6 of The Best Automated Email Campaigns: Part 1
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Digital marketing moves fast.
Trends pop up and take the industry by storm only to dwindle a few years later. Yet, for good reason, email campaigns have survived.
Think about it.
The median ROI for email marketing is $42 for every $1 spent. With this number increasing every year, it’s easy to see why email marketing is still a vital implement in every marketer’s toolbox.
Now, the biggest issue for eCommerce merchants is to confidently know which email campaigns are best for your customers in specific scenarios.
If it were a matter of one size fits all, there wouldn’t be such a plethora of techniques. We’ve separated the excellent from the dismal in automated email campaigns and categorised them by functionality.
The information we convey here will improve email engagement, including click-throughs and lead generation. We’ll also give you examples so you can get an idea of how exactly to craft a winning email for your customers.
Welcome emails
You’ve done the hard slog to get customers on your sign up list. Your next step is a no-brainer. It’s time to send a friendly hello to your potential customer, thanking them for signing up and encouraging them to engage with your brand. They are incredibly useful for customer loyalty and take in 320% more revenue than regular promotional emails. Here are the other reasons to implement a killer welcome email campaign:
Make a good first impression on your customers
This is the first step in creating a community of loyal customers.
Add value to the customer experience
These emails don’t have to be completely promotional. Communicate the latest trends in your industry, showcase your company’s USPs and offer helpful, friendly advice.
Welcome emails have high open rates
Compared to promotional emails, but you only get one shot. A customer is only new once, so see if you can make the most of the opportunity to connect.
Saves time
With automated emails you don’t have to connect with new leads manually. The work you put in now to create a welcome email series works for every new customer.
Provide immediate value
Now is the chance to exceed your customers’ expectation. Give them a discount code, free shipping or a complimentary gift with their first order.
Show them how you stand out
eCommerce stores struggle to find the space to convey why they’re the best choice for their customers. With welcome emails, you have the viewer’s screen to yourself unlike the chaos of social media.
57.7% of businesses successfully capture new subscribers with their welcome emails. You can improve on the industry average, by focusing on the three A’s: acknowledgement, affirmation and appreciation.
Acknowledge your email’s recipient as a real person. Compose the email with a friendly, warm tone.
Affirm your customer’s choice for opting-in to your store’s newsletter or creating an account with you. Give them a brief insight as to why that was a kick-ass decision!
Appreciate their engagement with your brand! However, don’t go overboard or you’ll risk appearing desperate or needy.
Carnival Cruise Line show us how it’s done in their welcome email that competently combines the best of email marketing practices and their brand’s tone to encourage customer engagement.
What should you include in a welcome email?
So, you have a choice to make here, either create a single email to drop by your customer’s inbox to say hello. The other option is to create a welcome series, which we think packs more of an impact. Here is an example of a common welcome series:
Email 1
This is where you welcome your customer and tell your brand story (top tip: create a video explaining your brand ethos).
You’re also going to want to include a welcome discount in this initial email if that’s part of your store’s welcome package.
Provide a teaser on the sort of sort of content they should expect to receive.
Email 2
Here is where you reinforce the benefits of interacting with your brand.
It’s also where you highlight your most popular product or include a series of product recommendations.
Email 3
Finally, it’s time to introduce your loyalty program (if you have one) and encourage your subscriber to engage with the brand on social platforms.
Interested in learning more about Welcome emails? Read our guide here.
Abandoned cart emails
Abandoned carts are a peeve to every Shopify retailer. The current rate is at over 75%, and it’s on the rise. They cost e-marketers between 2-4 TRILLION per year!
So, this isn’t a pesky problem with which only your business is struggling. It’s a global phenomenon, and many companies are turning to email campaigns to remedy these ludicrously high abandonment rates.
Why should you send abandoned cart emails?
Abandoned cart emails are easy to create and act as a wonderful sales recovery tactic. So, here are a few reasons why tackling your abandoned carts via email is the way to go.
Increase conversions
The crux of why we create these sequences! Customers who are sent multiple abandoned cart emails are 2.4 times more likely to commit to their purchase.
Recover lost customers
Many e-merchants wrongly assume that customers lost interest in the products, decided they no longer wanted them and left them to gather dust in your warehouse. Also, realise that cart abandonment can be caused by external factors outside of your control. For instance, your customer may have simply experienced an issue with their browser or device during the time while exploring your site.
Increase customer satisfaction
Customers may have actually forgotten they added items to a cart and will appreciate being reminded
Customer insight
Depending on which stage of the email sequence that the customer committed to their purchase, you can start to see trends and can allow you to diagnose problems within your customer journey.
Tackle uncertainties
Here is the chance for you to quell the common reasons that incite reluctance in committing to a purchase. This can be a simple “Go on, treat yourself! You deserve it!” and does wonders on boosting their experience and settling on an order.
So now that I’ve extolled the benefits it’s time to get stuck into how to craft an abandoned cart drip campaign. You could simply send an automated email with a reminder and/or discount code or experiment with an email series like this one:
Email 1
A reminder of the items still in their cart. Don’t push the sell, offer friendly advice.
Email 2
The best strategy at this point is to gift your customer a time-sensitive discount. This deadline on the code dispenses urgency, and consider inciting the same intended response within the subject line.
Email 3
The last chance reminder. Some businesses roll out six or seven email sequences chasing up abandoned carts, but any more than three begins to darken your customers’ perception of your business. Include an announcement on any items in their cart that are in low stock. Think of this as your last chance to provide them with an offer that they can’t refuse.
The most important thing with an abandoned cart is to fulfil its function of closing the sale. There are a number of factors in play to invite and move customers to check out:
Urgency - This could be giving your customer 10% off their order if they commit to their purchase within the next 12 hours. Think about tying this in with scarcity, such as a low level of stock left in their desired product. This a great example of the friendly “hurry up and get your socks on” email tone:
Have a glance at how efficiently they portray everything. In two words they offer helpful customer service. A clean strip at the top declares free shipping and the signatures offer a personal vibe that connects customer and brand. Clever marketers in the house!
Customer benefit - answer your customer’s rhetoric question: “why should I bother?” Give them a reason to need the items in their checkout cart.
Humour - this won’t fit every retailer’s brand image, but don’t be afraid to show your store’s quirky side. Who wouldn’t be enticed by the email below?
Well, that’s all for part one of our automated email series. Emails are all about A/B testing, and learning as you go, so don’t be disheartened if you don’t hit the nail on the head on your first attempt. If you’re looking for more advice on increasing your customer conversions via email campaigns or any form of digital marketing, get in touch and check out our blog. But only if you want your Shopify store to flourish!