Personalization is the key to effective online marketing. Numerous industry studies have found that the use of personalized, targeted emails results in substantial increases in click-through rates and sales. Those same studies have found that generic “spray and pray” emails result in high levels of customer opt-out.
To engage shoppers and drive sales, you need an ecommerce platform that enables you to capture customer activity on your website and use that information for personalized ecommerce marketing. Look to target emails based on what shoppers have bought in the past, or what products they abandoned in a shopping cart.
Sending a personalized email to a customer who abandoned a shopping cart is a very effective tool to close the sale—simply reminding a shopper they were looking at the product, or providing them additional information or a limited-time promotion, can generate a healthy spike in sales.
Emails to notify customers of a new version of a product that they have purchased or browsed is another way to communicate relevant information, while boosting your likelihood of a sale. Also effective are reminders based on wish lists or gift registries that customers have created on your site, using self-service tools.
Other than emails, your website is another interface for personalized marketing, if your ecommerce platform has capabilities to recommend products when a customer visits, based on her previous activity or behavior of similar shoppers. Product recommendations (e.g., “Shoppers who browsed this product also bought”) can be particularly effective in the shopping cart process.
Finally, online marketing cannot excel without measurement. The best ecommerce solutions will offer analytics and reporting that enable you to track marketing campaign effectiveness, website activity, lead conversion and search engine metrics, and more. These simple marketing strategies will not only increase your sales, but will also create a loyal following among customers who appreciate a personal relationship with your company.
