How to Make the Right Product Recommendations to Online Shoppers
Product recommendations can be found in almost every online shop. No matter which method you choose, the end result can really impact your sales.
Around 54.9% of companies have six or more emails in production at a time, and 31.6% have less than 4 days of work going into every email production. Owing to this, it becomes imperative to get your email production workflow planned so that they can be executed according to the timeline that you have planned.
Even though all brands have a distinct email production process, basic email marketing practices tend to remain the same. Rather than having too many emails, it is recommended that you have a well-defined process to be followed for the creation of an effective email production workflow that is neither too much nor too little for your subscribers.
Let’s delve deeper into the expert tips that will help you ease your email production workflows.
1. Determine your goals
Effective measurement of your campaign performance is only possible if you have defined your email marketing campaign strategy and have clear goals in mind. They impart a direction to your campaign by having set strict deadlines and facilitate meeting your business objectives.
2. Plan the workflows
Once you have set the goals, you should plan out the tasks and create a calendar that would give email production a leg up. You should plan your email workflows in such a way that they take the subscriber from the stage of awareness to decision. Your emails should match the buyer’s persona as well as their interests.
3. Understand your target audience
Understanding your prospective clients is of paramount importance if you want to facilitate a smooth sales process for them. Employ artificial intelligence and predictive analytics so that you can figure out the preferences of your prospects and send them targeted emails accordingly.
You can study their past purchases, total purchase value, browser history, and the kind of products they have previously purchased. These details will allow you to understand your customer behavior better and send relevant emails that add value for them.
4. Work on your emails – copy, design and code
Whenever you start working on your emails, keep the target audience at top priority and write personalised copy. Use a conversational tone that does not sound like a sales pitch.
When it comes to designing your emails, follow the latest design trends like interactivity, gamification, rich media, typography, and dynamic data. Your subscribers are most likely to engage with interesting emails that stand out in their inbox. These features convey the message of the email more effectively and help you garner higher click-through rates.
Did you know that over 44% people spend more than three hours on the coding and development of emails? Now that’s a huge number!
While building an email, take the help of an HTML email editor. When coding your emails, take into account the diverse email clients and the best practices that need to be followed for each.
shutterstock.com/BEST-BACKGROUNDS
For example: Outlook does not support GIFs, so make sure your first frame of animation makes sense. Also, make sure the GIF does not have any CTA or important information for the recipient just in case they can’t see it.
Pro-tip: Design accessible emails with enhanced readability so that your message can reach everyone including specially-abled subscribers.
5. Test your emails
After you are done with the email creation, test the emails for renderability. Also, proofread it to ensure that it has no grammatical errors. There have been cases where I have encountered emails saying “Hey Fname”. Now that’s a huge personalisation blunder. You should see to it that your brand does not end up making such a blooper.
You should also employ A/B testing that allows you to test two different variations of an email that is created to serve the same purpose. Consequently, you can determine which version works better for your target audience. You can test different variables such as email subject lines, your “from” name, email design, different visual elements, CTA placement and design, etc.
6. Consider different types of email workflows
Email marketing goes far beyond marketing emails. It should include all kinds of email workflows, such as welcome emails, cart abandonment emails, re-engagement emails, customer loyalty emails, feedback emails, etc.
At the time a subscriber signs up, you send out a welcome email that introduces the new subscriber to the brand. Similarly, an inactive subscriber can be won back by sending out a re-engagement email and a cart abandonment email can help you recover a lost customer.
7. Start slow
shutterstock.com/Andrey_Popov
For all those businesses that have not yet started using email workflows in their business, it is advisable to start slow. Create a couple of workflows at the outset and test them before creating other workflows. Carry out iterations and optimise them for best results.
8. Analyse email performance
Analysing email metrics is of utmost importance to know whether your email marketing is on track or not. Monitor open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and unsubscribes and try improving your emails to propel the results and drive better business growth.
Wrapping Up
Your email production workflow determines the kind of engagement you get from your subscribers. The better and more relevant your emails, the more hooked your subscribers will be. By taking a process-oriented approach, you can make the creation of email production workflows smoother and be a more accountable email marketer.
