With the advent of digital technology, In 2020 Consumers have more channels to engage with a brand. Consumers are constantly interacting with brands on social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube & others which in turn results in final purchase on the brand’s online store or mobile app. The consumer journey starts from one digital channel and finds its way to your online store in search of the products he or she is looking for.
If we try to map the customer journey on a Shopify store, it is going to have the following milestones:
User Visits Online Store
—> Sign Up for Email Newsletter
—> Sign Up for Creating an account on Store
—> Makes 1st Purchase
—> Makes 2nd Purchase
—->Makes 3rd Purchase
—->So On.
At each stage of this above journey, the customer is building a relationship with your online store & that relationship can be strengthened over a period of time through consistent engagement. If a store owner knows his customer behaviour well, he can easily draw up a plan to have an active engagement with individual customers that can eventually lead to high brand recall & strong customer loyalty.
When a user who has looked at a Facebook ad of your brand & reached your online store, it is quite likely that the user is going to Subscribe to Newsletter & campaigns from your online store. This is a great opportunity to convey the right message once the user has subscribed to the newsletter. A store owner should be able to craft the right message in the Email body that can resonate with the visitor. A great first impression can be created by the brand through the first welcome email. In the Welcome email below from this furniture brand, it is able to convey the most appropriate message to the user & set the tone for future communication.
A Shopify merchant can work with his/her marketing team to craft email messages for the following milestones.
Customer Milestone in Shopify StoreEmails that can be sent to Customer User Subscribes to Newsletter Welcome EmailUser Creates Account on Online StoreThank you EmailUser Makes their 1st Purchase
Post Purchase Thank You, Post Purchase Product Review, Post Purchase Google Review
User Makes their 2nd PurchasePost 2nd Purchase Thank You with Coupon Code for next Purchase, Post Purchase Google ReviewUser Makes their 3rd PurchasePost 3rd Purchase Thank You with Coupon Code for next Purchase, Post Purchase Google ReviewUser Completes Spending of $1000A personalized Thank you Email for being a loyal customerUser Completes Spending of $2000Thank you Email with an OfferUser Completes Spending of $4000Thank you Email with an OfferCustomer’s BirthdayPersonalized Birthday email with a coupon codeCustomer’s AnniversaryPersonalized Anniversary email with a coupon code
In order to engage with customers at these different milestones, a Shopify store owner should have an effective email marketing campaign program planned in advance. The Shopify store can have their marketing teams create all the required email templates for each customer milestone which can be triggered by using the email marketing app from the Shopify app store.
Using the behavioral customer segmentation of the customers, various segments can be created & the requisite email can be sent to those segments. Sending the right email campaign at the right time is the key to drive customer engagement & to increase brand loyalty.
Each campaign is going to ensure that your Shopify store is able to connect with the customer at regular intervals and which ultimately results in strong brand recall.
Today’s customers’ buying decisions are not impulsive & are based on how they perceive your online store. With each interaction a customer has with your store, they are subconsciously making a decision about whether or not they are going to make their next purchase from your store. So it is important to have a very active email campaign strategy that can drive engagement with your customers.
Today’s customer is tech-savvy & is constantly getting information from various channels which in turn determines their affinity to purchase from a specific brand’s online store. If the Shopify store is able to constantly have an active conversation with their customers, a customer is likely to come back to the store owing to the brand recall. A smart email campaign strategy can go a long way in building meaningful relationships with customers. All it requires is a genuine communication to build a deep bond with customers through personalized email campaigns at regular intervals based on where the customer is in its lifecycle.
A Shopify store will be able to derive more Life Time Value (LTV) from a customer to make the store more profitable in the long run. The cost of acquiring a new customer is increasing day by day so it is important to have a strong marketing strategy that ensures more Customer Retention by engaging with individual customers at different stages of their life cycle.
