Maintaining effective communication with customers is now a non-negotiable for cultivating loyalty and driving sales. Especially after the increased costs to acquire a customer for the first time over the past two years. Email marketing remains one of the most misunderstood and underutilised channels, with platforms like Klaviyo offering robust functionalities to optimise.
However, despite its potential, many e-commerce businesses often encounter challenges in their email marketing strategies that can hinder success. This article will address four key areas: common pitfalls in email marketing, managing sender reputation, incorporating SMS with Klaviyo, and the often-underestimated value of email marketing in e-commerce.
Common Pitfalls in Email Marketing for E-commerce
Inadequate Audience Segmentation
One of the most common mistakes in e-commerce email marketing is the failure to segment audiences effectively. Sending uniform emails to all subscribers without accounting for their distinct preferences, behaviours, or demographics can lead to poor engagement and increased unsubscribe rates. If you come to my store and start browsing size 9 shoes, there's a pretty reasonable chance you're a size 9. Sending these people offers in size 6 and 12 is a wasted opp to use simple personalisation.
Klaviyo provides advanced segmentation tools that enable businesses to categorise their audience based on various factors such as purchase history, browsing behaviour, and engagement levels. By using these tools, businesses can craft more personalized and relevant messages, thereby enhancing the likelihood of conversion. Contrary to popular belief, this is not hard to do, but well worth doing.
Overemphasis on Promotional Content
An excessive focus on promotions and discounts can diminish a brand's perceived value and negatively impact profit margins. While promotional emails are a proven tactic for driving sales, an overabundance can lead to email fatigue, causing customers to lose interest or unsubscribe. A balanced approach is essential, combining promotional content with valuable non-promotional messages, such as informative articles, product tips, or personalised recommendations. This means that when a sale email does land, it really has an impact with your audience.
Suboptimal Email Design and Lack of Mobile Optimisation
With a significant number of customers accessing emails via mobile devices, it is easy to forget that emails designs in Klaviyo require adjusting to mobile compared to desktop. Poor design choices, such as small fonts, difficult-to-click buttons, and slow-loading images, can detract from the user experience. Klaviyo's email builder supports the creation of responsive emails suitable for all devices, but the onus is on businesses to ensure that the design is clean, engaging, and user-friendly.
Also important not to forget dark mode optimisation. I have seen examples from global giants who forget that the majority of users now have dark mode enabled by default. This can lead to emails coming through in an unreadable format.
Neglecting Metrics and Analytics
Failing to monitor and analyse email metrics is very common, and can often lead to all emails going to spam. Key metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates provide valuable insights into campaign strategy. If you have open rates in the 20% or lower, it may not be your emails that are bad, more that you never clean your list. If someone has received 94 emails in a row and gone unopened, don't expect much better from the 95th. Which naturally leads us to....
Managing Sender Reputation
A strong sender reputation is crucial for ensuring high email deliverability rates, determining whether emails reach the inbox or are filtered as spam.
Just Like Cleaning Behind the Fridge.
You wouldn't clean behind the fridge every week (well some of you might), but once every few months keeps your list healthy. If you haven't done it for a few years, expect some horrors to be lurking.
Maintaining a clean email list is essential for preserving a good sender reputation. It is advisable to regularly remove inactive subscribers who have not engaged with emails over a defined period. Persistently sending emails to unengaged recipients can result in high bounce rates and spam complaints, which can harm a sender's reputation. Klaviyo’s list management features facilitate the identification and removal of such subscribers.
Implementing Email Authentication
Email authentication mechanisms such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC help confirm the legitimacy of email senders, thereby reducing the likelihood of emails being marked as spam. Klaviyo supports these authentication protocols, and proper implementation can significantly enhance sender reputation.
Utilising Double Opt-In
This is a opinion splitter. Implementing a double opt-in process ensures that subscribers genuinely wish to receive emails. This process involves sending a confirmation email to new subscribers, asking them to verify their subscription. Double opt-in helps prevent the inclusion of invalid or erroneous email addresses, reducing the risk of spam complaints and hard bounces.
However, there is a school of thought that says don't make it hard to sign up to a newsletter, but be brutal with those who don't seem to care that you exist. Easy to sign up, easy to remove is a logical way to go.
Integrating SMS in Klaviyo
SMS marketing offers a complementary channel to email, providing a more direct and immediate means of reaching customers. Klaviyo’s integrated SMS marketing capabilities allow businesses to manage both channels simultaneously. SMS costs more to send, to it's more relevant to send at time specific periods (new sale launch, Friday evening Pizza offers etc)
Securing Explicit Consent cohesively.
As with email, obtaining explicit consent from customers before sending SMS messages is obvious, but vital. This not only ensures compliance with legal requirements but also fosters a positive customer experience. Clear opt-in mechanisms, such as a checkbox during checkout or a dedicated sign-up form, should be employed.
Personalizing SMS Communications
Personalization is crucial for effective SMS marketing. Utilizing data available in Klaviyo, such as purchase history and browsing behaviour, allows businesses to send tailored messages, including personalized product recommendations, order updates, or exclusive offers.
Considering Frequency and Timing
Given the intrusive nature of SMS, it is important to carefully consider the frequency and timing of messages. Overloading customers with frequent texts can lead to opt-outs, while inappropriate timing, such as during early mornings or late nights, can irritate recipients. Businesses should aim to send SMS messages at optimal times and only when necessary. You can also use to to engage a specific segment, such as your most engaged audience.
Coordinating Email and SMS Efforts
A coordinated approach to email and SMS can pay dividends. For example, a promotional email can be supplemented with an SMS reminder for limited-time offers. Klaviyo’s automation tools enable the creation of cross-channel workflows, ensuring consistency and timely delivery of messages.
The Undervalued Role of Email in E-commerce
Despite its efficacy, email marketing is often underappreciated by e-commerce businesses, especially with the rising popularity of newer channels like social media and influencer marketing.
Misconceptions About Relevance
There is a common misconception that email is an outdated marketing channel, overshadowed by more modern platforms. However, email continues to offer a reliable and cost-effective means of communication, with a high return on investment. Unlike social media, where algorithms can limit visibility, email allows businesses to reach their audience directly.
Underestimating Strategic Potential
Some businesses mistakenly view email marketing as a tool solely for disseminating newsletters or promotional content. In reality, email can be instrumental throughout the customer journey, from awareness and consideration to conversion and retention. Advanced features in platforms like Klaviyo, such as segmentation, automation, and personalisation, enable businesses to deliver highly relevant content, fostering customer engagement and loyalty.
Inadequate Strategic Planning
Without a well-defined email marketing strategy, businesses may fail to realize its full potential, leading to undervaluation. Sporadic email campaigns without clear objectives or target audiences are unlikely to achieve significant results. A strategic approach, informed by data and analytics, is essential for maximising the impact of email marketing.
Overlooking Customer Preferences
Some businesses may underestimate the extent to which customers value personalised emails. Thoughtfully crafted emails that address customers' specific needs and interests can significantly enhance the customer experience and strengthen the brand-customer relationship. Ignoring this can result in missed opportunities for engagement and revenue growth.
So What Do I Do Now?
Klaviyo / Email is typically the most under-optimised and neglected channel in ecom marketing because of the many nuances that go along with it. Although on platform data may claim 40% of total sales through email, when factoring in assisted conversions and support from other channels, a well functioning account should live at around 25-30% depending on the niche.
Still feeling stuck about your Klaviyo efforts? Why not speak to me? The first meeting will only set you back a quid.