Improve eCommerce sales with email marketing

Email marketing accounts for over 7% of all transactions on ecommerce websites, making email the one of the most effective ecommerce marketing channels, according to a report by Custora.

Email is a critical part of an eCommerce brand's sales-nurturing and engagement strategy. The roles that email can play vary from automated responses, offers and promotions, product updates, status updates, one-to-one outreach, abandonment sales recovery, nurturing workflows and customer service. By capturing an email address of a prospective customer, you can build and nurture the relationship into greater engagement, which is far less expensive than acquiring new contacts.

How well does email marketing performance for eCommerce websites?

• Email has an ROI of around 4,300%, according to the Direct Marketing Association
• 60% of people say that receiving special offers is the top reason they subscribe to an email mailing list from an eCommerce website.
• 70% of ecommerce customers make use of coupons or discounts they learn about from email communications
• 44% of email recipients made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email. - Convinceandconvert.com

The unfinished sale:
Furthermore, greater than 80% of orders started in eCommerce store are not completed, which directly impacts business performance. Using email for order abandonment provides eCommerce businesses with a remarkable opportunity to improve sales.

Email can nurture subscribers into customers

Email is a powerful tool for nurturing subscribers and prospects into buying customers. Below is an acquisition report focusing on customer acquisition channels--comparing PPC, email, Facebook, display ads and Twitter.

Automation and personalization for email marketing further improve conversion rates

According to data by BrainSINS clients:

• Automatically recommended products had 73% more clicks than hand-selected products.
• The time to create a newsletter dropped by 30% to 90%

How to improve eCommerce sales with email marketing

Email can play numerous roles for an eCommerce business. For one, it may be the primary tool for customer service representatives to help customers with orders. These emails may also play an additional nurturing or advocacy development role.

Types of emails:

• Send mass emails for product promotions or company announcements
• Triggered emails to based on website interactions related to the user's interest
• Perform cross-selling or up-selling using past buying or browsing habits
• Create customer loyalty content to express appreciation and provide rewards
• Weekly blog subscriber emails can help motivate and inspire sales and conversions
• Shopping cart abandonment emails are critical to increasing sales directly
• Share time-based coupons to provoke sales during events or to special lead segments

Emails that include social sharing buttons have a 158% higher click-through rate. -- GetResponse

Tools and tips to employ with email marketing

• Use personalization within emails to speak directly to their interests or to simply make your emails a little more friendly. Did you know that personalized subject lines are 22.2% more likely to be opened. (Adestra July 2012 Report)
• Incentivize customers to review the product they’ve bought via email (or share via social media)
• Use A/B Testing to optimize open & click-through rates -- focus on subject line language and your opening statements
• Don't forget a call-to-action
• Use trackable coupons or codes to measure the impact of your email offers
• Use triggered emails to share meaningful and relevant messages at the moment buyers are "in the mood"
• Set up tracking analytics to understand user behavior during the check-out process
• Reward your most loyal customers and invite them to become advocates of your business
• Segment your CRM into lists based on interests, behavior, time and other buying factors
• Create web versions of your content emails for social sharing
• Provide clearly visibility links to self-help and customer service
• Don't hide your contact information
• 33% of email recipients open email based on subject line alone. - Convinceandconvert.com

SOURCES:

• Blue Kangaroo Survey on Marketing Emails - Conducted by Research Now, with WebStar Research, on behalf of ChoozOn Corporation - 1,090 U.S. adults, aged 18-64, Female/Male 60%/40%, balanced to approximately match U.S. online audience by age, region, income, & education
• Convinceandconvert.com
• Adestra July 2012 Report
• BrainSINS
• GetResponse

Further reading: 5 tips for designing a better eCommerce website