5 Powerful eCommerce Marketing Automation Strategies and Tools

Using eCommerce marketing automation, you can achieve your primary business goals – attracting customers, increasing sales, and making your operations more efficient. You may cut down the time and expenses of monotonous routine work and provide individualised attention to the customers, which in return helps to increase your revenue. In this blog, let us discuss what eCommerce marketing automation is, the benefits of implementing a strategy, some of the top strategies, and the necessary tools for success. Whether you are an eCommerce veteran or just getting into the e-business arena, this guide will give you a solid foundation and valuable information that may help you boost your online selling business.

What is eCommerce Marketing Automation?

eCommerce marketing automation employs software platforms that generate actions from certain customer behaviours. There is no need for online stores to carry out mundane jobs such as follow-up emails or categorisation of customer lists. However, the automation system performs all these tasks, freeing up time for other core issues. The net effect is a smooth process flow, delivering the appropriate marketing communication to the suitable customer at the right moment. 

A study conducted by Invesp revealed that companies employing automated marketing experience a 14.5% rise in sales productivity while their marketing overheads decrease by 12.2%. eCommerce marketing automation allows businesses to create personalised customer experiences. Through technology, online businesses can personalise messages sent by email, suggest products and provide offers based on customer activities. 

The Inner Workings of eCommerce Marketing Automation

How Does It Work?

eCommerce marketing automation enables businesses to develop a stream, a series of actions that occur when particular events are initiated. For example, an event can be a customer purchase, leaving products in their basket or opening an email.  After a specific event is detected, the platform performs the sequence of operations independently, without further human interaction.

• Sending Personalised Emails

Business automation allows businesses to send emails tailored to customers’ behavior, such as reminding them to purchase products they viewed or recommending similar items based on previous purchases. Personalisation helps increase customer loyalty as individuals are more likely to engage with messages that feel relevant to their interests.

• Reaching Customers at the Right Moment 

SMS alerts as reminders or updates are essential and can be automated. This fast and straightforward communication media enhances the possibility of reversing impulsive sales losses and creating and sustaining client interest.

• Targeting Your Audience with Precision 

Customers can be placed into groups depending on their behaviour, age, or previous purchase history. Such segmentation enables businesses to target a campaign; simultaneously, customers will only receive relevant information.

• Keeping Your Database Fresh and Accurate 

eCommerce marketing automation tools also connect with the customer relationship management database, maintaining current information about the customer. This is important in ensuring that businesses have up-to-date information about consumers, buying trends and behaviours, and their encounters.

5 Tried-and-Tested eCommerce Marketing Automation Strategies

Here are some highly effective automation strategies that could help enhance your web store, increase sales and attract potential buyers’ attention. 

Welcome Email Automation:

The best way to build a relationship immediately is to use the customer’s first name. Another persuading strategy is to offer a first-time buyer’s discount to compel customers to buy the products. 

Abandoned Cart Reminders:

Automatic recovery tools can help recapture potential buyers. When customers are shown that they have items still in stock, it can motivate them to complete the purchase. Promising to cut the price temporarily or stressing that the products are hardly available will also help. 

Post-Purchase Follow-Up:

Personalised email communication after sales is crucial for developing customer loyalty. Follow up with an introductory thank-you email. This is also a perfect time to encourage clients to leave feedback.

Birthday and Anniversary Campaigns:

Targeted offers sent to customers to celebrate their special days can be a great strategy. Special discounts or gifts on such occasions can also help build customer loyalty via an automated version of email marketing. 

Multi-Channel Marketing Integration

Integrate your marketing efforts across multiple channels such as email, SMS, social media, and push notifications. Automation ensures consistent messaging and a seamless customer journey, increasing engagement and conversion rates. By reaching customers on their preferred platforms, you enhance the overall effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

How Marketing Automation Supercharges Your eCommerce Store

Here are the key benefits of eCommerce Marketing Automation:

• Research reveals that companies adopting marketing automation software experience higher sales productivity.
• A new study from Epsilon also reveals that 80% of consumers are more likely to complete a purchase with a brand if the company knows its customers’ names.
• Automation helps to streamline significant operations and is one of the most affordable ways to grow the business.
• Marketing automation systems offer organised data for better decision-making. 
• You can build a long-term relationship with clients with timely, relevant messages. Surveys prove that a 5% increase in customer retention rate can raise profits by 25% to 95%. 

Choosing the Right Tools for eCommerce Automation

The correct platform selection can increase productivity, accelerate work, enhance customer communication, and increase satisfaction. Following are some of the best platforms:

• HubSpot: 

Hubspot is an all-in-one marketing, sales, and services tool that provides efficient automation capabilities. Its interface is friendly, and the tool is rather powerful. It lets you manage all your marketing needs in a single place, including email marketing, customer relationship management, social media tracking, and individualising the customer journey. This digital marketing tool is suitable for every size of business.

• Marketo: 

It is an advanced AI marketing automation solution best suited for large organisations that need features and functionality. It provides rich statistical data, leads grading, and robust categorisation; therefore, it’s perfect for complicated marketing requirements. You can get advanced features for marketing analytics, customer relationships and content creation to increase conversion rates.

• ActiveCampaign: 

Easy to use with features for email marketing, automation and CRM all combined in one package. The package also enables you to set up complex digital processes for your emails and customers and to monitor your sales. It provides various free marketing tools for social media calendar management, content generation and cart abandonment calculations.

• Mailchimp: 

Mailchimp is a basic yet effective email marketing method that allows users to automate their emails cheaply. Its features include limited ones, such as default autoresponders, cart abandonment, and product recommenders. The free trial version and the simplicity of Mailchimp’s interface appeal to new business owners.

• Constant Contact: 

It is a leading service for business email campaigns. It includes follow-up messages, birthday sale messages, and invitations. It has numerous features, such as an easy-to-use drag and drop, which helps to design appealing mail. It offers detailed analytics, lead scoring, and robust segmentation, making it an excellent choice for large organisations with complex marketing needs. It has advanced plans for all – whether you are a complete beginner or a pro marketer.

• Salesforce: 

It is an enhanced, sophisticated automation customer relationship management tool with a 30-day free trial period. The tool offers advanced functions for lead management, personalised advertising campaigns, and detailed analytics. It is easy to use but comprehensive, enabling businesses to monitor client interactions, create various workflows, and efficiently manage leads.

What to Consider When Choosing a Tool?

Assessing important factors is crucial to selecting the most appropriate online platform for your goals and requirements. Carefully consider your specific needs and budget. Focus on the user interface and search for a platform with support features like tutorials or customer service. Check for compatibility to ensure a smooth integration with your eCommerce platform.

Key Metrics to Monitor in Marketing Automation

Monitoring the right metrics is essential to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing automation efforts. Key metrics to consider include:

• Conversion Rates: Measure the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, helping you assess the success of your campaigns.
• Customer Retention Rate: Track how well you retain customers over time, indicating the strength of customer relationships and loyalty.
• Click-Through Rates (CTR): Evaluate the effectiveness of your messages in prompting users to take action.
• Open Rates: Assess how compelling your subject lines and send times are in encouraging recipients to open your emails.
• Return on Investment (ROI): Calculate the profitability of your marketing automation by comparing the revenue generated to the costs incurred.

Regular analysis of these metrics enables you to refine your strategies, improve customer engagement, and maximize the return on your marketing investment.

Conclusion

Whatever your objectives, generating more revenue and enhancing customer loyalty are paramount. With the right tools and continually evolving marketing automation strategies, businesses can elevate their operations to new heights of success. eCommerce marketing automation, powered by tools like Shiprocket Engage 360, not only minimizes manual intervention but also provides customers with timely, personalized, and relevant messages designed to boost sales and improve satisfaction. By embracing these technologies, your business can achieve greater efficiency, drive growth, and build lasting customer relationships.