? Email marketing can be your best friend... if you do it right!

Now, are you wondering how?

 

How To Use Email To Boost Your eCommerce Marketing Strategy?

Utilizing eCommerce email marketing is not easy.

It takes well-planned steps to create a strong email marketing strategy for your eCommerce store.

So now, let me tell you how.

 

1. Build Your Email List

Build Your Email List

Building your email list organically is one of the initial stages of your eCommerce email marketing plan.

Before you can send email marketing campaigns, you need to have recipients.

These are your potential customers who can turn into leads, which will eventually turn into sales.

To gain email subscribers, you need to have lead magnets.

What are these? These are incentives that you can present on your eCommerce site.

If you want new subscribers, you should give them something before sending promotional emails.

Here are some examples:

  • Discount codes
  • Personalized coupon codes
  • Ebooks
  • Templates

These will entice your online visitors to sign up.

Once you get their email address, verify them using an email verifier, and you can now send them email marketing campaigns and build customer relationships!

You can market your products, ask for reviews from repeat customers, promote a blog post, give an exclusive coupon code or offer free shipping, and more.

You can also use Debutify's Newsletter Pop-Up to encourage more subscribers!

Debutify's Newsletter Pop-Up

Next is...

 

2. Ensure That Your Email Leads Back To A Quality eCommerce Store

To make your eCommerce email marketing strategy more effective, you must have a smooth-sailing eCommerce store.

Because after sending your campaign emails, you want them to go to your eCommerce site.

So, why is this important?

It's your chance to turn your leads into new customers. Remember you’re competing with other eCommerce sites for a market share.

And if you have an unappealing eCommerce website, that could turn into lost sales.

That's why you need to make sure that everything is in place. You need a detailed product description, an easy checkout process, and uncomplicated website navigation.

So when your visitors from your email campaigns go to your website, you can make them purchase.

The next thing you know... you're now filled with eCommerce sales.

Don't forget: Optimizing your site before sending out emails is essential to building a successful online store.

Another thing is...

 

3. Craft Your Email Content Carefully

The content of your email is what will represent your eCommerce brand.

When you land straight in their inbox, and they open your email campaign, you need to keep their attention.

They have to stay interested in finishing your entire email.

And to start achieving this, you need to be particular in the tone of voice you're using. You can create a buyer persona to decide your style.

For example, you're targeting a young and fun-loving age group. Your email copy should be more conversational and jolly.

You can also use terms and slang that they can understand.

Doing so will help them relate to your email campaigns and connect with your eCommerce business.

They wouldn't feel like you're just selling to them.

But if you're targeting business-type folks, it can be different.

Business owners don't like beating around the bush. To sell a product to them, you need to be straightforward.

Keep your emails short and sweet. Tell all the details they need to know... like product features, special offers, and other interesting facts about your products.

Having concise copy can present your message without the readers losing interest.

Remember, they have other unread personal and marketing emails that they want to go through.

And if you don't give them enough reason to remember your email marketing campaigns... other eCommerce businesses will.

To make your email campaigns more engaging, you can also...

 

4. Design Your Email To Appeal To Your Readers

Plain text is a no-no; it just won’t do in this instance.

An email with only text characters doesn’t appeal to readers, and they will quickly close it and move on to the next item in their inbox.

That's why you have to come up with a design to go along with your copy. A great design will hold the audience’s attention longer and read through your email.

This increases your chances of converting as many leads as possible. 

You can add some color to your emails. They do a good job of drawing the readers’ attention.

The wisest choice is your brand colors, of course. You want to keep a consistent brand presence across all your marketing channels.

But don't overwhelm them with designs! Four colors or less should do the trick.

You can also add images and share customer stories. Just make sure the design wouldn't feel saturated.

Colors and designs play a significant role in highlighting the more essential parts of the email. 

For example, if you have a call-to-action button, it’s prudent to encase it in a color that contrasts it against the general background of the email.

The next tip is...

 

5. Split Test The Various Email Designs

Now that you have the email copy and the designs of your choice, you should test them.

Split testing is also known as A/B testing. It's a great way to know which designs and copies better convert leads into more sales.

To achieve this, you need to change different elements of your emails.

What are these elements? They are subject lines, images, fonts, and colors, and sometimes, you need to switch up some content of your email.

You can send them into different groups and see which performs better.

If the other one works well, you can use that as an email template for your next email campaigns. While the other one, you can see which areas you need to improve.

Once you know what your lead or existing customers prefer, it'll be easier to send emails in your next email marketing campaign.

So, take note of the email subject line that worked! Then create campaigns based on your findings.

Another one is...

 

6. Welcome Your Customers

Whenever you get a new subscriber, you need to welcome them to your email list.

To do this, you need an email service provider that allows you to automate an email.

As soon as customers subscribe or submit their email addresses, your system should automatically send them a welcome email.

When crafting this kind of email, ensure that your welcome message comes first. You can also give them a surprise gift... like a coupon code or any downloadable content.

While I understand you're an online business and need to make sales... a welcome email campaign shouldn't feel pushy.

They probably already have enough eCommerce emails daily.

It's all about connecting with your leads and building a rapport with them.

This is also an excellent opportunity to introduce the customer to your brand’s voice and personality, connecting with them on another level.

Who knows? Maybe it's the start of their journey as your loyal customers!

You can also...

 

7. Offer Discounts

After welcoming them... it's not 100% guaranteed that they will return to your eCommerce site.

But don't lose the momentum.

What better way to accomplish this than show them a few promotional offers and discounts. These offers drive traffic to your website.

The visitors also have a chance to browse through your product range.

They might land on items they didn’t intend to buy but now find fascinating. 

Send promotional emails so the customers can see some of the great deals they can get if they enter your online store and add items to their carts.

Remind them that your business exists through eCommerce email marketing.

And now, we're down to our last two!

 

8. Send Emails When Customers Abandon Carts

Cart abandonment is not a new problem for eCommerce businesses.

In fact, the average cart abandonment rate is about 69.57%! That's across all industries.

While you can't wholly avoid cart abandonment, you can try to persuade some of your customers by sending cart abandonment emails.

You can use your built-in eCommerce platform or Google Analytics to track your cart abandonment.

Then you can use these insights to figure out who they are and what could be the reason.

But cart abandonment emails are usually successful if you offer a discount if the customer clears the cart as soon as possible.

This incentive will increase the number of cleared abandoned carts and increase your sales.

And lastly...

 

9. Personalize Your Emails

As I mentioned, your subscribers probably have many marketing emails in their inboxes.

But personalizing your emails will increase the relevance of your campaign.

You can make them feel valued and craft an email that suits their current customer journey.

How do you achieve these?

You can start by addressing their first name. You can also send them emails on their birthdays.

And again, you can craft emails based on their customer journey.

You might want to send emails with product recommendations if they are repeat customers. You can send products based on what they shopped before.

This small gesture goes a long way in fostering brand loyalty and advocacy.

So...

 

Use Email Marketing For Your eCommerce Business Now!

Digital marketing is not an easy game...

So, I understand that crafting an eCommerce email marketing strategy can be challenging, too.

But to ensure your effort is not wasted, you need an efficient eCommerce store.

And you can start with having a highly-customizable and smooth eCommerce theme.

Debutify can be just that. 😉

Not only will it turn your store into an efficient one... but it's also your Profit Optimization Partner.

It has over 50 Add-Ons to help you achieve your goals!

 

Try Debutify For Free And Turn Your Email Leads Into Sales!

14 Days Trial. 1 Click Installation. No Credit Card Required.

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Trisha Ballesteros

Trisha Ballesteros is a content writer and digital creator who's skilled and passionate about marketing, social media, tech, and user experience.

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