From shop visitor to buyer: How to use the email funnel for greater success in e-commerce

What is an email funnel?

Before we look at how to use the email funnel correctly for your e-commerce business, it is first important to understand what it actually is. The email funnel is part of the sales funnel. And that's exactly what the email funnel is – a kind of funnel model that accompanies your potential customers throughout their entire customer journey.

This model represents all the steps your customers take from receiving the email to completing the purchase and beyond. The funnel consists of five phases: awareness, interest, conviction, purchase, and customer loyalty. First, the customer is made aware of your brand. The next step is to arouse the potential buyer's interest in a particular product. The prospective customer must then be persuaded to buy the product, which leads to the fourth phase, the purchase.

However, this does not complete the email funnel, because after the purchase, it is important to constantly provide your customers with the right information in order to retain them for your brand in the long term and generate repeat purchases.

The email funnel is a type of funnel model consisting of five phases. (Source: Own representation)

How to create a funnel for successful email marketing

In order to successfully use the email funnel for your e-commerce business, it is important to make some preparations beforehand.

1. First, you start with customer journey mapping. To send appealing and effective emails to your customers, you need to understand them and their customer journey. Customer journey mapping allows you to visualize the customer's path from initial contact to purchase. This enables you to put yourself in your buyers' shoes and optimize the user experience.
2. Create landing pages and forms for newsletter sign-ups. In order for interested parties to receive relevant content from you, they must first sign up for your newsletter. This can be done via landing pages and forms designed by you. You can then advertise these via an ad, for example, and thus reach potential customers.
3. Acquire new contacts with lead magnets. By creating incentives to sign up, you can further expand your mailing list for email marketing. An example of this could be a purchase discount for signing up for the newsletter. In our guide to increasing e-commerce traffic, you can learn how to draw potential customers' attention to your online store.
4. Create lists and segments with your existing contacts. Once you have collected contacts, it is important to assign them to different lists or segments. This ensures that each prospect receives the right information at the right time.
5. Choose a suitable email marketing tool. To use the email funnel, you need a suitable tool that allows you to send emails automatically. Depending on which tool you have chosen for your email marketing, it will provide you with different functions that you can customize according to your needs.
6. Once you have found the right tool, the next step is to create unique, engaging emails. Keep in mind that depending on the phase the customer is in, different needs and desires will be at the forefront, so tailor your emails to the customer journey. With the help of personalization, you can also respond to the individual preferences of each recipient and deliver relevant content.
7. Create a consistent workflow between your landing pages and your email lists. The goal is to reach every contact who has signed up via your previously created landing page with the appropriate emails.
8. Launch your email campaigns. Once you have made all the necessary preparations and collected enough contacts, it's time to start sending targeted emails and accompany your prospects on their customer journey. Learn more about how to create successful email campaigns in our blog post.
9. Of course, sending emails is not enough. You should regularly measure the success of your campaigns to identify potential for optimization. Evaluating various email marketing metrics will help you do this. This way, you can create an optimal user experience for your recipients and increase your sales.

Reliable email marketing tools to support you

To ensure that your email marketing and funnel are successful, you should choose a reliable tool. When making your selection, make sure that it offers the features you need for your project. We have compiled a list of tools that you can use to implement your email marketing professionally:

• Mailchimp is a well-known all-in-one marketing platform for small businesses.
• CleverReach offers detailed reporting options for evaluating email campaigns.
• As a marketing automation solution, Drip covers all necessary functions and is easy to use.
• SendGrid offers a range of useful tools for creating email campaigns.
• ActiveCampaign is easy to use and offers additional features such as list management.
• ConvertKit enables the creation of landing pages and forms for collecting email contacts.
• Sendinblue is a multichannel marketing platform with email, SMS, Facebook, chat, and CRM features that allows you to quickly and easily create mailings using drag & drop.
• InxMail enables you to create personalized serial emails and meets high data protection requirements.

Conclusion: Use the funnel to convert shop visitors into buyers and existing customers.

Haphazard marketing is rarely crowned with success. That's why it's essential to create a roadmap for your campaigns. The email funnel helps you harness the potential of email marketing and continuously optimize it. By applying the funnel model, you can effectively reach prospects, accompany them throughout their customer journey, and generate more sales in your e-commerce business.

Frequently asked questions about email funnels in e-commerce

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