Email Automation: Pro Tips for Ecommerce Marketers to Win Big

Email marketing continues to reign as the highest performing marketing channel for return on investment (ROI), according to the 2018 Email Marketing Industry Census.

It makes sense, then, that so many companies are vying to get the attention of their current and potential customers through their inboxes making the competition fierce.

As an ecommerce marketer, what are the best practices for you to gain subscribers and have your emails stand out amongst them all?

The answer is email automation.

Email Marketing By The Numbers

• The number of global email users is growing exponentially: Statista reported in 2017 there were 3.7 billion email users worldwide, and projected that by 2021, that number will grow to 4.1 billion users.

• Email is the top lead gen tool: 89% of marketers say that email is the leading marketing channel for bringing in leads.

• Shoppers who purchase from emails received spend more: Online shoppers who purchase items from an email spend up to 138 percent more than those who do not receive email promotions.

• Emails can create brand ambassadors:Email subscribers are nearly 4x more likely to share your content on social media than leads who came in from any other channel.

• Email marketing is the highest-rated channel for retaining and acquiring customers: Studies reveal that 81% and 80% of retail professionals indicate email marketing as the highest driver of customer retention and acquisition. It’s a win-win!

What is Email Automation?

Email automation allows you to send out targeted messages at designated times or based on specific actions, to build personalized relationships with past, current and future customers.

It is the most effective way to engage email marketing, because you are able to use analytics to find the right cadence for your online store, keeping your brand top-of-mind.

Benefits of Email Automation

A lot goes into creating great email campaigns, but you don’t have time to create an individual email for each of your customers.

However, you can’t send a general blast to your entire database either, because when your customers are receiving messages that are irrelevant to them, they will unsubscribe.

Luckily, email automation tools, like Springbot, can help you craft the perfect message to each of your customer segments and ensure that you’re sending the right emails to the right audience at the right time.

A great thing about email automation is that you can use the data from each of your campaigns to measure their effectiveness and see what works the best for your business.

1. Email drip campaigns have an 80% higher open rate and 300% higher click-through-rates.

Drip campaigns help keep your leads engaged by sending automated, scheduled emails during a specific time period.

Marketing and email automation tools allow you to automate your outreach, keep your brand top-of-mind to potential customers that are interested in your product or services, but are not quite ready to buy.

2. Personalized emails can lead to a 6X higher purchase rate than a one-size fits all approach.

Email automation platforms, allow you to customize your segments based on demographic, social and transactional data to help you confidently plan your next marketing move, with a clear understanding of your customers and their purchasing habits.

3. Email automation can help you grow your subscriber lists.

With so many online retailers and email users worldwide, competing for your customer’s attention is half the battle.

Adding a data-coop, like Springbot Exchange, to your email automation lineup will help you increase your subscriber list with quality potential buyers, up to 10% in just three months.

4. Use important metrics to enhance your automated emails.

There are many KPIs for you to measure to ensure your campaigns are performing well, 29 of them to be exact.

Email analytics help you find the sweet spot for your email marketing campaigns, so you aren’t blindly sending out messages to your customers and hoping for the best.

5. Automated emails help you keep your brand consistent.

Since you don’t have to worry about scheduling and segmenting each email to a specific audience, you can spend more quality time crafting the perfect message and keeping your brand consistent across all of your customers.

Must-have Automated Ecommerce Emails

There are many different industries that sell online and each one will tailor their email messages in a customized way to engage with their customers.

With that being said, there are specific triggered-emails that every online store can benefit from, no matter what industry they are in.

1. Welcome emails.

When someone signs up for your emails, send them a welcome email and let them know what type of exclusive information they will receive know that they’re on the list.

NaturllyCurly’s welcome email example.

2. Curation emails.

Curated emails are very popular in the ecommerce world because it allows marketers to showcase their best selling items and it also allows them to segment customers based on their specific interests.

See the example here.

3. Discount emails.

These are also common in the industry because they work really well.

Discount emails are great to offer to customers who may be on the fence about ordering a product, however, don’t fall into the trap of sending them too often.

Doing so can harm your profit margins if you aren’t careful. Rather, send them to leads who are already engaging with your marketing campaigns.

Cutter & Buck example discount email.

4. Abandoned cart emails.

Most online store owners can relate to the dreaded abandoned cart.

With so many distractions and online competitors, it’s a commonality in the ecommerce industry.

Abandoned cart emails are great because it serves as a friendly reminder to the shopper that they are missing out on your awesome products!

This is also an opportunity to throw in a discount or other incentive to entice first-time buyers to feel more comfortable making a purchase.

Bliss Cosmetics example abandoned cart email.

5. Order confirmation emails.

One may think of this message as just a digital receipt, but it is so much more than that!

Order confirmations give your customers piece of mind, knowing that the store has received their order and providing them with expectations of how soon they can track their shipping progress.

Costco Wholesale example order confirmation email series.

6. Anniversary emails.

On a subscriber’s birthday or some type of anniversary, you can use automated emails to send promo codes.

Birthday emails are an extremely effective type of triggered email because they generate up to 342% more revenue than other promotional emails.

Bliss Cosmetics anniversary/birthday email example.

7. Win-back emails.

Win-back emails are a great way to re-engage, inform and hopefully, convert those on your email list who haven’t been as active as your other subscribers.

You can showcase new brands, offer discounts, encourage webinar attendance.

Whatever it is, make sure you are staying top of funnel – showcasing who you are and why they should keep you top of mind.

Blue Apron’s win back email example.

Executive Summary

When it comes to digital marketing, email is still king.

However, many retailers are still missing the mark when it comes to carrying out an effective email marketing strategy.

With consumers’ inboxes filling up, email automation is a sure-fire way to make your message stand out among the rest.

Email automation may sound like a mouth-full for those just getting started, but with the right automation tool in place, you’ll have all your campaigns scheduled in no-time and wishing you started years ago.

By following the tips in this guide and ensuring to include the essential triggered-emails in your lineup, your store will be set up for success and higher conversions.