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How to Use Email and SMS Marketing to Boost Your E-commerce Sales
Gone are the days when you had to go to the mall or to the shops to make a purchase. At present, most of us have access to the internet where we can log on to our favorite site and make a purchase for our needed goods. Shopping for most people has become very convenient as they can use their phones, laptops, or computers without having to leave the comfort of their home or office. Some of the world's most successful brands do not have an official address for you to walk in and purchase but are online. E-commerce has boomed in the last couple of years and the spurt of COVID-19 made it the go to tool for businesses. In this blog we will investigate how email and SMS have contributed to this incline in online sales.
In the world of e-commerce, effective marketing strategies can make all the difference between success and failure. Email and SMS marketing are two powerful tools that businesses can use to engage with customers, promote products and services, and boost sales. We will examine topics such as segmentation, personalization, frequency, automation, and more, so that you can optimize your campaigns and drive meaningful results. This blog will equip you with actionable insights and tips that you can apply to your own e-commerce marketing efforts.
Email Marketing
Build Your Email List Onsite
You can encourage visitors to subscribe to your email list by offering incentives like discounts or exclusive content. By offering valuable incentive for signing up, such as exclusive content, or a discount code, and this can be done by placing signup forms prominently throughout your website, including on the homepage, product pages, and checkout page. Ensure that you make the signup process simple and easy to complete, with minimal fields required. Always use eye-catching visuals and persuasive language to encourage visitors to sign up. You can then segment your email list based on interests and behaviors to create targeted campaigns that resonate with subscribers. By following these steps, you can effectively build your email list onsite and engage with potential customers in a way that drives conversions and revenue.
Segment Your Email List
Tailor your messages based on customer behavior, preferences, and demographics. Use the interests of your consumers and divide subscribers into groups according to their preferences like fashion vs technology. Use their purchase history by sending targeted offers or recommendations based on what they have bought from you before. It is easy to get the location of your subscribers and this information can assist you to tailor content and promotions specific to regions where customers live or work. The engagement level will help you to segment those who open/click emails frequently versus those who haven't engaged recently. Using this data can assist you find out why they are no longer engaging and that would drive you to make the necessary changes. Investigate the demographics and use them to group people based on age range, gender identity, income level, education background. By dividing our audience into smaller segments like these, we create more personalized experiences which lead to higher engagement rates and drive conversions.
Automate Your Email Campaigns
Set up automated workflows for welcome emails, abandoned cart reminders, and post-purchase follow-ups. By setting up welcome emails when someone signs up for your email list, you can send them a welcome email thanking them for their interest and letting them know what to expect from your future emails. Have a mechanism to monitor the abandoned cart and send the corresponding emails. When you send reminders to customers who leave items in their shopping cart without completing the purchase, it shows that you are interested in the reason for not completing the purchase. This can help increase sales and reduce cart abandonment rates. Strategize sending re-engagement emails to target subscribers who haven't opened or clicked on your emails in a while, encouraging them to reconnect with your brand. Ensure you send post-purchase follow-ups via automated emails after a customer makes a purchase, offering related products or requesting feedback on their experience. An added feature is using triggered emails to create specific triggers, such as a subscriber clicking on a certain link or visiting a particular page on your website, that automatically trigger an email response. By using email automation tools, you can save time and resources while still delivering personalized, relevant content to your subscribers.
Evaluate your decision.
Optimize your email elements such as subject lines, copy, and calls-to-action (CTAs). Identify what you want to test. Choose one variable to test at a time, such as subject lines, email copy, call-to-action buttons, or images. You can do this by determining the sample size, ensure that you have enough subscribers in your email list to generate statistically significant results. By randomly dividing your email list into two groups, this can assist you to using a random splitter tool to ensure that both groups are similar in terms of demographics and behavior. Then you can test one variable at a time which aids in making sure that only one change is being tested between the two groups. Measure the results by monitoring open rates, click-through rates, conversions, and other metrics to determine which version performed better. The next step would be to implement the winning variation and once you have identified the winning variation, use it in future campaigns to optimize performance. By conducting A/B tests, you can make data-driven decisions and improve the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.
Keep Improving
When you regularly analyze your campaign metrics, which involves reviewing your open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and other metrics regularly, it assists to identify areas for improvement. Experiment with distinct types of content, test out different formats such as videos, podcasts, webinars, whitepapers, case studies, and more to see what resonates best with your audience then use that information to retarget your audience. When you keep up with industry trends it will help you stay informed about innovative technologies, strategies, and best practices in email marketing by attending conferences, reading blogs, and networking with peers. Personalize your emails by using subscriber data to personalize your emails based on their interests, behaviors, and preferences. Then finally, optimize your signup process which will continuously monitor and improve your email signup process to ensure that it is intuitive, easy to complete, and offers value to visitors. By consistently analyzing and optimizing your email marketing campaigns, you can maximize their impact on your business goals and drive sustained growth over time.
Graviti A.M.S (Association Management System) email automation feature can launch your campaign.
When looking at the benefits of automation, you can say that it is the mechanism by which you can process or operate a system automatically. With Graviti A.M.S and the email automation feature, you can send out the product alerts to your subscribers and alert them of any specials you may be holding. By targeting certain recipients, you can ensure that they will get the full benefits of the promotions which you are running. Graviti A.M.S, also allows you to target subscribers within a certain geographic location and can offer them promotions that they will be attracted to. Not only can you pick out the subscribers that will respond to the email campaigns, but you can also track the communication after it has been sent to see how many individuals respond favorably to each campaign. Graviti A.M.S uses analytics tools which show metrics such as click-through rate, open rate, bounce rate, and which provide insight into engagement and response. This will enable your business to determine what content and offers resonate with subscribers and where adjustments can be made to improve the results going forward. The chapter management tool offered by Graviti A.M.S can also assist you in tracking regional information once the campaign has been launched. Graviti using the chapter tool has the functionality to segment the data being provided and isolate where more work is required. By setting up the requirements of your campaign you can utilize Graviti and be equipped with the best application to provide optimal results.
SMS Marketing
Quick Communications
SMS is ideal for urgent messages or calls to action due to its concise format. Make sure you keep it concise and due to the limited character count of SMS messages, keep your message brief and to the point. You can personalize the message by using the recipient's name or add an individualized touch to make the message feel more tailored to them. Always offer value and this can be done by making sure the message provides something valuable to the recipient, whether it's a coupon code, exclusive content, or essential information. Be direct about what you want the recipient to do next, such as "click here" or "reply with YES." Importantly to make sure that you respect the opt-out requests which gives the recipients the option to opt out at any time and honor their wishes promptly. By following these tips, you can use SMS messaging to quickly communicate with subscribers and drive engagement and conversions.
Permission-Based
- Request consent - Like email, SMS requires customer consent, making it effective for reaching engaged audiences.
- Provide explicit consent - Clearly state how often and in what context you will be sending SMS messages and obtain explicit consent from subscribers before sending any messages.
- Provide easy opt-in and opt-out options - Make it easy for subscribers to sign up and unsubscribe from your SMS list using simple keywords and clear instructions.
- Avoid spamming - Do not send unsolicited SMS messages or bombard subscribers with too many messages.
- Follow telecommunications laws - Ensure that your SMS campaigns adhere to local and international telecommunications laws and guidelines regarding SMS marketing.
- Monitor engagement - Regularly monitor engagement rates to identify any disengaged subscribers who may have opted in but no longer wish to receive SMS messages. By implementing these strategies, you can ensure that your SMS campaigns are permission-based and respectful of subscriber preferences.
Complementary Purposes
While SMS drives quick action, email provides more space for long-form content and brand education. Therefore, it would be beneficial to offer different content formats because email and SMS both have unique strengths, so use them to offer distinct types of content such as offers, news, updates, and promotions. It would help to provide consistent messaging, ensuring that the message and branding are consistent across both channels to create a cohesive experience for subscribers. Once that has been done you can test and optimize the metrics to determine which approach works best for each channel and adjust your strategy accordingly. Make sure you use automation tools to streamline your email and SMS workflows and save time and resources. By combining email and SMS campaigns, you can reach audiences through multiple channels and increase engagement and conversions.
Brand Recognition
By using both email and SMS increases brand visibility. Use consistent branding which will ensure that your branding is consistent across all email and SMS campaigns, including logo, color scheme, and tone of voice. Provide clear messaging which identifies that your messaging is clear, concise, and memorable so that subscribers will associate it with your brand. You can offer valuable content, such as informative articles, exclusive discounts, or behind-the-scenes insights that subscribers will associate with your brand. Encourage social sharing with your customers by- Including social media links in your emails and SMS messages to encourage subscribers to share your content on their own channels and increase brand visibility. Lastly, monitor the metrics by regularly tracking engagement rates and open rates to identify trends and improve the effectiveness of your campaigns. By implementing these strategies, you can build brand recognition and loyalty among subscribers and create a positive association between your brand and the content you deliver.
Overall, you have a multi-faceted tool which you can use when it comes to getting your campaigns to the people who will not only respond to it but also assist you to engage with more like individuals. Graviti A.M.S also has a directory which can assist you to navigate the diverse networks within your subscriber database. This personalization can lead to increased participation in campaigns, competitions, or projects, contributing to a more engaged and active membership of your subscribers.
As we've explored in this article, combining email and SMS marketing campaigns can help e-commerce businesses reach their audience more effectively and boost sales. From personalized messaging to triggered campaigns and exclusive offers, there are many ways to engage customers and keep them coming back for more. But remember, building relationships takes time and effort, so be patient and persistent in your approach. With the right strategy and execution, email and SMS marketing can become powerful tools in your e-commerce arsenal. We hope this guide has been helpful for you. If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to us on [email protected] / +2711 678 1249 or if you want to request a demo and fill in the form so we can contact you. Should you wish to start a free trial you can click here and see the benefits of Graviti Association Management System firsthand.
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