Essential Email Marketing Strategies for eCommerce Businesses

What’s the first channel that comes to mind when you think of marketing your business? If you answered social media, you’ve probably encountered the complexity and cost of targeting on Facebook, Instagram, or other similar channels. If you thought of TV ads, print media, or ads on popular websites, your business probably has a fairly large budget to spend on marketing. If you answered email marketing, you may be on the right track with your strategy.

There are many different marketing options, and one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to promote your brand and increase sales of your goods and services is email marketing. It allows you to deliver your business’s messages in the most accurately targeted and personalized way, while giving you the most comprehensive overview of your contacts and campaign results. In addition, email marketing has the highest return on investment of all digital marketing strategies.

For you to benefit from all of this in your eCommerce business, we have compiled a good overview of the most important email marketing rules you should follow and tips that will greatly help you achieve your goals.

1. Choose the Right Email Marketing Platform

Of course, we have to start with the fact that email marketing cannot be done without an adequate program. Can you imagine sending regular text emails from your work address one by one or to all your clients at once? Rather not. In order to create beautiful marketing emails, automate them, and later analyze the results of your campaigns, you must first choose a suitable email marketing platform for your company. We recommend avoiding the trial-and-error method and sparing some time to make a thoughtful choice. This way, you will save a significant amount of your valuable working hours in the future.

Look for features such as:

• Integration with your eCommerce platform: Most email platforms offer direct integrations with popular eCommerce systems like Shopify, WooCommerce, OpenCart, PrestaShop, etc. Integrations and apps make syncing product data, customer information, and purchase history simple and efficient and are one of the most important factors for e-businesses.
• Automation capabilities: The ability to automate campaigns and various email types (welcome series, abandoned cart emails, re-engagement campaigns, birthday greetings, etc.) can save significant time and increase efficiency. Automation is one of the best things about email marketing, helping you save a lot of time and increase the efficiency of your work.
• Analytics and reporting: The analytics tools in your email marketing platform allow you to track various important email marketing metrics such as open and click rates, conversion rates, unsubscribe rates, etc. Analyzing these metrics and adjusting your strategy based on the results will help you improve your campaigns.

2. Build a Quality Mailing List by Collecting Relevant Contacts

When it comes to the basics, there’s one more thing you can’t do email marketing without – having a contact list, or mailing list, as we call it in email marketing. Building a high-quality list is essential for the success of your email marketing strategy. The quality of your mailing list affects everything from your results and revenue to your sender reputation.

Here are the most important things to follow:

• Do NOT buy mailing lists: Although online contact lists may seem like a very tempting way to get quick results in email marketing, buying them actually has the opposite effect, wasting your time and money. By sending to purchased contacts, you are not targeting the relevant audience for your company, risking ending up in the spam folder and, in the worst case, sparking the interest of spam traps and being blacklisted. It’s important to grow your mailing list organically because, despite the time it takes, it will pay off for your company many times over later.
• Opt-in forms: Place opt-in forms strategically on your website (e.g., on the homepage, checkout page, or blog). Offering some kind of bonus like a discount or free shipping in exchange for email signups is a great way to get new contacts. Once they start getting your emails about upcoming deals, discounts, popular items, seasonal products, and personalized offers, they are more likely to purchase your products in the future.
• Pop-ups and lead magnets: Use pop-ups to collect email leads and grow your mailing list by offering visitors something of value, like a free e-book or a discount code. Exit-intent popups, which appear when a visitor is about to leave your page, give you a final chance to engage them, increase sign-ups, and provide a compelling reason to stay or join. They can change visitors’ minds and get you some new contacts on your list.

3. Follow Important Privacy and Security Rules

When dealing with any kind of (digital) data, security is one of the most important keywords for both customers and businesses. In email marketing, you must ensure you follow all relevant data protection regulations, such as GDPR or CAN-SPAM. When you don’t follow the regulations, you risk being fined in amounts that can get pretty high. Always ask for explicit consent from users before collecting their data and give them the option to easily unsubscribe from your communications at any given time (an unsubscribe link should always be present in your emails).

4. Use Segmentation and Personalization

These are the most powerful possibilities in email marketing, which allow you to simultaneously feel like a scientist analyzing people and a philanthropist responding precisely to people’s wishes. Once you have a solid list, segmentation and personalization are key to delivering highly relevant content that resonates with each customer. How to do it?

• Segmentation: Divide your mailing list into different groups i.e. segments, based on factors such as purchasing behavior, demographics, or activity in past campaigns. For example, you can send different emails to new subscribers, repeat customers, or those who have abandoned their shopping carts in your online store. Segmentation helps you easily create and send campaigns that are specifically targeted to specific customer groups.
• Personalization: Here we go into even more detail than with segmentation. You can use customer data to personalize the email content to fit the specific subscriber. This could include addressing them by name in the subject line, beginning of the email, or wherever else, recommending products based on the subscribers’ past interests or purchases, or sending personalized discounts that they would likely appreciate. These customized emails can significantly improve engagement and conversion rates. Additionally, personalization is no longer a rare convenience for today’s consumer, but rather an expected way for companies to communicate with customers.

Photo: Freepik

5. Invest Time in Creating a Great Subject Line (and Preheader)

The subject line is the first thing your subscriber sees in their inbox from your message. It’s one of the most important parts of an email, as it can determine whether the recipient will even open your email to read more about your offer and move closer to making a purchase.

Here are some key things to keep in mind when creating your subject line and tips to increase the likelihood of your email being opened:

• Be Clear and Concise: Make sure the subject line immediately conveys the value or purpose of your email.
• Create Urgency: FOMO really is a thing, so you can use time-sensitive language to encourage quick action, like “limited offer” or “ending soon.”
• Personalize It: As mentioned before, adding the recipient’s name or other unique details can increase engagement.
• Make It Intriguing: Use curiosity or a teaser to spark interest without being misleading.
• Avoid Spam Triggers: Avoid using all-caps, excessive punctuation (e.g. “Last offer!!!!!”), and too many intrusive promotional words, as these can give people the impression that your message is spam.
• Test Different Approaches: Experiment with A/B testing to find which type of subject lines resonate most with your audience.
• Use AI for Inspiration: AI can help you brainstorm. We definitely don’t recommend relying on it completely, but with a detailed prompt, you can get a variety of inspirational ideas from it, which you can use to combine with each other or get some ideas for details and wording.
• Keep It Short: Aim for 40-50 characters so your message is clear to the reader and it’s also easily readable on mobile devices.
• Use Numbers: People are drawn to subject lines with numbers, such as “5 Tips to…” or “Top 3 Reasons…”. This is because it gives them a clearer expectation of the content of the email and numbers stand out from the wall of text in the inbox.
• Offer Value: Highlight what benefit or solution the reader will gain from opening the email.

In addition to the subject line, people also see a preheader in the main view of their inbox, which gives you even more ways to persuade people to open your email. Make sure the preheader complements the subject line and provides additional context. Use it to further entice or clarify the email’s value.

6. Craft Compelling Email Content

Finally, we get to the core of the matter – quite literally. Once your subject line has captured attention, the body of your email needs to keep that momentum going and what you write in your emails is what will ultimately persuade customers to take action. Here, you can explain the goal of the email, talk about why the product or service you are selling is necessary for the customer, and motivate them to take action.

Here are some tips for crafting effective email content:

• Start your email off strong. Your opening sentence should grab the reader’s attention and immediately highlight your main message. If you’re promoting a sales campaign, begin by tapping into a recent trend or a common consumer need, then swiftly pivot to how you’re offering a solution. For example, “It’s hard to find affordable quality clothing, especially after the holiday shopping rush is over.” Then, move into your main message: “Looking for the best deals in this season of savings? Our flash sale is here to help! Enjoy 30% off your favorite items until the end of this week.” This approach addresses a common seasonal concern while immediately providing the customer with an ideal solution.
• Highlight the value. Explain why your offer is worth the reader’s attention. Whether it’s a new product, a limited-time offer, or the return of an old customer favorite, make it clear why the customer might want or need it right now. Be specific about the benefits, such as: “These boots are made for walking in comfort and style, and they’re going fast! Hurry, because the discounted items are limited in quantity”. When thinking about the pros of your offer, also think about what sets it apart from your competitors’ offerings and highlight it.
• Include a clear and compelling CTA. Your CTA (call-to-action) should be short and tell the reader exactly what they will do if they click on it. For example, the following CTAs would work: “Buy Now,” “Get 20% Off,” or “See the best deals.” A good CTA is action-oriented and easy to find. CTA buttons (that are distinctive in color and match the rest of the email design) or bold text for the CTA link will help it stand out.
• Close with an incentive or reminder. At the end of your email, you can give your reader one last reason to take action, such as offering free shipping, reminding them of the exclusivity of the offer, or showing them how your product will make their life better. For example: “Sometimes we have to pamper ourselves. Treat yourself to something special this week – add some new colors to your wardrobe, comfortably and affordably!” This helps keep the urgency of your offer alive while creating an emotional connection with the reader.
• Stay true to your brand voice. Whether your brand is fun, friendly, or sophisticated, ensure the tone of your email matches that. Think about your average customer target group member and imagine how they would prefer to be approached by a salesperson. A playful, casual tone might work well for a lifestyle brand, while a more formal tone could be appropriate for luxury items. However, we can’t generalize too much with these examples, as in the end, it all depends on what unique face your company has!

When writing your email, always focus on two main things: who your customer is and what the main purpose of your email is. Don’t write in a tone that your customer wouldn’t appreciate, and don’t write a very long email that strays too far from your goal.

7. Design Emails that Reflect Your Brand

A well-designed email can make a significant difference in your campaign’s success. Here’s how to make sure your emails are visually appealing and aligned with your brand:

• Consistency: The design of your email should be consistent with your brand identity – in terms of colors, fonts, logos, and other design elements. This will help build credibility and make your message more memorable to your customers.
• Product Images: Include high-quality images of the products you’re promoting. Add ALT text to images and keep in mind that the size of the images is not too large, as this can significantly increase the loading time.
• Responsive Design: Your emails should be optimized for different screen sizes. With a large percentage of emails being opened on mobile devices, it’s crucial to design emails that look great and are easy to read on all screens.
• Shop Links and Product Displays: Add direct links to product pages, so recipients can quickly view or purchase the products you are promoting. Including clickable product images can also improve click-through rates.

Photo: Freepik

8. Transactional vs. Marketing Emails

It’s important to understand the difference between transactional and marketing emails, as both serve different purposes:

• Transactional Emails: These are triggered by specific customer actions, such as order confirmations, shipping notifications, or password resets. While these emails can’t contain promotional content, they provide valuable opportunities to engage customers with brand-specific messages. These emails are often required by law to be delivered, and they focus primarily on delivering important, time-sensitive information.
• Marketing Emails: These are promotional emails designed to encourage customers to take action (e.g., special offers, product updates, newsletters). They should be crafted with attention to personalization, content, and design. Marketing emails are governed by stricter regulations, such as those outlined in the CAN-SPAM Act, which require clear opt-in consent and easy opt-out options.

9. Re-engagement and Customer Retention Campaigns

It’s not enough to just acquire customers; you need to keep them coming back. Re-engagement campaigns are an effective way to win back customers who haven’t interacted with your brand in a while.

Here are some of the most important emails and campaigns:

• Win-back Emails: Send personalized emails offering discounts or exclusive deals to customers who haven’t purchased your products or interacted with your emails in a while.
• Loyalty Programs: Encourage repeat purchases by rewarding customers with points, discounts, or special perks through a loyalty program.
• Customer Surveys: Collect feedback from inactive customers to understand why they stopped interacting with your messages and to put a strategy in place to win them back.

10. Use Abandoned Cart Automation

Sending abandoned cart emails is arguably one of the most important and powerful strategies for eCommerce businesses. This automated email is sent to customers who added products to their cart but did not complete their purchase. A well-crafted abandoned cart email series can greatly boost sales by reminding customers of the products they showed interest in and encouraging them to complete their purchase through various incentives.

Here are some tips on how to optimize this strategy:

• Timing: Send the first reminder within an hour after abandonment, and follow up with an additional reminder over the next 24-48 hours. You might also consider a third reminder a few days later (e.g., 3-5 days after the initial abandonment) to target those who still haven’t converted.
• Incentives: Offer discounts or free shipping as motivation to complete the purchase.
• Clear CTAs: Make it easy for customers to return to their cart with a clear, direct CTA.

11. Clean Your Mailing List Regularly

Maintaining a clean mailing list is essential for improving deliverability and engagement. Regularly remove inactive or bounced email addresses from your list, as it will help you avoid sending emails to invalid recipients, and ensure that your campaigns reach the right audience.

12. Connect Your Email Marketing Platform to Your eShop

The technical connection between your eCommerce platform and your email marketing system is critical. Most platforms offer integrations that allow you to sync customer data, track purchases, and automate personalized email flows based on user behavior. Make sure that customer purchase history, product preferences and interests, and other relevant data are synchronized between your store and your email marketing platform.

Photo: Freepik

Conclusion

Email marketing is a powerful and cost-effective tool for eCommerce businesses to engage customers, boost sales, and build long-lasting relationships. By following the essential strategies outlined in this article, you can create highly personalized, effective email campaigns that drive growth and success. From selecting the right platform and growing your mailing list to segmentation, personalization, and design – these email marketing best practices are the foundation for any thriving eCommerce business. We wish you happy email marketing and great campaigns that will delight both you and your customers!

About the Author: Smaily

Smaily is a reliable and easy-to-use email marketing platform created in Estonia, suitable for meeting the marketing goals of companies of all sizes. Their team is focused on providing a platform with top-notch customer support and advanced features for both email marketing beginners and those who have been creating effective campaigns in the marketing field for years.

Get in touch with Smaily’s team for email marketing guidance, and if you need to develop a new strategic plan that will generate results for your company, schedule a free consultation with their team of experts.