If you’re reading this, I assume you’re either an owner or marketer of an e-commerce store. Or, perhaps, you’re considering launching your own e-commerce store.
At this point, you’re undoubtedly asking yourself, “Is email marketing for me?”
The answer is “it depends.”
In the above diagram, you’ll find a commonly accepted model for e-mail marketing—the holy grail of campaigns for marketers. The model outlines the various components of an e-mail marketing program and how to measure the success of each piece.
For decades, marketers have used this model to craft their e-mail communication with customers. The components of this model are:
- A goal (e.g., to acquire customers)
- Tactics (e.g., to achieve this goal using email)
- Metrics (e.g., to evaluate the success of the campaign)
- Content (e.g., the message to be conveyed in the campaign)
- Channels
- Personalization
- Segmentation
- Monetization
Before you start using email to market your product or service, it’s important to first take a step back and consider what your objectives are. Are you looking to acquire customers or deepen your engagement with current customers? Are you looking to grow your customer base or engage with a target audience? These questions should help you determine what kind of email marketing strategy will be most effective for your business.
Goals
The goal of any marketing campaign is to increase the conversion of potential customers into paying customers. However, this can be difficult to quantify. It’s also something that can change over time. The best advice is to set a goal that you know you can measure, and then consider the rest.
In the electronic commerce world, the most popular goals are:
- Acquiring new customers
- Grow existing customer base
- Boost brand awareness
- Getting exposure
- Decrease market share from competitors
- Increasing sales
- Getting referrals
- Getting testimonials
- Attracting the right audience
- Engagement
- Lifetime value
- Reactivating dormant accounts
- Upselling
- Cross-selling
- Up-touching
- Up-filling
- Establishing brand loyalty
- Creating awareness
- Credibility
Tactics
Now that you know your goals, you can consider the various tactics you’ll use to achieve them. As previously stated, the goal of an e-mail marketing campaign is to increase the conversion of potential customers into paying customers. One of the best ways to do this is through content marketing.
Also, depending on your goals, you may consider using some of the following tactics:
- Product/service descriptions
- Product demos
- Sales letters
- Case studies
- Comparisons to similar products
- Request for qustions (FAQs)
- Free samples
- News articles
- Short-form articles
- E-books
- Webinars
- Live chat sessions
- Customers reviews
- Testimonials
- Shopping guides
- Social media campaigns
- Telemarketing
- Content syndication (aggregating content from other websites)
- Email marketing
Keep in mind: not all tactics are created equal, and you may need to experiment to find which ones serve your business best. For example, you might decide that product demos work best for your business, but you’re not sure how best to structure them. In that case, you could try doing a little research and see which ones other businesses in your industry are using. Then, you can decide whether or not this is the right fit for your company.
Metrics
Finally, we arrive at the most important part of the email marketing model: the metrics. Basically, these are the measures you’ll use to determine the success of your campaign. In order to determine what metrics you should aim for, you need to consider how you’ll measure the success of your campaign. This brings us to our next point.
Measurement
Before you start sending out your emails, it’s important to consider how you’ll measure the success of your email marketing campaign. Like with most marketing initiatives, you’ll want to consider taking some time to measure the results of your efforts. This way, you can determine if:
- Your tactics were effective (e.g., did they result in the desired conversions)
- Your chosen tactics were the right ones (e.g., did you use product demos to grow your customer base instead of e-books? Maybe a combination of the two is best))
- Your chosen tactics will be effective (e.g., did you pick the right time to send out your campaign)
- Your chosen tactics will change how you do business (e.g., did sending out the product demo increase your conversion rate)
- Your chosen tactics will be effective in the long term (e.g., did a customer study about your product influence her decision to purchase?)
- Your chosen tactics will result in increased revenue (e.g., did adding a rewards program increase your revenue by 10%? Perhaps a different tactic is the key to unlocking this potential.)
- The effort was worth it (e.g., did the email marketing campaign result in increased web traffic to your website? If so, then this might be the sign that you’re on the right track.)
For a more detailed look at the components of an email marketing program, I’d strongly recommend consulting with an experienced digital marketing strategist who can help you put the pieces together.