It’s hard to believe that email has been around for more than four decades. Despite its old age (for technology), email marketing continues to deliver the highest ROI for eCommerce marketers and remains a top marketing tactic for small and large retailers alike.
But, as we all know, the money is in the list. For email to continue its reign as king of digital ROI, eCommerce marketers must take every opportunity to grow lists and use effective strategies to keep subscribers engaged.
With the following strategies, you can capture more email signups and maximize your email marketing ROI:
Use an Effective Opt-in Offer
Opt-in offer, bonus content, lead magnet — regardless of what you call it, the purpose is to give people an incentive to join your email list. It sounds simple, but many eCommerce retailers don’t know how to create an enticing opt-in offer.
Email inboxes are extremely overcrowded these days. People won’t give up their contact information unless there is something in it for them.
Your incentive must be so good that it overrides the initial hesitation and compels people to provide their email in exchange for your offer. Whether you’re offering a helpful e-book, a downloadable checklist or a free consultation, your offer should provide clear value to your ideal customer.
Choose the Right Email Pop-up
There is no doubt about it; email pop-ups work. For every reader who finds them annoying, there are plenty more who won’t hesitate to sign up.
To reduce the risk of disturbing the online shopping experience, you need to be strategic with your pop-ups. There are many types of pop-ups, and some may work better for your store than others.
For example, exit-intent pop-ups appear when the user is about to leave the page. This doesn’t disrupt the shopping experience because the user was about to depart anyway.
There are also timed pop-ups, which can be set to appear after the user stays on your page for a specific length of time. With timed pop-ups, you can use A/B testing to nail down the perfect timing and optimize your conversions.
Pair Email Pop-Ups with a Triggered Welcome Series
Perhaps you’re already harnessing the power of pop-ups to capture leads. Now, it’s time to maximize their impact and pair them with an automated triggered welcome email.
When used properly, welcome emails are a revenue-generating machine for your store. While the average open rate of marketing mails hovers around 22 percent, welcome emails enjoy a 50-percent open rate, making them one of the most effective marketing campaigns to hit the inbox.
In addition, welcome emails give you a chance to introduce your brand and learn more about your new subscribers. This message from Title Nine is a great example. They inform new subscribers of what they can expect from their newsletter and encourage further sharing in exchange for a birthday surprise.
Set Up Triggered Email Series for Engagement
Why stop at an automated welcome email? Once you reap the benefits of a triggered email series, you’ll wonder why you didn’t use them sooner.
Automated triggered emails allow your eCommerce brand to send relevant and timely information to subscribers at multiple stages of the buying journey. From the moment you capture their email, you can nurture subscribers and build lasting relationships with them through a customized series of emails.
The key is to send the right type of mail at the right stage. For abandoned carts, send them pictures of their forgotten items with discount codes a few hours after the cart was left behind and again a day or two later. Send welcome mails right after their first purchase, thank you notes as soon as an order is complete and a follow-up once the order has been delivered.
Optimize Your Signup Form
You’ve placed an email signup form on your eCommerce site, but you’re not generating any leads. What’s the issue?
There could be multiple problems with your signup form. To diagnose the issue, perform A/B tests with your signup’s location, copy, call-to-action and number of form fields.
It sounds like a lot of work, but optimizing your signup form is worth the effort. The difference between a conversion and a disinterested user could be as simple as changing the color of your call-to-action button.
Segment and Personalize
Once you’ve captured a new subscriber, you don’t want to lose them. One irrelevant email could land you in the spam folder or make new leads quickly unsubscribe. The key to avoiding disengagement is segmenting and personalizing your email marketing campaigns.
It’s well known among eCommerce marketers that personalized emails drive a higher ROI. You can segment your email subscribers in an endless number of ways to deliver highly-relevant content to their inboxes. It’s quite easy to do with one of the many automated marketing solutions available today.
Use Social Media to Grow Your Email Marketing List
You probably place opt-in forms on your website. Why not expand your reach and target new audiences on social media?
Your social media followers have already expressed interest in your eCommerce brand. Take advantage of this by capturing their email addresses and engaging them through email.
Unlike social media, email marketing isn’t subject to the whims of changing algorithms. Simply put, it’s in your brand’s best interest to encourage your social followers to join your email marketing list.
Capturing email information on social media is as easy as running a contest, taking advantage of Facebook’s signup button or optimizing your bio on platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram.
Final Notes
Email list building is critical to your store’s success. By continuously generating new leads for your business, you can build personal relationships with new subscribers and grow a loyal audience of engaged subscribers. To maximize the ROI from your email marketing list, remember to test your strategies and adjust them accordingly to encourage brand engagement and drive revenue.
Erika Jolly Brookes is the Chief Marketing Officer at Springbot where she leads all brand, product, marketing campaigns and communications.@springbot
