Using Email Marketing to Grow Your Ecommerce Store

Email has been around as long as the Internet. For well over 30 years, people have been communicating online via email.

Whether you’re letting customers know about a new product or service or sharing a coupon code, email is a valuable part of any marketer’s toolbox and it is a wonderful marketing tool for a WooCommerce store.

In recent years, some marketers have been abandoning email in favor of more immediate returns from social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Reddit. People aren’t always sure if the effort of writing, designing, and sending a quality email was worth the time, when they could just send out a social media update with a few clicks.

We’re here to tell you that creating and sending quality emails is more than worth it; in fact, it can help grow your WooCommerce store to new levels of revenue and profits. Not convinced?

Here are some interesting email statistics to consider from Statista:

• In 2022, there were an estimated 333 billion e-mails sent and received daily around the world. This figure is projected to increase to 392.5 billion daily e-mails by 2026.
• Every minute, 240 million e-mails are exchanged among global users, approximately five times more than the number of instant messages exchanged during the same time at the end of 2023.
• The share if U.S. internet users aged 24-44 using email is 95%.

Savvy store owners know that email is a great to grow your WooCommerce business.

Let’s look at some ways you can leverage email to improve your bottomline results.

Grow Your List With Quality Subscribers

Having a big email list doesn’t mean anything if it’s filled with ‘spam’ addresses or accounts that haven’t been opened since Yahoo was around.

First, go through your list and purge it of addresses that haven’t been interacting with your emails. If they haven’t opened an email from you for six months, chances are they’re not going to open one period.

Next, you need to start attracting new, quality subscribers. This is where avenues like blogging and social media come into play. Creating newsletter signup popups or content walls will allow you to get addresses from individuals who want to actively engage with your content and your store.

Segmentation Is Key

Once you’ve grown your list, you need to segment it. Not all customers are created equal, and they shouldn’t be receiving the same sales emails, either. Segmenting your list is the easiest way to ensure that all your different leads are receiving emails corresponding to their stage in the marketing funnel.

Most email marketing platforms allow you to easily segment individuals as they move through the marketing funnel. You can set up different variables based on things like browsing or shopping behavior or demographic data, and then target email messages based on custom combinations of those variables.

Many platforms also allow you to add tags to customers (e.g., you could tag all customers who asked about a specific product via support) and then segment based on those tags. It’s a relatively simple process that can help you get more out of your targeting.

Content Quality Influences Subscriber Quality

Create specialized content for existing buyers who have already converted, as well as potential buyers who have only recently shown interest in your offering. You wouldn’t want to send a recently-converted an email for a product they’ve already bought, would you?

Ensuring each customer is receiving the right message at the right time is key to moving them down the marketing funnel quickly and effectively, ultimately leading to conversion.

But what kinds of content should you be creating for your different audiences? Here are a few key examples.

1. A Welcome or Thank You Email

Whether we recognize it or not, a prospect giving you their email address is a sign of trust. They’re giving you a piece of personal information because they find your content useful or are interested in your product. You should at least send them a quick message thanking them for giving you the opportunity to speak with them.

2. Opportunities to Re-Engage

Sometimes, prospects can make it far down your marketing funnel only to drop off the face of the earth. That doesn’t mean all hope is lost, though. It may take a simple reminder or incentive to get a subscriber to re-engage with your business.

Try sending out a quick reminder email to pick up where they left off. Or if you haven’t seen them on your store in a long time, try sending a win-back email to grab their attention. These communications can include something as simple as a 10% off coupon, free shipping, or a one-on-one walkthrough of your services. Offering free shipping or a small discount can be a great incentive to pick up where they left off.

3. Shopping Cart Abandonment

Many larger retailers have forgotten about the importance of abandonment emails in recent years. But short reminders about abandoned shopping carts can mean the difference between a conversion and a lost customer.

Optimizing cart abandonment is a subject all on it’s own, so we suggest you read Ways to Reduce WooCommerce Cart Abandonment or Quick Tips for Decreasing Abandoned Carts On Your WooCommerce Site.

Email is Worth Your Time!

Creating an effective email campaign takes time, but the conversions your store gains from segmentation and creating quality content can last a lifetime.

It may take a little more time than writing a Facebook update, but when done right, email marketing can grow your WooCommerce customer base like never before.

Amanda Nadhir

With over a decade of experience in the tech industry, Amanda's experience demonstrates her sales expertise. Her commitment to building, training, and guiding high-performing teams has been instrumental in driving Pressable's success. Amanda's extensive background in sales and marketing, coupled with her sharp business acumen, has made her an invaluable asset to the tech community. Her ability to identify and foster talent, combined with her passion for developing winning sales strategies, has propelled her to the forefront of the industry. When she's not expertly navigating the tech sales landscape, she loves spending quality time with her family, loves travel and adventure, lounging pool/beach-side, playing tennis, working out, and meeting people/making friends all along the way!