Let’s be honest about it. Some e-commerce marketers focus their time and resources on new customer acquisition, forgetting that retention is just as important. If you’re guilty of this, then you are making a huge mistake.

The truth is attracting new customers costs 5 times than customer retention whereas existing customers are 50% more likely to try new products and spend 31% more.

Retaining your customer should be easy because many advanced features of marketing automation software today can eliminate the manual process. Through workflows, personalized and targeted emails can be sent automatically to customers based on pre-determined triggers you set. This way, you spend less time and effort in pushing customers through the buyer journey with automated emails.

Set up your marketing strategy with automated email campaigns to boost your sales using these marketing automation workflows: 

1. Welcome Series

The mere fact that customers signed up for your emails means that they are highly interested in what you have to offer. This is the perfect time to make a good impression through a welcome series.

Your welcome email workflow can make the many firsts for your customers and you. In fact, welcome emails can bring more than 3 times the transactions and revenue per email over regular promotional mailings.

It can help you meet different objectives: confirm the subscription, send a thank you note, introduce your business, recommend content, or promote your latest offers. If you do this well, customers could make their first purchase. You can attach incentives such as special discounts or free shipping on the first item they buy.

2. Lead qualification and Scoring

Customers are at different stages of the buyer journey. Not all of them are ready to complete a purchase. Others need more time and information to arrive at a decision. So, how do you spot who is ready or not? Use lead scoring.

A study showed that 68% of “highly effective and efficient” marketers pointed to lead scoring as a top revenue contributor. With lead scoring, you grade customers to know if they are sales qualified leads or not. Every action they take will have a corresponding score that will add to their grade. Unless they reach a certain score (for instance, 20), they can’t be passed to your sales team, and they remain getting emails from your engagement workflow for nurturing.

3. Post-Purchase Series

Just because a purchase has been made does not mean that business is done. In fact, it opens many doors to establish a good relationship, provide excellent customer service, and encourage their next purchase.

Through a post-purchase series, you can email customers confirming their transaction to eliminate anxiety on their part. It’s also a perfect time to thank your customers for trusting your business and offers.

Using their purchase history, you can recommend related products to upsell and cross-sell. You can ask them for feedback or reviews to show that their voice matters and that you are willing to listen to improve your service.

4. Shopping Cart Abandonment Emails

Customers who abandoned a shopping cart are on the verge of making a purchase. Be sure to push them to complete the transaction with shopping cart abandonment emails. Studies showed that 44.1% of cart abandonment emails are opened. This gives hope to marketers.

In your marketing automation software, create a workflow designed for abandoned shopping carts, so that customers will immediately receive an email reminding them about their cart. Of course, you can motivate them further with special discounts or free shipping on abandoned items to give them the push they need.

5. Customer Loyalty Series

A long-lasting customer relationship may require time and effort. This becomes easier when you can design a workflow intended make loyal customers feel extra special, which is essential in building brand loyalty.

You can start with a loyalty program that excites customers through rewards, exclusive discounts, and privileges for reaching a certain number or amount of purchases. This way, you are hitting two birds with one stone. You are showing your appreciation to your customers while incentivizing their next purchase.  

Using marketing automation software to upgrade your email campaigns can bring many wonders to your business. It can help you save time, build brand loyalty, strengthen customer relationship, and increase sales. Set up these marketing automation workflows to upgrade your strategies and wait for the numbers to shoot up.  

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