As the world moves to digitize almost everything and anything under the sun, thanks to high internet penetration and ballooning digital device usage, consumers are now turning to eCommerce as their preferred shopping method.
Having finally overcome the initial jitters about transacting online, eCommerce and digital marketplaces have now become a must-have. Why? Because eCommerce offers convenience – an attribute almost all consumers value more than anything.
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In short, eCommerce is where your brand or business needs to be like yesterday.
However, just having an eCommerce presence in the form of a website or a digital marketplace is not enough.
You see, almost all businesses now have some form of an online shop. Be it on Instagram, Facebook, or a stand-alone online store. This makes the competition even stiffer.
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So, the definitive factor now is how do you make sure that your eCommerce business cuts through the noise and delivers what it needs to. We are not just talking about numbers like the click-through rate (although this is important, too) but about the much-needed conversions.
A conversion occurs when a shopper visits your website or online store and completes the desired goal. This goal could be filling out a subscription form or more importantly, making a purchase.
Conversion is really where the rubber meets the road. Without a meaningful conversion rate, your business can barely survive.
While there are many other ways to secure conversions, email automation still remains one of the most effective and easy-to-setup tactics that can speed up your eCommerce conversion rate. You just need the right tools and strategy.
First off, what is email automation?
Email automation is a method used to create or generate targeted emails that are meant to reach the right people with customized messages and at the right time. However, this action does not require human input every time as the whole process is automated.
How Email Automation Works
Email automation is not as complex as most people tend to think. This process generally occurs when an action happens. This, in turn, triggers an email that contains relevant information informed by the user’s activity on your website or online store.
Such emails are designed to reach the intended recipient at the perfect time – a time of day in which the recipient is more likely to open the email.
Information contained in such an email could vary from sending a reward coupon after a customer has subscribed to your newsletter or even a polite reminder with related products after a visitor has abandoned their cart.
Email automation is a great way to keep engaging your visitors without annoying them. Eighty-one percent of US shoppers make additional purchases after receiving a follow-up email with relevant information.
Before we dig deeper into email automation tools you need to start using immediately, let’s first look at some jaw-dropping facts real quick – just to give you an idea of why eCommerce is your next growth frontier.
Did you know that:
Image Source: Statista
If these numbers alone do not convince you to integrate email automation into your digital marketing mix then nothing will.
Essential Tips on How You Can Nail Email Automation
You now generally have an idea of how email automation can impact your business. The numbers pretty much speak for themselves. The next step is to bring you up to speed with how to make the best out of your email automation strategy and tools.
How do you create buyer personas? Well, you do this using data such as their education, skills, life goals, demographic information, and online behaviors. These kinds of data paint a picture of who your audience is, their needs and preferences.
This is where you also offer a reward for their action. People love rewards. Take this opportunity to let them know how frequently you send out marketing emails so that they are aware of your practices from the onset and know what to expect.
Now, let us dive right in and look at some of the best-in-class email automation integrations your eCommerce business needs today.
Shopify is arguably one of the best platforms most marketers are now using to create an online store that’s fully integrated into their marketing. And that’s not all.
In order to take email marketing a notch higher, you can now seamlessly integrate Shopify using SyncApps by Cazoomi with solutions like Act-On, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, VerticalResponse, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
The SyncApps integrations will allow you to automatically sync critical customer data between your Shopify eCommerce platform and your CRM or marketing automation tool.
As you can see, you’ve got plenty of options to choose from. We make it our mission to ensure that our subscribers can leverage our integrations irrespective of the automation platform they prefer — this is why we offer so many options!
Why try them out?
Let’s take a look at one of the most in-demand integrations — Shopify for Constant Contact.
Some of the critical features of this integration are:
Yes, you read that right! These features spell eCommerce marketing on auto-pilot. And on steroids!
Need help with setting up this integration? Touch base with the SyncApps Experts and get started for FREE!
Are you running a fitness, wellbeing, or dance business? If so, then this is the integration for you.
Mindbody is a result-oriented digital marketing platform that many health and wellness marketers are using to scale up their digital marketing efforts.
The Mindbody integration by SyncApps enables fitness and dance studios, spas, and salons to easily connect their point of sale data, customers, products and leads directly into QuickBooks Online, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Sage Intacct, Constant Contact, or Infusionsoft.
Why bother with it?
Well, first of all, because it’s really no bother! Our integrations are designed to be plug-and-play, so you’ll be ready to fine-tune your marketing with a few taps. And if you stumble upon something you can’t figure out, our customer support department is here for you 24/7!
Even more, this integration allows you to create custom field mapping, which, in turn, enables you to update existing records or new records with ease. With the Mindbody integration, you can also enable static text mapping capability to sync backfields from landing pages to your software.
The Mindbody to ActiveCampaign integration, for instance, will allow you to leverage the full power of two amazing marketing automation platforms at the same time. Just think about the insights you can derive when your marketing and sales data is combined into one powerhouse!
Other key attributes include the ability to send out reminders for upcoming fitness or dance classes and appointments, real-time tracking of fitness deals across multiple pipelines, and cross-sell products to create a holistic fitness journey.
This integration will also help you to effectively segment all your contacts based on their workout goals.
Mindbody for Infusionsoft by Keap Integration Flow
Mindbody for Mailchimp Integration Flow
Loyverse stands for Loyalty Universe and it’s a suite of POS mobile applications. It’s just what small to medium retail businesses need in the pan-damage era!
Why? Because it offers flexibility.
Loyverse works on Android and iOS and it can turn any device into a mobile POS. Yes, you won’t have to carry a bulky POS on deliveries or during fairs. You can simply use your phone.
It’s ideal for eCommerce companies who also have a brick-and-mortar shop, who deliver their products themselves, or who regularly attend in-person events like fairs, farmer’s markets, and trade shows.
Now just think about what you can do if you connect Loyverse to your favorite marketing automation solution, Constant Contact or Mailchimp.
In fact, scratch that! You don’t have to imagine it — we’ve actually made it happen and you can see it in action.
The Loyverse to Constant Contact integration syncs your customer and loyalty data to automate tasks and send targeted campaigns from Constant Contact. Or it can help you segment your email database using criteria imported from Loyverse (like products purchased or date of purchase)
The Loyverse to Mailchimp integration is the ideal solution to leverage custom Field Mapping to Mailchimp to drive deeper insights into visits, purchasing behavior, and more.
Both integrations are plug-and-play. With just a few taps, you’ll be ready to send campaigns that are so well-targeted and thoughtful that no one will think they are automated!
4. Abandoned Cart Emails
If there’s anything in the eCommerce world that gives marketers sleepless nights, it is cart abandonment. Abandoned carts simply mean lost sales opportunity, which is never a good thing. Luckily, in eCommerce, we have easy ways to claim these opportunities back!
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Cart abandonment is rampant in the US at a rate of over 70 percent. However, with the right email automation and integration solutions, you can significantly reduce the abandonment rate.
The Mailchimp for Shopify integration is an effective solution that can help you to drastically reduce cart abandonment on your website. You will be able to segment even those customers who abandoned their cart.
The Shopify and Constant Contact automation can also help you target customers based on the products they have chosen or abandoned in their carts. Now that’s personalization!
Digital marketers have been successfully using cart abandonment emails to reignite engagement with customers and remind them to complete their purchase.
The trick here is to send these customers relevant content that is not only timely but also dynamic and highly personalized. This can only be achieved through email automation.
While there’s no one single format used to send cart abandonment emails, you can start with the following schedule then keep reviewing its impact and adjust accordingly:
5. Special Occasion Themed Email Campaigns
This is another highly-effective email automation tactic that can boost your ecommerce conversion rate. Almost everyone has a soft spot for special occasions – be it an anniversary or a holiday.
This is why your marketing calendar should and must factor in special occasions as one way of spicing up your marketing efforts.
Use such occasions to create meaningful and fun digital campaigns then use email automation to make sure your communication reaches your target audience in a timely fashion.
You can then use SyncApps integrations to set up email triggers that will help you to import your contacts’ birthdays and even the date of their first visit to your business. If anything, this makes it easier for your marketing team to send themed and automated welcome, birthday, and anniversary emails.
6. Post-Purchase Email
After a customer visits your website or online store, it is important that you keep them engaged on a regular basis. This is a good opportunity for you to, among other things, try and get some sort of feedback from them on their experience either with their purchase process or the product or service they bought from you.
This tactic also gives you an opportunity to cross-sell or even up-sell products or services that might be relevant to them.
The main objective of post-purchase emails is to ensure that the customer has top-of-mind awareness and brand recall.
With email automation, you can ensure that they are always informed about any new products based on their interaction with your online store or even social media posts.
A post-purchase email can be in the form of:
7. Welcome Emails
Welcome emails are generally designed for customers that have recently joined your mailing list but have not necessarily converted into buyers yet.
These customers will pay particular attention to what you are offering, at least in the initial stages – just to gauge if they will buy from you or not.
Welcome emails have a 91 percent open rate. And that’s not all.
Welcome email read rates are 42 percent higher than the average email, which is why you should be sending them as soon as a new visitor or subscriber checks in.
For your welcome emails to have the desired effect, you need to:
Image Source: Hive.co
In terms of when you should send a welcome email, well, just like the abandoned cart emails, there’s no right or wrong time. Some reports, however, have found out that welcome emails sent at 11 a.m, 2 p.m., and 6 p.m. do really well.
Image Source: Marketing Land
To put this into perspective, welcome emails at AOL, Gmail, and Yahoo, in total, reached the inbox 93 percent of the time.
Wait, it gets even better!
Their future promotional emails were delivered to the inbox 91 percent of the time.
Again, this email automation is something that can be handled by any of SyncApps integrations. Once it’s set up, new customers or subscribers will automatically receive a welcome email and your conversion journey begins thereafter.
8. Lead Nurturing Emails
Automated email campaigns are particularly suited for lead nurturing. Digital marketers have been successfully using lead nurturing to guide buyers through their buying cycle. This tactic ultimately leads to purchasing.
For your lead nurturing emails to work, you need to focus on how your business can add value instead of blasting them with offers left, right, and center.
By doing so, you will be helping your customers differentiate your brand from the competition, which is exactly what you want.
Lead nurturing can be used to:
9. Repeat Customer Email Series
Strengthening relationships with existing and new customers is crucial to your eCommerce business. You must, therefore, come up with reliable and effective customer retention measures if you want to have a profitable business in the long run.
The beauty of email marketing is that it enables you to encourage your customers to return to your website or online store.
Digital marketers are now increasingly using post-purchase email automation for one specific reason – to increase their customer retention and grow their profitability.
How do you go about it?
First, you need to segment your customer list accordingly. These can be in terms of warm and cold. Warm customers are those that interact with your email messages while cold customers are mainly those that do not engage and have not purchased or visited your online store in a while. For those cold leads, you can use an email sequence software.
Image Source: Campaign Monitor
You then need to create an automated email campaign for both segments such as follow up campaigns mainly asking for feedback about their shopping experience. Or reactivation campaigns, also known as “win back” campaigns, which try to turn unengaged or inactive customers back into active customers.
10. eCommerce Email Receipts
In eCommerce, receipts are not just a reference record of business transactions. They are a goldmine in the sense that they can offer your marketing team an opportunity for additional upsells, for connecting with the customer, and for building stronger relationships.
eCommerce receipts can also be used to enhance the customer experience as well as to boost your company’s growth.
These emails can also convey key messages about your brand and its activities – all tied to your customer’s needs and preferences.
Email receipts have an open rate of over 70 percent. It’s no wonder that eCommerce email receipts are steadily gaining popularity with businesses that have an online presence. This is mainly because of the enormous earning potential they have on ecommerce websites.
Such high-impact functions can now be easily incorporated in your overall email marketing automation using SyncApps integrations for maximum impact.
11. Meet the Team Emails
When customers are buying from an eCommerce store, they can be forgiven for thinking they are dealing with robots. But while robots have indeed found their way into most business processes, customers need to be reassured that they are dealing with fellow human beings.
Automated meet the team emails are, therefore, a great way of starting a conversation on a human-to-human level.
Customers can be more receptive when they know they are dealing with humans who are representing the brand.
Meet the team emails to help you to connect with your audience deeply. Your customers will feel better knowing they are dealing with people who understand their needs and are ready to help them when needed.
These can be sent in the form of a newsletter and also when trying to introduce them to a cause in which you would also like them to support and be part of the brand family.
Email marketing is a great way to drum up your engagement and conversion rate, especially if you are an eCommerce business. Coupled with the tried-and-tested SyncApps iPaaS solutions for Shopify and Mindbody, your eCommerce objectives can be achieved quickly.
Our integrations offer you a myriad of email marketing automation tools that you can use to encourage your customers to shop with you over and over again, provide them with relevant product and services updates and also offer exciting discounts.
The power of delivering targeted and timely messages using email automation is enormous and your business should be benefiting from today. However, do not get carried away.
You can easily scare away your customers if you bombard them with irrelevant emails filled with products and services they don’t need.
Do you need help identifying the right email integration for your eCommerce business? Get in touch with our SyncApps experts today!
