The 3 most important SMS & email marketing flows (10 point checklist)

Email marketing and SMS flows are something very fundamental in e-commerce. Essentially, it's about: how do you turn first-time buyers, who you typically get via paid media (Facebook, Google, Instagram ads), into long-term customers? And especially without incurring additional advertising costs. Logically, the profit margin increases quite a bit if you first buy the customer via paid advertising and then reactivate them via email marketing or SMS marketing on the second, third or fourth purchase. In fact, online shops make 20-30% more revenue when they use email marketing properly.

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In doing so, email marketing and SMS campaigns can work hand in hand to create seamless communication for your customers. Because while certain content is best delivered via email marketing, many marketing messages are more effective when sent via SMS. So what are the three most important automations from our point of view?

1. Abandoned Checkout / Abandoned Cart

An abandoned checkout occurs when a customer adds one or more items to the shopping cart, enters their personal and credit card information, and then decides not to complete the purchase. Abandoned cart occurs when a customer reaches the point where they add an item to their shopping cart and then - for whatever reason - decide to leave your website. We recommend sending 2 to even 5 emails here. Logically with different time intervals in between and from different senders. A combination of SMS and email marketing is particularly effective here. According to our calculations, a customer has the highest chance of recovery after the first email. Accordingly, we send an email and an SMS at the same time to have the maximum opening rate. 

2. Review flows combined with UGC

User-generated content (UGC) is one of the most important factors for paid ads on social media. Therefore, review emails inviting customers to leave reviews can be a great opportunity to get more UGC. We typically use vouchers worth CHF 100-200 as relatively large incentives for customers to send videos and pictures of how they use our products. It is important to provide very clear step-by-step instructions and, in the best case, even to send model videos that the customer can follow. Experience shows that this results in a lot of valuable content and, as is the case with automations, it works relatively automatically! 

3. Welcome Series

Welcome Series are a powerful tool for both customers and subscribers who are not yet customers. But be careful: In these Welcome Series, you should never include too much sales-driven content. Much better effect 

• Blog posts
• Story about the fire
• Background about the founders
• USPs of the brand etc.

Try to accompany the customer with valuable content over a certain period of time. However, always keep in mind that it is not necessarily about how profitable each individual email is, but that every click counts. Because every existing customer who clicks on the email comes back to Facebook/Instagram ad retargeting and Google display retargeting. In this way, you create an ecosystem of brand awareness and bind the customer to your brand. 

Your ultimate 10 point checklist for successful email marketing

So now you set about creating these three most important email marketing automations and we give you another 10 tips as a checklist that you should definitely consider.

Tip no. 1: Personal address

A personal address in your email increases the opening rate, because the customer feels taken seriously and appreciated. 

Tip no. 2: Test sender names

Be sure to test your sender name. Use your customer support name as well as your company name or both in combination. 

Tip no. 3: Different subject lines with emojis

Use emojis in your subject line. Put the emojis before the body text or after the text - play with the elements in the subject line and get a feel for what resonates best with your customers. All this increases the chance that your email will really be noticed.   

Tip No. 4: Dedicated Sending Domains

In any case, we recommend the SMS & email marketing provider Klaviyo. Make sure you have set up your Dedicated Sending Domain - this also increases the opening rate. Because by having your sender address match the domain, you improve the deliverability of your email in the eyes of the inbox providers. 

Tip #5: Segment your audiences by engagement

Use 7-Days Open & Click / 30 Days Open & Click and stop adding audiences to your email marketing flows somewhere between 60 and 90 days.   

Tip no. 6: Avoid spam/promotional keywords

Try to eliminate keywords that could lead to your emails ending up in the promotions folder. This reduces the chance of your emails ending up in your customers' inboxes. Such keywords could be: 

• Free: free of charge, remuneration, gift, profit, test free of charge, register free of charge
• Promotion: offer, best price, voucher, discount
• Investment, turnover, making money
• Urgent: fast, immediate, limited offer, expires soon
• Sale: Sold out, click here, order
  
  

Tip no. 7: Plain text emails vs. HTML design

Test what works best with your customers. Plain text emails are less time-consuming, easy to read and don't distract from the main point. They also feel more personal and convey a sense of exclusivity. On the other hand, HTML emails are more attention-grabbing, dynamic and much more interactive. They can also be personalised very well and have a more professional appearance. So both formats have their advantages. We recommend using a mixture of both: A plain text email, for example, can go down very well, especially if it comes from the CEO directly or from a key employee. And don't forget: test, test, test! The answers lie in your analytics data. 

Tip no. 8: Sending emails at off-peak times

At first glance, the question of the optimal time to send your emails seems to be answered quickly: you want to reach your customers exactly when they are online. The challenge, however, is to hit this individual sending time as well as possible with many different recipients with different daily routines and habits. In B2C e-commerce, we have had very good experiences with emails sent at midnight. In B2B commerce, emails sent on Sunday night (between 0 and 3 a.m.) have the highest open rate, closely followed by Friday. Mailings sent on Saturdays, on the other hand, have the lowest. Since B2B campaigns are often read during working hours, it makes sense to send an email during regular working hours. 

Tip no. 9: Create a top footer

Use social media icons, review integrations or USPs of your shop in the footer. In addition, always use the same footer. This promotes brand recognition and makes you look more trustworthy. 

Tip no. 10: Integration with the Facebook Ad Manager

Connect your email marketing automation system with Facebook Ad Manager to retarget your top engager audiences constantly on social media. This will help you encourage repeat purchases and stay top of mind with your customers. So start your first automations now, follow our 10 point checklist and use the power of email marketing for your e-commerce success! And if you would like to learn more, feel free to contact us for a free analysis of your advertising accounts and let us show you the potential of your online shop.