Today, no business can survive without marketing as well as automation! When used together, marketing automation can do wonders for online businesses in achieving their sales and growth goals.
Marketing automation allows business owners to take control of their marketing strategy without manually managing every aspect of their campaigns.
Most of the marketing automation tools are designed to drive more traffic to the store and bring back more returning customers with a simple initial setup and occasional tweaking and monitoring.
You’ve already set up your eCommerce site and now you are ready for marketing. This used to be accomplished manually through a lot of trial and error, but no more. These days the only real way to manage an eCommerce platform is through Marketing Automation.
Marketing Automation allows you to manage your online marketing campaigns from start to finish. The basic premise is that you create a super easy marketing strategy that anyone can use, and it’s all automatic. Marketing managers, marketers, and even small business owners can create, launch and manage their campaigns with automation tools.
You’re probably asking yourself:
Let’s have a look at the real world benefits of Marketing Automation. We are sure, you’ll also feel that automating your eCommerce Marketing is the first thing you should do before creating your next marketing campaign.
Marketing Automation for eCommerce is the topic gaining a lot of buzz these days. Despite its popularity, though, there’s still a lot of confusion surrounding the term. Some think it’s the same thing as regular marketing campaigns. Others claim it’s different, such as it’s a subset of marketing.
Marketing Automation is the management of many aspects of your marketing from a single place. You’ll have a visual interface that’ll allow you to manage this.
Although it’s a relatively new solution, it has already gained widespread acceptance thanks to its many benefits. The key to success for Marketing Automation is to use it in the right way. The “right way” meaning the way that will help your business and not hurt it.
Basically, eCommerce marketing automation comes down to collecting and cataloging customer information for future use. Any and all information you capture from a lead helps you tailor a marketing strategy around that specific lead. A CRM system automatically captures lead information, from actions to demographics.
Your team still must put forth the effort to create the specific templates and marketing materials. However, once created, you can send out personalized emails based on the templates which use the information collected from the CRM.
Automated marketing frees up countless hours your team can better spend chasing the most important leads. How much automated marketing you decide to implement depends on your own business needs and preferences.
Marketing Automation for eCommerce is a common problem for retailers and has been the focus of many articles, blogs and tutorials. As an eCommerce business owner, you may have read about the advantages Marketing Automation can offer. More often than not, you’ve wondered how you can get started.
So why you might ask, would you need automation to improve your marketing? Simply put, Marketing Automation tools are the easiest way to streamline and improve your marketing.
Marketing Automation is not a new concept, but it is a critical one for eCommerce companies that want to grow their business. The problem is that most eCommerce companies confuse Marketing Automation with email marketing, and the two are not the same.
Email marketing is a very important part of the marketing process, but it’s not the whole picture. Email marketing will only get you so far in your marketing efforts. Marketing Automation can help you get the most out of your email platform and its ability to generate and nurture leads…
But, how does Marketing Automation help you, the eCommerce retailer? Well, it looks at your customer data and helps you identify opportunities to grow revenue in overlooked channels.
For example, you can use Marketing Automation to identify shoppers who have abandoned shopping carts or never converted on a lead form. You can also use it to identify which products aren’t working for you and which ones are.
You can then use the information to send the perfect message to your customer at the perfect time. That’s how Marketing Automation helps you grow overlooked revenue streams.
Marketers struggle with a lot of questions. How do I get more customers? How do I advertise effectively? How do I get my produc ts in front of the right customers? How do I keep my customers coming back to me over and over?
Do you want to increase your average order value (AOV) and increase your customer retention rate? If so, you should use Marketing Automation to do so.
You can use Marketing Automation software to automate repetitive marketing tasks. It can be used to communicate with customers throughout the customer lifecycle.
Let’s say you’ve added a customer to a Marketing Automation program. You can then program the software to send out personal messages:
You can send out automated emails to all your customers, based on their tracking data. This way, you’ll be able to identify exactly what your customers want, and help them to make smart choices.
Small business owners always struggle with limited time and resources. Marketing Automation software can help you streamline the process of collecting customer information. You can then use it to nurture your growing customer database.
One thing that marketers can’t afford to ignore is Marketing Automation. This software gives marketers the tools they need to run an increasingly successful business. Email addresses, names, phone numbers and more can easily be collected through the software.
Growing your list of customer data is paramount to your success in business. Automation software can market to your customers to collect information about them. This will help you to reach out to lost customers.
Marketing Automation can primarily be used for attracting new customers with various marketing campaigns. It is done by creating a chain of related actions that are automated. These actions can leverage the data from your website and the contact form to determine the effectiveness of each step.
The benefits of engagement are:
Most eCommerce marketing automation revolves around email automation. Sending out targeted emails enticing leads and customers to return to your web store. Sometimes customers just need a reminder about your business to spark a purchase.
Setting email automation saves tons of time trying to reach out to all of the leads on your list. Whenever an email draws in a lead you can either let your website do the work or get them in contact with your sales team. Either way, these automated emails help keep your staff from pursuing low-quality leads who lack interest.
The term “Marketing Automation” might not be the most attractive phrase when you think about it. But it may be the most powerful tool in your arsenal when you are trying to increase your sales.
Do you want to make the most of your eCommerce business? Do you want your customers to feel like they are being well looked after?
Marketing Automation for eCommerce has been proven to increase conversion rates, customer satisfaction and return on investment.
It has also been proven to reduce the amount of time needed to perform repetitive tasks, giving your team more time to do the tasks that only they can do.
Marketers, online entrepreneurs and business owners are constantly struggling to find ways to improve their businesses. Whenever you have a new plan for your business, you need to realize if it is possible to achieve it manually or if it is better to automate it.
Why? Because automation never sleeps. It doesn’t get distracted. It doesn’t procrastinate. It doesn’t get tired or sleepy. It’s always working.
Every business is different. We know this, and we know what it takes to make your business thrive. That is why an automated platform is right for your business.
The average cart abandonment rate is 69.57 percent, which means seven out of every 10 shoppers won’t complete their transaction.
Also, according to Forrester research, the shopping cart abandonment currently causes eCommerce brands to lose a staggering $18 Billion in yearly sales revenue.
When people abandon their carts, it’s because they have one, or more, issues that prevent them from taking the next step in the buying process. We’ve all been there, an item is in the cart, we’re almost ready to check out, and then… a flurry of questions arise:
This is a great time to offer some of your most valuable content in a way that encourages the customer to trust you and your brand.
Segmentation is an extremely important part of Marketing Automation, and often the most overlooked. As you start to build your segmentation strategy, there are a few things to remember, such as:
Source: snov.io
Your goal should be to segment as much as possible.
One of the first questions a new marketer asks is why should they invest in automation? The answer is actually incredibly simple, as long as you segment your leads and nurture them in a specific way.
Automation helps you reach your leads where they are. It also helps your sales team present the best, most up to date information to them.
Win-back campaigns are a great way to keep your customers coming back and to get them to purchase from you again. The right automation tool will allow you to regularly reach out to your previous customers.
It will remind them about your products and services as well as the benefits they have using them.
A win-back campaign is an email campaign that is sent to existing customers. The goal is to attempt to win them back after they purchased from a competitor.
Start by building a list of customers that have left the company (this is often available by a CRM or eCommerce system). Next, you should send the customers an email with a promotion.
Be sure to write an email that will get the customer to make a purchase and not just unsubscribe from the list.
Sending out emails and automating your marketing can help you grow your business. You need to ensure that all of your products look their best in your marketing strategy.
This is why we are going to take a look at how to use Marketing Automation software to show your products in emails and automation.
If you are like most online retailers, your email marketing team is probably using a third-party service to send out their emails and newsletters. However, if you are looking to step up your email marketing strategy, you may want to consider using a Marketing Automation software that integrates with various email marketing services.
Not only does this allow you to show product images in your emails, but it also makes it easier to set up automated campaigns and segment your email lists.
There is an old saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” It is true. In the same way someone can say a lot with a few words.
Or how showing someone a piece of paper with words on it is easier than reading it aloud to someone. Visuals are easier to understand than the words that describe them.
Sending marketing emails to your customers is a great way to stay in touch and remind them of the products you sell. But what if you want to show them a specific product?
It doesn’t matter whether you’re promoting a specific item or product line, or sending a personalized email. it’s important to make your emails look professional.
Writing a custom newsletter template or using a Marketing Automation platform can make this process easier.
There’s no doubt that customers love a deal. Even better in the customer’s mind, is when they receive special offers and bonuses just for being a loyal customer. It makes them feel great knowing that they’re so appreciated by a company.
With Marketing Automation you can do just that. You can send a discount voucher code to all your existing customers based on a number of criteria that you specify.
You could send a discount to customers who have purchased a particular product within the last 12 months. You could send a discount to customers who are in your VIP club. Maybe to those who have spent more than a certain amount in the last 3 months.
You can even include a time-limit for the discount offer. For example, you could only offer a discount to customers who purchase within the next 3 days.
The list is endless, and the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
Inbound marketing is all about nurturing leads and building strong customer loyalty. A lead’s score is determined by how you’ve interacted with that lead, and how often the lead has interacted with you.
When dealing with lead scoring, it’s important to remember that there’s no magic number you can set to determine a person’s value. Because each industry is different, what works for your business might not work for others.
The best way to nurture leads and build strong customer loyalty? Lead scoring. In fact, using lead scoring could be the difference between making money through automation and losing money. That’s because your automation is driving the wrong leads to your sales team.
In time, your lead-to-customer funnel may become increasingly complex. The only way to know which leads are hot and ready to purchase is to segment them. You could easily do this based on their interests and business needs.
Remember, you can’t predict whether or not a lead is a good fit for your product or service. This is why it’s important to nurture and build loyalty with your leads.
Marketing Automation is the process of streamlining customer communication through a series of orchestrated marketing tasks.
Upselling is a hot topic in customer loyalty marketing these days. It’s all about encouraging customers to spend a little bit more with you. You can do this in a number of ways, such as offering discounts when customers spend more than a certain amount, or including bonus items with their purchase.
Upselling and cross-selling are very similar. The main difference is that upselling encourages customers to spend more to get something better. Cross-selling encourages them to spend more to get something additional.
Marketing Automation tools are available to help you set up email marketing campaigns to send customized emails to your customers. This is based on information you already have about them.
For example, say a customer purchased the Men’s Leather Briefcase. You can send them a promotional email for the matching Leather Briefcase Cover. This kind of automation makes it easy to engage with customers on a personal level, and a lot more fun, too.
Of course, you can still perform email marketing campaigns manually, but why would you want to? It would take a lot of time if you have a lot of email marketing campaigns with different content. What about if you want to follow up with your potential customers at different times?
That is where Marketing Automation comes in. The software does all the heavy lifting for you. It can set up personalized email marketing campaigns in combination with your Marketing Automation account.
As online shopping continues to grow, retail shops must find a way to capture online shoppers. Growing businesses often find themselves inundated with orders. This keeps them from fulfilling them in a timely manner. In order to properly handle an online store, retailers need to implement eCommerce marketing automation.
eCommerce marketing automation refers to the automatic completion of tasks related to online selling. This helps increase revenue and the customer experience. Many small and growing businesses cannot keep up with all the demands of running their businesses. eCommerce automation gives you the tools to stay in control.
Instead of pouring over the minutiae of the marketing strategy, marketing automation handles all of it. You can set up an automated eCommerce marketing system and see the results with only minor adjustments.
When implemented properly, the program attracts new customers, helps retain old customers and increases the size of each order. Here is how to implement and get the most out of eCommerce marketing automation.
New customers do not compose all potential growth for your business. In fact, exponential growth could already be right in front of you. One of the best ways to increase revenue today focused on increasing average order value, or AOV. This means that customers spend more money at checkout.
Increasing AOV helps save marketing costs since the customer already intends to buy. You do not have to expend excessive resources trying to attract new customers. Instead, you focus on the ones you already have.
You can see how price changes affect your bottom line by using A/B testing. Basically, you select two prices and see how the change affects your sales. eCommerce automation helps identify demographics and market segments to apply the change to test groups. This gives you easy access to customer information so that you can accurately catalogue each segment’s reaction to the different prices.
When you see a successful price change, meaning that your revenue increases, you can make the appropriate adjustments. And whenever price increases fail you can always just go back to the lower prices. Either way, experimenting with prices helps fully understand the value of your products.
Additionally, set your automation platform to make appropriate recommendations for upselling and cross-selling purposes. Cross-selling relates to selling additional products related to one specific product the customer wants. Examples include phone cases and screen protectors for cell phone sales. Upselling means selling the deluxe editions of standard products. So when a customer selects one product, you can offer them an enhanced version of it at a higher price.
Have your platform suggest cross-selling and upselling options all across your web page, from product pages to checkout and confirmation pages. Bundled packages and minimum order sizes for extended benefits such as consultation services or free shipping also help increase AOV.
All you have to do is set the automated eCommerce marketing platform to place the requested prompts and watch the results.
Keeping old customers almost always costs less than attracting new ones. Additionally, a small portion of loyal repeat customers accounts for the vast majority of most business’s revenue. Therefore, businesses should focus their energies on enhancing the customer experience to increase customer retention.
The customer experience accounts for the majority of customer retention. Make sure your business takes the steps to decrease friction in the buying experience. Also, provide customer support and keep all interactions friendly and professional.
When it comes to eCommerce automation, several paths can help with customer retention.
Offering some sort of subscription service easily helps customers return on a regular basis. Subscriptions set customers up with an easy way to make purchases. You can set a subscription program to provide customers with a restock of products on a regular basis.
Experiment with a subscription service and see if you can make it work for your business. While you may not offer a continually purchased product, subscription boxes featuring a variety of products might just work for you.
The best part: the whole subscription service is automated on both ends. Both the customer and your business so not need to do anything in order to continue with the sale. You only need to worry about fulfilling the order. The system takes care of the rest.
Many businesses send receipt emails for online orders. You can use these emails for upselling and cross-selling purposes by setting them to include similar products with links back to your page.
Also, you can automatically enroll the recipient’s email address into an email automation system. Or at least put the option for customers to receive updates and offers during the checkout stage.
Once a customer makes a purchase, you can automatically reach out to them after a certain time period. You can ask about their experience with your product in the form of a survey. The system should automatically transfer all information into your customer relationship management (CRM) system). This helps understand what works with your products and what needs improvement. You can even offer a coupon upon completion of the survey to entice customers to fill it out and buy again.
CRM systems track all customer interactions so all of your teams can view information. Coupled with an automated system, you can use this information for targeted marketing campaigns for each customer. This means when you see them buy a certain product again and again, you can offer them a deal on that in conjunction with a similar product. And the automated system does all of this for you.
CRM plays an important role in handling your contacts list. However, you need to attract people to your website first before your CRM system can work.
In order to drive all of your contacts lists, you need to set up ways to add them as soon as possible. That means adding their contact information to email lists as soon as you make a sale. Set your system to automatically enroll all new contacts in your email list. This helps draw them back to your website in the future.
Information gathered at the point of sale is the most potent. So do not pass up on adding point of sale contact information boxes to your sales page.
Newsletters also help draw more customers into your sales funnel again and again. Mostly consisting of company updates and sales, newsletter continue the exposure of your business beyond the sales page.
Refine your newsletters to focus on a customer or subscriber’s interests. That means giving them options regarding the type of newsletter they receive. Allow them to opt out of newsletters without the content they desire. Some newsletter subscribers only want offers and discounts in their inbox. When customers receive only content relating to their interests, they tend to open your emails more often.
Sprinkle lead magnets throughout your web pages and content to capture as much contact information as possible. Many businesses use pop-ups for visitors to enter their email addresses as soon as they enter a landing page. You can use capture devices throughout your pages, giving the magnets the best odds of success.
Sometimes an enticing offer such as a discount or free service pushes leads to enter their contact information. You can offer free consultations, eBooks or other content to give leads an incentive to provide their information.
Keep your lead magnets simple to reduce friction. Requesting too much information all at once causes leads to lose interest. You want to capture just enough information to add them to a contact list, but not too much that overwhelms the lead. If you desire additional information, make those boxes optional. And try to make them focused on the lead, such as products or services that interest them.
Link all of your marketing advertisements to some sort of lead capture device. That way, you increase the odds of capturing a lead in your marketing web. You can include lead capture devices on blog posts to capitalize on a lead’s interest after reading about your product. Interested leads tend to provide their contact information more readily, so treat all captured leads as either warm or hot. This way, you prioritize them to close a sale.
Information from lead magnets automatically gets entered into email lists or other contact methods. So even when an interested lead does not make a purchase you can stay in contact with them and draw them back.
All of your emails should help you automatically track a customer’s status. For instance, if a customer needs to speak with a representative, give the customer a way to provide their preferred contact method. From there, the system should add this information to the appropriate list.
The CRM system can help track all of this information, so when a customer requests assistance the proper staff can respond.
Set your system to always welcome new customers and subscribers. This welcome email should tell your customers that you are a friendly service provider. Include in the email all ways in which they can get in contact with you for support. Additionally, give them a rundown of all the services and products they just subscribed to; subscription services thrive when they keep their customers in the loop.
Whenever you release a new product or service, send out an email targeted towards potentially interested customers. You can pull information from your CRM database to automatically send emails to potentially interested customers. You might recapture a waning customer’s attention or increase the subscription size with additional products or services.
Additionally, send a welcome email to leads whom you have just captured. However, maintain respect for their journey. Many leads may not wish to purchase right this second. So keep your welcome email friendly but do not push them away immediately.
You can provide basic information regarding your company and your product. Spreading this information out between several emails helps you keep from overwhelming new leads. You can continue with these automated marketing campaigns to ensure leads continue returning to your store.
Once you add a new lead or customer to your email list, you need to send them content tailored to that specific lead. Your CRM database will greatly assist you in sorting through leads to find which segments they fall into. Link your automated marketing system with your CRM database to automatically sort through all of your leads.
You can segment your markets based on demographic information, where they saw your advertisements, personal interests or a plethora of other factors. The more information you have on the leads and customers within your database, the better your marketing strategy will perform.
Source: Salescycle
Email personalization, also called 1:1 segmentation, is geared towards one unique customer. And no, that does not mean simply adding the customer’s name at the top of the email. Businesses tailor the content of their emails to match the specific nature of their customers.
For example, the music streaming service Spotify sends out annual reviews to each subscriber. The reviews contain information relating to what the user listened to and how much. This helps the subscriber reflect on their use of the service. Additionally, many people share their reports on social media to compare with friends. This essentially works as free marketing for Spotify.
In order to make sure that you can keep track of all of this personalized data, you need to use automation.
With a CRM system, all customer information gets retained without any worker lifting a finger. Keeping track of this information without automated CRM would require huge amounts of manpower. Instead, CRMs capture all the information which you can then send out in your personalized emails. This makes each subscriber feel that you really care about them specifically.
Segmentation opens the doors for you to send out targeted marketing campaigns not quite as specific as personalized emails.
One of the best ways to segment your audience is by the actions which each lead or customer takes. This behavior-driven segmentation apply whenever a lead or customer makes a specific action. From there, your CRM system places them in a specific group. Then have emails automatically sent with that behavior in mind to each segment.
For example, a customer who purchases garden seeds from a lawn maintenance retailer should receive emails about gardening. These emails can include blog information such as “tips and tricks” or related products which may interest the customer.
You can even send reminders to customers regarding actions they have yet to take, such as when they save a coupon but have yet to use it.
You can also use market segmentation to work with your massive email blasts. When you have a record of demographic information you can apply this to your marketing campaigns for a more personalized feel.
For example, a clothing store may have a sale on denim. While all leads may receive the email notifying them of the sale, the content will differ. They may use male models in their denim ads aimed towards their male demographic. Or they might show kids wearing denim in ads targeted towards parents. These little personalizations make leads relate to the advertisement more personally, helping to make a sale.
Many times a lead will simply provide their contact information without any additional indication of demographics or interests. This occurs very often through lead magnets. To keep from bothering these potentially hot leads with superfluous information, unleash a marketing campaign to get more information.
Send your vague leads informative emails linking back to the specific products and services on your website. Your CRM will capture whichever link the lead clicks on and add the information to their profile. From there, you can send out more personalized emails relating to whatever the lead selected. This way you get a better idea of their interests so you can cater to them more specifically.
Take some of the following as inspiration when choosing what kind of email marketing automation you wish to use.
Whenever a customer has not purchased from your store in a while, you can set up a program to automatically send them an email. These emails usually say something like “we miss you” and give a list of ongoing deals. Sometimes you may wish to even include a special coupon code to entice that specific customer into visiting your store.
More customers click on receipt emails than any other kind of marketing email. Take advantage by sending an automated email whenever a customer makes a purchase. Fill it with links to similar products to capitalize on a readily available cross-selling opportunity.
Sometimes a customer may browse your website and add many items to their cart before abandoning it. Whether they just wanted to select save items for future purchases or got distracted, reminder emails help them go back to their cart. So long as you have their contact information you can send out emails automatically whenever a customer does not complete their order.
Sometimes you will get recurring customers with very high AOV. Other times you will get customers who only purchase during sales. Either way, you can capitalize on these habits. Send your high AOV customers promotional offers related to past purchases to reward them for their high spending.
And when a customer only buys during the sales, send them information about the general sales you already have going on. Since they already enjoy sales, they will likely check out the offer to see if anything on sale interests them.
Overall, eCommerce Marketing Automation works wonders to help create more dynamic and personal marketing campaigns. Start by implementing the right CRM system for your needs, and then take advantage of that information with targeted emails.
Once your team designs marketing templates, let the CRM fill in the rest. That way you can focus on more important matters and drastically cut down on marketing costs.
FAQ #1 Is Marketing Automation really a thing or just a gimmick?
Yes, Marketing Automation is really a thing. A really big thing if you are into efficiency and using tools to help grow your business. It’s certainly not a gimmick.
Some experts say that the hype around it is so extreme that it’s just a gimmick. But it’s not as though Marketing Automation is new.
In fact, automation has been around for several years now, mostly in the form of email marketing. The purpose of an email Marketing Automation system is to make life easier for marketers.
FAQ #2 How do I get started with Marketing Automation?
The basics of Marketing Automation start with identifying your target audience. This is the group of customers you believe would benefit the most from your product or service.
Next, you have to lay out a plan of what you’re going to do during the Marketing Automation process. (And don’t worry, you don’t have to be a marketing guru to do this!)
Then you’ll have to choose which automation software will work best for you. There’s Marketing Automation software for nearly any budget. Always plan out your needs vs your budget. Never be afraid to contact the software company to ask questions.
FAQ #3 How much will it cost for Marketing Automation software?
How much does Marketing Automation software cost? The pricing depends on the needs of the business and the features they require.
For example, you can expect to pay more for a solution that has advanced data integration tools. The ability to send large numbers of emails, and/or run automated social media marketing campaigns may cost more.
Is there any reason to not integrate Marketing Automation into your business strategy?
The short answer is “No”.
The long answer is “No”.
Now that you know about eCommerce Marketing Automation software, all that’s left is creating a strategy that will work for you. By planning carefully and having a budget prepared for this task, you’ll have no problems.
You’ll also be happier once you realize how much more time you have to invest in your business.
Learn more about how you can reach and retain more customers across marketplaces, mobile, social, and in real life. Talk to an eCommerce expert.
Mike Patel is the Founder and CEO of ioVista, a leading digital commerce agency specializing in eCommerce solutions. With a strong background in business and technology, Mike Patel has been at the forefront of driving digital transformations for businesses. He has successfully navigated the ever-changing landscape of eCommerce, helping companies leverage the power of online platforms to grow their brand, increase revenues, and optimize their digital presence. Under his leadership, ioVista has become a trusted partner with major technology companies: Adobe/Magento, Google, BigCommerce, Shopify, and Yahoo. He is dedicated to staying ahead of industry trends, adopting cutting-edge technologies, and continuously improving strategies to provide clients with a competitive edge. Mike’s commitment to excellence and client satisfaction is evident in every project ioVista undertakes.
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