Ecommerce Best Practices|Shoppable Content
Leveraging Email Marketing and Content: Creating The Customer Journey
Jessica is an integrated marketing leader specializing in strategic B2B and B2C enterprise solutions.
Greg Zakowicz
Senior Commerce Marketing Analyst, Oracle + Bronto
Online shopping has never been more popular. The digital age has brought increased sales and revenue to the eCommerce world, as well as increased consumers’ expectations for the customer journey. Consumers no longer expect to simply browse grids and category pages. They’re looking for rich experiences that inspire and delight from the beginning of their shopping experience through to the final purchase – and beyond. Nowhere is this more evident than at the intersection of email marketing and rich content landing pages. When email and content are designed concurrently, they complement each other throughout the customer experience to create a seamless and impactful journey from inbox to landing page. Email becomes a major revenue generator, and shoppers are inspired to buy. Using both smart email marketing strategies and rich digital experiences, retailers can boost metrics across the board.Email That Delivers
In the United States, more than 90% of adults use email. A strong email marketing strategy is critical for eCommerce success. Brands that don’t adapt are leaving revenue on the table. Email is more effective than ever. Retailers are able to personalize the consumer journey in real-time, delivering relevant content in the moment based on past behavior and predicted future needs. And consumers now expect messages to be personalized – especially if they’ve shared data with a retailer or brand. Ultimately, personalization creates loyalty; consumers expect to feel known and cared for through a brand’s email campaign. Brands can deliver this through segmentation and by personalizing campaigns like product recommendations and cart recovery and post-purchase series. Brands that listen to shoppers and offer a relevant, personalized experience from the beginning of the customer journey to the end gain a significant advantage.Content That Converts
Once a brand has reached the right audience through strategic email marketing campaigns, the next step is to guide the consumer to the website and through the customer journey. Brands can make email campaigns revenue generators by making the transition to buyer seamless – and genuinely enjoyable. Consumers who take a leap of faith by clicking a link need to be rewarded with a shopping experience that is engaging and relevant. Brands can achieve this by ensuring that their content landing pages are rich and shoppable. This can be achieved through a variety of content, including quizzes, buying guides, embedded videos, digital lookbooks and more. These digital experiences stand out from the standard product grid because they inspire customers while providing the instant shoppability they expect. Consumers are presented with content that inspires, delights, engages, and educates. And brands, in turn, are rewarded with their loyalty – and their revenue.Campaigns That Inspire
There are many effective campaigns and tactics brands can use to inspire and convert consumers. In our ebook, we cover segmentation, cart recovery and post-purchase emails. Brands that create rich content that complements their email marketing efforts are sure to set themselves up to be industry leaders. The focus for brands must be to create relevant and highly strategic email campaigns that lead consumers to content landing pages that are equally impactful. Shoppers expect every moment of their customer journey to be engaging, and every brand interaction to be inspiring. When brands deliver this one-two digital marketing punch, revenue and engagement increase – and shoppers become loyal, long-term customers.
About the author: Greg Zakowicz is a Senior Commerce Marketing Analyst at Oracle + Bronto, a leading cloud-based commerce marketing automation platform provider. With more than 12 years of experience in email, mobile and social media marketing, Zakowicz knows the retail industry and its challenges, staying on top of the latest trends by leveraging deep insight into the marketing spectrum. His subject matter expertise stems from his experience providing commerce marketers, including numerous Internet Retailer Top 1000 clients, with in-depth analysis of their marketing programs, recommendations for improvement, best practice support and implementation guidance and execution. Zakowicz is a frequent speaker at ecommerce events such as IRCE, eTail West, eTail Canada, Fashion Digital New York, SIA Snow Show and ROI Revolution Summit. He has been published by top retail and marketing publications, including Multichannel Merchant, Click Z, and Total Retail and is a regular contributor to Bronto’s Commerce Marketing blog. Greg is the host of Bronto’s Commerce Marketer Podcast.