5 E-commerce Marketing Automation Strategies to Remember in 2021
The online shopping space is getting bigger and bigger each year. The evolving consumer trends influenced by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic have acted as a catalyst for driving the demand for automation in e-commerce.
According to a report by Statista, nearly 2.14 billion people will shop online by the end of 2021 [1]. As a result, e-commerce marketers need to be on the lookout for new and innovative ways to boost website traffic, increase the subscriber list, and sell more products.
As online sales continue to grow at a rapid pace each year, it is the best time to tickle your mind and craft effective e-commerce marketing automation strategies.
Marketing and commerce go hand in hand. Today, thanks to a host of e-commerce marketing automation tools, it is now possible to seamlessly infuse automation into e-commerce.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the most effective e-commerce marketing automation strategies.
SEE ALSO: 5 Reasons Why Your Startup Needs Marketing Automation Today
Strategy 1: Email marketing
Email marketing is still very relevant and effective! If you do not believe us, take a look at these jaw-dropping email marketing statistics.
Gathering contact information and creating a list of subscribers is the first step you will need to take to attract the relevant audience to your website. Email marketing is very effective when your target customers are bifurcated. This enables you to deliver tailored content which increases your chances of converting prospects into customers.
E-commerce marketing automation tools allow you to create engaging email marketing campaigns and communicate with your customers at different stages of the campaign.
Some of the most common examples of automated emails for e-commerce are abandoned cart emails, welcome emails, confirmation emails, and browse abandonment emails.
Strategy 2: SMS Marketing
We agree that WhatsApp and other messaging platforms have gradually taken the charm out of SMS. The number of text messages sent through SMS at a personal level has gone down by a great margin over the past decade. However, when it comes to marketing, SMS has helped its guard pretty well.
E-commerce companies across the world continue to rely on SMS to communicate with their customers. Why? Because 60% of consumers read an SMS within the first 1-5 minutes after receipt [2]. Besides, SMS has an open rate of a whopping 98% when compared to email marketing [3].
As bizarre or shocking as it may be, these numbers are a testament to the fact that SMS is a powerful marketing channel. You can use SMS to increase your subscriber base.
Strategy 3: Content Marketing
Content is king in the marketing world! Right from a tiny flyer to large billboards, everything companies market requires content.
In the digital environment, email, SMS texts, newsletters, and social media posts cannot make an impact without content.
Content marketing is all about giving value and relevant information to your customers. The content should be relatable, accurate, and engaging. E-commerce marketing automation software provides the best features that streamline your content marketing process.
Strategy 4: CRM Marketing
The adoption of customer relationship management (CRM) software has increased multifold in recent years. CRM tools help companies create and maintain excellent relationships with their customers and prospects.
CRM tools are an important part of your e-commerce marketing automation strategy as they are bundled with features that improve customer relationships. Such tools allow you to store customer information, spot sales opportunities, and keep a close track of conversations, and marketing campaigns.
Learn how you can use CRM and marketing segmentation to boost brand value and scale your business.
Strategy 5: Social Media Marketing
Social media has carved a special place in a company’s marketing strategy in recent years. Small businesses to large enterprises are all vying on social media to attract customers and create brand awareness.
With billions of users scrolling through social media each day, there is no reason why social media marketing should be overlooked.
Social media channels give you an excellent opportunity to use visuals and videos to get your message across to the target audience. Besides, it also opens up a real-time communication medium wherein you can cater to customer queries immediately.
What is e-commerce Marketing Automation?
E-commerce marketing automation is the process of controlling and managing repetitive tasks. E-commerce marketing automation tools allow employees to focus on important tasks rather than performing mundane tasks.
There are multiple tasks in marketing that require the same action again and again. This is not only counterproductive but also an open invitation for boredom to arrive.
Why do you need e-commerce Marketing Automation?
You should consider e-commerce marketing automation for the following reasons:
- Minimize human error
- Scale-up as a business
- Save time
- Boost productivity
E-commerce Marketing Automation Tool ‘Must Haves’
- Ease-of-use
- Personalization
- Integration with third-party applications
- Pricing
- Support
Wrapping it Up!
E-commerce marketing automation is here to stay! It is hard to imagine a world without automation. Today, brands are increasingly focusing on providing the most seamless experiences for their customers leveraging the benefits of automation.
From future-centric tools that take the load off internal teams from performing menial tasks to seamless communication with customers, e-commerce marketing automation has tremendous potential.
We understand that creating effective e-commerce marketing automation strategies can be a bit challenging initially. However, with research and better planning, you can set the ball rolling!
SEE ALSO: 5 Marketing Automation Examples Every Marketer Should Know in 2021
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Image 1 Source: rawpixel.com
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Sources:
[1] (2021) “Number of digital buyers worldwide from 2014 to 2021” Statista [online] Available from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/251666/number-of-digital-buyers-worldwide/ [accessed September 2021]
[2] Dobrilova. T (2021) “35+ Must-Know SMS Marketing Statistics in 2021” TechJury [online] Available from: https://techjury.net/blog/sms-marketing-statistics/ [accessed September 2021]
