Marketing trends come and go. But sometimes, you just can’t beat the old reliables. Email still reigns as one of the most effective ways for online retailers to reach their customers. With the right email marketing platform, you can drive repeat purchases, build loyalty, and personalize the entire buyer journey.

Email is no longer an impersonal piece of communication. It’s another way to connect to shoppers through personalization. 

Let’s take a look at the tools you need to execute a highly targeted email strategy. 

The Power of Email 

Viral TikTok challenges and metaverse trends taking over your marketing meetings? Just because new ways to distribute content are available (they always will be), email still deserves a primary focus in the overall marketing strategy. 

• Ecommerce retailers see a $45 ROI for every $1 invested in email marketing.
• 59% of consumers say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions. Over 50% buy from marketing emails at least once a month.
• 60% of marketers say email marketing outperforms social media.

However, you can’t simply “spray and pray” your way through a subscriber list.

The following are the most effective strategies for email marketing campaigns:

• Subscriber segmentation (78%)
• Message personalization (72%)
• Email automation campaigns (71%)

So, what features should you look for in an email platform to deliver relevant content?

4 Questions to Ask an Ecommerce Email Provider

Customizable templates, a user-friendly interface, list segmentation, and informative reports are just some of the fundamentals to look for in an email marketing platform. When it comes to advanced targeting, you also need certain ecommerce-specific features. Here are the questions to ask a prospective email provider to ensure their platform is right for you:

1. Do You Integrate With My Ecommerce Platform?

To seamlessly sync email communications with the buyer journey, your solution needs to integrate with your ecommerce platform. Real-time data from your site should inform what content is sent, when, and to which customers. For example, our partners at Klaviyo provide purpose-built ecommerce templates that can be triggered to send based on shopper behavior on-site. Think automated cart abandonment reminders, back in stock notifications, new customer sequences, and more. 

2. What Segmentation Do You Offer?

For advanced targeting, it’s not enough to split your email communications by rudimentary data like gender or location. With a platform designed for ecommerce, you can customize content based on shopper attributes like purchase frequency, customer lifetime value, or recent subscribers. Spending habits can also be used to target specific email promotions by big spenders vs bargain hunters. Advanced platforms even offer predictive analytics that trigger an email in anticipation of a shopper’s next purchase. 

3. What Personalization Features Are Supported?

“Hi, {firstname}!” Email personalization has come a long way, especially in ecommerce. Your platform should support dynamic content to populate each email with messaging that reflects individual shopper behavior and preferences. For example, can you automatically send reminders that highlight the shopper’s recently viewed products? Is it possible to tailor content based on past purchases? Investigate the full list of personalization features on offer with each platform before you make your choice. 

4. Can You Make Personalized Recommendations?

Beyond general personalization, check whether you can also feature individualized product recommendations in your emails. Some platforms allow you to “recommend” products by featuring trending or bestselling results. In reality, this approach simply means your entire mailing list receives the same content. With a solution like Searchspring, you can track individual shopper behavior and curate email product recommendations that reflect unique preferences. Through our integration with Klaviyo, this data feeds directly into your email content to boost engagement and encourage return visits. 

Deliver Email Content That Converts

The similarities between email platforms can make it difficult to choose the right solution for your business. However, it’s worth assessing segmentation, personalization, and recommendation powers of your chosen software to ensure it meets the needs of a successful ecommerce store.

Using advanced email tools like Klaviyo can help convert more because they integrate with solutions that personalize based on shopper behavior.

[Learn More About Personalized Email Recommendations Integratations and Ecommerce Personalization]

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