Email Marketing for Ecommerce

Understanding email marketing for ecommerce is important for online marketing. It’s important to set up an email marketing strategy in order to maintain a relationship with customers. Whether you already run a small business or are looking to start your own ecommerce site, your business’s marketing strategies should include sending newsletters on a schedule, sending offers and discounts to customers regularly, and sending other email solicitations. Continue reading to learn more about email marketing for ecommerce.

What Is Email Marketing for Ecommerce?

Email marketing is a form of marketing that is still highly effective and powerful for ecommerce companies. It can be used to give customers information about their orders and inform them about the latest products and deals.

Companies must plan their email content carefully in order to make sure that they are not sending too many emails or emails that do not provide value to the customer. They also need to make sure that they do not spam anyone with unwanted emails.

The benefits of email marketing include:

  • Forming an established relationship with the customer
  • Being able to reach a wider audience
  • Being more cost-effective than other forms of marketing
  • Offering a sense of security for customers who have concerns about online shopping

How Can Email Marketing Be Used for Ecommerce?

Email marketing is a very cost-effective way for ecommerce companies to market their products. It can be used for anything from product promotion to customer retention and loyalty.

It is important that the ecommerce company has a responsive list of customers because this makes it easier for them to send messages that will be well received. They can also use email marketing as a way of maintaining a relationship with their customers by sending out newsletters and other relevant and newsworthy messages.

How to Write Emails That Get Read

Here is how to write emails that resonate with your target audience and drive more traffic to support sales.

Things to keep in mind when writing compelling emails:

  • Be genuine, don't be pushy or too sales-y
  • Include a "hook" at the beginning of the email to grab the reader's attention and make them want to read more. Make your first sentence a question that gets people interested in learning more.
  • Use bullet points where appropriate — it makes it easy for readers to scan over your content and pick up on what is most important.
  • Use bold font throughout your email — bolding makes it possible to tell two stories simultaneously throughout your article. Tell a narrative to both the conscious and unconscious mind of your reader.

Email Marketing Practices for Ecommerce Businesses

Sending emails to customers is one of the most effective marketing channels for ecommerce businesses. It's also one of the easiest channels to set up and maintain.

One way to increase conversions is by sending emails with discount offers, sale notifications, new arrivals, or other time-sensitive messages. Ecommerce businesses should also provide options for customers to unsubscribe from newsletters or promotions they no longer want to receive.

Below are five email marketing best practices that will help you maximize conversions and sales for your ecommerce business.

  1. Offer discounts in your email campaigns
  2. Send out the right content at the right time
  3. Include promo codes in your email campaigns
  4. Give customers control over what type of content they see on their inboxes
  5. Promote special offers on social media

Pricing Strategies for Sending Offers

Email marketing is a powerful way to drive traffic and boost conversions, but it can be a difficult process when it comes to pricing an offer for your email list. Successful email marketers have to find the right balance between being competitive and being profitable. This checklist will help you navigate the choppy waters of email marketing pricing and avoid some common mistakes.

1. Price Products Competitively

Consumers are savvy and do not like being taken advantage of. With so many options out there, it's unlikely that any one company will be able to charge a premium price without consequence.

2. Price by Customer Value Inside Your Email Offers

The best way to offer customers the right value-based pricing is to segment your email offers based on the customer's price range. Set up your email auto-responder with data segments so you can identify which customers are most valuable and send them the offers they want at the price they can afford.

3. Price by the Smallest Possible Increment

There are many benefits to pricing in the smallest possible increment. You'll save time on having to repeatedly change the price of your product in response to changes in demand. Additionally,  it will be easier for customers to understand how much they'll have to pay for your product, and it will be easier for them to predict their future costs, which can help with budgeting.

4. Adjust Prices for Inflation

There are many different reasons why prices may need to be adjusted for inflation, such as increasing wages or the cost of raw materials. Adjusting for inflation should be a gradual process whenever possible to make it easier for your customers to afford increases, while making it psychologically easier for them to rationalize purchasing.

5. Clearly Show Charges for Shipping and Handling

Shipping and handling charges are an issue that retailers have to deal with every day. In today's marketplace, many customers will abandon their purchase if they can't find a shipping cost upfront. That means that the retailer has lost the sale and the customer is out of luck.

6. Consider the Sunk Cost Fallacy When Pricing

The sunk cost fallacy is a popular economic principle that explains the human tendency to continue investing in a project that is not going well, rather than abandoning it and accepting all lost investments as a sunk cost. When sending out offers, sometimes you have to cut losses and adapt your business to accommodate your market. This may mean leaving current projects in order to offer up entirely different products.

7. Give Customers Discounts for Signing Up for a Subscription Service Before They've Tried It

Offering discounts to first-time customers is an excellent way to incentivize them to sign up for your service. It should be noted that this strategy works best when the product or service is priced on a monthly basis, as opposed to a one-time fee.

8. Set Prices That Reflect the Customer’s Budget

Pricing can be a tricky thing for any company, so be sure to research your target audience to better understand how you should price your products. Products that are too expensive or too cheap for your target audience will negatively affect your business.

Optimizing an Email Strategy for Ecommerce

If you are looking for ways to optimize your email strategy, then the following tips can help:

  • Invest in Marketing Automation Tools:
    Marketing automation is a great way to increase the engagement on your site. It can be used for automating marketing campaigns. It also allows you to segment your list based on subscriber behavior, interests, etc.

  • Create High-Quality Content That Will Convert:
    The content should be informative and interesting to read. The aim of this kind of content is to provide value to customers by giving them something useful.

  • Sending Emails Only When There Is a High Probability of Getting Engagement:
    Email is still the most popular form of communication, but it's also the one that is least trusted. People ignore much of their inbox. Message senders still need to go through the work of getting people to open their emails, and there are tricks to making that happen. The best trick is to send emails during times of the day when people are most likely to check their emails —  think right after lunch, just before going to the office, just before the work day ends, etc.

Final Thoughts

Now that you understand a great deal more about email marketing for ecommerce, it’s time to consider the next step in putting together your email marketing campaigns.

To get started, we recommend creating a list of objectives to help you with the rollout.

Best practices to use in email marketing for ecommerce:

  • Add a clear CTA (call to action) to the email
  • Keep the subject line concise
  • Include social media links in the footer of the email
  • Create a capture form in the email that can be easily found
  • Use images and videos in the email
  • Include a call to action

Checklist could include questions, like:

  • Email Content Quality: Does the content of the email provide value to the customer?
  • Email Frequency: Are emails sent too frequently, too infrequently, or at the right frequency?
  • Email Length: Is the email text too long or too short?
  • Phone Number in Emails: Do the emails contain a phone number for customers to contact you?
  • Content Design: Are visuals used in the emails to make it more likely customers will purchase your offers?

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the benefits of email marketing?

The benefits of email marketing are well documented. Email marketing is an efficient way to reach out to your customer base, especially if you are targeting a niche market. It is also the most cost-effective form of advertising because it requires no additional costs other than the production and sending of the emails.

Email marketing can be used for branding, lead generation, and customer retention. The best part about email marketing is that it gives your customers the opportunity to opt-out or unsubscribe from your newsletter should they no longer want to be on your list.

What are the different types of email marketing strategies for ecommerce?

Email marketing is a lucrative strategy for online business. There are many types of email marketing such as newsletters, autoresponders, and lead generation campaigns.

Email marketing is a direct channel that can be utilized to generate leads and drive sales.

Do I need technical knowledge to set up an email marketing strategy for my business?

No, you don't need technical knowledge to set up an email marketing strategy for your business. But, it helps if you know what you are doing or know someone who can help. Here is a helpful resource to get you started.

How do I set up an email marketing strategy for my business?

We recommend keeping your emails short and sweet so they don’t overwhelm your audience. Use visuals wherever possible — especially if the content you are generating has anything to do with design or images. The main point is to pique the reader's interest so they will be tempted enough to open the email and read it. See our guide Email Marketing 101 for more information.