As a seasoned retail professional, you likely understand the role email marketing plays in driving sales and fostering customer relationships. You’ve probably already been sending marketing messages to your customer base and have a good grasp of the basics.
However, all strategies can be refined. This post will guide you through how to improve your retail email marketing, including some advanced best practices. Along the way, we’ll introduce you to some innovative tools to keep your email marketing as dynamic and responsive as the market you thrive in.
What qualities make retail email marketing good?
Let’s briefly touch upon the fundamentals of good retail email marketing.
Email is timely
When the trend has passed, so has the excitement. When the holiday is done, so is your customer’s desire to buy. Timing is everything in marketing, and well-timed emails enable you to react promptly to market trends. By aligning with holidays or promotions, you provide immediate value to the customer and give them enough time to act upon your marketing messages.
Content is relevant
Relevant content requires your customer to care about it, and this shows up in data like open and click-through rates. To create relevant content, you must leverage metrics and understand your customer’s preferences to curate emails that speak directly to them. Relevance strengthens the relationship between your brand and your customers, leading to sustained business growth.
Offer is enticing
An enticing offer is what turns a good email into a great one. An offer should go beyond standard promotion; it should present a value proposition that feels exclusive and urgent, while also capturing attention or sparking excitement. Whether it's a sale, personalized discount, or exclusive sneak peek, you know it’s a good offer when your customer acts immediately.
What’s the average open rate for retail email marketing?
Open rate is the percentage of your sent emails that, you guessed it, get opened by your customers. The average open rate for retail email marketing fluctuates, but it generally hovers between 32-40%. This metric can vary widely depending on the efficacy of the subject line, the timing of the email, and the level of personalization.
You’ll be viewing the open rates for your campaign quite frequently, which is why it’s a great idea to get an easy-to-use email marketing tool like YAMM. YAMM lets you view open rates and other essential metrics right from your Google Sheets.
5 best practices to improve retail email marketing
Here are five best practices to take your existing email marketing up a notch.
Improve your overall retail email marketing strategy
Always reassess and examine the pillars of your email marketing strategy. See if you’re nailing the basics: personalizing emails, using customer data, and optimizing send times through analytics. Check your content to make sure it’s engaging and relevant. Incorporate strong calls to action that clearly guide customers on what to do next.
If you’ve been doing those things right, you can move on to the next level. Maybe try A/B testing to measure the performance of different email elements, from subject lines to offers. Sometimes, the smallest enhancements can lead to significant improvements.
Follow retail email marketing trends
Let's say you’ve discovered that you have an effective email marketing strategy. However, every strategy needs to incorporate ongoing email marketing trends. Here are a few you can incorporate into your retail email marketing strategy:
- Incorporate AI to smooth out processes (but make sure your content is human)
- Emphasize data privacy in your messages to show customers you respect their personal information
- Integrate SMS to offer your customers cohesive multi-channel communication
- Simplify email design to focus on accessibility and clarity
- Foster brand authenticity through meaningful and transparent marketing
Make your content unique and personalized
Trends are great, but sometimes it helps to go against the grain. Don’t let current trends drown out your business’s individuality.
Craft a distinct voice and tailored experience that sets your brand apart. Creatively develop exclusive offers and stories that resonate on a personal level. This approach nurtures a deeper connection with your audience while capturing their attention.
The goal is to offer an experience that feels one-of-a-kind, not just another trend on the shelf. Check out these top email marketing campaigns and how each is distinct with its own brand voice.
Segment customers based on engagement and loyalty
Segmenting customers based on engagement and loyalty allows you to customize your email marketing efforts. Recognize and categorize your audience not just by their purchasing habits but also by their interaction levels with your emails.
You can reward loyal customers with exclusive offers and campaigns like “refer a friend.” You can also reach inactive customers with re-engagement campaigns to reignite interest.
CTRs and response rates show engagement. Open, delivery, and conversion rates show loyalty. YAMM shows you all of these essential metrics in an easy-to-use report within your Google Sheets to increase the efficacy of your email marketing efforts.
Pick an email tool that will give you a good ROI
For small businesses, selecting a cost-effective email tool is critical. YAMM stands out as an ideal solution, offering affordability without sacrificing functionality.
YAMM integrates seamlessly with Google Sheets and Gmail, allowing for personalized bulk emailing with the comfort of familiar (and free) interfaces. Its straightforward analytics empower you to track and refine your campaigns for better results.
By choosing YAMM, you can achieve a high ROI through its balance of cost-saving measures and robust marketing capabilities.
Need a small retail marketing email platform? YAMM has you covered
Looking for an email platform tailored to small retail businesses? Discover how YAMM can streamline your campaigns with its cost-effective features. Get started with YAMM today and watch your engagement—and sales—soar.