Every marketer who is running an e-commerce business should
already know the power of email marketing. But without the correct strategies
you might be losing out on a lot of subscribers AND revenue. The best aspect
about email marketing is that a single promotional mail can bring in lots of
conversions – but only if it is done right! Many marketers are still use the
age old method of getting subscribers through a shabby looking Sign Up form and
then sending them newsletters hoping to get lucky with some sales.
This is one of the biggest mistakes! The main disadvantage
of this method is that often the subscribers get mails of unrelated offers
which results in unsubscribes and/or low conversions and sales. This article walks thru 7 tweaks to improve your email marketing technique.
1. Segmentation of Subscribers
You are simply leaving a
lot of easy money on the table if you are not dividing your subscribers into
segments and making use of advanced features. There can be several areas on the
basis of which you can segment your list.
A few of them are:
- Actions on your website (i.e. Which product were they interested in?)
- Personalization
- Demographics
- Detailed tracking of customer responses
- Emails based on these triggers
2. Optimize the Subscription Form
You should optimize the
Email Subscription Form to get more subscribers. A well-presented home page is
only half the work. You should try to place the subscription form on all the
pages of the website. The position of the form is also very important. Placing
the form on the lower most corner is no good – you should try to place it
inside the content or in the upper folds of the website.
3. Use Images That Capture Attention
This one is simple. Use an
image that captures the attention of the visitors right away. Borders
around images work very well. Images that utilize red do well. Images that employ arrows and symbols to guide users
toward the subscription form do well. Test images to ensure you're serving images that convert subscribers. The image that does well with your target audience is an image that you should use. Ditch low performing or boring images.
4. Offer Incentives
Why should someone sign up
to your newsletter? What benefit will it be for them? You must highlight at least
one incentive for your subscribers. It can be “ $5 off for the first order” or
“Free Shipping” or or a promise that subscribers will get exclusive deals and
discounts. You can also display different versions of the subscription forms
(with different offers) on different areas of the website so that the visitors
can choose the right option for them.
5. Be Urgent
Including urgency in your
messaging (“Only for 24 hours!” or “Sign
Up Today!”) can drastically increase your subscriber rate. Pair urgency with
incentives and you’ll be in good shape. For example, “Ignore this and you will
miss out on a $50 Free Coupon Forever.”
After a user has clicked on the Subscriber button you can make the
newsletter work for them by allowing for them to choose their preferences, specify
their product interests and include demographic information (age, birthdate,
etc.) But first, give them a reason to be a part of your community.
6. Write a Catchy Subject Line
A catchy subject line will make your subscribers open your
mail and read what’s inside. Needless to say, it is of no use if you have a
huge email list and a poor Open Rate. Using mystery in the subject lines can
help you achieve this.
For example: “Stay Away From The Kitchen
Tonight. Here’s How.” “You’re not going to want to miss out on this…,” etc.
7. Make Subscribers Enter Their Email Twice
This is a very small tweak that you can definitely apply to
make sure that you are getting the correct email id every time someone is
opting in. Include a second field in the subscription form where the
subscribers have to enter their email again. Make sure that it is not auto
populated and that the two fields for email ids are the same without any
discrepancy.
The net profits of an e-commerce business can be increased
by leaps and bounds if these simple tricks are kept in mind. You have to put in
that extra effort initially but with proper analysis, testing and refinement,
you will get to see the benefits in a very short time.
This guest blog post was written by Sreejan
Niyogi, a contributor for Shahram
Shirkhani Blog.
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