Best Practice Article
How to grow your ecommerce with email marketing
Email marketing is a key component in the highly competitive, brand-driven world of ecommerce. According to Forrester research, 88% of visitors to ecommerce websites abandon their shopping basket without completing their purchase (May 2010). This leaves companies without an opportunity to connect and target potential customers. If you are able to encourage potential customers to sign-up to your company newsletter or register their data on the website this will give you an opportunity to start an ongoing dialogue and build a relationship with them. In this month’s Best Practice article Simon Bowker, MD of eCircle UK gives advice on how to effectively collect potential customer data and to increase online sales through email marketing.
Invite potential customers to sign-up to your newsletter
When designing your website homepage ensure that the newsletter subscription box or button is in a prime position and that there is a clear call to action for visitors to sign-up. When you design the newsletter registration form, remember to ask for the necessary information to help you to learn more about your customer and what they are interested in (e.g. newsletter frequency, preferred products). The registration form should be short and simple, therefore only request sufficient information for newsletter personalisation.
Stay in touch
It is really important that you maintain the expectations created during the registration process. Always include a mix of information – marketing messages, useful tips, and articles. Keep an appropriate tone that reflects your brand. Determine what send-out interval is best for your customers and stick to it. Running a competition is also a great way to generate interest around your company and it is also an excellent way to direct visitors to your website and to collect information for your database.
Let your customers feel exclusive
Give your potential customers an opportunity to benefit from special deals/offers that are appealing specifically to them. Send highly targeted email communications with relevant information so that they will only receive emails related to the products they are interested in.
Offer timed promotions
Limited discounts or special offers are an excellent driver to push online sales. Many people consider making a purchase but do not; therefore, offer them a discount valid for a specific timeframe to create a sense of urgency. This will help you to capture their data and also encourage them to complete their online purchases.
Listen to your customer’s needs
Visitors to your website will also search the internet for more information and the best deals they can receive for the product/service they are looking for. Inform your website visitors about the other things they should consider beyond factors such as price or shipping cost. This way, you will anticipate their needs and clearly show them all the benefits of an online shopping experience with you.
Build trust with your database
For many potential customers, the ultimate purchase decision goes well beyond price, shipping costs or delivery times. Smart consumers are interested in the knowledge put into the products you are offering and product reviews. Emails incorporating product information and reviews offer great value in terms of product branding and word-of-mouth promotion. By building this trust, your target audience will see you as an expert on these products, promoting confidence in future purchases from your website.
Embrace social media
Create a professional company blog, inviting visitors to your website to join in order to receive the latest updates on your company and product lines. Subscribing to a blog only takes a person’s email address and you will have the opportunity to collect these contacts and market them via email. Also promote your company’s Facebook and Twitter pages, as increasingly more people are relying on recommendations from friends and promotional offers via these social media tools.
Test test test!
Once you have built a clean, segmented database and your email has been designed, it is time to test your campaign. At first, try sending out two different emails (split your list in half and change the subject lines or part of the contents) to see which one works best. Best practice shows that slight changes can make a huge difference. Once you know which message works best, you can begin to optimise it and modify your email marketing to ensure that you are always in touch with your customers.
This article is a summary of eCircle’s newsletter "Inside Digital Marketing". If you wish to receive further news from the email marketing sector please subscribe here: http://www.ecircle.com/en/newsletter
