Email Marketing for E-commerce in 2024: Turn Clicks into Customers
Everyone says email marketing is the top money-maker for e-commerce businesses. According to research, you get $36 to $42 back for every dollar spent. But your reality seems different, doesn’t it?
Why aren’t your numbers matching up? Your open rates are low, and your attempts to turn first-time buyers into loyal customers just aren’t working.
Is effective email marketing for e-commerce out of reach for your store, or could there be a gap in how you’re approaching it? Let’s figure out what might be going wrong and explore how you can start seeing the results you’ve been hoping for.
Deliverability Should Be Your #1 Concern in 2024
Email deliverability means making sure your emails land in your subscribers’ inboxes instead of disappearing into the spam folder or bouncing back.
In our experience, poor deliverability is often why email marketing for small businesses doesn’t yield great results.. When your emails don’t reach the inbox, not as many people see your products and your campaigns won’t make much of an impact.
In 2024, ISPs have tightened up their policies. They’re using more advanced spam filters and stricter domain reputation rules to block scams and filter out unreliable senders.
To consistently reach the inbox, you need:
- Subscribers who want to receive your emails,
- Content that people want to read,
- A reputable platform to send your emails from.
At Campaign Refinery, we break down email deliverability into three key areas:
- Sender reputation, including email list hygiene, email content, and IP reputation.
- Strategy for broadcasts and campaigns.
- Technical setup, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Our customers enjoy a big boost in deliverability because our platform handles the tough stuff.
Thanks to our impeccable IP reputation, you can send unlimited emails without worrying about hitting spam filters. Our automatic list-cleaning feature weeds out harmful addresses to make your email marketing efforts smoother and more effective.
How to Do Email Marketing for E-commerce
The basic steps for e-commerce email marketing aren’t all that different from other sectors, like email marketing for the construction industry or real estate email marketing.
We recommend this six-step process as a guide:
- Devise your strategy: Your email marketing strategy answers why people would want to receive your emails in the long run. Simply sending discounts isn’t a lasting strategy, since it only works a couple of times.
- Plan for different stages of the customer lifecycle: Most subscribers aren’t ready to spend money right after they sign up. Plan how you’ll support them as they move from recognizing a problem to purchasing a solution.
- Build your email list: To grow your email list, you need to draw in people who are genuinely interested and get them to subscribe. Offer incentives like a special discount on their first purchase, exclusive access to new products, or a free ebook or checklist related to your niche.
- Automate recurring scenarios: Set up automatic emails for common situations, like welcoming new subscribers or reminding them about items in their cart. Email marketing automation saves you time and ensures you consistently communicate with your audience.
- Create compelling content: Every e-commerce email needs to capture attention and drive action. Your content should be relevant, engaging, and actionable to encourage clicks and conversions.
- Keep an eye on your metrics: Regularly check how your emails are performing. Look at your open rates, click-throughs, and conversion rates to see how people engage with your messages. Adjust your strategy, content, or automation sequences to improve results and better meet the needs of your audience.
Email Marketing Strategy for E-commerce
Experts often make the concept of strategy sound complicated, but it doesn’t have to be.
Simply put, strategy means taking a different approach from your competitors to provide value to your customers.
With this in mind, your email marketing strategy should consider:
- Your products,
- Your customers,
- Your competitors.
Figure out how your emails will benefit your customers and how they will stand out from what your competitors are sending.
If your strategy is to copy your competitors, you won’t stand a chance in the market.
Even with something as basic as an order confirmation email, there are ways to make it stand out and be more useful. For example, you could include recommended products to encourage further purchases, or useful tips on how to use the product for added value.
Segment and Group Your Audiences Wisely
As part of your email marketing strategy, you need to realize that different subscribers have different needs and interests at different times. For example, a new subscriber to your newsletter shouldn’t get the same promotional emails as someone who has already made multiple purchases.
To figure out how to segment your list, start by analyzing your customer data and behaviors.
Ask yourself questions like: Do certain regions respond better to specific types of products or offers? Does engagement change a lot between mobile and desktop subscribers?
Use what you learn to create campaigns that meet the unique characteristics and needs of each segment.
Managing your segmentation well helps you reach your audience with content and offers they’ll love. Our new segmentation feature lets you split your audience into different groups based on various criteria. You can then mix and match these groups to build a custom audience.
This way, you can pick two different segments and email all the subscribers in both groups at once. With this feature, you can create highly targeted campaigns that really connect with each recipient.
Serve Each Subscriber Personalized Content
Part of your strategy should be to customize each subscriber’s experience. This approach is what we call email personalization.
Personalization helps strengthen your relationship with customers by making each email seem like it was crafted just for them.
While a simple way to personalize is to include the subscriber’s name, try to think outside the box for a bigger impact.
For example, celebrate customer milestones like the anniversary of their first purchase. Or send tips on how to get the most out of the products they’ve bought. This way, you make your emails both personal and useful.
Bake Engagement into Your Strategy
When customers engage with your emails, ISPs are more likely to recognize your messages as valuable, which will boost your inboxing rate.
At Campaign Refinery, we have a unique engagement gamification system where subscribers earn points every time they interact with your content.
Once they gather enough points, they can redeem them for cool rewards like:
- PDF Downloads,
- Membership Access,
- Training Videos,
- Special Live Events,
- Special Discounts,
- Bonus Chapters.
Our clients have seen their engagement metrics skyrocket—by up to 8 times—thanks to this innovative system.
E-commerce Email Marketing for Different Stages of the Customer Lifecycle
Making a sale is more about showing your audience how your products can solve their problems than just promoting what you sell.
Each email should positively impact your audience’s situation:
- If they’re unsure how to solve their problem, educate them about possible solutions.
- If they’re struggling to choose the right product, explain the pros and cons of each option.
- If they’re hesitant about committing, reassure them with customer testimonials or a flexible return policy.
- If they need a final nudge, offer them a discount.
People usually experience six stages in their relationship with your business. At each stage, you need to identify the key moments where you interact with your customers and consider how email marketing can make a positive difference.
The table below outlines the six stages of the customer lifecycle, key moments for each, and email marketing ideas to effectively engage customers at each stage:
| Stage | Key Moments | Email Ideas |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | First visit to the websiteSigning up for a newsletter | ‣ Welcome email ‣ Introductory brand story email ‣ Overview of products/services |
| Interest | Browsing productsReturning to the website | ‣ Product highlights ‣ Feature-focused content ‣ Webinar or live event invitations |
| Research | Comparing productsReading reviews | ‣ Detailed product comparisons ‣ Customer testimonials ‣ FAQ emails |
| Purchase | Adding items to cartFirst purchase | ‣ Abandoned cart reminders ‣ Purchase confirmation ‣ Cross-sell recommendations |
| Retention | Post-purchase follow-upAsking for feedback | ‣ Thank you email ‣ Customer satisfaction survey ‣ Tips on product usage |
| Loyalty | Repeat purchasesReferrals | ‣ Loyalty program benefits ‣ Exclusive offers ‣ Personalized discountsAsk for referrals |
Email Marketing Automation Workflows for E-commerce
Email marketing for e-commerce is almost impossible without automation because it lets you manage large volumes of emails without constant manual effort.
With automation, your subscribers receive your emails as soon as specific actions or conditions get triggered. You’ll need to choose the right triggers and actions and connect them together.
For example, you set up a workflow to send a series of educational emails after a customer buys a product that requires some knowledge to operate, such as a camera or fitness equipment.
Automation workflows also:
- Save you time.
- Automate your responses.
- Help nurture leads at various stages of the customer journey.
- Personalize the audience’s experience based on their interactions with your brand.
Let’s look at essential email marketing automation workflows that’ll ramp up your retail email marketing.
A Welcome Email Series
A welcome email campaign kicks off right after someone signs up for your emails. This might be when they join your platform, fill out a form, or buy something.
The sequence’s job is to greet your new subscribers and leave a good first impression.
Let’s look at four-piece series:
- Introduction: This initial email thanks the new subscriber for joining and gives a brief overview of what your brand offers.
- Highlight products: Send an email showcasing your top-selling electronics, like smartphones or laptops, with links to reviews and user testimonials.
- Insider tips: Share helpful tips or guides on using electronics or new tech trends.
- Exclusive offer: Offer an exclusive sale or a special offer just for the subscribers going through the welcome sequence.
The example below uses a vibrant and engaging design to welcome new members. The image reinforces the brand’s focus on gardening enthusiasts, and the 10% discount code encourages immediate engagement.
Cart Abandonment Emails
Abandoned cart emails go out to people who started the checkout process but left before buying anything.
These emails remind shoppers what they were looking at and encourage them to come back and finish their purchase.
To motivate people to complete their purchases, you can include:
- Coupon codes,
- Free shipping offers,
- Images of the products they considered,
- Call-to-action buttons that make it easy to return to their cart.
Check out this example of an effective abandoned cart email from Grove Co.
The subject line is clear and makes the reader curious, while the prominent email CTA makes it easy to return to the cart and claim the free gift.
Winback Emails
Winback campaigns target one-time customers who haven’t shown up on your radar for a while. Their main goal is to encourage these customers to come back and make another purchase or reactivate their account.
Why focus on these customers?
Because it’s at least five times cheaper to bring back a previous customer than to attract a new one.
Plus, winback emails are easy to automate — you can set them up to send based on when the customer last made a purchase.
Check out this smart example of a winback email from FilterBuy.
They automatically send out the email three months after a customer buys a filter. The email includes a helpful tip that also benefits the company.
They make it super easy to repurchase by listing the name and model of the last filter bought. And the five-percent discount gives the customer that final push to buy again.
Re-engagement Emails
The purpose of a re-engagement campaign is to reactivate readers who have stopped interacting with your emails. And if they don’t start engaging again, you should consider removing them from your list.
A re-engagement campaign:
- Keeps your email list fresher by filtering out unengaged subscribers.
- Increases overall interaction with your emails, including opens and clicks.
- Improves your reputation with ISPs and enhances your deliverability.
So, how do you run a re-engagement campaign?
Step 1: Start with an email to remind your subscribers of your value and ask if they still want to hear from you. Offer discounts, share news, or invite them to update their preferences.
Step 2: Follow up with targeted emails based on their response — or lack thereof. If there’s a positive response, a second message that deepens the connection. If there’s no response, send a gentle reminder.
Step 3: Set a clear deadline for the last opportunity to engage. This creates urgency and may prompt those last-minute engagements.
The email below shows a successful re-engagement campaign from an e-commerce retailer.
What makes it effective?
- It gently reminds the subscriber about the company and what it sells.
- It features a large button that makes it easy to visit the website.
- It highlights the best-selling products.
- It offers free shipping.
Behavior-Triggered Discounts
You can create workflows that carry out different actions based on specific behaviors. For example, if someone clicks to see a free demo on your website, you can set a behavioral trigger to automatically send them an email with the demo video.
You can also set up behavioral triggers to send tailored email coupons. For example, if a customer often looks at a specific product but hasn’t bought it yet, you can send them an email offering a special discount on that item.
To find the best moments for these discounts, look at your customer data for common behaviors that show interest in a purchase but lack follow-through.
For example:
- Reading reviews on a product.
- Clicking on a product link from a marketing email.
- Comparing two products on the website.
- Adding products to a wishlist.
In the campaign below, Feast Coffee offers five percent off to users who use the Subscribe & Save function on its website.
Lead Nurture Campaigns
The goal of a lead nurturing campaign is to guide existing leads toward making a purchase.
You achieve this by creating a series of touchpoints that unfold into a story about your brand and product over time. This story helps build trust and confidence in your leads, gradually boosting their interest in your product and brand until they’re ready to buy.
For example, imagine you’re a company that sells high-quality, eco-friendly kitchen appliances.
Your lead nurture campaign might go like this:
- Introduction: Send an email that introduces your brand’s mission to make kitchens greener.
- Product showcase: Follow up with an email that showcases your best-selling products and includes testimonials from satisfied customers.
- Product demo: Send out a detailed message demonstrating your products. Show their efficiency and ease of use to give leads a real sense of how your products work.
- Educational content: Send an email with educational content about the importance of eco-friendly living and how your products contribute to this lifestyle.
- Special offer: Conclude the series with an email that includes a special offer, such as a discount code or an invitation to an exclusive online demo.
This email from Caraway is a great example of showcasing your product by highlighting its advantages over competitors.
New Arrivals or Back-in-Stock Emails
These emails keep your customers up-to-date about new products in your inventory or items that are back in stock after being unavailable.
Your goal is to excite your audience with fresh options or recapture the interest of customers who were previously unable to purchase a desired product. Plus, these emails drive traffic back to your store.
To make your messages more effective, target them towards the most interested segments. For example, send new arrival updates based on customers’ past buying habits or send back-in-stock emails only to those who have shown a clear interest in being notified.
Take a look at this eye-catching back-in-stock email from a company that sells apartment plants and planters.
Transactional Messages
Transactional emails are automated messages sent to customers to confirm and update them about their specific transactions.
As an e-commerce store, you need transactional emails to keep your customers informed about the status of their orders and transactions. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use them as a marketing tool.
You can use these as touchpoints to enhance customer experience and engagement:
- Order confirmation,
- Shipping confirmation,
- Payment success/failure,
- Return/refund confirmation,
- Subscription renewal reminder.
This minimal account confirmation email from Headway, the book summary app, shows how you can turn a transactional message into an opportunity to deliver value to your customers.
Email Marketing Metrics for E-commerce
Meeting your sales targets isn’t a one-shot deal. You have to consistently put in effort to stay on course and prevent your competitors from swiping your customers.
That’s why you need to keep an eye on your email marketing metrics. It helps you create and sustain revenue through your email campaigns.
We recommend tracking these key email marketing metrics:
- Deliverability,
- Open rates,
- Click-through rates,
- Conversion rates,
- Unsubscribe rates,
- Bounce rates,
- List growth rates,
- Return on investment (ROI).
The Toolkit for Smart E-commerce Email Campaigns — Campaign Refinery
To get ahead of your email marketing competitors, you need to team up with a platform that amplifies your visibility and helps you skyrocket your engagement rates.
In other words, you need Campaign Refinery.
Our platform is packed with all the features you need to transform your email list into a profitable revenue channel:
- Unmatched deliverability: Ensure your emails consistently hit inboxes.
- Effortless list cleaning: Automatically maintain a pristine email list.
- Robust automation tools: Streamline processes with our sophisticated Branch & Rule builder.
- Dynamic engagement tools: Boost subscriber interaction with gamified elements.
- Extensive campaign library: Quickly deploy proven email strategies.
- Advanced segmentation: Target precisely with sophisticated tag-based segmentation.
Ready to turn every email into an opportunity? Apply to join Campaign Refinery today!
