Online stores, often referred to as eCommerce stores, need to be able to reach their audience in different ways. While most brands have a strong presence on social media platforms, many have also tapped into email marketing as an effective form of communication.
Email marketing consists of brands sending emails to a group of customers via email to advertise and solicit sales. Not only can email marketing help increase sales, but it can help attract and retain new customers who become loyal to your brand.
Various email marketing communication strategies include:
To some, email marketing isn’t as relevant as targeting consumers via social media platforms and other more advanced tactics. In reality, this is not the case, as the numbers behind email marketing speak for themselves.
According to research conducted by McKinsey & Company, email marketing is 40 times more effective at acquiring new customers than social media platforms. There is a $44 ROI for email marketing for every $1 spent on email marketing.
Email marketing is so effective for a variety of reasons; 91 percent of people access their email accounts at least once per day. Many consumers also prefer to receive business information via email rather than through social media platforms.
Moreover, 92 percent of online adults use email, unlike social media platforms that can be hit or miss depending on the demographic. It’s safe to say that email marketing is an effective tactic for eCommerce stores.
Creating successful email marketing campaigns revolves around using a platform that is beneficial to your business. Both email marketing novices and experts can benefit from a platform that combines the following aspects.
Not all email marketing tools are easy to use, and this can eat up a lot of your time and money. Even if you’ve never been on an email marketing platform before, there should be clear steps and easy-to-navigate tools to make the process as straightforward as possible.
There’s a natural learning curve with nearly any new digital platform, but the platform as a whole should be intuitive and simplistic.
The ability to analyze your email marketing efforts is pivotal in tweaking your efforts and ensuring they’re successful in the future. The email marketing platform that you utilize needs to provide you with concrete data that provides insights on consumer behavior that drives future campaigns.
Reporting is an area that many email marketing companies fall short, so make sure to do your research and choose a platform that will suit your needs.
Most small-to-medium-sized companies will benefit from connecting their website’s CRM to its email marketing capabilities. Doing so will help cut down on time and allows you to send email marketing campaigns to specific lists of people.
If this isn’t a possibility for your eCommerce company, you can also purchase CRM automation from email-specific platforms.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one email marketing platform, Sendpulse is it. It allows free email marketing, website push notifications, and SMS marketing all within the same platform. As long as your eCommerce store has fewer than 2,500 subscribers and sends fewer than 15,000 emails per month, you can access Sendpulse for free.
It comes with a variety of free-to-use email templates making it easy for you to plug in the relevant information. As you become more advanced with the platform, feel free to upgrade to its paid version to unlock more features and capabilities.
Mailerlite allows for an unlimited number of emails to be sent on a monthly basis for users who have 1,000 subscribers or fewer. If your list grows to over 1,000 subscribers, the platform allows you to upgrade.
Beginners will especially benefit from the simplicity of this platform, as it allows you to use a drag and drop editor when formatting the design. No HTML design skills necessary, which is an attractive feature for many.
MailRelay is an ideal platform for those eCommerce brands that want to reach a large audience without paying money. Instead of a fee, MailRelay requires users to follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Google in order to qualify. The platform allows users to send up to 75,000 emails for free forever.
Users also gain access to the platform’s striking newsletters that don’t require code in addition to important consumer behavior insights that can help tailor future campaigns.
Campayn is a free platform for users who have fewer than 500 subscribers and allows up to 20,000 emails to be sent monthly. Users are impressed with how easy the design process is on Campayn, allowing for both customization and templates for professional, effective emails.
For users who want to upgrade, Campayn offers both monthly and pay-as-you-go plans for those interested in upgrading.
Another positive for this platform is its ability to provide data about how users are interacting with your content. These insights can help build successful campaigns in the future.
Freshmail offers a free version for users who have 500 or fewer subscribers and it allows you to send up to 2,000 emails. For those who want to upgrade, you can pay as you go or pay a monthly fee.
The design process is easy even for beginners, as it doesn’t require any coding skills.
One of the highlights of this email marketing tool is its ability to track subscriber behavior in real-time. This data is invaluable in tweaking future email content to help convert potential fans into lifelong customers.
Novices can feel confident kicking off their first email marketing campaign with Mad Mimi, as the platform makes it simple to create, send and monitor emails. The free version supports contact lists up to 100 individuals and allows for an unlimited number of emails to be sent.
The upgrade options include Pro, Silver and Gold plans. For $42, you can purchase the Pro plan that allows you to store a maximum of 10,000 contacts. The Silver plan is $199 and allows you to store up to 50,000 contacts and the Gold plan costs $1,049 and allows you to store up to 350,000 contacts. The Gold plan is typically better-suited for larger businesses with large networks.
This particular email marketing tool isn’t free but it is affordable at $9 per month. Not only does this platform power email marketing, but it is also an integrated marketing solution that also powers marketing automation and CRM, customer relationship management, activities. If you want to combine your sales and marketing efforts in one place, this is a good platform to do it.
The most basic level of ActiveCampaign allows you to send emails to 500 subscribers, and the more subscribers you have, the more you’ll have to pay. First-time users can try the platform risk-free for 14 days.
Sales-Push is a nearly-free platform that allows up to 2,500 subscribers and allows you to send up to 15,000 emails per month. There’s a subscriber-based monthly plan that allows you to pay per number of contacts and there are volume-based plans that allow users to purchase email credits that must be used within 90 days.
With over 700 different customizable template versions available on this email marketing tool, you’ll surely find something that works for your eCommerce brand. Other noteworthy highlights include list segmentation and in-depth analytics.
Although Benchmark isn’t the most powerful email marketing tool available to users, it’s one of the most user-friendly. It’s designed for those who aren’t tech-savvy and for those who are just entering the world of email marketing.
Creating a professional-looking template is as easy as dragging and dropping basic blocks into a cohesive design. Benchmark is a solid option for those who want to send simple emails to mass amounts of people.
Easily get started on Moosend for free as the platform allows you to send up to 2,000 emails free of charge. The basic, free version includes a drag-and-drop design approach and email delivery is efficient.
Detailed reporting is another highlight of this email marketing tool. Get important insights on consumer behavior and upgrade to a more advanced version at any time.
The free version of Reachmail allows users to send up to 15,000 emails to up to 5,000 subscribers. There are three different paid plans, Bronze, Silver and Gold. For $10 per month, users can access the Bronze plan that allows up to 30,000 emails to be sent to 7,500 contacts on a monthly basis.
The Silver plan is $40 per month and allows users to send up to 70,000 emails to a maximum of 10,000 subscribers. The Gold plan is aimed at large companies that send up to 120,000 emails to 25,000 subscribers for $70 per month.
Reachmail is known for having customizable email templates and detailed analytics that make improving your campaigns significantly easier. Plus, there is no Reachmail branding that comes on any emails from paid versions of this platform, increasing the professionalism of this platform’s campaigns.
One of the better-known email marketing tools available is Mailchimp. This platform offers three different plans: the New Business Plan, the Growing Business Plan and the Pro Marketer Plan.
The New Business Plan is free to use and allows eCommerce brands to send up to 12,000 emails on a monthly basis to 2,000 subscribers. The Growing Business Plan starts at $10 per month and it unlocks access to the platform’s premium features. Users can pay $199 per month to access the platform’s premium features.
Unlike the other tools we have mentioned that are based in the U.S., GetResponse is an email marketing software based in the European Union.
GetResponse has admittedly faced some difficulties in breaking into the marketplace, as it is lagging compared to other providers. The platform recently launched its email marketing automation functionality but it is still figuring out the best way to evolve.
Despite other companies outperforming GetResponse, the platform boasts an impressive 350,000 customers. Take advantage of the platform’s free 30-day trial to test it out for your business.
The free version of Mailjet allows users to send 6,000 emails on a monthly basis, but users can also take advantage of a complimentary 30-day trial of the premium version as well.
Monthly plans include the Bronze and Crystal account versions that come with features such as fast delivery, high levels of personalization, and an unlimited number of contacts.
Start by using MyBizMailer’s free-to-use option or upgrade to one of the three paid versions. The platform also allows for contact management, branded emails and premium reporting free of charge.
MyBizMailer is both send-based and list-based that will ultimately impact your cost.
One of the most popular and well-known email marketing tools is HubSpot. It provides the most value for marketers who require intricate pieces of data and tracking measures to help guide their campaigns.
Nearly 50,000 companies utilize HubSpot for their software and the company went public in 2006. In fact, they were the first email marketing company to do so.
HubSpot combines many attractive capabilities into one platform, making it easy for marketers to take advantage of all it has to offer. This is especially attractive from a reporting perspective, allowing users to view data points from different perspectives.
One major downside to the platform is its growing expense. Small businesses aren’t able to keep up with the marketing tool’s piling costs.
With so many email marketing tools available, it can be tough to know where to begin. If you need help kick-starting your eCommerce marketing campaign, rely on the expertise of our team members and give us a call.
Δ
Through a variety of digital marketing efforts, from SEO to PPC and to email marketing, we can take your eCommerce business to new heights — as always, we’ll perform a full website and marketing assessment free of charge and there’s never any obligation.
Learn about your current digital footprint and how your website is truly performing with a full marketing audit. We’ll uncover missed e-commerce digital marketing opportunities and provide a growth strategy to ramp up revenue.
Is there any way to send a follow-up email if the customer abandoned the cart?
Hi, Kyle. Some platforms like Shopify offer this tool in their basic software. Also, you can choose one of the email marketing tools and create your own template and e-mail chain.
Thank you, never heard of any of these email tools other than MailChimp
It’s really difficult to understand some of the email marketing tools interfaces. Which is the most user-friendly?
Hi, Kenan. It would be difficult to work with any email marketing tools without specific background. We recommend you watch tutorials and choose tools that will be more clear.
Which email system has the best CRM system?
Hi, Felicia. It depends on your requirements and general marketing plan. As a beginner, you can try Mailchimp it is easy to use.
Thx! This list is gonna help me a lot!
Once or twice a month. 100% goodness, 0% spam.
Increasing traffic or sales? Designing a new high-performance website or face-lifting an existing one? Strategic consulting? Tell us your needs. We're certain we will find the right solution.
