Hi, We are a manufacturer in SoCal and we used to be strictly B2B, but have been going B2C for a few years now. We’re starting to see good growth through our Shopify channel. I feel like we’re leaving money on the table because our email marketing is anemic. What advice do you have for us to shore up our email marketing. Where will we see the highest return from efforts, is it in marketing to our existing customer base or those customers that have signed up for our email marketing? We also struggle to get customers that purchase from us to double opt in for marketing emails. I know there’s a lot to unpack there but any help would be appreciated.
Congrats on the move to B2C! Email marketing is definitely more of a longer-tail marketing channel so it’s good to set yourself up for success now when you sense something isn’t quite working. Without knowing a ton about your business or clientele, I think it’s important to attack email marketing in three different ways. First, you have your transactional emails. These are the automated emails that confirm purchases, track shipping, and more. This would be a place where you could really emphasize that double-opt-in for marketing emails. Because these emails tend to have open rates hovering around 60%, it’s the best place to highlight continued communication with your customers. Include a straightforward call to action with the value proposition that best represents your email program.
The next aspect is putting together a package of promotional emails. These will be focused on highlighting new products or services, provide subscriber-only discounts, or put together a package of products you may want to upsell. These can all be one-off emails, or they can be part of a newsletter with a dedicated cadence that helps you build a relationship with your current and future customers.
The third part contains automated lifecycle emails. These allow you to be really targeted in terms of how you market to existing customers or new customers. Existing customers may receive a series of emails after purchase that explains how they might use their product. But for users who are new to your email program, you may want to create an email series that introduces your brand and its products to those potential customers.
Great, thanks for the input!