Although it is one of the older strategies, email marketing still remains among the most effective ones. For every dollar spent on email marketing, marketers achieve an ROI of $42. This great amount of ROI has meant that 87% of the companies turn to email marketing for content distribution. Email marketing is a great tactic for attracting new customers, driving traffic and enhancing the conversion rate at the end of the sales funnel.
Email automation can also be used for educating your buyers and keeping them in the loop regarding the latest developments. Here are 4 ways email automation can help:
1. Welcome Emails
A welcome email is the first email your customer receives, once they opt in for your mailing list. Welcome emails have an average open rate of around 50%, which is much higher than the open rate for standard newsletters. At the beginning, shoppers are also paying more attention to your message. This makes welcome emails extremely effective.
In these automated welcome emails, make sure to welcome the buyer and introduce them to your brand. Tell them the story behind your brand, what sets you apart from the rest and what the buyer can expect from you. It should also provide the reader with an incentive to make purchases. You can send a coupon code through the email for this.
2. Lead Nurturing Emails
Lead nurturing is the process of educating and guiding the customer through every stage of the sales cycle. Ultimately, the aim is to lead the customer to a purchase. For this, automated and personalized emails can be sent to potential leads. The campaign is customized, based on user behavior data and analytics. With this information, campaigns can be made relevant and engaging for the target customer.
3. Re-Engagement Emails
Over time, some of your customers might move away from your business. But they are not permanently gone and can be won back with re-engagement emails. Around half of the customers who receive such emails open and interact with the following emails. To set up a re-engagement email, start with a reminder and tell the customer what sets you apart. Then follow up with an amazing discount. This could be a coupon code, a free gift, free delivery or even a product bundle. Give them a particular date till which they can take advantage of the offer. This would create a sense of urgency.
4. Repeat Customer Email
It is not just important to get new customers but also strengthen the relationship with existing ones. But both these segments cannot be treated in the same manner. Repeat customers already like and trust you. Plus, they know what makes you special. So, for repeat customers, your emails should be more focused on being helpful and linked to their interests.
Send them automated emails with personalized recommendations. Having discounts and gifts is not that important in this category. Just keep educating them about what they might like, based on their purchase history. For instance, a travel site might keep informing them of places they might like to visit, based on the price range they search for and the location.
Apart from these, you can also send automated emails for abandoned carts. These emails can inform customers about purchases they might have forgotten or are unsure about.
