$0 to $71,005 Email Attribution Within 3 Months
Background
As the eCommerce industry becomes increasingly competitive, it’s evident that outdated email marketing tactics no longer yield the results that they used to. Brands relying on old strategies risk falling behind in the ever-evolving digital landscape. My client, in this case, a boutique handbag store, found themselves in this all too familiar spot. This brand faced a multitude of challenges:
Lack of remarketing to past customers: Before working with me, my client struggled with email marketing due to the absence of a dedicated team. This lack of resources led to an inconsistent campaign schedule, and many customers forgot about them.
Stagnant email list growth: When I audited my client’s email marketing lifecycle, I spotted that their pop-up conversion rate was only 2%. My client later told me their pop-up form hadn’t changed since they built their store.
Email flows that lacked several OTS: Our inboxes are always full, and it isn’t going to get any better soon. That’s why we must give our customers many OTS (opportunities to see) regarding email flows.
Before working with us
90 days after we optimized their email flows
Before our implementation
Open rates were below 10%
Email flows were making 1-2% of total store revenue
After an audit, I later realised that my client wasn’t using an opt-in pop-up, and most subscribers signed up to complete a quiz. They didn’t use the results for segmentation nor recommend any products based on quiz answers
After our implementation
Open rates consistently above 20%
Email flows made up 21% of total store revenue and became more profitable than campaigns
Teaser pop-up installed on the storefront, a quiz funnel that we utilised to properly segment our list and send more personalised flows and campaigns, inevitably leading to more revenue generation
Our Impact
I worked on all three stages of the customer lifecycle to improve all areas of their email marketing (pop-up conversions, flows, and campaign performance).
Before I get into the specifics of what we created for my client, I’ll first explain the three categories I use to build my flows:
Customer Acquisition
The main goal of these flows is to transfer shoppers from the “Awareness” stage to the “Purchase” stage of the customer journey. The core customer acquisition flows are Welcome Series, Browse Abandonment, and Cart Abandonment.
Customer Retention
As the name suggests, these flows aim to retain customers. Customer Retention is achieved by raising customer satisfaction, creating a feedback loop, and cross-selling or upselling products. The core customer retention flow is the New Customer flow.
Customer Advocacy
The customer advocacy flow primarily aims to turn repeat purchasers into loyal customers and, eventually, brand advocates. Brand advocates are created by identifying frequent customers and rewarding them with schemes such as a VIP or customer referral program and a points rewards system.
Email Flows: Flows are essential to every email marketing strategy. One reason flows are so powerful is that they’re triggered by customer behaviour, so when subscribers receive them, it feels natural. When constructed properly, flows guide customers through the customer lifecycle, and because they’re automated, they operate 24/7.
Week 1 — Email Lifecycle Analysis
I conducted a comprehensive audit of my client’s email marketing lifecycle. This process laid out the critical areas of my strategy:
Pop-up optimisation: It was clear their pop-up needed redesigning and optimising.
Analysis of their target market: Great marketing copy isn’t achieved by using extravagant words or sounding “salesy”; it’s about speaking the language of your target customers. I needed insights from my client and their research (as well as some help from Google Analytics) to remap their ICP (ideal customer profile).
Week 2-3 — Strategy execution
With my audit complete and my insights at hand, I executed my three-pronged strategy:
Reconstructed email flows: Apart from the Welcome Series, I prefer at least five emails per flow. This principle allowed me to eliminate five main obstacles for all flows at each stage of the customer lifecycle.
Created an engaging campaign calendar: Advanced scheduling allows for well-structured and engaging email campaigns. I mapped out a content calendar that balanced sales/promotional, trust-building, and value-driven content.
Segmentation: Good email marketers segment campaigns, but great email marketers segment flows, too. Adding a radio button to the pop-up form allowed me to segment subscribers by interest (I created three segments).
Week 4-6 — Results
I’ve worked with many brands, so I know the importance of gaining small wins and quick results early in the process. If an email marketing strategy is carefully laid out and well executed, it can take a couple of weeks for results to manifest.
Here are some additional actions I performed in the later weeks:
Continuous testing and optimising: In marketing, everything is a test. It’s rare for a marketing campaign to deliver the best results in its first iteration; exceptional results are the fruits of constant optimisation. I A/B tested subject lines, CTAs and sending times every week.
Strategic flow expansion: After laying the foundational flows, I went beyond the basics, introducing innovative flows tailored to specific products and customer segments. Each recipient received a personalised experience.
Conclusion
Many articles around the web express the importance of email marketing, so I won’t do that. But I will say that as technology evolves and people buy more online, not only will they prefer personal shopping experiences, but they will also expect it.
Check out more email marketing case studies to discover what eCommetry can do for your business.
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