Be it 2020 or 2021 or even 20XX for that matter, email marketing can never go out of fashion. If you’re an Ecommerce marketer, always invest in email marketing.
So, you have seen your lists grow, worked on well-written email campaigns to engage with customers, and many more things.
But it’s not enough. Though email marketing is effective it’s not sufficient to let you hit the magic numbers.
Wonder why? Because email marketing is not just about the right strategy but also about the perfect sequencing.
If you mail the right emails at the wrong time to the wrong prospect – BOOM! They have opted out of the email already or worse marked your email as spam. To help you play more with email marketing, we have email marketing software, email marketing templates, and even email marketing automation.
But on the other hand, mail the right emails at the right time to the right prospects – TADA! You have gained yourself lifelong customers or even brand advocates.
Want to build a strong following of raving fans? We’ll share 8 Ecommerce marketing campaigns in this article to increase engagement, boost revenue, or reduce unsubscribes, establishing a strong email marketing brand building.
Let’s get started!
1. The Welcome Email
This is your only chance to make a good first impression. The reason why your welcome email is very important is that a failed introduction will never be a memorable email. The impact will be devastating in a way that all your follow-up email marketing campaigns won’t be memorable ones either.
Sending the right welcome email at the right time will drive 3 times the transaction and revenue per email compared to other promotion mails.
What’s the role of Welcome emails in email marketing?
- To thank subscribers for joining your list
- Set the expectation perfectly for what’s to come
- Simply for the sales process
Look at Pandora’s welcome email. They reward new subscribers for signing up by offering a discount code – one of the classic ways to flaunt your welcome email.
See how Levi’s uses their welcome email to motivate their customers to browse by buying preference. This will help to reroute your subscribers to your website.
Important things to consider when crafting your welcome email:
- Be Original. Your audience is already tired of so many emails flooding their inboxes. If you want to stand out, you need to be original. That means creating something that your subscribers aren’t expecting. You have millions of ways to entertain your subscribers with a welcome email. Offer a discount. Speak their language. Engage with them by motivating them to respond to your email. Offer them all the necessary information to reassure them that they’re in the right place.
- Simplicity is the key. If your Ecommerce website encompasses a huge product range, ensure all the barriers are removed. Make the browsing experience and purchase journey as easy as possible for your subscribers.
Check out TargetBay’s email marketing templates for welcome emails. Use email automated software to avoid manual errors.
2. The Engagement Email
When direct response marketing was a thing of the past, copywriter Gary Halbert was really famous. He was known for interesting things like attaching “grabbers” like dollar bills to mailings.
Why did he do that?
He needed to attract his prospects’ ATTENTION. Simple.
With a prospect receiving an average of 122 emails per day, you must invite subscribers to engage with your emails if you wish to stay visible in their inbox. Don’t you?
That does not mean all of us have to attach cryptocurrency to campaigns. But there are other possible ways to increase engagement which does not involve breaking the bank.
What’s the role of engagement emails in email marketing?
- Offering something new and exciting to attract subscribers
- Give a reason to engage with your email marketing campaigns
- Making emails memorable to establish a connection between the brand and the subscribers
Brooklinen, for example, offers free shipping to encourage subscribers to engage with their email.
Brooklinen has played it well here. Shipping cost is one of the major reasons why shoppers abandon their carts. So, they have not only sent an engagement mail as part of their email marketing campaign but also solved one of the causes for their shopping cart abandonment. Have to admit – that’s so clever! The psychology behind is very simple. The brand is well aware of how people value things that they have to work for and free shipping is another way to say that we value the customer’s wallet.
Introducing campaigns like this in your email marketing strategy not only increases engagement but also builds a strong two-way relationship between the brand and its customers.
Important things to consider when crafting your engagement email:
- Introduce novelty. Try something new that your subscribers are not expecting. Don’t follow the same old school techniques that will bore your subscribers. Tell them why your emails cannot be unsubscribed from. Show them why your brand is unique from the competition.
- Give reasons for engagement. Your subscriber’s time is valuable. So, give them enough reasons to engage with your email campaigns. Be it offering free shipping or inviting subscribers to start a free trial, give them valid reasons to engage with your email marketing campaigns, and make it memorable.
3. The Referral Email
Everyone knows the secret behind inviting customers to refer friends and family – to gain more free leads. Ogilvy’s studies show that 74% of consumers identify word-of-mouth as a key influencer in their purchasing decision.
So, the numbers say it all. This is why brands invest time and money in setting up good referral programs.
One strategy used almost by every Ecommerce store is asking for referrals on the thank you page. If you’re not doing it, it’s high time you start thinking about it. You ought to start doing it. But have you thought about doing it in your email marketing campaigns, too?
What’s the role of referral emails in email marketing?
- Great source for gaining free leads
- Word-of-mouth influences more prospects compared to other forms of marketing
- Good opportunity to tap into the customer’s own networks of family and friends
Look at this good illustration of asking for referrals by Bombas. They have given clear instructions in their email and offered an incentive as well to make their subscribers happy.
Not every brand will be able to offer free socks with each referral as Bombas does. But it does not have to be a free product. It could be any small gratifying gesture that fits in your marketing budget to offer a thank you (or at least an Internet high five).
Important things to consider when crafting your referral email:
- Communicate brand value. Your design and content should convey your brand value and brand statement. The content and design of your referral email need to be appealing but informative at the same time.
- Offer genuine incentives. Do not try to offer deceiving incentives. Your subscribers are sharp and will unsubscribe or even mark your emails as spam. Make your referral emails with genuine offers that convey gratitude.
4. The Discount Email
Ecommerce marketing strategy and discounting are two sides of the same coin. They go hand in hand. You cannot envision email marketing strategies without discounts.
Apuls confirms this statement by achieving conversion rates as high as 5.13%, it’s not hard to see why discounting cannot be missed while framing your email marketing campaigns.
VWO is one of its studies that found that 72% of Millennial shoppers are open to retargeting via discounts. Also, 54% of shoppers are ready to purchase abandoned products if the same products are offered again at a discounted price. (WOW!)
What’s the role of discount emails in email marketing?
- Entice subscribers to read the email and make a purchase decision
- Achieve high conversion rates
- A great strategy for retargeting email marketing campaigns and ad campaigns
- Combat shopping cart abandonment
Blue Apron, an American meal delivery service nails discounting with email marketing campaigns perfectly. They regularly offer discounts to their subscribers to entice more purchases. Take a close look at how they play with scarcity and evoke the fear of missing out.
Important things to consider when crafting your discount email:
- Strike the right balance. Be warned while sending discount emails. As much as they are a good email marketing strategy. Sending it too often will plummet your profits. Sending it too little will drive customers to a competitor.
- Know your target. It is wise to offer discounts ONLY to subscribers that constantly engage with your campaigns which can be calculated based on opening emails, clicking links, etc.
5. The Cart Abandonment Email
Don’t turn your head away. You’re an Ecommerce marketer but you have done this too. We all have done it many times.
You check out the products, add them to your cart and something diverts your attention- BAM! Added one more number to the shopping cart abandonment rate.
Shopping Cart Abandonment is a serious problem for all Ecommerce businesses and it’s going nowhere anytime soon. Shoppers abandon carts without batting an eyelid.
Baymard institute’s active studies reveal that 69% of all e-commerce visitors abandon their shopping carts. And 61% of visitors cite shipping costs as their number one reason.
What’s the role of abandoned cart emails in email marketing?
- Abandoned cart emails remind customers of items they left in the cart
- Motivates customers to return to the Ecommerce store and complete their purchase
- Show them other relevant items to upsell
Check out how Beardbrand, a men’s grooming brand, combatted shopping cart abandonment with email marketing. They have turned cart abandoners into customers by addressing the shipping costs in a cart recovery email.
Beardbrand has understood the lifetime value of a customer. When you know that, you can afford to offer discounts to incentivize cart completion.
Okay. We know what you’re thinking right now.
“I want to offer free shipping but what if our margins are too thin to take that bet?”
The answer is simple: ask for feedback.
That’s what Ugmonk does in its email.
Important things to consider when crafting your abandoned cart email:
- Showcase trust and credibility. Use product ratings and reviews to help customers understand the authenticity of the product that they have abandoned. This will motivate them to return and complete the purchase.
- Shine the spotlight on the product. Most of the cart abandoners will not even remember what they left in their cart and why they forgot to complete the checkout. Show them what they left behind to jog their memory.
Despite doing all these, there is a chance that you cannot recover the abandoned carts. That’s a given. But you can always make the effort to know why shoppers didn’t complete their order. Based on that, you can always make changes to your checkout process to avoid the same in the future.
TargetBay helps Ecommerce stores combat shopping cart abandonment with interesting Abandoned cart software and email automated software.
6. The Order Confirmation Email
Order confirmation – part of an email marketing strategy, really? We can hear you. But it is!
Every order confirmation email earns an Ecommerce store approximately $0.25 of extra revenue.
If you feel this number is not that big a deal, we will explain more. This number indicates that for every 100 receipts you send, you can make an average of $25 of extra revenue with no extra effort.
Definitely not bad for an email automated software email.
What is the role of order confirmation emails in email marketing?
- Another way to boost your sales
- Helps you set customers’ expectations in the right way
- Keep them informed about the status of your purchases
See how Joybird, an online furniture store explains the delivery process in the order confirmation email with the explainer video.
Important things to consider when crafting your order confirmation email:
- Not just a digital receipt. An order confirmation email is more than just a digital receipt. Remind them that buying from you was the right decision.
- Up-sell but don’t try too much. It is wise to show relevant products but don’t try too much. Your shoppers will be annoyed if they know you are trying to upsell.
7. The Win-Back Email
You invest a great deal of time, attention, and energy in growing your email list. But you see a percentage of your readers unsubscribe, or worse, disengage entirely. This has happened to everyone costing so much money in the process.
Active research shows that every email marketing database naturally degrades by about 22.5% every year. That means it is crucial to re-engage members who have emotionally “checked out”, especially if you want to reduce email unsubscribe rates.
What is the role of win-back emails in email marketing?
- Re-Engage with customers who have opted out of your emails
- Remind shoppers of how good your brand is
- Establish a connection constantly
See how Fotolia sends a win-back email to establish the lost connection with its shoppers.
Important things to consider when crafting your win-back email:
- Don’t expect it to work all the time. Likely, your win-back emails do not work most of the time. But don’t give up based on that. Still a good way to remind your customers of your brand.
- Combine emotions. One thing that works well for win-back emails is emotions. Combine a tad bit of humor and affection with your messaging. Your lost shoppers will love it.
Checkout TargetBay’s humorous email marketing templates for win-back emails. Always use email marketing software to send your emails at the right time.
8. The Thank You Email
Most of the time, we forget the importance of saying thank you. We don’t say thank you enough in the first place and even we don’t really mean it.
It is not just about thanking your audience for subscribing to your newsletter or making a purchase. It’s about recognizing them and they are the reason why you’re in business.
What is the role of thank you emails in email marketing?
- Allows you to give back to your customers
- Recognize their relationship with your brand
- Tell them you view them more than just customers
Look at how Brooklinen writes a thank you email from the heart for helping make what they do possible.
Important things to consider when crafting your thank you email:
- Take time. It’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae of everyday business and forget about these little things. But thanking your customers goes a long way. So, take the time out and write meaningful messages that your customers would love to read from you.
- Don’t use it only as an email marketing strategy. Yes, thank you email is one of the best email marketing strategies. But it is beyond that. Pick the right time to send the thank you email. If you mean only business, then you will be caught which will only be counterproductive.
Shall we get started?
We mentioned that email marketing is about sequencing rather than strategy at the beginning of the article. But that’s not the only thing. There’s something else that’s equally important:
Creating your brand’s Unique Voice.
All these emails have been included not only because of what they say but rather how they say it.
If you have found your voice – GREAT! Keep working on it.
If you have not – DON’T WORRY! Keep SEARCHING!
Having a unique brand voice goes a long way and your email marketing will pay for itself.
What emails do you send to new subscribers? Let us know in the comments below.
