eCommerce sites are in a unique position over traditional stores, and don’t have the option to leverage in person marketing tactics. While social media, online advertising and email marketing are certainly important parts of a brick and mortar brand’s strategy, they’re virtually the only parts for an eCommerce store. Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach customers and convert your marketing efforts into sales. Read on below to see why Mailchimp is the best platform for eCommerce email marketing and how you can use it for your brand.
Custom Templates
The graphic design and layout of your marketing emails can make or break your company’s chances of getting the sale and driving customers to the site. Mailchimp offers drag and drop template creating options, but these are limiting even to those with moderate experience. Custom Mailchimp templates are as unique as your brand, and the possibilities are endless. Partnering with a web development firm that staffs graphic designers will give you access to an experienced team that knows how to work together to accomplish your goals. Upon getting to know your business and studying your brand, graphic designers will be able to create something that is in line with your brand’s image. For more information on what to consider graphically, check out one of our related blog posts by clicking here.
Custom templates offer a host of other benefits as well and are more than just good looks. Templates are built from the ground up and each piece is coded by hand. The extra attention ensures that all readers will have a flawless experience across mobile phones, tablets and desktop options. While Mailchimp offers mobile responsive tools, they are mostly surface level solutions that won’t span all possible devices.
Automation and Integration
Getting smart with your email marketing means taking some of it off of you and your employee’s hands. Making use of MailChimp’s automation services is the ideal way to take care of your customers once they’ve signed up to your mailing list or have made a purchase from your store. Try offering an incentive for those who sign up to your email list. Common incentives are a percentage or dollar amount off of their next purchase, or a free item with any purchase. Having to send these incentive offers out manually can not only be time consuming, but can be an easily forgotten task. Mailchimp offers auto responder sequences that automate this process when prompted from your site through APIs. Customers will appreciate the timeliness and will be more likely to use their coupon if it arrives right away.
Initial autoresponders aside, automating the notification parts of your transactions is an area that needs critical attention. As an online commerce store, the process that happens after an order is placed is just as important as the marketing and experience leading up to it. In 2015 alone Mailchimp added over 150 different integration options, meaning there’s a good chance that your management system can communicate with MailChimp. Consider a consultation with a reputable web development firm that’s certified from Mailchimp to learn about your options. WordPress based sites and those that utilize WooCommerce are in an optimal position to benefit the most from integrations. From the moment your customers click submit order, they’ll be placed into a sequence to receive key emails as the order fulfillment process goes on. Automatic custom invoices, shipping confirmations and recommended products based off of previous purchases are just some of the possibilities.
Learn From the Past
Over time you’ll send out more and more emails through Mailchimp to various segments of your overall list. Learn from the past and take advantage of the data that’s automatically collected from each campaign. If studying and interpreting data isn’t your forte, Mailchimp has a solution for that as well. Their smart sending system will review all previous campaigns and expertly decide on the perfect time to send a campaign to maximize open and click through rates. Split testing options are also available for trying out new designs.
Thousands of companies are already harnessing the powerful tools that Mailchimp offers for email marketing. Over the course of 2015, almost 10 million eCommerce sales were the result of killer Mailchimp campaigns. Imagine the impact that a significant sales increase could have on your bottom line. Incorporating custom email marketing templates and working with a web development firm doesn’t have to be costly. By making some smart shifts internally and taking the time to identify your marketing goals, the investment has a high return rate.
