How To Win At E-Commerce Email Marketing With These 8 Campaign Types

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If you are an online seller who hasn’t dipped their toes into email marketing yet, you’re leaving money on the table. This is because email is still the best and most effective way to connect with your customers right in their inbox and forge loyal relationships with them. 

Why? Because, unlike social media, your emails are something the customers willingly subscribe to!

Emails are also highly targeted, give you more flexibility over how and when you speak to your customers, and are excellent at keeping your brand fresh in their minds. All of this translates to more traffic, sales, and conversions for your e-commerce store. 

8 types of email marketing campaigns you should be running

Collect emails from your customers and turn them into repeat buyers with the following types of emails. 

1. Welcome emails

A welcome email marks the beginning of your journey together and sets the tone for how it will go, so introduce yourself and make sure your email reflects your brand voice and imagery. Show them the human behind the brand.

It’s a great opportunity to let your subscribers know that you’re happy to have them there, get them up to speed on what they can expect from your emails (and how they can update their preferences), and subtly nudge them into taking the first step with a small first-purchase discount code. 

2. Abandoned cart emails

Not everyone who browses your store is going to complete a purchase. Most people will add items to their cart and exit. But there’s a way you can turn them into customers: abandoned cart emails. 

After they exit, send them a nudge via email immediately. Let them know that you’re holding on to their items and include a photo + link to the product page. Give them a reason to go through with the purchase. This could be a product benefit, a coupon code, or a testimonial from other clients. 

3. Promotional emails

Who doesn’t love a good promo offer? Even better if it’s exclusive! Make your newsletter subscribers feel all gooey inside and reward their loyalty with special discount coupons for them. 

To create even more urgency and really grab everyone’s attention, run limited-period offers!

4. Post-purchase emails

So, a customer has completed a purchase. Congrats! Now it’s time to send them an email thanking them for their purchase with an overview of their order. You can assure them that they’ve made the right decision. Include a line or two addressing how this purchase will solve a specific problem that they were having. This is a great way to keep their post-purchase anxiety and guilt away. 

Since you already have their attention, you can use this opportunity to upsell some of your other products that they might like. Use their behavior pattern to give them some personalized recommendations. 

5. “We miss you” emails

Has a customer been MIA lately? It might be a good idea to remind them that you miss them. Sweeten the pot with some tailored recommendations, reviews from other customers, and a good promo deal to remind them of just what they’re missing out on. 

6. Birthday/ seasonal emails

Holidays, birthdays, and other special days are worth celebrating… with some retail therapy. It’s also the time when most brands run sales. Get your customers to celebrate with you by wishing them happy holidays and informing them about how much money they can save this season! 

To make your buyers feel really special, send them targeted emails with an exclusive discount code just for them on their birthdays! Based on your audience’s demographic, you can send greetings for important days that are often overlooked by other brands, such as the lunar new year.

7. Feedback emails

How do you know if your customers are satisfied with you? By getting their feedback! Not only does this let you know what you’re doing right, it also lets you know how you can improve. 

Once a buyer has made a purchase or two, send them an email requesting feedback. This could be a simple “are you satisfied or not” question, or a Likert scale asking them to rate your products, a short survey, or simply an open-ended box asking them to leave you a review. 

To make it worth their while, you can host a raffle where a buyer gets entered to win a free gift if they take part in your survey, or give them a small discount on their next purchase upon feedback completion.

8. “Back in stock” emails

It can be a real bummer when an item you want to buy is sold out. When this happens, most customers will probably turn to a competitor. To prevent this from happening, prompt your buyers to sign up for email alerts when the product’s back in stock. Promise them that it will be worth the wait. 

Once the item is back in stock, send them an email reminder with a direct “buy now” button. Make sure to let them know that you appreciate the love they’ve been giving you so far!

Best practices for e-commerce email marketing

Follow these tips to cut through the noise and increase your email open rate and return on investment by making sure that they’re landing well. 

Segment your audience

To actually drive results from your emails, you need to keep them relevant. This means sending emails that speak to each customer’s specific needs. To do this, segment your audience based on their past purchases, age group, preferences, income, etc. and craft unique emails for each group. 

For example, a buyer who has a habit of shopping only when there’s a discount will appreciate an email about an upcoming sale. 

Personalize your messages

Getting access to a buyer’s inbox is like being invited to their home. It’s a chance to speak to them directly, so make it count. Use their first name, give them personalized recommendations based on their past purchases, or some valuable tips that’ll add value to their lives. 

Bottom line: Show them that you know them!

Warm up your emails

You’ve just started your e-commerce email newsletter, and you’ve collected 200 email addresses. Now you’re ready to send off your first email. Except.. if you go from 0 to 200 emails in a single day, it looks suspicious. You’ll probably land in everyone’s spam folder and ruin your reputation. 

This is where email warm-up comes in. It builds your reputation and makes sure you land in inboxes. Use a tool and warm up your address before you begin!

Make your emails visually appealing

Let your emails be a pop of color in your customers’ inbox. Break down your texts with visuals, such as GIFs, product carousels, or photos. And don’t forget to optimize for mobile!

Have any favorite e-commerce emails that you’ve been inspired by? Let us know what they’re doing right!