Email marketing is one of the most effective forms of eCommerce marketing. It has a very high click-through and conversion rate and is great for both converting new customers and retaining old ones. Exactly what a manager wants to hear, and a useful skill when seeking a great eCommerce manager salary.
So, how do you create an effective email-based eCommerce marketing strategy?
Keep reading to learn what makes email marketing so effective, see the tools you can use, and access the most effective email marketing strategies.
Importance of Email Marketing for eCommerce
Email marketing is a key tool in a digital marketer's toolbox and nearly every business can benefit from it. It allows you to directly engage with customers and prospects, generate leads, increase eCommerce sales, and more.
eCommerce Email Marketing Statistics
There are many statistics that may be valuable for your unique business and industry, but many are useful for anyone looking to get into email marketing.
Here are ten of the most impressive statistics about eCommerce email marketing:
- More than 50% of the world's population uses email.
- Nearly 300 billion emails are sent each day and this number is growing. Email marketing truly is responsible for most companies' eCommerce growth.
- More than 50% of customers say they open emails based on the subject line.
- Personalized subject lines have a 50% higher open rate.
- Welcome series emails increase user engagement by up to 500%.
- The average email marketing eCommerce conversion rate was 15% in 2020.
- Email marketing has an ROI of 4,400%, meaning you generate $44 for every $1 spent.
- Abandoned cart recovery emails have a 40% open rate and nearly a 30% click-through rate.
- More than 80% of small businesses rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel.
- Nearly 50% of consumers say they would like to receive promotional emails weekly.
eCommerce Email Marketing Software
Since email marketing is so impactful, it's very important to research the software and platforms you'll use. Whether you go for a free option or shell out a sizable monthly payment, the best platforms have a few shared features.
Look for these things in your email software:
Email Template Variety
No one wants to receive multiple emails from a brand that all look the same. Stick with email marketing software that has a variety of well-designed templates, so you don't bore your customers, or create email templates yourself. Brand image is important and you're more likely to convert with emails that are interesting to look at.
Robust Email Reporting
Setting eCommerce KPIs is a waste of time if you can't gauge the success of your marketing efforts. Make sure the tools you use offer reports that can give you accurate and actionable data so you can adjust your campaigns as you go to maximize your success. Whether it's click-through rates, open rates, conversions, or another data point, inaccuracies will hurt your bottom line.
Multiple Pricing Tiers
Small business owners don’t have the same needs and can't pay the same prices as a big business, and they shouldn't have to. Stick with email software that offers different pricing tiers based on business size, subscriber count, or another metric. Your needs will increase as you grow, so your email marketing software should reflect that. Luckily, most email marketing services operate like a subscription box business, so most meet this criteria.
Best Email Marketing Service for eCommerce
While there is no single best email marketing platform for eCommerce, there are many great options on the market for small businesses. Whether you're looking to expand your marketing plans or just starting out, using an email marketing service is your best option.
These are the five best email marketing services:
BlueCart eCommerce
BlueCart eCommerce is an all-in-one online marketplace with more integrated tools than you can count. In addition to it being the best eCommerce platform for SEO, a hospitality software option for wholesale and food businesses, and our robust digital storefront, it lets you send emails right from the platform. It even has a built-in promotional function, so you can set up a deal and send out an email blast in one place.
Mailchimp
With more than 14 million customers, Mailchimp is a very popular email marketing service for small and medium-sized businesses. It's easy-to-use and has built-in and customizable templates, so even the newest marketer can send beautiful emails. It also integrates with most direct to consumer and B2B eCommerce platforms and tools. Best of all, it's entirely free for businesses with less than 2,000 subscribers. It only goes up in price by around $5 per 500 subscribers, so it's a great choice for small businesses.
Constant Contact
One of the biggest selling points of Constant Contact is the intuitive and easy-to-use marketing dashboard. Creating, sending, and tracking emails is a breeze, and they even have phone and live chat support. It also comes with a slew of templates including surveys, promotions, coupons, videos, and more. With so many options, it's a great choice for B2B marketing (see what is B2B marketing). There are multiple pricing tiers with incremental increases per 500 subscribers.
Klaviyo
Unlike many other email marketing services, Klaviyo was built specifically for eCommerce. It has a powerful segmentation tool that lets you group customers quickly and easily. It also has a variety of detailed reports that are easy to set up and let you make informed decisions on the fly. And best of all, it's free for businesses with up to 250 subscribers.
Omnisend
Our final choice, Omnisend, is a great choice for any business owner interested in eCommerce marketing automation. The platform is built around eliminating the time-consuming and manual processes of creating emails. Instead, workflows are designed to let you create, send, and evaluate emails quickly. It can also be integrated with many other types of eCommerce software for further automation. It's last on our list mainly because it is pricier than the other options, but the time you save on automation can offset these costs.
Best Free eCommerce Email Marketing
Not all businesses can afford to invest in high-end email marketing SaaS providers. Luckily, there are a few free options on the market that small businesses can use to start their email marketing efforts.
Look to some of the email marketing services above and give their free versions a try. Though some features may not be available, you can get a sense of whether or not the service is right for your business.
Email Marketing Strategies for eCommerce
The key to an effective eCommerce email marketing strategy is to convey the value of your products to customers in the way they want to see them. Whether you're automating your email sends or specifically targeting them, make sure you know what your customers want.
Here are five of the most effective eCommerce email marketing strategies:
Send Abandoned Cart Emails
We touched on this above, but abandoned cart emails have the highest click-through and conversion rates of any automated eCommerce email. These emails can give customers a small nudge to buy, and they take minimal effort to create. Create a few templates and automate the whole process to increase sales easily.
Use Personalization
Personalized emails are a great way to serve the same offerings to different segments. As we said above, a change as small as a subject line can improve open rates by up to 50%. It can also increase clicks, engagement, and conversions without taking a lot of effort to set up. Building out customer segments and learning what their interests are will go a long way here.
Create Promotional Emails
Running promotions is always a great way to drive sales. The key to running good promotional email campaigns is to segment your sends by user group. You can target groups that you know convert with emails that feature higher-priced products while targeting prospects with more popular items. This will let you maximize your conversions. Remember, all customers should get promotional emails, but not all customers will convert the same way.
Make Your Emails Appealing
Design matters, especially in marketing. Make sure your brand voice and image comes through strongly in your emails and try to change up the looks regularly. This will keep your customers engaged and convey value. If you don't have a dedicated marketing team, using pre-designed templates in your email marketing software is a good choice.
Run A/B Tests
We're a big proponent of A/B tests. This is when you show two different versions of something to random groups of people. Sending the same email with subtle variations to different segments can give you great insight into what works and what doesn't. You can learn what products to feature, what CTAs have the highest click-through rates, and more. Testing lets you better understand your customers and tailor your strategy.
You've Got Mail!
Email marketing continues to be one of the biggest drivers of traffic and revenue for eCommerce businesses. Follow the tips above and choose the right software and you're on your way to profitable email marketing.
You should also make sure to invest in eCommerce content marketing and eCommerce PPC to achieve the best results.