Email Marketing Automation in 2021

Posted by Fidelitas on May 17th, 2021

WHAT IS EMAIL MARKETING AUTOMATION?
 
We’ve all noticed social media has been on a meteoric rise. There are constantly new consumers and eager eyes watching their Twitter timelines, Instagram feeds, and even LinkedIn profiles. But what about email? Have marketers left dusty old emadil behind for bright and shiny social media? The short answer? Absolutely not!
 
Email marketing, particularly email marketing automation has only risen in popularity, especially in leading to e-commerce and small business sales. While social media and other content channels are absolutely essential for an integrated marketing campaign, automated email marketing should never be left out of your campaign.
 
So….what exactly is email marketing automation? Email marketing automation covers emails that you’ve probably received to remind you of something in your cart at an online store or in celebration of you being a subscriber to a service for a year. Ever received a “happy birthday” from the company you recently bought glasses from? That was email marketing automation. Email marketing automation streamlines content for companies so that they can provide customized yet automated content based on a customer’s activity with their brand.
 
To make things easier, I’ll describe what email marketing automation isn’t. For one, it isn’t one-off campaigns, sale notifications, or weekly newsletters. While all of these emails are important for a robust campaign, they are not automated email marketing. Instead, email marketing concentrates on continuously engaging customers and building relationships with them over time.
 
TYPES OF AUTOMATED EMAIL CAMPAIGNS
 
Welcome emails
These emails are scheduled to send when your customer signs up for emails, becomes a subscriber, or purchases from you for the first time. Take the time to introduce your customer to your platform. Where can they get the info that they need? Describe how you work and what your customer is going to gain from working with or purchasing from you!
 
Abandoned cart emails
In 2020, the average cart abandonment rate was over 68%. So users are visiting your site, putting things in the cart, but over 68% of them aren’t following through on their purchases! The extra push they need to remind them of their potential purchase and get them to follow through on it comes in the form of an abandoned cart email! Your abandoned cart email can include anything from a sentence like “still thinking it over?”, to providing more information on why your customer should purchase from you.
 
Browse Abandonment
We’ve already lauded the value of abandoned cart emails (seriously, over 68% is no joke), but what about the customers that haven’t even made it to the cart yet? I’m talking about the 89% of customers who don’t even make it past the search bar. Browse abandonment emails trigger when a customer browses on any page or product and then abandons the search altogether. Your email could include a call to action like “Come back before it’s too late!” to incentivize potential customers.
 
Automated Win-back
It may sound harsh, but sometimes, your subscribers just aren’t interested in what you’re sending them. If you’ve noticed that some subscribers have been interacting with your content less and less, it might be time to send them an automated win-back email with a juicy inventive included. These emails concentrate on people who have barely been interacting with your emails to get them interested again. Typically, an automated win-back campaign might start with a reminder about the company, an incentive to purchase, and a request for feedback. If all else fails, let your customer unsubscribe if they really want to.
 
Sunset Flow
Maybe you’ve sent your automated win-backs and there’s still no response. Then what? Unfortunately, email providers like Gmail will notice if your emails are not being opened, and will eventually begin sending them to the spam folder. To avoid being put on the dreaded Gmail blacklist, send out a sunset flow that invites subscribers to unsubscribe to the email list. Although it seems counterintuitive (losing subscribers isn’t good right?) sunset flows will actually keep your subscriber list efficient and engaged! This helps with the overall health of your email list — leading to increased success in email inboxes, open rates, and click-through rates.
 
Product Review Flow
Now that you’ve got your customer to purchase your product, your work isn’t done just yet! Your future customers are actually relying on your current customers’ opinions! Product reviews are a great way to sway new customers into purchasing an item that they’re unsure about, but to get those reviews in the first place, you have to send out a product review flow. Product review automated emails are simple enough. Just send out the email to prompt a review from a customer soon after they’ve received their item and watch the new purchases come in!
 
Milestones
Ever forget an anniversary? Not a great feeling. Automated email marketing can ensure that you’ll never miss another birthday, subscriber anniversary, or purchase milestone. These emails show your customers how much you value them and foster a greater personal relationship with them.
 
WHY DO I NEED EMAIL AUTOMATION?
 
We’ve covered what email automation is, but why do you even need it? For one, 60% of consumers report that they’ve purchased a product as a result of a marketing email. Sales for e-commerce and businesses in the past few years have become increasingly reliant on email marketing. This means that you should be concentrating on making long-term and personalized relationships with your customers through your automated email strategy.
 
EMAIL AUTOMATION IS CHANGING, BUT HOW?
 
Automated Email marketing with a UX concentration
Marketing isn’t just about the marketers! It’s now becoming a part of the user experience as well. Collaborate with user experience experts to ensure you’re maximizing the design and layout of your email and maximize engagement in your automated campaigns.
 
More isn’t always better
Over-designed emails often feel too much like a plain old “ad”, but text emails? Text emails are emails you get from a friend or a coworker. Email how your customer’s friends and coworkers communicate and get a personalized relationship with your customer by prioritizing plain text emails over highly designed and difficult to load content. Instead of intense digital graphics and design, focus on providing content in a textual format that engages your customers efficiently without exhausting them.
 
Mobile is a mainstay
According to marketing master, Neil Patel, open rates for emails on mobile have increased by 40% while open rates on desktop have decreased by 18%. This means that you need to align your content with the devices that your customers will view it on! When your customer views content meant for desktop on mobile, they’re not going to shift devices if they can’t view the content, they’re going to just delete the email. Prevent your emails from going straight to the trash bin by ensuring that emails are compatible across devices. Providing emails in text format may assist with this as well! Kill two birds with one stone!
 
Overproduction is out
With the rise of social media content that is more relaxed and stripped back, consumers are now becoming more interested in less manufactured content. If you are including video or design in your emails, don’t over produce it! Oftentimes, a more genuine approach will be far more effective in providing engaging content for your customers.
 

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Fidelitas

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Fidelitas
Joined: March 17th, 2020
Articles Posted: 5

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