Let me guess, your email inbox was overflowing yesterday, at least more than normal. Who’s to blame? Cyber Monday, the name we now assign to the Monday following Thanksgiving and the (traditionally) brick-and-mortar Black Friday. This year’s Cyber Monday made for many satisfied businesses by the end of the day. Ecommerce revenue was up 15.4%, compared to 2013. This makes it the biggest day in US online shopping history, thanks in large part to email marketing!
We all know I have an online shopping problem, so this makes me very happy. Something else that makes me happy from Cyber Monday – out of all the mobile shopping that was going on, 78% of that was from Apple devices, and only 21% from Androids. Take that, Android! (Another reason why your website needs to be responsive.)
It seems like we’ve been hearing about the “end of email marketing” for years, but guess what, it’s still around and can be incredibly effective if used right. Email marketing is a great way to grab your customers’ or future customers’ attention, as long as you have a creative subject line and keep your main goal in mind, whether it’s making a sale or educating a buyer. Setting up a drip email campaign can be a great way to save abandoned shopping carts, or remind customers of their past purchase behavior after a period of time to earn their repeat business.
You’re probably thinking, all this talk about email marketing – how can it benefit me every other day of the year and just not on Cyber Monday? Email marketing serves several purposes in addition to increasing sales:
- Keeps your business top of mind when it’s fresh in someone’s inbox
- Regular or scheduled emails can keep customers engaged and to be repeat buyers
- Establish authority (refers back to educating)
- Relationship building and management (i.e. testimonial or welcome email)
If you’re an eCommerce shop, what did you lean on to drive sales yesterday? Online ads or an email marketing campaign?
For more information on email marketing, you can reach me by email sengel@g1440.com or phone 410-843-3826.
Sarah Engel is a Marketing Consultant at G.1440 who joined the team after graduating from Towson University with degrees in Business Administration and Electronic Business. She’s an infographic nut and a forever-long Apple fan. When she’s not behind one of her Apple devices, she is often found volunteering with her dog King, or heading to the beach for the weekend.