If your business is looking to increase sales and brand awareness, and you are not currently running an email marketing campaign, it is something that you need to research.
2020 saw over 4 billion active email users globally, who sent over 306 billion emails every day, making it one of the most popular communication forms.
Email marketing has a massive potential reach with so many active users, depending on your target audience and the products and services you offer – It also produces arguably the best return on investment of any marketing channel.
However, no matter how good your email list is, you must create eye-catching emails that grab users’ attention and offer them something to alleviate their pain points.
You will require an excellent email platform that is versatile and reliable, allowing you to automate attention-grabbing email campaigns to increase your sales and brand awareness.
Below are some of the top features you will want to look for when searching for the perfect email automation platform to grow your business.
A Flexible Platform
When you are looking for a marketing automation platform, you need flexible and versatile software, allowing you to create your unique customer journey.
When you are using a platform that you can customise to suit your needs and your customers better, it can enhance the entire purchasing experience and leave an excellent opinion of your company and the way you treat your customers.
You will require a system that can send welcome emails, web hooks, auto responders and offers a developer API.
Visual Editor
The system you choose will need to have a suitable visual editor, which will help you design the eye-catching correspondence you are looking to create. First impressions count.
You do not get a second chance to make a first impression, so you will want a simple platform to use when creating stunning looking visuals, utilising drag-and-drop technology and making it easy.
You will also want to choose a system with plenty of templates that you can use or customise when creating your customer journey experience.
You Can Easily Integrate with Other Technologies
You will also want something that can integrate with existing technology easily, meaning you can use the automated email platform to its maximum potential.
There are various applications that you may wish to integrate with your preferred automated email platform, such as:
- WooCommerce
- Shopify
- CRM Software
- Email Marketing System
- Analytics
- Magento
- Salesforce
- Social Media
When you have all the different software you use talking and communicating with each other, it can automate your systems to enhance your customer’s journey, improving the sales process.
You can use all these systems combined to let your customer know they are valued and keep them up to date with every step of their order process, as well as potentially entice further spending from them.
Gives Customers Gentle Reminders
You will also want a function in the platform you choose that sends gentle reminders via email, increasing sales.
You can send personalised email reminders when customers abandon their shopping carts and give them an update about stock levels in case the product is running low.
You will also want a platform that can interact with your customer base about future coming events and sales, increasing sales while giving your customers information that gives them value and fantastic customer service.
An Intuitive Platform
It is also advantageous to select a platform that allows you to automate the follow-up procedures for your emails, saving you a lot of time.
You can send follow up emails when the original has not been opened, re-target people that opened the email and interacted by clicking the link inside, or any other action which triggers one of your workflow goals.
It helps maintain a connection with prospects and customers and increases the likelihood of achieving the pre-defined goals you have set.
Analytics & Conversion Tracking
It requires a lot of testing to get these systems set up correctly and working to maximum efficiency.
You will need an automated email platform that provides access to analytics and conversion tracking so you can tell whether what you are doing is working and whether the tweaks in your campaign made a difference or not.
You may also like to have live alerts to see how your workflows are doing after they have been triggered and a detailed report using a live-action feed.
Ensure it is Compliant with Legislation
You will also need to ensure that the platform you choose for your business adheres to the legislation set out in the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
Some of the automated email platforms you can use will aid you with this and tell you whether your email headline may get caught in a spam filter.
They can also tell you whether your content will appear correctly, no matter what device it shows on, so any information you have to display to adhere to the regulations appears correctly.
Choosing Your Platform
These are a few of the features you will need to look for in a new automated email marketing platform that can help transform your business. You will want to find one that you can learn to use quickly and intuitively, that is easy to set up with plenty of support available.
Take your time to make your decision and try using a few different versions until you find one you prefer. You will see that the pricing for these platforms usually depends on how many emails you send, so you will need to choose a platform that can grow with your business as it grows.
Selecting an excellent automated email platform to use for your online business can have a massive impact on your company’s success. Take your time, think it through carefully, and select the option that fits your company best.