Using an email for e-commerce

Best practices for selling goods and services in an email

Whether you have your own website or are using an ecommerce store, selling goods and services in an email goes beyond adding a "buy now" button and hitting "send" - there's a little more of an art to it. The good news is that it isn't hard and doesn't have to be overwhelming! By breaking the steps down into digestible parts, it makes it easier to create an enjoyable email that drives your contacts to make a purchase:

• Know your customers
• Be informative, yet personal
• Don't waste your customers' time

Did you know? If you sell through Shopify, Etsy, eBay, Wix, Magento, WooCommerce, or BigCommerce, you can track the sales generated from your emails from within your Constant Contact account!

Know your customers

Generally customers join your mailing list because they like/want/need your products and services, find your prices reasonable, trust your reputation, appreciate your customer service, or are waiting for a sale or promotion. Whichever the reason, your contacts are looking to get some value from your email, and getting the right content in front of the right customer at the right time makes all the difference for sales.

There's tons of marketing advice on the web for tailoring marketing to different generations and demographics, but list segmentation may be the most important step you can take to increase the success of your emails. All the marketing research in the world isn't going to help if you send the same email to everyone on your list. By breaking your list into smaller, more targeted segments, you can deliver more customized content that speaks specifically to each of your audiences:

• Define your own list segments - Filter contacts into a segment based on the lists they're on, the contact information you have on file for them, and their past engagement with your emails. When you take some time to create your segments in advance, you can quickly choose the segment when you're ready to send your email. The segments refresh every time you hit send so that you know you're sending to the most up-to-date list of contacts who meet your segment criteria.
• Let your contacts do the segmentation for you - Enable click segmentation in your emails and add the contacts who click on the text links, buttons, or clickable image links to specific lists - it's a great place to start, especially if the word "segmentation" makes you feel overwhelmed!
• Offer different list options on your sign-up form - Update your sign-up form to include several different list options. When your contacts see your sign-up form, they can decide what their interests are and you can create your emails targeted for each list. You even have the option of creating a Lead Generation Landing Page - you can create multiple custom forms for different audiences and use them to attract new sign-ups onto a specific list.
• Use your sign-up form to collect contact details - Want to send birthday coupons? You can collect contact details beyond a name and email address from your sign-up form. There are standard fields to choose from, like a birth date or job title, but you can also create custom fields to ask for a favorite ice cream flavor or what kind of pet they own - anything that is relevant to your products and services that will help you target their needs. Just don't get greedy - the more you ask for the more likely your contacts will be turned off, so make your requests count!
• Spend a little time grooming your list - If your list is already established, it's worth the time to break it apart into segments. Chances are you already have a good idea about who your target demographic is and you just need to identify those contacts so you can target them with messaging that they find appealing.

Get recognized with a fresh logo! With our Custom Logo Service, we'll provide you with three logo proofs, and one round of revision of your logo proof of choice. Give your organization a fresh branding that will have your customers remembering exactly who you are at first glance!

Be informative, yet personal

If you've taken the time to segment your list, it makes it much easier to create compelling content because you're not trying to force a little something for everyone into your email. You have a little more room to not just explain what your product or service is, but also explain how it solves a problem, fulfills a need, or benefits your contacts.

• Tell a story or anecdote about your product or service to help your contacts relate to it and see its value.
• Share customer testimonials or reviews.
• Add a video of your product in use.
• Share images of the before and after results from your services.
• Use jokes, puns, or pop culture references that relate to your product or service and that your audience understands and responds to.
• Offer trends or tips that show off your industry knowledge.
• Offer an incentive that customers can only get through your email.

Products example	Services example
Selling physical goods is all about showing off the product and making it super simple to take action and purchase it. The main call-to-action sits at the top of this email example, but all the details about the products are available, so the customer can do research before they hit the "Checkout" button. The images show the actual products, but also give an example of how to use them, and the email includes an incentive to purchase multiple items. The return policy is featured so there are no surprises that cause the buyer to drop out of the payment flow if they're hesitant to buy online.	Selling services can be trickier than selling physical goods because you may need to have a discussion with a customer to settle on price, expectations, and scheduling. This email example relies heavily on description and contrasting before-and-after images to get the point across. Adding a gallery link below the customer quote makes it feel less of a made-up statement, and helps persuade contacts to click on your call-to-action. The email isn't so much geared to "buy now," but to start a sales conversation.

Design tip: Take the time to highlight what differentiates you from your competition - remind customers of the quality of your work, your role in the community, your commitment to social causes, your environmental sustainability practices, or your multi-generational business reputation - it may make your customer think twice before purchasing from a competitor.

Don't waste your customers' time

Did you know that with every extra click it takes to complete an action, you lose some of your audience? Shopping cart abandonment happens when potential buyers are turned off and exit your sales flow. It can happen because there are too many steps in the buying process, the checkout doesn't seem safe, there isn't enough information about the product or service, there are surprise fees or hidden costs, the shopping cart doesn't let you adjust a quantity or keep shopping, or the checkout forces you to login.

To combat shopping cart abandonment from your email:

• Don't just link to your website, link to the specific listing or landing page for an item or service so that your customers can see all the details. Make sure there is a clear and prominent way to add it to the shopping cart.
• For one less step in the payment flow, link to a shopping cart with the item or service already added, especially if your shopping cart lets you change the quantity, keep shopping, or checkout as a guest.
• Include shipping details, return and exchange policies, restocking fees, money-back guarantees, free trial periods, or any other fine print that can be an unwelcome surprise. If you see it as a selling point, include it, and if you think it may be a deterrent, be upfront about it!
• If your website uses a protected payment gateway, include the security logo in your email close to links or buttons that bring you into the shopping flow. The same logo should appear in your shopping cart too!

Design tip: Shorter emails with a clear call-to-action get better engagement. Keep your content relevant to your call-to-action and save the rest for another email to help keep your contacts' attention on making a purchase. Add links to a website or blog to give more details without making your email too long, but make sure there's also a way to enter the sales flow from the webpage you're linking to!

Questions?