Email marketing involves sending marketing messages to current and prospective customers via email so that you can sell products, educate, or build consumer loyalty.
When you consider that 89 percent of marketers use email as their main channel for lead generation, it is not hard to see why this is something you should be focusing on.
However, there is no denying that email marketing can be quite overwhelming, especially if this is an area you do not have a lot of experience in.
So, with that being said, below, we will provide you with some advice and examples on successful email marketing campaigns for dropshipping businesses.
Benefits of email marketing for dropshipping businesses
There are a number of different reasons why email marketing is important for dropshipping success:
- Drive traffic to your dropshipping store – One of the main reasons to embrace email marketing is because it is a great way to get more people to visit your dropshipping store. You can add compelling CTAs and links to products, which encourage people to visit your site.
- You can target specific audiences – Email marketing means you can reach out to specific target audiences who fall into the same category. For instance, you may want to send an email to people who have recently placed orders to ask them to leave a review. This is easy to do with email marketing software.
- It’s an affordable marketing approach – One of the main reasons why email marketing is a must is because you can reach a huge number of customers without breaking the bank. In fact, the ROI for email marketing is impressive; you can make $42 for every $1 spent on email marketing.
- Enjoy valuable insights – Email marketing is important so that you can get a better insight into your marketing efforts and what people think about your business. You will learn what you are doing well and where you can make improvements so that you can keep moving forward.
Tips on running an effective email marketing campaign
Now that you know why email marketing is so critical, let’s take a look at how to run an email marketing campaign effectively. After all, you can’t just simply invest in the latest tech, set up an e-mail delivery service, and call it a day.
Choose an email marketing platform with care
Our first piece of advice is to choose your email marketing solution with a lot of care. There are many different options on the market today, so you need something that fits in with your business goals and objectives.
A lot of people do like to use Mailchimp. It is one of the most well-known solutions out there. However, the issue with Mailchimp is that it does get more expensive the bigger your business gets. We would recommend taking a look at these effective Mailchimp alternatives that don’t get more expensive as your business grows. After all, you do not want to be punished for being successful!
Make sure that the platform you select is easy to use and comes with all of the features you need. Most providers will offer a demo or a free trial, so you can really get a feel for what the platform is like.
Understand your campaign’s goal
Every time you put together an email marketing campaign, you are going to have a specific goal. For example, this could be lead nurturing, website traffic, or feedback. It is always imperative to identify this before you send emails out. This will ensure that the design and content are in-line with your goal, helping to increase the effectiveness of your efforts.
Define your target audience
If you have already put together user personas for your dropshipping store, you will have this all sorted. If not, there are some questions you can ask yourself to get started:
- What age is your ideal target consumer?
- Where do they live?
- What sort of hobbies do they have?
- What job do they have?
- What are their shopping habits?
- Where do they get their information?
By asking yourself these sorts of questions, you can build an effective picture of what your ideal consumer looks like. This is vital because it will influence everything you do, from the subject line you select to the design of your email. You will be able to ensure it is entirely tailored to suit your target consumer base.
Make your emails personable
The more personalized your email is, the less likely it is going to end up in the spam box. One of the easiest and most effective ways to go about this is to have the email come from a person.
If you put the email coming from your own name rather than the name of your business, you may find that your open rates improve considerably.
Choose a clear, concise, and compelling CTA
When designing your emails, your Call to Action is imperative. This is what is going to compel people to click on the link and visit your website. For this to happen, you need to choose something that is attention-grabbing.
Choose something that is going to make people want to click, for example, “click here for a great discount” or “book a free consultation now.”
Creating a sense of urgency can help. Also, make sure that your CTA is never longer than five words. It needs to be snappy and straight to the point.
Do you know How To Launch An Email Marketing Campaign That Works?
Examples of successful email marketing campaigns
Now that you know about some of the techniques you should use to ensure that your dropshipping email campaign is a success, we are going to take a look at some brands that have done email marketing well so that you can get some ideas and inspiration.
J.Crew’s Factory Gift Wrap Email
When putting together an effective email, you always need to make sure you are solving a problem that your target audience has.
In a recent marketing campaign, J.Crew Factory promoted their gift cards. They did this by including an image of a gift that was poorly wrapped. “If your wrapping looks like this, you may want to get them a gift card.”
Simple but very effective! The email is also very clear, concise, and easy to navigate, which is critical for all of the emails you send on behalf of your dropshipping business.
Marketing is not about emails only. Use a multichannel approach to obtain significant results. Learn how to use video content for promoting your online business in our Video Marketing Strategy For eCommerce Guide.
RipCurl’s Join The Revolution Campaign
RipCurl does a great job of appealing to the fact that we all want to be part of something that is bigger than we are.
The aim of any effective marketing campaign is to motivate people to take action, and that’s exactly what RipCurl does with a heading such as “Join The Revolution.”
It shows just how important it is to use compelling language that will encourage and inspire your readers to take the next steps.
There are many ways of promoting your business. Here are the 7 tips you can use to increase your dropshipping sales.
JetBlue
There is a lot that dropshipping businesses can learn from the airline JetBlue. And no, we’re not just talking about business trips. Everyone can take a note out of JetBlue’s book.
Their emails always have light humor, containing airline jokes. Plus, the tone is friendly and relatable. Whenever you open one of their emails, it feels like it is coming from a friend, rather than a business.
As mentioned earlier, businesses tend to experience much better open rates and lead generation when their emails have a friendly feel. Sign-up to JetBlue’s email subscriber list and you can get plenty of examples of how they do this well so you can use it for inspiration when crafting your own emails.
Tory Burch’s Private Sale
Last but not least, Tory Burch is a mid-luxury female fashion store, and they have mastered email marketing. One of the ways they stand out is by often including a very small but sleek bit of animation in their emails. This catches attention without causing any quality or performance issues.
However, what we really want to talk about in terms of this marketing campaign, is their “private” sale approach. Basically, they sent out an online sale email to their clients, but by labeling it as “private” it creates the feeling of exclusivity. This makes the recipient feel like they have been chosen specifically, and who does not like to feel special?
Many people would click on an email like this because they will be excited by the fact that they are going to be getting access to sales that other people are not able to.
Check out our Email Drip Campaign For eCommerce Guide for more marketing campaign examples.
Start attracting more customers with an effective email marketing campaign
As you can see, there are lots of benefits to gain by running an effective email marketing campaign for your eCommerce store. However, you need to make sure that you implement your campaign effectively to experience these advantages. Use the examples we have mentioned above for inspiration, and we are sure you will start seeing improved results from your email marketing efforts.