Operating an e-commerce business can be especially challenging when a brand relies on email marketing to reach its consumer base. While email marketing does, in fact, provide invaluable benefits, Smart Insights reports that only 24.79% of subscribers open emails. This poses a challenge for brands because not only must they create content enticing enough to open, but brands must also promote that content in such a way that their subscriber list grows.
With this said, most eCommerce businesses create content with little value to their subscribers while continuously spamming them with offers that they simply do not care about. This usually results with the email recipient ignoring their content, or worse – hitting the unsubscribe button.
When it comes to effective email marketing, a quality subscriber list proves to be much more valuable than a lot of email addresses in a database. However, many marketers still choose to ignore this concept and opt for quantity over quality; yet, they wonder why their email marketing yields poor ROI. Before you hit “send,” gain some insight by learning about effective tips that will delight your audience, convert readers into subscribers, and ultimately propel your business’ performance.
Email The Right Content
While pitching new products and promotions through email blasts can be a great way to generate awareness, recipients may not perceive the email with the same thought. Consumer behavior reports indicate subscribers do not read every email; they have a tendency to skim. In order to be successful at email marketing, you must create a need for your product, explain why your product offers value, or prove how your product can solve their problems. These tactics can help retain customers’ attention while generating sales.
Re-engage Your Subscribers Using A New Approach
If you want to re-engage your subscribers, you will need to shift your old stale approach and adopt a new creative strategy. Consider releasing a series of emails that educate your subscribers on a specific issue, and then educate subscribers with how your product can solve this problem. Ensure your message remains clear with minimal copy and clear calls-to-action. For optimal results, try performing A/B tests determine the most effective elements that will capture your subscribers’ interest. This small yet effective change will help to rebrand your image, proving to consumers that your brand and product can help them. Once you’ve gained their trust, you can start using automations to cross-sell your best products.
Include Subtle Advertisements That Sell
As you educate your consumers, why not subtly advertise your new products at the same time? You can do so by directing your subscribers to another blog post that offer more in-depth information about the topic at hand. Simply place a banner across the footer of an article so that it will arrest consumers’ eyes as they skim your email. This email strategy will have your subscribers learning more about your products and your business as a whole.
How to Market Exclusive Promotions
Smaller businesses have the advantage to connect with their customer base on a more personal level. Thus, smaller businesses can foster a relationship through exclusive email promotions. As a marketer, you can offer exclusive promotions by hosting a live podcast or video chat in which subscribers can interact with your brand. During this chat, you can discuss topics regarding your business, brand mission, or have a question and answer session.
Furthermore, traditional discount methods and giveaways still prove to be successful. Nowadays, many businesses utilize social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to host contests or giveaways to generate interest in their product or service. For example, brands can invite consumers to make talent videos or submit ideas for a unique campaign to fight a pressing issue in society. Or perhaps you can encourage followers to post funny pictures on their Instagram accounts with a unique hashtag.
Regardless of your approach, remember to tie in any marketing campaign or promotion with your business’ core beliefs and values. You can also obtain invaluable insights by encouraging feedback from your subscribers to foster a tight-knit relationship. This feedback will give you an idea as to what your audience wants to see, and then restructure your content calendar accordingly.
Promote Your Best Content
Emailing your best content starts with your initial email blast so consumers will understand the short and long-term benefits your product offers. Consumers will be more likely to open your emails knowing they will receive rich content. For example, email powerful consumer testimonials or link to interviews with top executives. Your best content does not necessarily have to be your newest or biggest idea. Recycled content can still have a profound effect on your audience so long as it still provides value. While timely news can still be effective, the creation process can quickly exhaust resources, especially for small companies. Thus, you may want to consider investing in evergreen content as this type of content can provide benefits long after you publish it.
Create Curiosity in Your Copy
The best way to leave potential customers craving another email or better, your product, is to end your email with a cliffhanger in your copy. This keeps your consumers curious and will inspire them to read on to learn more. Not only will you increase engagement, but your business’ subscriber list will become more loyal.
Inserting a cliffhanger to your copy isn’t all that complicated. You can place it in the headlines, subject lines, or the end of an email with a “P.S.” section. If you choose to insert it into the subject line, incorporate product value and impact with testimonials from brand advocates, or end with a hard-hitting statistic such as “x amount of consumers used this product and had x amount of results in this many weeks.” Consumers also like quick results, so you can leverage this behavior to your advantage with a call-to-action, “Get this benefit now, click here.” For a “P.S.” section, keep your customers on the edge of their seat until the next email. Promise them a link or video tutorial on how they can easily get what they want, but they have to wait until next time!
You can measure the cliffhanger method by performing a series of A/B tests. Try to be very specific about the topic that your consumers want to benefit from. Always keep it short and sweet to retain the audience’s attention and keep them engaged.
Grow Your eCommerce Business with Email Marketing
Businesses will go through many stages and engagement with a group of consumers to create a faithful subscriber list. Always remember that the quality of your subscribers bares more weight than a huge email list. By following these steps, you can distribute rich content that will delight and excite your subscribers. Remember, having a firm understanding of your business’ strengths and reciprocity versus value is paramount to succeed in email marketing.
Do you want to learn more about the benefits of email marketing? Call the experts at Premiere Creative can help your email marketing efforts at (973) 346-8100! Contact us today!