Many Shopify stores rely on email marketing. And one of the first buzzwords ecommerce entrepreneurs hear is ‘Shopify newsletter’. You may have felt pressured to send one even before opening your store or making any sales. And why do you need it?
Worry not, here’s how to send a Shopify newsletter and best practices to follow.
Shopify Newsletter Campaigns
A Shopify newsletter is a regular email marketing campaign sent to a large number of email subscribers. It’s a constant effort to connect with current and potential customers.
A Shopify newsletter usually contains blog posts, company updates, and lifestyle images to inspire and promote a brand. It can also promote offers or contests to keep subscribers engaged and increase sales.
You need to know that an email newsletter is totally different from
- transactional emails, unique to each customer
- automated emails (e.g. welcome, abandoned cart, win back, and birthday emails)
- promotional emails aimed solely at immediate conversions.
You’d normally plan a weekly or monthly newsletter to remind people about your Shopify store and encourage them to return.
For example, you want to include current ecommerce content and information that aligns with your current marketing goals. And it’s not like a welcome series where everyone gets the same emails.
Every subscriber should receive a different sequence of newsletters depending on when they sign up. Just like a newspaper subscription, they start receiving your next newsletter after signing up.
What is the importance of Email Marketing to every Shopify Store?
The use of email in ecommerce marketing is crucial. The main advantages:
- It allows direct contact with subscribers and customers.
- No platform or organization controls it, so you don’t have to pay for views or clicks. Email has a high return on investment (ROI) of $44 for every dollar spent.
- People accept email marketing (especially with GDPR, where they must explicitly opt in) and thus have a more positive attitude towards it. Ads and retargeting are often viewed as intrusive and obnoxious.
- Personalized and relevant email campaigns add value to the customer experience.
How to Send a Shopify Newsletter
The process of sending a Shopify newsletter is similar to any other manual campaign.
1. Get email subscribers with a signup form
First, build your Shopify mailing list with newsletter sign-up forms and popups.
Sending newsletters or other promotional emails requires consent.
Having their email addresses for transactional purposes does not imply consent to email marketing. And don’t buy emails! In short, it’s a bad idea for your online store and email reputation.
People usually agree to receive marketing emails if they receive value in return. To get an email address, you expect deals and discounts. Exclusive content, quizzes, and a members-only area on your site can also entice casual visitors to sign up.
2. Contact list management
Subscribers appear in the Customers tab in Shopify and in your CRM (like Sendinblue, for example).
Now you can create segments based on interests or location to target with Shopify newsletters.
3. Design your newsletter
You can reuse the newsletter template and only change the content because it is a continuous campaign.
Include your logo, brand colors, social media links, CTA, and unsubscribe link.
4. Send and track your performance
Email metrics like open and click rates help you improve. Finding the sweet spot requires constant monitoring of your email subscribers’ responses to different content, sending times, etc.