E-commerce 101: Best Practices For Email Marketing Copy

In the world of e-commerce, email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach out to potential customers and drive sales. 

With each dollar spent in email marketing reaping a bountiful $42, the importance of developing copywriting expertise for email campaigns is definitely underscored.

So, here are some best practices for writing persuasive and compelling copy in e-commerce email marketing that will generate results like these:

Personalization

Personalized emails are a powerful tool in e-commerce marketing as they allow businesses to connect with their customers on a more personal level and provide them with relevant, targeted content. 

Personalization can be used in a variety of ways in e-commerce marketing, such as by including the customer's name in the subject line or greeting, recommending products based on their previous purchases or browsing history, and sending targeted promotions or discounts. 

For example, we’ve set up a series of automations for our client, Speed Beez, that utilizes personalization to deliver highly-relevant abandoned cart emails. Take a look: 

To effectively use personalized emails in e-commerce marketing, businesses should gather and use customer data such as their purchase history, browsing behavior, and demographics to create targeted campaigns.

Use the recipient's name in the subject line and throughout the email to make it feel more personal.

Benefits-driven Copy 

Benefits-driven copy focuses on the benefits that a product or service can provide to the customer, rather than robotically listing its features.

When used in e-commerce marketing, benefits-driven copy can help to increase conversions by highlighting how the product can solve a problem or improve the customer's life in some way.

For example, instead of simply stating that a product is "waterproof," benefits-driven copy would explain how the product will keep the customer dry in rainy weather. 

This type of copy should be used throughout the customer's journey, from the product page to the checkout process, to remind them of the benefits they will receive by making a purchase. 
We incorporated this into our copy for our client, Speed Beez. Below you can see how we emphasized how using this product will improve the customer’s experience:

It's important to be specific, use an active voice, and make sure the benefits are relevant to the customer's needs and pain points.

Use of Urgency and Scarcity

A sense of urgency is a powerful tool in e-commerce marketing as it can motivate customers to take action and make a purchase. 

One way to create a sense of urgency is to use limited-time offers, such as flash sales or daily deals. This can create a sense of scarcity and encourage customers to act quickly before the offer expires. 

Another way to create urgency is to use language that emphasizes the limited availability of a product or the potential for it to sell out soon. This can create a sense of exclusivity and increase the perceived value of the product.

For last year’s Black Friday campaign, we emphasized our client’s Black Friday Sale with copywriting that included keywords such as biggest, deals, and year. We also added a countdown timer to not only help customers keep track of the duration of the sale but to create even more urgency to encourage them to take advantage of the promotion. 

Additionally, using social proof such as showing how many people have bought the product or how many units are left in stock can also create a sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out) for the customers. 

If you do incorporate this method into your campaign, use urgency tactics sparingly and in a way that feels authentic, as they have the potential to come off as manipulative. 
Here is a list of power words to use for content that creates urgency:

• Now
• Hurry
• Quick
• Limited
• Running Out
• Fast
• New
• Deadline
• Last Chance
• Final
• Never again
• Expires

Use of Social Proof

Social proof is a powerful tool in e-commerce marketing that can increase trust and credibility for a product or brand. 

It refers to the idea that people are more likely to buy a product if they see that others have already bought it and are satisfied with it. 

There are several ways to use social proof in e-commerce marketing:

• Customer reviews and ratings: Displaying customer reviews and ratings on a product page can help to increase trust and credibility for the product. It's important to have a good balance of positive and negative reviews, as well as make sure the reviews are genuine.

• Testimonials: Including testimonials from satisfied customers on a website or in an email marketing campaign can help to increase trust and credibility for the brand.

• Social media: Showcasing customer photos or videos of people using the product on social media can help to increase trust and credibility for the brand.

• User-generated content: Encouraging customers to create content about the product and share it on social media can also increase trust and credibility for the brand.

Remember that social proof should be relevant, trustworthy, and high-quality to be effective.

Call-to-action

A call-to-action (CTA) is an essential component of e-commerce marketing as it prompts the customer to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. 

CTAs can be used throughout the customer's journey, from the product page to the checkout process, to guide them toward the desired action.

Using a clear and specific CTA can increase conversions by making it easy for customers to understand what action they should take next. 

For example, a CTA that says "Buy Now" or "Add to Cart" is more effective than a generic "Learn More" button. Additionally, a CTA can also be used to direct customers to other pages on the website such as a "Learn more" or "See more" button.

CTAs can also be used to increase the perceived value of a product by highlighting any bonuses, special offers, or guarantees that come with the purchase. 

Including a CTA that says "Limited time offer" or "Free shipping" can increase the sense of urgency and entice the customer to take action.

In summary, CTAs are important for e-commerce marketing because they help to guide customers toward a desired action, increase conversions, and increase the perceived value of a product

Test and Optimize 

Testing and optimizing copy is an important aspect of e-commerce marketing because it allows you to continually improve the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. 

By testing different versions of copy and measuring their performance, you can identify which versions are most effective at driving conversions and then optimize your copy to achieve better results.

Testing can be done by creating different versions of an email marketing campaign and then using tools like A/B testing to measure which version performs the best. 

This can include testing different headlines, body copy, images, and CTAs. Once you have identified the best-performing version, you can then optimize your copy to achieve even better results.

Optimizing copy can also involve testing different messaging and value propositions, testing the tone of voice and the format of the copy, testing the placement and design of elements on the webpage, and so on. 

By continually testing and optimizing your copy, you can improve the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and increase conversions.

It's important to note that testing and optimization should be done with a data-driven approach and that testing should always be done with a statistically significant sample size of at least 500 subscribers. 

This will ensure that you are making data-driven decisions and not basing decisions on chance or anecdotal evidence.

Conclusion

Copywriting is an essential aspect of e-commerce email marketing. By following the best practices outlined above, you can write persuasive and compelling emails that will drive sales and increase customer engagement.