Tips to setup marketing automation for an e-commerce business

Marketing automation has become a household name for brands who understand its value, and for a good reason, it works. I’ve noticed that although marketing automation is on the rise, there is still a void when it comes to its application within the e-commerce business. 

E-Commerce websites are more complex than retail businesses simply because the number of touch points between the consumer and their final purchase decision can be much higher. However, this does not mean we should ignore automated marketing efforts. 

So how do we get started? This guide will help you gain insight into how to implement marketing automation into your e-commerce business.

What is marketing automation?

Marketing automation is a way of using software to automate repetitive tasks. E-commerce Marketing automation helps companies to manage their marketing campaigns, from email content to customer segmentation and automated drip campaigns.

The software tracks the progress of each campaign, which allows it to adjust any given campaign’s parameters in real-time. 

As a result of taking all your customers’ actions, you can use this information to personalize their experience and ensure they are receiving content that is relevant to them at the right time.

How can e-commerce businesses leverage marketing automation?

1. Marketing automation allows you to create powerful automated marketing campaigns that are personalized and relevant. You can automate many email campaigns for your, such as welcome emails, order confirmation, abandoned cart, win-back, reorder, and so on.  It can reduce most marketing efforts and increase your ROI.

For example, If you run an online course business, you can automate a welcome emails every time students enroll for your course. Many online course platforms have this option inbuilt. You can also integrate a marketing automation tool with your online course platforms.

2. Marketing automation enables you to reach a wide audience with your content, which helps build brand awareness in the marketplace.

3. Marketing automation helps you improve customer engagement by providing real-time information about who engages with your content and what they say about it.

4. Marketing automation can help increase sales by sending targeted messages at the right time to the right people based on their behavior patterns, demographics, interests, and preferences so that they’re more likely to buy from you!

5. Marketing automation enables companies to collect data on customers’ interactions with their brands to make informed decisions about how best to serve their needs to keep them coming back again and again!

Your first step in automating your e-commerce business

It’s tough to know where to start when it comes to automating your e-commerce business. But if you’re looking for an excellent first step, email marketing is a great way to get started.

Email marketing is incredibly effective in building relationships with clients and keeping them coming back for more. It lets you stay in touch with customers and make them feel like they’re part of something special. It also allows you to promote new products, offer discounts or coupons, and even ask for feedback while keeping costs low and giving your customers the personal experience they love.

How do you know what your customers want?

One of the most crucial aspects of running a business is knowing what your customers want and being able to provide it on time. This can be difficult, especially when you’re dealing with a large number of customers. But there are ways to simplify the process and ensure that all your customers are satisfied.

One way is to conduct market research. This can be done through surveys or focus groups; it’s vital that you ask questions that will help you get a vision of what people want from your company and how they feel about the products or services they’ve already received from you. 

If you can identify trends among what people say they want, then it’s easier for you to tailor your offerings accordingly.

Map out your customer journey

Your customer journey is the path a customer takes from discovering your brand to becoming a repeat customer.

A good customer journey map will show how your customers interact with your company, what they do on your website, and how they feel during each interaction with you.

It will also help you understand which parts of your business are working well and which need improvement.

How to Map out Your Customer Journey:

1. Get creative: brainstorm all possible touch points between your customer and your business (website, social media, email marketing, etc.)

2. Decide who will use the map: marketing plan for multiple stakeholders (e.g., salespeople) who may need to access this information at different points in time or for other purposes (e.g., sales staff might want to see it quarterly, while marketers might wish to see daily updates).

Key Takeaway: The goal of this exercise is to identify the gaps in the customer journey, starting from they hearing about your brand to the final purchase.

Choose the right marketing automation platform

Choosing the right e-commerce marketing automation platform can be a challenging task. There are numerous platforms available in the market, each with its own features and functionalities. Choosing the right one may seem daunting, but it is not impossible. Here is some guidance to help you decide which platform is right for you.

Analyze your business needs: When choosing a marketing automation platform, it is essential to analyze your needs and requirements first. This will help you choose one that fits your requirements perfectly without compromising on any aspect of your business operations or performance.

Also, try to find: What are you trying to accomplish? Do you want to increase sales, increase engagement, or improve customer loyalty? What is your ultimate goal?

Once you’ve decided on your goals, you can start looking at platforms that will help you reach them.

Here are some questions to ask:

  • How much experience do they have with customer journey mapping?
  • Do they offer a free trial or demo? If so, take advantage of it!
  • What kind of customer service do they offer, and what, if anything, does this look like?
  • How much does their platform cost, and how does this compare to other similar platforms?

Here is some popular marketing automation software you can consider: Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Engagebay, Constant Contact, Omnisend, etc.

Segment your email lists

Segmenting your email lists is integral to creating an effective email marketing strategy. It helps you target the right audience, retarget them & send them the right content at the right time, which can increase engagement and drive sales.

Segmentation is dividing a more extensive group into smaller segments or groups based on specific criteria. You can segment your list based on their demographics, behavior, location, interests, and many other factors.

These segments should be as specific as possible so that you’re reaching out to people who are most likely to buy from you.

In email marketing, there are two main approaches for segmentation: static and dynamic. Static segmentation involves manually adding new subscribers from one list to another based on their demographic information or behavior. Dynamic segmentation involves using software that automatically divides subscribers into different lists based on their actions (e.g., those who clicked on a particular link).

Key takeaway: When you segment your emails, you can create content that your target audience will find relevant and valuable rather than just trying to market to everyone with this one email.

Source: Above The Fold Agency

Develop automated campaigns for each segment.

Automated campaigns are the key to success in direct marketing.

To develop a successful automated campaign, you must first segment your customers into groups based on their needs and characteristics. Once you have done this, you can customize personalized content for each group and send it to them using automation.

Segmenting your customers allows you to target them with relevant content and offers, increasing conversion rates and sales. It also gives you an opportunity to identify new prospects who would be curious to buy your products or services.

If you’re working with a large number of segments, you’ll want to make sure that you have an automated campaign for each segment. Here’s how to do it:

1.) Create your automated campaign.

2.) Click on the “Automation” tab and select “Automation Rules.”

3.) Click on “Create Rule.”

4.) Select the trigger and action you want to create for this rule. You can set up a variety of options, including:

  • Send an email when someone visits my site
  • Schedule follow-up emails based on specific actions (e.g., opening a product page) or days/times (e.g., sending an email on Fridays)
  • Send an email after someone purchases items from my store.

These steps are primarily similar and vary slightly from tool to tool.

Use a consistent email design and branding

When it comes to email design and branding, consistency is key. It’s essential to have a visual identity that your readers can easily recognize and associate with your brand.

One of the best ways to achieve this is by using consistent colors in your emails. Make sure to use the same color palette across all of your marketing materials: website, social media posts, emails, etc. This will make it easier for people to recognize your brand when they see it online or offline.

Here’s how you can use a consistent email design and branding:

  • Use a recognizable logo. Your logo should be recognizable at a glance, so it should be bold and clear. 
  • Incorporate color into your design. Color can make an image more memorable and easier to identify with a particular brand or product.
  • Use similar layouts throughout your campaign. For example, if you have a newsletter template, use this same layout on all other pages, like opt-in forms or landing pages that are part of that campaign.
  • Ensure the font you use matches up across all of these places.
Source: Unlayer

Write content that matters

Writing content that matters for an email is a skill.

The first step is to understand the purpose of your email and then write in such a way that it fulfills that purpose.

Here are the tips to follow in drafting a winning email:

  • Your subject line should be short & simple but also descriptive enough so that people know what they are getting into when they open your email.
  • Ensure you have a good opening sentence that grabs their attention right away. The first sentence should attract and make them want to read more!
  • Make it personal: Your readers should feel like they’re having an actual conversation with you and not just reading an impersonal email.
  • Have an appropriate call-to-action at the end of every email so people know exactly what action you want them to take next!
  • Read your email several times before sending it out to ensure it is clear, concise, and friendly.

Monitor and analyze your metrics

Monitoring and analyzing your email metrics is the key to having a successful email marketing campaign.

You need to understand how your subscribers engage with your emails, what works and what doesn’t, and whether or not you’re getting a good marketing sales.

The best way to start monitoring your metrics is by setting up tracking codes in your email marketing software. This will help you see how many people open the emails, how many click through them, and how often they engage with the links inside. It’s also important to set up a goal in Google Analytics so that you can track conversions from your email campaigns. For example, if someone clicks on an offer and then makes a purchase on your website within 30 days of clicking through, that would be considered a conversion.

Once you have these details in hand, you can use them to find out what’s working for your business. For example: Do certain subject lines get more opens than others? Which links are clicked most frequently? Which links lead people directly to making purchases? Where do people enter into an email sequence? And so forth.

This information assists you in finding the right trend and following that for a successful journey.

Source: Pepper Content

Wrapping up

Marketing automation is powerful but sometimes tricky. It’s important to know what you’re doing and how your business works before jumping into the world of automated marketing.

If you’re looking for a way to facilitate your marketing efforts, this guide has helped! Once you’ve got the basics down, there are plenty of ways to expand on what you’ve started and ensure that your sales funnel is as effective as possible.

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