Building an Email Marketing Strategy for Your eCommerce Store: a Complete Guide
If you run an eCommerce store, email marketing is an important part of connecting with your customers. Although you have other marketing options, email marketing allows you to build more meaningful relationships to grow your business.
Even though social media has become a crucial part of our daily lives, platforms like Twitter and Facebook still can’t replace good old-fashioned emails. Research shows that email marketing is significantly more effective than social media in attracting customers.
Utilizing email marketing in conjunction with other marketing strategies, like a customized landing page, can even increase conversion rates by up to 25%.
When you look at all of this, you can see why email marketing can be crucial to your eCommerce store. Whether you’re just starting out or want to expand, you’re going to need some email marketing ideas. In this article, we’ll explain how you can use an eCommerce email marketing strategy to grow your business.
Why Email Marketing for eCommerce?
It’s important that you build credibility and brand awareness as an eCommerce business owner. If you want to generate leads, you need to find sustainable channels to reach your target audience. Email marketing makes this possible. Let’s look at a few reasons why email marketing is important for eCommerce.
Impressive Reach and Open Rate
According to recent reports, emails reach about 79% of the people you send them to. Reports conducted by Mailchimp also show that, on average, 21.33% of the people that get your emails actually open them. This is most likely because people generally consider email content important, while social media is mostly visited for pleasure.
Emails are More Personal
When you’re building an eCommerce brand, sending emails lets you add a personal touch to your marketing. This can make your customers feel connected to your business in some way. You should also consider customizing these emails because some customers say they only engage with customized emails and messaging.
Easy to Measure
You’re going to spend on marketing when you’re building an eCommerce store, so why not consider marketing options that help you easily measure the results? With email marketing, you can track details like open rate, bounce rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate; all of which help you know where you stand with your customers.
Email Marketing Statistics You Should Know About
It helps to know a little more about email marketing statistics to understand how to best reach your customers. Below we’ve gathered some important statistics you should know to help you make informed decisions when you’re creating your email marketing strategy.
Over 4.2 Billion Email Users
Email marketing offers you limitless opportunities to reach potential customers. With over 4.2 billion email users, you can rest assured that the market is there.
You can technically send emails at any time, but it’s a good idea to use a planned email campaign because it can help you perfect your eCommerce email marketing strategy. One report shows that the best day to send email marketing campaigns is Friday, which was found to have a high click-through rate. If you didn’t know plan out your email campaign, you wouldn’t know that and may not think of the day you’re sending the email.
Impressive Returns on Investment (ROI)
More than 59% of marketers say that email provides the largest ROI for them. With more than 340 billion emails sent every day, it’s a great idea to get in on these high returns by using email marketing for your business.
Email marketing, unlike social media content, also allows you to customize messages to your customers. This feature makes your audience feel valued and can influence how they see your brand.
A Great Content Marketing Channel
Email marketing is a great channel for content marketing. In fact, email marketing was the most automated digital marketing channel in 2021. As a brand owner, you’ll probably want to pay attention to this channel. You can market a variety of content to your customers without boring them.
People Read Brand Emails in Under Ten Seconds
The average consumer’s attention span is vital for you to factor into your email campaign. A Statista report shows that people spent less than ten seconds reading brand emails in 2021.
This means you either grab their attention or lose them in the first few seconds after they open your email. Make it good—you’ve got no time to waste!
5 Key Emails to Set Up
Here are five key types of emails you should write as an eCommerce store owner.
The Welcome Email
Will your audience continue to open your emails? Your welcome email will determine that. Your job with this email is to make a good impression in the shortest time possible. Make sure it’s memorable because this will make for a soft landing for the rest of your campaigns.
If you get your welcome email right, you might just win some returning customers. A good welcome email should welcome your new subscribers, thank them for subscribing, and let them know what to expect. You may even want to consider adding some appealing, simple graphics to help get their attention.
The Engagement Email
Even though email marketing has a wide reach, you still have to make sure your emails engage your readers. Your goal in this email is to get your audience to take action. You can tell them you offer free shipping or some other incentive that would interest them. Getting them to claim incentives helps to keep their interest.
The Upsell Email
As a brand owner and marketer, your goal is to build relationships and make it easier to upsell. Upselling is ultimately getting a potential customer to buy a more expensive product. One of the most popular ways to do this is to suggest more expensive items or services that go well with what they’re already buying.
When a customer thinks, “Wow! I do need a [insert expensive product] to go with my [purchased product]!” it improves their average order values and is good for your bottom line.
The Cart Abandonment Email
Everybody has done this at one point or another.. You add tons of items to your cart and leave them there. Sometimes people forget to check out because of distractions. It could also be because of high shipping prices.
A cart abandonment email is a way to check on your customers and remind them about their items. You can also use this email to advertise cheaper shipping options.
The Win-Back Email
Eventually, someone is going to unsubscribe for whatever reason. A win-back email is your chance for them to tell you how you can address any issue they might’ve had. It lets you re-engage previous subscribers to see how you can get them back. It might not work 100% of the time, but why not give it a go?
How to Write for Your Audience
The biggest lesson in email marketing is understanding that it’s not generic. The best brands create a specific tone and style to address their audience. To have a meaningful relationship with your customers, you need to know how to write specifically for them.
Start by understanding their needs as customers. When you write emails that resonate with your customers, you sell to them indirectly by sustaining their interest. If they stay interested, your follow-up campaigns will most likely be well-received.
We’ve discussed that most emails are read in under ten seconds, so you don’t want to waste any time by writing long, boring emails. Keep it short, warm, and friendly. Don’t forget to use your emails to introduce new offers and specials to your customers. This shows them you have their interests in mind, which is a great way to strengthen your relationship.
Final Thoughts
Email marketing is a journey. If you want to be successful, you’ve got to learn the tricks of the trade. Knowing important eCommerce email marketing statistics like the ones we shared today will help you create more effective campaigns.
With sustainable campaigns, you can improve your conversion rates and ultimately get more sales. Remember, you can’t always capture 100% of your audience. Start small and celebrate each win.
7 Tips to Improve the Conversion Rate of Your Store
If you have an eCommerce store full of great products but you’re having trouble increasing your sales, you may be wondering what more you can do. We’ve got some tips you may not have tried that can significantly improve your store’s conversion rate and bring in more sales. Here are our top seven tips to improve the conversion rate of your store:
1. Implement a Chatbot
Consumers shop online because it’s fast and convenient, and they expect to have their questions answered right away. If it takes too long to get answers, they might go somewhere else where they can get faster service. Responsive customer service is right up there with low prices and great products in terms of importance to customers.
Sometimes it’s just not possible to be available to your customers day and night, but you don’t want that fact to cost you potential customers. Fortunately, there’s a way to provide 24/7 customer service without sitting at your computer all night just in case a customer has a question. Using a chatbot can help your customers get their questions answered quickly.
With advanced natural language technology, customers receive personalized attention from chatbots, which increases the chances of them completing their purchases. The quick and customized service improves customer satisfaction so your customers are more likely to return to your store and recommend it to their family and friends.
2.A/B Testing UX and Design Elements
User experience (UX) is the experience users have when they use your website and it has a lot to do with what your customer thinks about your store. UX design is purposely mapping out how your site looks and how it functions. The design elements of your store should be visually appealing, easy to use, and accessible to everyone.
So how do you figure out how well your site design is performing or if there’s a better option? A/B testing will help you find the answer and choose the most effective UX design to increase your store’s conversion rate.
With A/B testing—also known as split testing—you choose which element you want to test and how you’ll decide if it’s effective. For example, you could test two different versions of your product page to see which one gets the most conversions.
An A/B testing tool will help you run the test and analyze the results so that you can use the site design that’s most satisfying to your customers.
3.Website Personalization
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Personalized sites sell more products. In the past year alone, eCommerce businesses lost $756 billion because of shabby website personalization. With so much competition in the online shopping world, you’ve got to find ways to set your site apart. Personalizing your site is an effective way to stand out from your competitors.
To personalize your site effectively, you have to understand your customers by using analytic tools, cookies, and geolocation features. You can then personalize your website to the kinds of people who are most likely to visit your store. You can even create unique home pages for different customer groups.
Use cookies to learn if a visitor is new or returning, then direct them to the pages that will be most helpful for them. It’s best to personalize landing pages to where customers are coming from to provide a smooth transition and personalized touch. Don’t forget to keep your site updated with each season of the year, the latest trends, and upcoming holidays.
4. Video Content
Videos capture a customer’s attention in a way that text and pictures just can’t. Especially with eCommerce businesses, where customers can miss out on the human interaction part of in-person shopping, video content shows customers that you care and fosters an instant sense of trust.
When creating video content for your site, be sure to keep it short and get to the point quickly. As with everything else related to online shopping, customers want speed and efficiency and they can lose interest very fast.
Add a video to your landing page to associate a human face with your business. Or add video content to your email marketing to bring more visitors to your site and increase your shop’s conversion rate.
5. Pop-Ups
Pop-ups can increase your conversion rate if you use them the right way. Delayed pop-ups that don’t appear until a visitor is on a page for a certain amount of time are more effective than instant pop-ups. Make sure the user can easily close the pop-up window so they don’t get annoyed and leave your site.
Pop-ups can be used in a variety of ways to increase conversions. You could offer a discount using an exit pop-up when a customer tries to leave your site. Or you could try to instill a sense of urgency in your potential customer by using a pop-up to let them know a sale is almost over or that there are only a few of a particular product left in stock.
6. Review Plugins
People who shop online rely a lot on customer reviews when they’re deciding whether or not to buy something. In fact, a 2020 poll found that 94% of those surveyed were more likely to use a business that had positive reviews.
Review plugins can help you gather positive feedback so that potential customers feel more confident about shopping from your store.
7. Giveaway Plugins
Free gift giveaways are hard to resist. Whether you want to win a new customer, bring past customers back to your store, or get visitors to register on your site, tempting them with a free gift will probably do the trick.
Giveaway plugins let you customize the conditions that will add a free gift to your customer’s cart. Not only will a giveaway encourage them to take the action you want them to take, like making their first purchase, but it’ll also give your brand a positive image and turn them into loyal customers.
Final Thoughts
In the savage world of online competition, you need to make the most of every opportunity to set your store apart. Using our tips could help you make a name for your brand, increase your site’s conversion rate, and improve your store’s sales.
The Top Australian Ecommerce Conferences in 2023
Scaling an eCommerce business is no easy feat. As with anything else, learning from leaders in the space can help you avoid costly mistakes & learn tricks to hit your goals quicker. In order to scale in a reliable and profitable manner, the Blend AI team are big believers in attending, learning & networking at conferences.
Below is a list of the top ecommerce marketing conferences that have been announced for Australia in 2023 (& a couple this side 2023!). As the list grows, we will continue to expand this list.
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iMedia B2B eCommerce Summit Australia
Dates: 24-26 October 2022
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Whilst not technically a 2023 event, the iMedia B2B eCommerce Summit is not to be missed if you work in the B2B ecommerce space.
This is one of Australia’s biggest B2B ecommerce conferences. With the option to join over 25 keynotes & learn from business leaders behind some of Australia’s largest brands; iMedia is a great environment to immerse yourself in all things B2B ecommerce.
Some of the key speakers that have been announced include:
- Justin King - VP B2B, Chief Evangelist , Salsify
- Mark Brohan - Global Leader in B2B eCommerce Industry Research, Digital Commerce 360
- Chris Gourvelos - Senior Sales Manager - APAC, Spryker
- Jared Thomas - Co-Founder, Raizor
- Alice Fitch - Founder, Whola
- Motti Danino - Chief Operation Officer, Oro Inc
iMedia B2B eCommerce summit is not to be missed & is one of the last big eCom conferences in 2022.
eTail Australia 2023
Dates: 14-16 Feb 2023
Location: Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park, 161 Elizabeth St
eTail Australia positions itself as “Your only opportunity to learn from and network with Australia’s leading eCommerce and digital marketing retail leaders at one time”. eTail Australia is broken into interactive roundtables, workshops & networking with some of the brightest minds in eCommerce & retail digital marketing.
Some key names on the lineup of speakers set to speak this year include:
- Malin Gaertig - Head of Marketing, Hello Molly
- Joanna Robinson - Chief Marketing Officer, Chatime
- Mal Chia - Director, Ecom Nation
- Mangala Martinus - Managing Director, Payments Consulting Network
Sessions range from partnerships to marketing personalisation - led by marketers from some of Australia’s larger ecommerce brands; this is a conference not to be missed.
Retail Fulfilment Summit 2023
Dates: 22 - 24 Feb 2023
Location: Pullman Melbourne Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia
As the name suggests, the Retail Fulfilment Summit is designed to give attendees access to the latest tools & information on the fulfilment side of ecommerce. Ensuring that you are ahead of the curve when it comes to fulfilment is essential for ecommerce businesses in 2023.
With potential wide ranging benefits from improving customer satisfaction & retention, warehouse efficiency & ultimately, bottom line earnings.
The Retail Fulfilment Summit is set over 2 days & structured around helping guests improve their ecommerce, shipping & order fulfilment processes & strategies. Speakers from previous years events have come from companies such as WooliesX, Target, Microsoft, Baby Bunting & T2 Tea.
Power Retail All Star Bash 2023
Dates: 9 March 2023
Location: TBC
Whilst not a conference as such, this one night event celebrates the biggest & best ecommerce businesses in Australia.
With last year's event hosting over 1000 attendees & some of Australia's most forward thinking online retail brands, this event is a great place to network & learn about all things ecommerce from market leaders.
Retail Fest 2023
Dates: 28 - 31 March 2023
Location: Gold Coast Conference & Exhibition Centre
From the team behind Retail Global comes an online retail conference in a brand new format. Previous, Retail Global events have taken place over 3 days however.
In a new format, Retail Fest is a week long gathering for the Australian ecommerce & online retail community. The week will include an Awards evening, Marketplace Meetups, Sponsored Parties, eCommerce workshops, Charity Gala along with the traditional 3-day Retail Global conference & exhibition.
The 2023 list of speakers is yet to be announced however previous speakers have come from names like Booktopia, Kogan, Platypus & Naked Wines; if previous speakers are anything to by, the 2023 Retail Fest is not to be missed.
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iMedia Online Retail Summit Australia 2023
Dates: 3-5 May 2023
Location: Gold Coast
Booking link: TBC
iMedia is one of the most established eCommerce conferences in Australia. The lineup & agenda for the 2023 conferences hasn’t been announced yet, however events in previous years have featured leaders from Australia’s largest ecommerce brands & software companies.
At the time of writing this post, the lineup & agenda for the Online Retail Summit Australia 2023 has not been locked in. We will be updating this post when details are shared by the iMedia team. Check back here to find out more about the 2023 agenda & list of speakers.
With opportunities to network with a range of people in the Australian online retail space, sessions around the strategy & planning of ecommerce; the iMedia Online Retail Summit Australia 2023 is not to be missed.
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Online Retailer 2023
Dates: 19 - 20 July 2023
Location: ICC Sydney
Booking link: TBC
Online Retailer is the largest ecommerce conference in Australia. From what is already Australia’s largest ecommerce conference, the 2023 Online retailer conference is set to have 6 stages & 60 speakers; making it the largest Online Retailer event to date.
Some of the features of this event shared by the team include:
- 60+ speakers over 6 stages
- 36 track presentations including the NEW! B2B, CxO and Digital Payment Innovation tracks
- 17 Tech Talks
- 130 exhibitors showcasing new tech and solutions
This two day event is set to include informative showcases, case studies from leading online brands, insights sharing sessions & panel discussions with speakers. With the speakers yet to be announced, this will be a conference to keep on your radar.
This sums up all the big ecommerce conferences in AU that have been announced so far. We will continue to add to this list with new Australian ecommerce conferences & expos in 2023. If there are any additional ecommerce conferences you would like to see on this list, let us know!
