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<ul>
<li><a href="/">Learn about BigCommerce Enterprise</a></li>
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<h4>Just in time for the holidays: deliver valuable brand engagements with post-purchase journeys</h4><p>We’re about to go into what is the busiest time of year for most online retailers, and so the latest addition to the dotdigital integration for BigCommerce merchants couldn’t be better timed.</p>
<p>From October 21st all BigCommerce merchants with dotdigital Engagement Cloud accounts can access a library of beautifully branded transactional email templates, pre-loaded with code that personalizes the content for that recipient and order.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>“<i>What is transactional email”,</i> we hear you ask? In essence, this could be any communication that is triggered by an important store event. For example, when a new account is created or when an order is made. Black Friday and the holiday seasons that follows is a great opportunity to acquire new customers. Keeping them engaged and driving that loyalty-inducing next purchase, is a different matter. And this is where post-purchase marketing comes in. Keep reading as we dive into the often overlooked world of transactional email below.
</p>
<h4>Why does transactional email matter?
</h4>
<p>Marketing for ecommerce success is about more than getting your customer to cart. To be a successful marketer and drive repeat purchases, you must consider the whole customer lifecycle. After all, it is more cost effective to retain customers than to just attract new ones. This is where post-sale marketing and building lasting relationships with customers really comes into play. The emails that your customers are sent automatically to provide them with order updates are another brand touchpoint. All too often these are not in-sync with your other communications, and off brand. You get the point - not putting your best foot forward after you’ve won them over doesn’t leave a good or a lasting impression.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Done well, transactional emails can have a huge impact on how your customers perceive the service you’ve delivered to them, plus it’s an opportunity to stand out from the rest, with an increase in loyalty and customer lifetime value as the result.
</p>
<p><b>Now, it’s</b> <b><i>that </i></b><b>easy.</b>
</p>
<p>Making your automatic transactional emails beautifully branded can often slip to the bottom of a priority list for many marketers. Especially when there are so many to create. It can feel like a nice to have, and most marketers know they should do something about it, but it’s typically time-consuming to address. Until now.
</p>
<p>With dotdigital’s transactional email manager, you’re just a few clicks away from sending beautiful post-purchase campaigns that deliver.
</p>
<ul><li>You’ll be asked to upload your logo, brand colors and font, and footer copy. That’s all we need.
</li><li>Next, you get to select which types of emails you want to trigger.&nbsp;
</li><li>And that is it! You can preview the templates, customize them even further, or setup a different campaign to trigger in that event altogether.&nbsp;
</li><li>One last thing, so that customers don’t get duplicate emails at each stage, you’ll probably want to<a href="https://support.bigcommerce.com/s/article/Customizing-Emails#toggle"> disable the automatic emails</a> being sent out by BigCommerce. All transactional emails sent via Engagement Cloud use our dedicated highest reputation delivery systems managed by our in-house team of deliverability and delivery experts. This ensures the best inbox placement and delivery rates, with over 90% of emails being delivered within one minute.
</li></ul>
<h5>Tips and trick for creating personalized experiences with post-purchase emails
</h5>
<p>Turn transactional emails into another valuable opportunity to delight your customers, highlight complementary products or services, and deliver better end-to-end experiences altogether.
</p>
<ul><li>Say Thank You. This seems obvious, but <i>how </i>you say it can make a difference. This is where you can great creative with messaging and imagery.
</li><li>Actions speak louder than words. Say Thank You with a coupon code that they can redeem against their next order.
</li><li>And finally, transactional emails are a great place to tell customers how your support team is always-on. Remind them of service hours, and where to speak to someone over live chat if you offer this line of communication.</li></ul><p><span></span></p>
<p><b><em>About dotdigital for BigCommerce&nbsp;</em></b>
</p>
<p>dotdigital is a leader in omnichannel marketing automation technology. dotdigital’s Engagement Cloud is the platform of choice for businesses seeking to engage customers across all touchpoints. The platform’s features empower 4,000+ brands across 150 countries to acquire, convert, and retain customers. Users can connect customer data, surface powerful insights, and automate intelligent messages across email, SMS, social, and more. dotdigital is a global company with over 350 employees, serving companies of all sizes and in all verticals for over 20 years.
</p>
<p>dotdigital Engagement Cloud for BigCommerce brings customer engagement to the forefront. So you can work faster, smarter, and achieve greater results. The joint forces of BigCommerce and dotdigital unlock the full potential of your store-side data. Deliver intelligent marketing messages to more shoppers, that will keep them coming back.
</p>
<p>To learn more about dotdigital for BigCommerce, visit:<a href="https://dotdigital.com/integrations/bigcommerce" target="_blank">https://dotdigital.com/integrations/bigcommerce</a></p>


Email Marketing and Automation

Why does transactional email matter?

<p>Transactional emails matter. A sales confirmation, welcome email, order update, dispatch advice, even a password change, they’re all important. They’re often some of the first emails a subscriber or customer will receive from you. They work better than standard email campaigns too - welcome emails triggered by account creation can generate up to 320% more revenue than promotional campaigns. Despite this, how many times do we marketers spend hours of time planning, designing and optimizing our marketing emails with the very best in strategy, creative and technology – only to then omit transactional emails from the same processes?<br></p>
<h4>Four rules to sending transactional emails that deliver</h4>
<h5>1.Timing is everything.
</h5>
<p>Abandoned baskets in particular are often sent at an automated point (X minutes/ hours after the event) without testing. Whilst research shows that the first 12 hours are critical there are many variances and there are examples where emails are very successful well after that
</p>
<h5>2. Get the message right.
</h5>
<p>Some of the reasons for cart abandonment is the checkout total, the need to compare prices against other options and the customer not being ready to commit. What’s more, these will vary by the value of the basket. A standard factual reminder will likely not address any of these concerns so it may well bear fruit to test around incentives to buy now or to gain a P&P discount against a certain spend level for instance.
</p>
<h5>3. Be helpful.
</h5>
<p>And not just a prompt. The email needs to remind the customer that they can return and complete but it must also recognize that they have abandoned it in the first place because of a problem. Make it clear that help is on hand to aid completion.
</p>
<h5>4. Remember the upsell.
</h5>
<p>In the case of abandoned baskets in particular, there will be an opportunity to point out related or complementary products. An automated admin approach won’t recognize this and a sales only approach will miss the primary objective so a balance is needed. A balance can reap rewards.
</p>
<h4>3 Steps to Setting up Transactional Email Templates With dotdigital&nbsp;for BigCommerce</h4>
<p>Create and turn on transactional email templates in your BigCommerce store to provide your customers with consistent and relevant order details. You can see a list of different events that happen in your BigCommerce store, such as a new account, account updates, or new order confirmations. You can also use the transactional email manager to choose which transactional emails you want to send out to your customers once a purchase is made.
</p>
<p>Please note that you’ll need a dotdigital Engagement Cloud account with your BigCommerce store connected to it to use this functionality.</p>
<h5>1. Set up your branded transactional email template.</h5>
<p>Create brand familiarity with your contacts by branding your transactional email templates. You can upload a logo, add fonts, and change the colors of the template. To access the transactional email manager:
</p>
<ul><li>In Engagement Cloud, go to Settings &gt; BigCommerce &gt; Transactional email &gt; Setup transactional email templates.
</li><li>Set up your branding by editing the available fields:
<ul><li>Logo
</li><li>Font
</li><li>Body text color
</li><li>Heading text color
</li><li>Button color
</li><li>Brand highlight color
</li><li>Email footer
</li></ul></li><li>Select Generate templates.
</li></ul>
<p>Once this is complete, you can turn on your templates.</p>
<h5>2. Choose which transactional email templates to activate!</h5>
<p>You can turn on, swap, edit, or preview any of your transactional email templates in the <em>Transactional email</em> area. You can see all of your default email templates in this area, too. To manage your transactional email settings, go to Settings &gt; BigCommerce &gt; Transactional email<strong>.</strong>
</p>
<p>If you have not created a transactional email template yet, select Setup transactional email templates. If you already created a transactional email template, select Configure brand styles to make changes.
</p>
<p><strong>Account notifications</strong>
</p>
<p>In the<em> Account notifications</em> area, select Turn all off or Turn all on to turn all of your transactional email notifications on or off for your customers.
</p>
<p><strong>Order notifications</strong>
</p>
<p>In the <em>Order notifications</em> area, you can find a list of default template settings like:&nbsp;
</p>
<ul><li>New account confirmation
</li><li>New order confirmation
</li><li>Shipping confirmation
</li><li>Order partially shipped
</li><li>Order awaiting fulfillment
</li><li>Order awaiting shipment
</li><li>Order awaiting pickup
</li><li>Order completed
</li><li>Order cancelled
</li><li>Order refunded
</li></ul>
<p>Simply toggle the ones you want to activate to ‘On’.</p>
<p><br></p>
<figure><img src="https://www-cdn.bigcommerce.com/assets/dotdigital.png"></figure>
<p>From the ‘Actions’ dropdown, you’ll be able to preview, edit, or swap out the autogenerated template.&nbsp;
</p>
<h5>3. Switch off BigCommerce transactional email notifications to avoid duplication.</h5>
<p>To avoid duplicating emails, you must disable the transactional email notifications that are sent via BigCommerce. You must disable all of the notifications, or only the ones that you enable in Engagement Cloud as a replacement. To do this, go to Marketing &gt; Email Templates.
</p>
<p>And that’s it! You’re now all set to send beautifully personalized and on-brand transactional emails.&nbsp;</p><p><i>You can find out more about the&nbsp;<span class="il">dotdigital</span>&nbsp;for BigCommerce integration <a href="https://dotdigital.com/integrations/bigcommerce/" target="_blank">here</a>.</i></p>

What is Transactional Email?

<p>Complete CRM is more than just a buzzword. Complete CRM is a SaaS solution that provides organizations the tools they need to effectively manage everything from marketing to sales, operations and more - all under one roof.</p>
<p>More than anything, Complete CRM is the solution to a number of problems that have haunted business leaders for decades.
</p>
<h4>Defining The Problem: Why Do Businesses Need Complete CRM</h4>
<p><strong>What are we even talking about?</strong>
</p>
<p>Customer Relationship Management is nothing new. On the contrary, CRM technology has been a cornerstone of business management for well over two decades. There are hundreds of CRM experts and media outlets constantly churning out content on the state of CRM: what it is, where it’s going, etc. These sources often talk about CRM as if it’s a single, easily definable entity, and decades ago, in its early stages, it was. In reality, today, CRM is nonspecifically broad categorization used to denote a diverse gamut of platforms, many of which have very little in common. When limited use ESPs and full service business management solutions can both faithfully be referred to as Customer Relationship Management, we have to ask ourselves: what are we really even talking about?!&nbsp;
</p>
<p>To inject some specificity back into the conversation, forward thinking tech experts have begun using the term “Complete CRM” to better define the technology they are describing, allowing themselves to separate SaaS heroes from single function CRM wannabes. First coined by software developer, Lars Helgeson, in the early 2000s, Complete CRM describes a full service software solution for business management.&nbsp;
</p>
<h4>The issue with mile high MarTech stacks
</h4>
<p>The information revolution has forever changed the way we view business management. Today’s marketplace is bursting at the seams with SaaS solutions. It seems like there's a platform for every minute detail of lifestyle and commerce. The emergence of so many applications has created a precarious situation for companies across the globe; the unwieldy, ever growing MarTech stack. This hallmark of twenty-first century business mis-management is famous for creating unnavigable nexuses of corporate data. Like the proverbial sinkhole, information entered into an overgrown MarTech stack isn’t guaranteed to be seen again.&nbsp;&nbsp;
</p>
<p>A well rounded digital marketing strategy often involves having to juggle everything from email marketing and landing pages to social reporting and conversion tracking. Once you add on the other tools needed to effectively manage an organization, such as sales, customer service, and more, business leaders might find themselves staring down a 15 sum app tech stack, worth thousands of dollars in monthly subscriptions. The cost alone can be astronomical. Maybe some corporations can afford that, but the operating cost of managing all that software (time + manpower) only compounds the <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-martech-stack-getting-too-high-alessandra-gyben/">Total Cost of Ownership</a>.
</p>
<h4>The Solution: A More Complete CRM
</h4>
<p><a href="https://www.greenrope.com/what-is-complete-crm?cmp=BigCommerce" target="_blank">Complete CRM describes an all purpose business management software</a> solution. Complete CRM is capable of managing all of an organization’s digital assets, without the need for supplemental SaaS. It’s essentially the Swiss Army Knife of MarTech. It houses all the tools a business needs to effectively, and productively manage sales, marketing, operations, customer service, and your internal team.
</p>
<h5>What does it do?
</h5>
<p>It’s safe to say that Complete CRM does a lot. Standard features include email marketing, contact management, automation, telephony (SMS/MMS/VoiP), surveys, signup forms, web design, customer journey mapping, predictive analytics, sales tracking, project management, event management, and ticketing.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>A Complete CRM is more than just the sum of all it’s parts, and the value it provides businesses goes beyond the utility of its features. Complete CRM can measurably improve the operational efficiency of most enterprises, both small and large.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
</p>
<h5>Complete CRM offers higher ROI
</h5>
<p>The hallmark of Complete CRM is the exceptionally high return on investment it provides account owners. In some cases, <a href="https://www.greenrope.com/blog/Blog508/Total-Cost-of-Ownership-What-does-it-mean-and-how-can-you-avoid-costly-unsuccessful-implementations" target="_blank">Complete CRM can save over 80% in total cost of ownership</a>. No matter which Complete CRM you choose, it will inevitably cost less than a mile high MarTech stack of single service solutions, in both subscriptions and TCO.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Now you may not be familiar with Total Cost of Ownership, so it’s worth explaining. Put simply, TCO is the total cost of a platform. It includes your initial investment (setup + training), plus your subscription, and, most importantly, the operating costs of using the software. The latter isn’t something businesses often think about. There’s an assumption that every reputable solution for a problem will require roughly the same amount of time and resources as any other reputable solution. This notion fails to factor <a href="/articles/business-management/ecommerce-crm-integration/" target="_blank">integration into the equation</a>. Complete CRM consolidates numerous platforms into one, and has extensive integrative capabilities, for those of you who choose to cling on to pieces of your tech stack. By consolidating all that information into a single digital location, Complete CRM keeps you from having to pay hand over fist for employees to spend valuable company time, manually disseminating oceans of data. This also minimizes the risk of human error.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Reducing operating costs isn’t the only way Complete CRM saves you money. Using full service business management software is also known to drive customer retention. According to <a href="https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/customer-loyalty-statistics/#gref" target="_blank">smallbizgenius</a> “82% of companies agree that retention is cheaper than acquisition.” With better record keeping and customer journey mapping tools, organizations can dramatically boost CX, without having to upscale.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Leaders in Complete CRM are redefining the way SaaS solutions are priced. Most traditional CRMs base prices on a “per user per month” model. This makes the attractive $99 price tag displayed on web ads across the Internet deeply deceptive. In actuality that $99 a month quickly becomes $17,820 per year, when you have fifteen staff members needing access. Some organizations will try to circumvent per user pricing by sharing one account. Unfortunately, doing so severely limits the time any one employee can use the platform, and means mistakes and misuses can’t be easily traced back to any particular user.
</p>
<p>Better business software means more deals closed. Complete CRM helps close more deals with marketing automation. Automation lets businesses automate the tedious and mundane aspects of day to day business management, so your team can direct their efforts to big picture items. This way brands can eliminate the risk of human error while still maintaining that personal touch.&nbsp;
</p>
<h5>Complete CRM is easy to use
</h5>
<p>Complete CRM is all about better data management. By storing all of an organization’s data in a single platform, Complete CRMs provide users a 360-degree view of their customers. The days of having to pull together disparate customer information across multiple platforms are gone. The next generation of CRM features a single record for each contact, that catalogues each customer-brand interaction, enabling teams to do more with less manpower.&nbsp;
</p>
<h5>Create a collaborative culture! (Happy Employees)
</h5>
<p>Having a single contact record to catalogue every touch point saves capital through increased operational efficiency. Even more importantly, Complete CRM empowers brands by boosting employee morale.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Complete CRM fosters corporate cultures driven by accountability and collaboration. A Complete CRM harnesses the power of synergy to propel your brand forward. It does so by enabling the free flow of data between your sales and marketing teams, so no one’s out of the loop and everyone knows what they should be doing.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Accountability is the foundation of productivity. Business software should be transparent. Complete CRM holds employees to a higher standard with detailed record keeping of user actions. This means account managers can quickly identify the party responsible for any given misstep, without having to interview the entire department. With roles and actions more easily defined, Complete CRM users can work unhindered by the pitfalls of bureaucratic mismanagement.
</p>
<p>All great leaders know that happy employees create productive work environments. The synergistic features which define Complete CRM offer employees a superior user experience. When data is easily accessible and software is easy to use, it’s harder to justify an unproductive day.&nbsp;
</p>
<h5>Improve the flow of data
</h5>
<p>Data is the lifeblood of commerce. For companies to succeed in crowded markets, pertinent information like customer preferences, buyer histories, and brand touch points need to be easily accessible to the teams who need it. Disconnects between departments can destroy a brand. When marketing and sales are operating on contradictory sets of information, you’ll close fewer deals. It doesn’t matter that your team is firing on all cylinders, if their work is counterproductive.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Any CRM worth its salt has offers comprehensive shared access permissions. These are the movable barriers that gate information from the people who don’t need it, while offering access to the people who do.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Workflows are a standard tool for sharing data with teams who need it. Workflows can assign tasks, send alerts, and modify contact information. They can be triggered by different client-brand interactions, like filling out a survey or hitting a defined lead score. This way, the necessary processes will be put in motion, whether that means steps to closing a deal or activities for re-engaging a lead.
</p>
<h4>Conclusion
</h4>
<p>Through its disruption of <a href="https://www.greenrope.com/crm-pricing-models?cmp=BigCommerce" target="_blank">traditional pricing models</a> and antiquated business management strategies, Complete CRM is providing a much needed overhaul to the SaaS market. This promising tech is toppling tech stacks across the globe, and allowing businesses to unlock their full potential.</p>

What is Complete CRM?

<p>If you’re looking to <a href="https://tinuiti.com/blog/email-marketing/be-more-likeable-tips-to-build-brand-loyalty-customer-trust/" target="_blank">build a relationship with your customers</a> beyond the transaction, there’s no more important marketing channel than email. Known for its cost-effectiveness and <a href="https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/knowledge-base/how-do-you-calculate-email-marketing-roi/" target="_blank">high ROI</a>, email is a key channel for creating personalized experiences and building 1:1 relationships with your audience.</p>
<p>&nbsp;Despite the popularity of email, and the many resources available to help marketers do it well, it's not uncommon to see brands make missteps in their email marketing campaigns: from a batch-and-blast approach to consistently aggressive promotions, we’ve seen it all. If you’re looking for opportunities to <a href="https://www.chanty.com/blog/oral-communication/" target="_blank">elevate your customer communication</a> in 2020 (<a href="https://tinuiti.com/blog/email-marketing/four-reasons-why-email-is-invaluable-during-crisis/" target="_blank">it’s more important than ever</a>), read on for top tips to improve the effectiveness of your program.</p>
<h4>1. Start With Goals.</h4>
<p>While driving revenue is the primary focus of any ecommerce retailer, it should not be the only KPI you’re reviewing to measure the success of your email marketing program. Engagement metrics like opens and clicks can be good indicators you’re targeting the right audience with the right content, but without a defined end game it’s impossible to determine when you’ve achieved success. Therein lies the importance of goal-setting.
</p>
<p>Examine baseline stats for your program to find key areas of growth opportunity, and create a set of goals through which every new initiative must be viewed.&nbsp;
</p>
<ul><li>Trying to drive up the AOV of your email subscribers? Consider how your promotional strategy and email merchandising will impact cart value.&nbsp;
</li><li>Want to increase repeat purchase rates? Instead of a generic bounce-back messaging, consider how to increase personalization based on past purchase behavior.
</li><li>Looking to turn more prospects into customers? Find opportunities to target non-purchasers with hero products or special first-purchase incentives.
</li></ul>
<h4>2. Keep Communication Consistent.</h4>
<p>The key to building trust in any relationship is consistency. Email is one of the more intimate marketing channels—subscribers have to grant you access to send them messages—so it’s important to make good on that invitation by maintaining good sender practices.
</p>
<p>While the cadence of email might fluctuate here and there based on seasonality, wild swings in mailing frequency are likely to lead to unsubscribes or, worse yet, spam complaints and <a href="https://tinuiti.com/blog/email-marketing/email-deliverability-101/" target="_blank">deliverability issues</a>. Being predictable in your mailing habits is just as important as displaying consistency in your brand’s tone of voice, visual identity, and messaging strategy.
</p>
<h4>3. Evaluate Your Promotional Strategy.</h4>
<p>Promotions and discounts are commonplace in email, and a reasonable tactic to reward your subscribers for their engagement and continued brand loyalty. They can, however, become a bit of a slippery slope. Seeing strong conversion rates from a promo can lead marketers to run them more frequently, or increase the depth of the discount to drive even more orders.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>There’s a delicate balance between incentivizing conversion and giving away the farm. Not only can frequent promos train your subscribers to wait for the next sale before making a purchase, discounting your items diminishes your margin, meaning you need even more conversions to generate the same amount of revenue.
</p>
<p>Be thoughtful when approaching promotions, and consider how to leverage segmentation to control margin. For example, a cart abandon series can be segmented based on customer status: non-purchasers receive an incentive to place their first order, while repeat purchasers who are already hooked on your products might just need a gentle reminder to complete checkout.&nbsp;
</p>
<h4>4. Be Intentional With Your Merchandising.</h4>
<p>Including the right mix of products in your emails can have a serious impact on engagement and conversions. Determining how many products to include, from which categories, and through what lens or story is worthy of careful planning and analysis. While inventory surplus or scarcity certainly impacts the products featured in marketing campaigns, that should not be the only consideration.
</p>
<p>The number of products, type of products, and category spread of products included in your emails impacts how “shoppable” a message will be. Testing each of these elements to find the sweet spot for your brand and audience is quick and simple, and could yield an impressive boost to your average order value (AOV) and items per order (IPO). Be sure to test your linking strategy (homepage vs. product detail page vs. category page) to see how the landing page impacts metrics as well.
</p>
<p>As with all elements of email marketing, the more personal you can make your merchandising, the better the return will be. Taking a one-size-fits all approach to your email campaigns might work for a while, but over time your subscribers will lose interest and stop engaging. Utilize recent browse behavior, past purchase data, or demographic information on your subscribers to dynamically populate relevant products to get more return from your merchandising efforts.
</p>
<h4>5. Be Ready to Pivot.</h4>
<p>We’re all learning the hard way in 2020 that the best laid plans often go awry. This year has already been anything but business as usual, which is why you need to re-think the goals of your email program and adjust for the <a href="https://tinuiti.com/blog/marketing-news-covid-19/email-marketing-coronavirus/" target="_blank">new normal</a>. Chances are that you will need to pull back on ad spend and adjust your expectations for list growth and channel revenue.
</p>
<p>But even in good times it’s important to look to the data to know when something is working or when it might be time to adjust. What works for your competitors might not work for your brand or audience. Stop comparing yourself to other brands and instead focus within. Regularly evaluate campaign metrics to identify optimization opportunities and don’t be afraid to run a few <a href="https://tinuiti.com/blog/email-marketing/how-to-a-run-successful-email-a-b-test/" target="_blank">A/B tests</a> before diving head first into a new approach. This goes for your automated campaigns as well, which see <a href="https://www.omnisend.com/blog/email-automation/#:~:text=1.,overall%20purchase%20rate%20of%202.13%25." target="_blank">conversion rates 5-10 times higher than promotional emails</a>—it’s time to remove the phrase “set it and forget it” from your vocabulary.
</p>
<h4>6. Make it Personal.
</h4>
<p>Above all, remember that behind every email address is an individual person, and even the best campaign won’t convert if it’s not relevant to them. Taking a customer-centric approach to your email campaign planning will ensure you’re not mailing just to mail (or, really, just to make money), but because you have something relevant to say to the recipients of each message. Making your messages more personal is sure to surprise and delight your subscribers and build a broad base of loyal customers over time.
</p>
<p><em>This blog post was contributed by&nbsp;Mandi Moshay, Director of CRM and Email at <a href="https://tinuiti.com/" target="_blank">Tinuiti</a>. </em></p>

6 Steps For Crafting Effective Email Communication

<p><strong>Definition:</strong> Open Rate is an <a href="https://www.growthmarketingpro.com/best-email-marketing-software/" target="_blank">email marketing</a> metrics that measures the percentage rate at which emails are opened. Though it is a general indicator of subject line effectiveness, it can be a misleading metric for online marketers.</p>
<h4>What is a "good" open rate?</h4>
<p>According to <a href="http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-marketing-benchmarks/">Mailchimp benchmark reports</a>, which include both small and Fortune 500 clients, <strong>email open rates average between 15% and 30% across most industries</strong>. Personal interest topics (religion, hobbies, photos, etc.) trend higher while marketing topics (ecommerce, coupon offers, and so on) trend lower. Daily deals have the lowest <a href="https://outgrow.co/blog/email-writing-techniques-boost-ctr" target="_blank">open rate</a> of all.</p>
<p>In general, companies have no reason to try and increase their open rates above the average for their industry - doing so <em>sounds</em> like it could be good for business, but it's so difficult that most companies will never see a return on their investment. On the other hand, if an individual company's rate is significantly below average, then they <em>know</em> things can be done to improve it (and it becomes worthwhile to make that investment).</p>
<h4>Why open rates are a misleading measure of success</h4>
<p>Ultimately, it doesn't matter how many people end up reading a company's messages - what matters is how many of them ultimately advance through the sales funnel and <em>convert</em> <em>into paying customers</em>. An email could be opened the majority of the time and lead to user frustration with the sender; converseley, emails with a low open rate could have a higher conversion rate. </p>
<p>Open rate can be used as a complementary metric when A/B testing subject lines within an email campaign. It can also be an indicator of brand goodwill over time &mdash; when open rates increase, consumers trust may be increasing. </p>
<h4>Ways to Improve Open Rates</h4>
<p>Getting a high open rate isn't about doing things right so much as <em>not doing them wrong</em>. Several common mistakes can lead to lower-than-usual open rates, so consider checking your current campaigns for the following:</p>
<ul>  <li><strong>Remove      Hard Bounces:</strong> A hard bounce (an email sent to an address that no      longer exists) artificially decreases your open rate - purge these      accounts from your email list.</li>  <li><strong>Use      Focus Lists:</strong> Focused lists can help limit your emails to the people      they're relevant to, resulting in greater odds of being opened.</li>  <li><strong>Format      for Mobile Users:</strong> Many people check messages on      their smartphones these days, so your messages should be formatted      accordingly.</li></ul>

Improving open rates is generally beneficial, but there are some important caveats.

What is open rate?

<p><strong>Definition:</strong>&nbsp;<a href="https://user.com/en/blog/does-email-marketing-still-work/" target="_blank" style="font-size: 1rem; letter-spacing: 0px; background-color: initial;">Email marketing</a> is a digital marketing channel that engages prospects at various stages of the funnel, engaging and maintaining their interest. Because of its versatile nature, <a href="https://www.growthmarketingpro.com/best-email-marketing-software/" target="_blank" style="font-size: 1rem; letter-spacing: 0px; background-color: initial;">email is a vital tool</a> for online retailers who want to stay top of mind with consumers.<br></p>
<h4>How online businesses use email to engage customers</h4>
<p>Email is utilized throughout the sales funnel and is a key revenue driver for many online retailers. Common emails include:</p>
<ul><li><span></span><strong>Newsletters</strong>: <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/ecommerce-answers/what-is-newsletter-marketing/">Engage users</a> with information about the industry, company news, and </li><li><strong>Promotions: </strong>Often sent to existing customers, <a href="https://gorilladesk.com/promotional-email-templates/" target="_blank">promotional emails</a> alert users to new products and sales. </li><li>Autoresponders: Usually used as a sequence of automated emails that are sent to a subscriber, <a href="https://www.emailtooltester.com/en/blog/free-autoresponder/">based on a trigger event</a>. An onboarding course would be a typical example.</li><li><strong>Abandoned Cart Notifications</strong>: Indecision, nontransparent shipping charges, and a variety of other reasons cause customers to leave a cart before purchase. These notifications remind them and can boost conversion by 15% or more.</li></ul>
<h4><strong>Costs of email marketing</strong></h4>
<p>There is a great variety of available <a href="https://bloggingwizard.com/email-marketing-services/" target="_blank">email marketing services</a>. Most charge you by the amount of subscribers in your database (Mailchimp, GetResponse, ActiveCampaign, AWeber, <a href="https://moosend.com/constant-contact-alternative/" target="_blank">Constant Contact</a>) whereas others charge you by the number of emails sent each month (SendInBlue, Newsletter2Go, Mailify). While there are many <a href="https://www.emailtooltester.com/en/blog/free-email-marketing-services/">free newsletter services</a> for list sizes of up to 2500 subscribers, you can expect to pay around $25-100 per month for lists of 5,000, depending on your desired functionality. Most newsletter tools don’t charge any setup fees these days unless you require a custom-made template, for example.</p>
<h4>Measuring the Success of Email Marketing</h4>
<p>The following metrics are used to judge the overall <a href="http://blog.listrak.com/2018/03/how-user-generated-content-takes-email.html">success of email marketing:</a></p>
<ul>  <li><strong>List      Growth Rate:</strong> This measures how many addresses are being added to      the company's list of contacts. More contacts is <em>not</em> necessarily better - a small      list of leads who are likely to buy is better than a large list that      doesn't care.</li>  <li><strong>Bounce      Rate:</strong> A 'bounce' is an email that was never successfully      delivered. This indicates a problem such as the account no longer being in      use, and businesses need to trim these addresses on a regular basis.</li>  <li><strong>Click-Through-Rate:</strong> This      calculates how many people are clicking one or more links in the email      (typically taking them to a product page or special offer), and is one of      the major signs of interest in an online store.</li>  <li><strong>Conversion      Rate:</strong> An extension of the previous metric, the Conversion      Rate calculates how many people are <em>finishing</em>      what they've been prompted to do. The most common criteria for this is      purchasing a product or service, but it is possible to use other criteria,      such as filling out a form to provide more information about themselves.</li>  <li><strong>Revenue      Per Message:</strong> This metric calculates how much profit, on average, a      company made throughout its campaign. The calculation is a simple division      of total revenue by the number of marketing emails sent.</li><li>Return on Investment (ROI):&nbsp;This metrics calculates the money that you make divided by the money you spend on email marketing. <a href="https://outgrow.co/blog/ecommerce-email-marketing" target="_blank">Email marketing</a> has a strong ROI and can provide up to <a href="https://www.adamenfroy.com/best-email-marketing-services" target="_blank">$44 for every dollar spent</a>.</li></ul>
<h4>Checklist for an Effective Marketing Email</h4>
<p>Individual needs for ecommerce businesses vary, but the following elements of marketing emails have been proven to improve the overall conversion rate.</p>
<ul>  <li><strong>One      Topic:</strong> Emails with multiple marketing messages are seen as      "busy." Restricting them to one topic focuses the reader on the      actual message and tends to result in measurably higher revenue per      message.</li>  <li><strong>Attractive      Design:</strong> Simple designs that complement the message without      distracting from it are best. Remember that many emails will be opened on      mobile devices and many accounts have disabled images.</li>  <li><strong>A      Clear Call To Action:</strong> Readers should never be      wondering what to do next, especially when you want them to purchase      something.</li>  <li><strong>The      Result of Experience:</strong> Every campaign should teach      something new about customer behavior and what elements (designs, offers,      etc.) they are responsive to. Use this experience to improve the messages      on a regular basis.</li><li><strong>Permission-based:</strong> only send emails if you have your recipient’s opt-in (especially with regards to GDPR). A high spam complaint rate will lower your deliverability rate in the future.</li> </ul>
<h4>Further Reading</h4>
<ul><li><a href="https://www.perzonalization.com/blog/email-campaign-tactics/" class="in-cell-link" target="_blank">Email Campaign Tactics</a></li><li><a href="https://www.lyfemarketing.com/blog/ecommerce-email-marketing/" target="_blank">Ecommerce Email Marketing Tips to Increase your ROI</a> from <a href="https://www.lyfemarketing.com/ecommerce-marketing-services/" target="_blank">Lyfe Marketing</a></li></ul>

What is email marketing — and why it should be a priority

<p>Chances are, we have all received some sort of confirmation email from an online business at some point. For a smooth experience, <a href="/articles/ecommerce/open-source-ecommerce-vs-saas-ecommerce/">eCommerce businesses</a> should send confirmation emails to customers every step of the way. They are the perfect excuse to stay in contact with customers, both old and new, and make sure that communication is always running smoothly.&nbsp;<br></p>
<p>Confirmation emails are about more than just authorizing a purchase. They let a customer know that whatever action they have taken with your company is valid and has been accepted. Nobody likes to be left in the dark. Sending a customer confirmation email simply lets people feel acknowledged and that whatever they are trying to do on your site has worked.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Sending out these messages is a great way of <a href="https://technologyadvice.com/blog/marketing/podcast-building-your-brand-on-social-media/">building your brand</a> reputation, and increasing trust and loyalty. It even helps to improve communications across the board.&nbsp;
</p>
<h2>Why are they important?&nbsp;</h2>
<p>Confirmation emails add a huge amount of value to a customer experience. This is because people choose a firm to invest time and money into and want to know that everything went well at the other end. They also want to know that they won’t have to spend excess time chasing up a company to know it’s all okay.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>It doesn't matter if a company is a <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/ecommerce-payment-processing/">small startup business</a> or a huge established enterprise. Sending a confirmation email is a simple, yet very effective, way for firms to communicate with customers. It’s basically a way of saying, “Thank you very much for investing in our firm. Everything is going smoothly”.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Sending an automated email is all it takes. But the email should be upbeat, unique and confirm the action the customer has taken.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Emails are usually sent after a customer has:&nbsp;
</p>
<ul><li>Signed up to the firm (this could be through creating an account or signing up to a newsletter)&nbsp;
</li><li>Made a purchase
</li><li>Canceled an order
</li><li>Updated profile information
</li><li>Made a booking&nbsp;
</li><li>Deleted the account
</li></ul>
<p>The message should say what the user has done and if there are any follow up steps to be taken. By using the <a href="https://www.ringcentral.com/customer-support-solutions.html" target="_blank">best customer service software</a> out there, emails can be pre-made and sent out automatically with the right message.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Sending emails like this isn’t just to keep your customers happy. It creates more interest in your firm and allows you to engage customers in different areas. It also means that should a problem occur, it’s easier to find out what has happened.&nbsp;
</p>
<h2>What to include:</h2>
<p>Any content of the emails needs to be clear and precise. That means no confusing messages that will end up in <a href="https://www.ringcentral.com/call-transfers.html" target="_blank">transferred calls</a> to the customer call center.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>The email title can be as simple as “Confirmation” so that customers will know what it is and are more likely to open it. The content of the message needs to come across as personal and follow the tone of the brand in terms of voice, even though it is an automated message. Make sure that it is clear who is sending the message. You can do this by making your logo big in the message and ensuring the brand name is clear.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>As a responsible eCommerce company, you also need to ensure you are following GDPR compliance as well, storing data safely, and getting permission from clients to send follow up emails. Just like customer care lets people know they are <a href="https://www.ringcentral.com/call-monitoring.html" target="_blank">monitoring phone calls</a>, it’s important to let people know what you are doing with their data.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>You also need to make sure that the company contact details are included and that there is an option to unsubscribe if they want.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>As part of the confirmation email, people may need to know what to do next. So, any instructions need to be clear and guide users. The emails should be opening and welcoming and so you should let people know they are welcome to contact you should there be any issues.&nbsp;
</p>
<h2>Example email</h2>
<p>An example may look like this:&nbsp;
</p>
<p>“Hi, Rob,&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Welcome to the Big Commerce community!&nbsp;
</p>
<p>This is to confirm you have officially signed up for our weekly newsletter. Thank you so much for signing up, we think you might like it here.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>As part of our newsletter, you can find out all about our <a href="https://litextension.com/blog/best-bigcommerce-themes/" target="_blank">bigcommerce themes</a>, what’s new with us, and what we have in store for you.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>Now you have signed up, you don’t have to do anything right now, just sit back and enjoy the newsletter.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>If you do have any questions, feel free to phone us on XXX XXX XXX”
</p>
<p>You might even want to take an opportunity to advertise your other services or products.&nbsp;
</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Confirmation emails are an excellent way of creating loyalty, as well as making customers feel appreciated. Remember to be friendly in your messages and to make sure they are clear. Keeping customers in the loop with every step not only gives you a good reputation but keeps people coming back time and time again.&nbsp;</p>

Email confirmation messages

Email confirmations are just one form of transactional messages that ecommerce business use to keep in touch with customers.

What are email confirmation messages?

<p style="margin-top:3%;">The average person wakes up to a sea of unopened emails, anything from online takeaway offers to last-minute requests from their boss. This constant flood of emails has necessitated that we develop a level of email intuition. Most of us can tell the difference between a personal email, an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/email-marketing-examples/" target="_blank">email campaign</a>, and spam without even opening the email itself. But how? Of course, by reading the email subject line.</p>
<p>This article will explore what an email subject line is, what are its best practices, and how you can improve your subject line copy.
</p>
<h2>How is an Email Subject Line Defined?</h2>
<p>Let’s return to our example of the average person waking up to their email inbox. After checking the sender’s name, the first thing they do is read the first line of text below this. This is known as the subject line.
</p>
<h2>Why is an Email Subject Line Important?</h2>
<p>Emailing is one of the most&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/effective-communication-strategies-in-the-workplace/" target="_blank">effective communication strategies</a>. It’s a quick, efficient, and cheap way to communicate information to colleagues, or more importantly, customers. The aim of any email is to be opened, and to achieve this, you must draw in the reader with an intriguing subject line.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Subject lines are essentially marketing for your marketing. All businesses understand that customers will never find out about or purchase their product or service without a good marketing strategy. Likewise, without an engaging subject line, customers will never open your marketing emails.</p>
<p>A captivating subject line will reduce the number of times receivers send it to the trash and increase the opening rate. This will, therefore, increase the chance of the receiver reading your email and eventually converting.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>How to Optimize Your Email Subject Lines?</h2>
<p>There is no one-fits-all solution to creating the perfect subject line, and nor should you be looking for one. Each industry, sector, and business is unique. For example,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/email-subject-lines-for-sales/" target="_blank">email subject lines for sales</a> in the healthcare sector would differ from those in the gaming industry.</p>
<p>But, let’s have a look at some best practices you can implement and tailor to your specific needs:</p>
<p>1. <span class="Apple-tab-span">	</span><strong>Be concise –</strong> emails are read on various devices, but in most cases, on a mobile phone. This means that you have around nine words or 60 characters to make an impact. There’s nothing worse than a subject line that ends in “&hellip;” or trails off.&nbsp;</p>
<p>2. <span class="Apple-tab-span">	</span><strong>Don’t look “spammy” –</strong> we all know what a spam email subject line looks like. They are swamped with an excessive amount of capital letters and emojis. It’s the digital equivalent of a child crying sitting next to you on a long-haul flight. Also, avoid using a “noreply@___.com” email address to send your emails. The primary purpose of emails is to encourage engagement. They are supposed to feel personal. If you don’t want your recipient to reply to that specific email address, make the correct address clearly visible and linked.&nbsp;</p>
<p>3. <span class="Apple-tab-span">	</span><strong>Personalization –</strong> this is one of the most effective email marketing tools available. This is because it makes recipients feel like real people and not numbers in a database. Of course, no one has time to type out each receiver’s name individually. Luckily, there’s automation software that does this for you. But, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.founderjar.com/best-mass-email-services/" target="_blank">best mass email services</a> also enable personalization. Personalization can include a customer’s name, a detail about them, their job, etc.&nbsp;</p>
<p>4. <span class="Apple-tab-span">	</span><strong>Make recipients take action – </strong>the best <a href="https://www.yesware.com/blog/email-subject-lines/" target="_blank">email subject lines</a> create a sense of urgency that compels the reader to click through and open the email. The way to create this is to allude to a product or service the recipient might be interested in and provide a deadline. For example: “Ceramic plates, 50% off for 1 day only”. But, you also need to be careful with <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/customer-discount/">customer discount</a> codes. Firstly, you need to deliver on your promises, and secondly, you shouldn’t provide them abundantly, as it can cheapen your brand and diminish your profits.</p>
<p>5. <span class="Apple-tab-span">	</span><strong>Timing is key</strong> – as we mentioned above, consumers receive emails 24/7. If they’re awake, they’re probably checking their emails. This provides you with a huge window of opportunity to send well-timed emails. For example, let’s say you’re a company that offers discount coupons for high-street brands. Sending an email on a Saturday morning or during peak shopping hours is far more likely to be opened.
</p>
<h2>Don’t Forget to Test</h2>
<p>After you’ve created a subject line that you’re satisfied with, the journey doesn’t end there. You need to ensure that you’re constantly optimizing your copy. The best way to do this is by carrying out A/B testing.</p>
<p>A/B testing is the process of sending two emails with the exact same content but different subject lines. The subject line that results in the most number of click-throughs is the one that is chosen.
</p>
<h2>In Conclusion</h2>
<p>Emails are your direct link to customers and a crucial part of your marketing strategy. A well-written email subject line can increase your email opening rate, which will increase your marketing success, <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/ecommerce-trust-signals/">build customer confidence</a>, and result in increased overall conversions.</p>

Email subject lines

Email marketing is still one of the most frequently used methods businesses use to stay in touch with customers, whether it's through e-newsletters, transactional messages or confirmations.

How to write email subject lines

<p dir="ltr">White labeling is when one company buys its product from another company and rebrands it as their own. The company which sells the final product to the consumer is usually not involved in the manufacturing process.</p>
<p dir="ltr">White labeled products are often used in the electronics industry but can also be found in other industries. For example, some coffee bean companies also offer white-label coffee, which means they provide the coffee beans to another company, which then brands and sells them.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Why Choose a White Label Solution?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">As a business that chooses to white label products, there are several reasons why this could be the best solution for you.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Cost-effective.</h3>
<p dir="ltr">One of the main reasons to white label products is that it’s a cost-effective way to start a business. When you white label a product, you don’t have to worry about the upfront costs of developing, manufacturing and <a href="/blog/ecommerce-product-marketing/" target="_blank">marketing a product</a>, which can be a significant advantage, especially for small businesses.</p>
<p dir="ltr">According to Catherine Schwartz, Finance Editor of<a href="https://www.crediful.com/"> Crediful</a>, "The biggest cost advantage of white labeling is that you don’t have to spend money on product development or marketing. Instead, you’re essentially piggybacking on the success of another company’s product, which means you can get your business up and running more quickly and with less overhead."</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Faster to market.</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Another reason for white label products is that it can be much faster to get a white label product to market than developing your product from scratch. Again, this is because you’re not starting from scratch – the manufacturing process is already in place, and you’re just rebranding an existing product. So, if you’re looking to get a product to market quickly, white labeling can be a great option.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Michael Nemeroff, CEO & Co-Founder of<a href="https://www.rushordertees.com/"> Rush Order Tees</a>, states, "The biggest advantage of white labeling is the time to market. When starting from scratch, it can take months – sometimes even years – to develop a product, find a manufacturer and get it to market. You can shortcut that process with white labeling and have a product on the market much sooner."</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Less risky.</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Starting your own business always comes with some risk, but if you white label products, you can mitigate some of that risk. Risk is mitigated because you’re not investing as much money into<a href="https://enventyspartners.com/blog/product-distribution-get-distributors-sell-product/"> developing a new product</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">So, if the product doesn’t succeed in the market, you’ve not lost as much money as you would have if you’d developed the product from scratch. Choose a white label product from a reputable company to mitigate your risk even more.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Greater flexibility.</h3>
<p dir="ltr">White label products also offer greater flexibility than developing your own product. For example, if you white label a product, you can still choose the packaging, branding and marketing.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This means you can tailor the product to your <a href="/blog/target-market-analysis/" target="_blank">target market</a> and create a unique product for your brand. In addition, while you have less control over the manufacturing process, you still have a lot of control over how the product is presented to your customers.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Lower minimum order quantities.</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Another advantage of white label products is that the minimum order quantities are usually lower than if you were to manufacture the product yourself. This is because the white label manufacturer already has the product in production and doesn’t have to set up a new production line for your small order.</p>
<p dir="ltr">So, if you’re just starting and don’t need many products, white label products can be a great option. For example, let's say you want to start selling your own line of cosmetics. You could white label lipstick from an existing manufacturer. You would then have your own branded lipstick without worrying about the minimum order quantity or setting up a production line.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">Better quality control.</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Finally, when you white label products, you can be assured of better quality control than if you were to manufacture the product yourself. This is because the white label manufacturer will likely have a better quality control process than you would if you were starting from scratch.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In addition, the white label manufacturer will usually have a team of quality control experts who can ensure that the product meets your standards since the company is likely doing white labels for multiple companies.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">The Final Word</h2>
<p dir="ltr">If you’re looking for a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to get a product to market, white label products could be the right solution for you. You can choose the product you want to white label, control the branding and marketing, and be assured of reasonable quality control. So, if you’re considering starting your own business, look into white label products.</p>
<p></p>

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