If you are an e-commerce marketer who has been around, you already know the benefits of personalization. You are likely to have implemented many personalization campaigns already. Abandoned cart reminders and recommendations are a no-brainer. Most marketers already do that, but there is a lot more you can try out.
To keep up with today’s digital consumer, you must stay on top of your game all the time, and engage him at different stages. Help him discover more products than he would on his own. Make your brand stand out, and be on top-of-mind recall.
Here are some campaign strategies we would like to share with you. If you have not tried every single one of these, now is the time to do it.
Welcome
As soon as your customer registers for email or opts in for browser push notification. you get your first connect opportunity with him. He hears your brand voice and forms his first impression of your brand. A special CEO welcome could make him feel part of the family.
The most common emails we see are – a request to complete a profile, a bland email with a single discount banner, or a text mail listing five benefits of signing up.
A welcome mail should include a walk-through of categories like you would take a new visitor through the store. After a week, re-engage him by showing what other shoppers have been buying or browsing (Best Sellers/ Viewing Right Now/ Trending Products, etc.)
Convert Window Shoppers Series
Now that he has expressed his taste and browsed through your categories, it is time to offer personalized engagement.
Show him products in his favorite categories or categories related to it. Create a community feels by sharing what other shoppers like him are viewing and buying.
Weekly Handpicked Series
Do not limit your retargeting to what the audience has already been looking at. You have deep knowledge of your products and seasonal trends. Use your expertise to curate products with various themes, showcase them on the website, social media, email, and other channels every week. Make this a weekly habit that your audience looks forward to.
Use a single showcase or multiple category-specific showcases per week depending on the breadth of your offering.
Convert Hot Leads
If your visitor has added an item to the wishlist or cart, he is now a hot lead. If your cart abandonment strategy is limited to reminders like – “You forgot to check this product out”, think again. Very few people abandon carts because they actually forget to check out. Encourage them to add more products to get shipping discounts, give them more choices, offer a discount, send them product reviews so they have all the information they need for a purchase.
Retain Loyal Customers
Send your customer who bought a product a review request and let him know that his feedback is important. Get back soon enough with “products bought together”. Give him a break before upselling in the same category.
Reward High Worth Customers
If the top 10% of your customers do not know that they are special, you are missing out. Identify high-worth customers based on the frequency of purchase, total lifetime value, or based on whether they make purchases costlier than the Average Order Value in that category.
Re-Activate Inactive Customers
Once you try all of the above, you should have already reactivated at least 25% of your inactive customers. You can try experimenting further with interesting subject lines and content to catch their attention, or offer them “We Miss You Deals” once a month.
Season Specials /Holiday Specials
Customers are flooded with offer and discount promotions during the holiday season – usually with just banner emails with offers blasted to everyone. You can stand out with carefully crafted expert curations in multiple categories, sent to people based on their interests.
Get your product experts and content writers to go deep into how your products are different. We believe that if you do a good job showcasing your unique products, the right audience will come to you.
Do you limit your communication to your registered email users? Use browser push notifications (personalized) to reach guest users who chose to opt-in.
What about your Facebook Fans? How do you ensure that they are kept updated with your products? Showcase them on your Facebook page.
Does all this sound too overwhelming and impossible to do?
Well, it’s really isn’t. All you need a state-of-the-art eCommerce marketing platform and a campaign booklet to get you started.
