Email marketing still remains an important tactic in the digital marketer’s toolkit to drive traffic to ecommerce websites, increase engagement and boost sales. Industry research agrees, email marketing is here to stay;

· The number of worldwide email accounts is expected to increase from 3.3 billion accounts in 2012 to over 4.3 billion by year-end 2016. (Radicati Group, Inc)
· The UK market for email marketing platforms and services grew by an estimated 15.5% year-on-year to a value of £388 million by the end of 2011 (Econsultancy)
· The average email user receives 147 messages every day, deletes 71 emails daily and spends more than 2 ½ hours on email a day (Boomerang) 

But what email marketing techniques achieve maximum results for ecommerce? 

Drip Marketing

Drip marketing is the practice of sending a series of pre-written emails at set intervals. The main purpose of drip marketing is to engage with a prospect over a period of time and in doing so, encourage the individual to buy a product. Most email marketing software packages can be programmed to automatically send out several emails over a course of time after the introductory email. A successful drip marketing campaign gradually builds awareness and ultimately wins the customer. 

Re-engage

A recent Forrester survey (Understanding Shopping Cart Abandonment) indicates 88% of web buyers say that they have abandoned an ecommerce shopping cart without completing a transaction. This is the same percentage as five years ago, suggesting that retailers have yet to address cart abandonment and lost sales. Another ecommerce email tactic is to send a series of three emails to re-engage the web buyer. These emails could perhaps include a product the user nearly purchased, a comparison guide with a similar product or an invitation to revisit the website and view the product description page.

You could also re-engage with existing customers who haven’t purchased any of your products in some time. ‘Welcome Back’ promotional emails offering discount or ‘Customer Survey’ emails both work well in these circumstances. 

Segmentation

According to The Email Marketing Industry Census by Econsultancy & Adestra, companies who practice basic segmentation are 95% more likely to rate email return on investment (ROI) as excellent or good compared to those who do not use any form of segmentation.

Segmenting your existing email lists is time consuming but well worth it. For ecommerce lists, organise email addresses into categories based on past purchase history. Create highly targeted email marketing campaigns suitable for each different category. Additional tips to bear in mind when targeting ecommerce segments;

1. Target ‘First Time Purchasers’ by building awareness; product education and entertainment emails will likely inspire first timers to purchase.
2. Offer strong purchase incentives to ‘One Time Purchasers’. Low price guarantees, free shipping or a free product will stimulate ‘One Time Purchasers’ to re-purchase as soon as possible.
3. Cross-selling and up-selling tactics will entice ‘Multiple Time Purchasers’ to re-purchase. Also reward this segment with valuable e-vouchers to thank them for their continued business. Increase the level of targeting and personalisation as the level of loyalty rises.

Try Video

Video is becoming an increasingly important component of ecommerce product marketing. Top e-tailers use video to build brand loyalty, reputation, engage with customers and boost sales. According to eConsultancy, shoppers who view product videos are more likely to add cart than other shoppers.

Don’t be intimated by creating product marketing videos for email marketing campaigns. Microsoft Movie Maker and Apple iMovie are free editing software packages that are surprisingly simple to use. As for the video theme, ask a well known face to endorse your products or involve your customers in the brand by getting them to speak about your products. Customer testimonials and brand endorsement work extremely well in video, as do product demos. Online buyers want to see a product in use before they can make an informed decision. Other successful videos for email campaigns include event coverage and special announcements.

Special Offers

Within an email marketing campaign, you can surprise your existing database with special offers, over stocked item blowouts and newly released products. Send a one off email to promote various products or set up a weekly/monthly email campaign showcasing ‘Products of the Week/Month’. Direct each product image with an inserted link to its specific product page on your website. This call to action encourages sales by making the buying process as simple as possible – only a few clicks away from email to checkout. Word of warning though; try not to spam your database with special offers until the users hits unsubscribe!

Ecommerce & Email Marketing at The Web Bureau

To find out more about E-commerce and Email Marketing visit www.thewebbureau.com. Alternatively, contact us on 028 9073 1190 or email info@thewebbureau.com

Denise Cowan, Online Marketing Executive at The Web Bureau is responsible for managing Online Marketing campaigns for clients. Denise offers the following insights into consumer behaviour online and how businesses can use this knowledge to increase online sales.

Selling online successfully involves applying many of the same principles as you do in a traditional shop environment.  Any good marketing strategy requires you to understand consumer behaviour, and in particular, the mindset of your current and potential customers. This article focuses on the following 3 questions:

1. To What Extent Do Consumers Purchase Online?

2. How Do Consumers Find What They Need or Want Online?

3. How Can Search Marketing Help to Increase Sales?

To What Extent Do Consumers Purchase Online?

Industry research is a good starting point to aid your understanding of consumer behaviour online. The global 2012 Digital Influence Index, led by the Fleishman-Hillard digital research group assessed the relative role and influence of different media in the lives of consumers, providing many statistics that traditional retailers and e-commerce shops can’t afford to ignore.  For example:

• The internet is the most common place people go to for advice, before family and friends

• 85% of consumers use the Internet to help make decisions about goods and services related to their children, 75% for healthcare decisions, and 68% on money matters

• 51% indicate that the Internet will influence their decisions more in the next two years

Leading search engine Google, also offers insights into online search volumes and trends via their platform.

• More than 1 billion users search on Google every week

• Google handles more than 30,000 searches per second

• Search is a database of intentions and most people are searching for needs, not brands

The IMRG e-Retail Index provides useful information about online retail trends in the UK:

• The UK is Europe’s leading e-retail economy and experienced record online sales of £68bn in 2011, a 16% increase on 2010 - with predictions of a further 13% growth in 2012 and estimated total e-retail sales of £77bn by the year end, there is little doubt that consumers will continue to buy online. 

• e-Retail now accounts for 17% of total retail sales in the UK

• The UK has 52 million internet users, 37 million of whom are internet shoppers

• The top 3 sectors in 2010 were clothing; beer, wine and spirits; and health and beauty

These statistics make a compelling argument for creating an online shop.

How Do Consumers Find What They Need or Want Online?

The simple answer to this question is by using Search Engines:

• 89% of consumers use search engines when searching for information about a brand or product (Global 2012 Digital Influence Index)

• Nearly 2/3 of consumers now use their mobile/smartphones to obtain information on products, brands or destinations at least 3 to 4 days a week (2012 Digital Influence Index)

• 90.84% of total searches take place on Google (Hitwise, April 2011)

How Can Search Marketing Help to Increase Sales?

Two key aspects of Search Marketing include Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click Marketing (Google Adwords). SEO is essentially a long term strategy which focuses on building a sustainable online presence for your business over time, whereas PPC involves paying for instant visibility and traffic to your website. What both of these Search Marketing Strategies have in common is their ultimate goal is to generate visibility for your website within the search engine results pages to drive more traffic to your website.  This creates enormous potential to boost your online sales.  

There are many facets to Search Marketing and Google’s algorithm, which it uses to determine where it ranks each website in the search results, but the starting point for any business is to develop a good understanding of your customers’ online behaviour. Undertaking detailed keyword research will enable you to identify the words and phrases consumers use most frequently to search for your products and services online. This knowledge can then be applied to the development of your online marketing campaigns. 

To find out more about E-commerce and Search Marketing, come along to our e-commerce workshop at the Northern Ireland Small Business Marketing Conference 2012, hosted by Business First or contact us on 028 9073 1190 or by email to denise@thewebbureau.com 

In last week’s introductory article, Can Your Business Afford Not To Sell Online?, we highlighted that online retail is growing faster than any other retail sector in the world, however, many traditional retailers find the online world vast and daunting. There is so much to consider, making it difficult for new e-commerce entrepreneurs to know where to start online – this is where an experienced e-commerce provider can help.