Marketing Automation platforms help you replace repetitive marketing processes with automation. It allows you to save valuable costs & resources, increase your sales and improve customer retention. For instance, recruitment agencies globally has been investing in recruitment software and Applicant Tracking System to automate their hiring processes.
68% of businesses are using marketing automation in some form or the other.
- Hubspot
Two of the most critical marketing challenges for eCommerce store owners are getting repeat customers and brand consistency. Trying to get new customers and turning them to repeat ones is a continuous process.
Now let's turn our attention to how marketing automation can help eCommerce businesses by reducing the load of repetitive marketing tasks.
Let's dive into the details.
1. Email Marketing Automation
Email Marketing Automation uses a marketing automation tool that sends out automated emails to the right customers at the right time.
According to Hubspot, 20% of marketers use automated email marketing campaigns. Email marketing allows you to personalize content for your customers. 72% of customers respond to those messages only that are personalized.
Here's how can you leverage Email Marketing Automation:
Sending regular order updates
Welcome your new customers with a thank you note for placing their first order. Update them about the shipping and delivery stage.
Decreasing cart abandonment
Cart abandonment occurs when a customer adds something to the cart but doesn't purchase it. On an average, the online shopping cart abandonment rate is 68.90%, implying a massive revenue loss.
The reasons for cart abandonment can be multifold: high price, searching for alternatives, or an urge to save it for later. To motivate your customer, send them emails with discounts, promo codes, cart reminders, and recommendations for similar products they may like.
Customer loyalty emails
Acknowledge regular customers to your online store by thanking them and sending them special offer emails. Wish them on their birthdays and offer them birthday discounts. Send holiday wishes to remind them of the fantastic sales offers available at your store.
As per Easysendy Statistics: "Birthday emails garner 179% higher unique click rates."
2. Landing Page Automation
A landing page is where a customer lands on being directed by any content published by you. They are not the same as eCommerce pages. Landing pages are distinct and can be personalized according to the need of the content.
Here's how can you automate landing pages:
Enhanced customer experience
Personalize your landing page with the help of connecting it to your CRM. Use targeted landing pages by segmenting your customers. Segmentation can be done based on demographics, previous products purchased in your store, and recent browsing history.
Store new data
Collect new customers' data by linking your landing pages with your marketing automation tool. You can greet new customers' signups and purchases by sending a personalized pop-up or an email message.
3. SMS Marketing Automation
SMS is an effective way to stay connected to your customers. Not all customers like to receive phone calls unless it is essential.
64% of customers think that SMS should be used to contact them while 75% likes tp hear all about new promotions.
While these statistics show us that SMS marketing is very effective, let’s understand how automation can help us with that:
Send shipping and delivery details
After placing an order, customers anticipate where their order is and when it will be delivered. After order confirmation, you can send an SMS text to your customer confirming their order and giving an estimated delivery date. You can also ask the customers if they want to receive regular tracking updates directly to their inbox.
Reducing cart abandonment
Your eCommerce sales are lost when customers add products to the cart and forget to place an order. Customers can sometimes find your competitor's products cheaper and more valuable, hence buying them instead. Your SMS Marketing automation tool can help you by sending out automatic cart abandonment text messages.
In-store promotions directly to the inbox
Gain customer loyalty by sending out promotions via SMS marketing automation tools - Send your customers the discount coupons, check gift vouchers, etc. Personalize your SMS texts by linking your SMS Marketing automation tool with your CRM.
4. Loyalty Marketing Automation
Connect to your customer more by rewarding them for their loyalty. You can leverage the power of word-of-mouth marketing by encouraging your customers to gain by referrals points. Your profits can increase by 75% if your customer retention increases by 5%.
Customer loyalty programs help you improve your customers' lifetime value and increase your earnings at a lower cost. Let's see how loyalty marketing automation allows you to do this with ease:
Re-engage with non-returning customers
Some customers might stop interacting with your emails and messages. If they are high Customer Lifecycle Value (CLV) customers, you can retarget them through ads and emails. Send them loyalty offers and discounts to motivate them to start purchasing from you again.
Get new customers through referrals
Word of marketing is a potent tool that you can leverage through referral programs. You can send referral nudges, pop-ups, and signup forms for your existing customers. Using the referral automation tools efficiently will help you gain new customers without high additional costs. You will also be able to retain your current customers by awarding them for their loyalty.
Find and retain loyal customers
Assess your customer data to identify those who contribute highly to your revenue. Provide them VIP perks, discounts, and loyalty points to keep them. Thank them for their loyalty towards your eCommerce store.
6. SEO Marketing Automation
SEO is important; who doesn't want to fly up those search engine rankings and reduce bounce rates. SEO automation tools help you to systematize and manage your SEO tasks.
Store performance
SEO automation tools help you monitor your bounce rates, website load time, exit rates, CTA performance, etc. You can also analyze each store page's ranking and performance individually. SEO automation tools can also help you find out what is hindering your site from performing well, for instance, broken links.
Keyword analysis
Keywords are a must as they help your content to stand out and rank well. SEO automation tools help you analyze which keywords are trending and how competitive they are. It will also help you decide on which keywords to bid on if you are using paid ads. You can also set out alerts on new backlinks, store mentions, etc.
Competitor analysis
You can keep track of what your competitors are doing, which can help you modify your strategies when needed. You can monitor the backlinks to your website and also keep a check on the backlinks your competitors are receiving.
7. Customer Service Automation
Customers need quick help and want their issues to be resolved effectively. At times not all of their queries can be answered by FAQs. So they expect help from you. While using customer service automation, it is essential to strike a balance between human touch and technology.
Chatbots
Chatbots can help you categorize customer issues and try to provide the solution. They also get in a customer support member if the chatbot can't resolve it. The personalized touch of chatbots can be a more effective way to deal with customer problems.
Self-service FAQ library
You can keep a pre-loaded set of guides to help your customer through their queries. Categorize the customer guides according to different aspects like product returns, product warranty, etc. You can also get feedback from your customers if the detailed guide helps to resolve the issue.
Conclusion
Identify the automation that your eCommerce business can make use of right away and get started.
You might want to check out Mason, a content toolbox for your eCommerce store automation. It helps you easily connect the dots from design to share.
Ultimately, derive key inputs from the various eCommerce marketing flows you execute - find out what's working for you.
