Best strategies for effective retail email marketing
Retailers use a variety of methods to reach out to customers in order to generate interest about products and services as well as foster loyalty. One of the most popular strategies – among both merchants and consumers – is email, as this allows businesses to interact with patrons at anytime, and individuals can access these messages from almost anywhere. However, there is no certain approach that works for all companies when it comes to email marketing, as successful techniques differ among industries, the merchandise being offered and other factors. However, there are several basic steps that merchants can follow to ensure that their marketing messages are hitting the right note and developing awareness about their products.
Segmentation is good first step
Businesses know that their customers come from all walks of life, and this means that email marketing messages need to center around – and embrace – these differences in order to see the best results. Econsultancy explains that merchants need to consider segmenting their shoppers into various groups, which can be based on aspects such as gender, age, preferred products and levels of engagement, among other elements.
The source recommends several categories for businesses to use in their email databases, one of which is product reviews that consumers post online. Analyzing these opinions and putting the positive and negative ones in separate groups will not only help companies target their content more effectively, but it also gives the chance to see where improvements can be made and alert customers to any enhancements.
The source also suggests that purchase and lifecycle milestones are another category to include for email marketing segmentation. Factors like birthdays, anniversaries, due dates for expecting mothers and various important days for shoppers are great ways to promote discounts, deals and products, the source explains.
Get them to open emails
After segmentation has taken place and retailers have sent out their emails, now it is up to consumers to actually open the messages and respond. However, there are ways that merchants can boost the chance of recipients actually read their emails, increasing the chances or purchases and loyalty. Entrepreneur magazine writes that emails need to include entertaining elements, such as videos, games or easily shareable links. Another method the source recommends is always incorporating deals, discounts and offerings into emails. This significantly impacts whether consumers are willing to do business with brands in the near future.
