Just Another Day For Some – But A Whole New Way For Others?

July 15, 2020

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An agency like ours has much in common with the bulk of today’s eCommerce businesses. Also similar to an eCommerce company, we can serve our clients wherever they may be, regardless of their geographic location; that coverage extends well beyond the physical site of our digital marketing agency in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, just North of Philadelphia & across the Delaware River From Central New Jersey.

Much like the typical eCommerce company, our remote operational capabilities have allowed us to continue offering our full line of digital marketing services for our clients, almost completely unimpeded throughout the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic. And, we remain optimistic that we will be able to continue at this level going forward. If we weren’t previously aware of the devastation this virus is reaping from coast to coast, it might seem like it was no more than just another news story from some distant corner of our planet.

Top 3 Email Marketing Mistakes Made by the eCommerce Industry

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Unfortunately, the same can’t be said once we leave our bubbles of isolation, the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are visible everywhere we go. The number of boarded-up storefronts & empty parking lots barely scratches the surface of what many predict is yet to come – entire industries virtually disappearing into nothingness! Perhaps one of the few sectors to make its way through the early waves of damage relatively unscathed is the eCommerce industry. ECommerce has already designed its sales cycles around “remote purchasing,” using well-designed & easy to navigate websites as their “storefronts,” and several shipping companies to deliver customers’ purchases directly to them in just a few days, and sometimes even faster. Many reports suggest that what is turning out to be an economic disaster for so many traditional “brick & mortar” businesses will end up having the exact opposite impact on those companies that primarily exist in the online world.

We’ve witnessed the explosion of already-dominant eCommerce businesses like Amazon in the recent months, and the expansion of many eCommerce “mega-wannabe’s,” led by Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and many other “big-box” establishments, that can no longer rely upon foot traffic to achieve their sales goals. These companies are now attempting to tread the deep & treacherous online waters as a matter of survival, and some of them will be able not just to survive, but thrive, in this new territory. However, many others will not be able to adapt to this new way of doing business, and we’ve witnessed the early carnage all around us.

However, just because the businesses already structured around an eCommerce sales process got a head-start in this now-highly-competitive marketplace is by far no guarantee that they will be the last men (and women) standing when the dust settles. Like all other players in the online arenas, one of the reasons we see that will be a significant challenge for all eCommerce businesses is the use, or should we clarify by saying proper use, of email marketing channels. Regardless of their years in business, and experience with using email marketing, many eCommerce businesses are still making what are in essence “rookie mistakes” in their use of emails, to varying degrees of self-inflicted wounds. With a complete list length being well beyond the average blog reader’s attention span, we would like to focus on what we consider to be the Top 3 email marketing mistakes made by the eCommerce industry.

Follow-up or follow others: It doesn’t matter what the lead source of a new customer sale might be; every online purchase includes an email address. Failing to incorporate that email address into your “master list” for every email blast to follow is a wasted opportunity and squandering of your marketing dollars.

Be Touchy: The use of multiple touchpoints, a repeat follow-up strategy which includes regular email “special offers” and promotions, allows them to go to another online vendor for future purchases – and that vendor will be sure to add those new customers to their future email lists, and touch them as often as possible.

Transaction Complete? Now Let’s Talk about Your Next Transaction… The completion of purchase does not mean the conclusion of your business with that customer. You can generate regular purchases by offering “upgrades” like a subscription option. Within a predetermined period, you will automatically send them – and charge them – for a refill on that first purchase. Try sending them coupons to save on their next purchases, or “limited-time” discount offers for completing a short online survey for you, which helps you focus future offers on their answers to the questions you ask.

What is critical for the long-term success of every eCommerce business in these challenging times is how they go about securing the loyalty of previous & current customers while simultaneously attempting to become the preferred choice of future customers. You can implement the tips provided herein as part of your current campaign strategies. To get your complete Digital Marketing portfolio headed on the right path on every level, contact 1SEO for your no-charge program analysis.

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