If you’re an online boutique owner, then you know the importance of connecting with your audience and building brand loyalty. As your business grows, so does the need to stay engaged, promote your products and create memorable experiences. And email marketing does all of that for your online boutique (and more). So if you’re new to using it, where do you start? How do you make an effective email marketing for online boutiques? Keep reading! Because in this blog post we’ll share why email marketing is one of the most powerful tools that online boutique owners can use to make more sales and turn customers into lifelong fans.
Building Your Email List
Before email marketing can work for you, you need people to send emails to. That’s why list building is the first and most crucial steps to take. So whether you’re active on social media, running ads, or collaborating with influencers, you should be directing them to join your email list one way or another.
Maybe they get 10% off their first order when they visit your site or a free gift with a purchase over a certain amount. You get to choose the incentive. But make sure it’s something that your target customer would deem worthwhile. Having access to someone’s inbox is precious real estate. So when a subscriber gets an email from you, they should be excited about it.
That’s where how you plan your emails becomes very important.
Planning Your Marketing Emails
When it comes to email marketing for online boutiques, the first step is to get organized. You should know what promotions you’re running, what types of emails you’ll be sending, at which times and to the which audience.
For example, if you’re having discount on a specific category of items, you might want to send that to a segment of subscribers that have been on your list for awhile but haven’t purchased. Maybe they’re waiting for a sale to activate them. You can also send that email to a segment of customers who haven’t purchased a product from the category that’s on sale. Those are two ways that more clarity about who you’re sending emails to can improve your sales performance.
Of course, you want to use a content calendar that lines up what you’re doing on social media to what you’re sharing on your blog and in your emails. That way you can have a cohesive marketing push for whatever products you’re focusing on selling or the content that you want to direct your audience to view or interact with. And it let’s you establish a cadence. If you’re emailing on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays one email can be focused on content and two can be direct sales emails highlighting a particular product, category or a look an influencer is wearing.
Designing Your Emails
Emails come in many shapes and sizes. There’s no one way to present the information, stories or promotions you have. You can have text-only emails or stack a bunch of images together. So in this section we’ll go over some best practices for eCommerce that can guide your marketing efforts.
To start, you want to have a sense of what your competitors are doing. We always suggest signing up to as many email lists as possible. Create an email account just for that purpose. That way, when you’re looking for inspiration or just want to see more options for how marketing is executed, you know exactly where to go.
But there are some basic things that all emails need to include. First off, you need a click-worthy subject line. No one will see you message if they have no reason to open it. Your subject line is a gateway to having more eyes on your offers.
Secondly, every email in email marketing for online boutiques should have a clear call-to-action (CTA). Your CTA tells your subscriber what to do next. Whether they need to learn more about a product, watch some content you’ve created, read an interview with an influencer you’re collaborating with, or just simply ‘shop now’.
Other than that, you’re email can look anyway you want it to—as long as it’s impacting your target customer. You’ll know by the sales you generate from them.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to switch things up. If your emails aren’t working as well as you think they could, dig back into your inspiration vault. Try some new design layouts. Change your font. Add more or less photos. Do whatever you need to in order to make it easy for someone to read, click and buy from your online boutique.
Email Marketing Tactics for New Online Boutique Owners
Before you even start emailing, use an email service provider that allows you to create segments of your customers ahead of time. Some basic segments could be separating subscribers who have purchased from those who haven’t, identifiying your ‘VIP’ customers who purchase over a certain dollar amount, subscribers who have viewed but not purchased a particular product, or separating purchasers by category. That way, you can tailor each message based on the subscriber’s interests or intent.
Another important tip on email marketing for online boutiques is making sure all emails are mobile friendly, since more than half of all emails are opened on mobile devices nowadays. This means ensuring all emails are properly formatted and optimized for smaller screens so they look great no matter which device they’re viewed on.
Finally, don’t forget about analytics! Tracking how many people open each email and click through to take action shows what works best and helps inform future campaigns. You can use software like Google Analytics or dashboard insights within your email service provider to track key metrics like opens, clicks, conversion rates, and sales generated. That let’s you better better optimize your strategy over time.
Ultimately, if you want to grow your online boutique business then email marketing should be a major part of your overall strategy. Not only does it allow you to stay connected with past and current customers but it also gives you insights into what drives conversions so that every campaign is successful!
