On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Jessica Totillo Coster, Founder of eCommerce Badassery. Jessica is an LA-based eCommerce & Email Marketing Strategist for boutique owners & product entrepreneurs.

Too many businesses jump into email marketing without a real strategy while also ignoring best practices. They get little to no results and promptly start wondering what all the email hype is about. But the fact is, when done right, email marketing still has the best ROI ($40 on every $1 you spend!). And getting it right is not rocket science!

With all the awesome resources and tech available to marketers today, not leveraging email marketing is inexcusable. You need to start by building your strategy (for one quarter at a time) and leverage data as best as possible.

Speaking of data, in recent months we’ve had multiple guests emphasising the importance of 1st party data. With the news of iOS 15, and it’s changes in email reporting, we have yet another massive reason to build up 1st party data.

In this episode, Kunle and Jessica talk about creating winning email campaigns in 2021. You will get to hear about how best to collect emails, which flows to use, how to prepare for iOS 15 and much more. This is a great episode for email marketing beginners and experts alike!

Here is a summary of some of the most important points made,

• • Email marketing still has the best ROI
  • You want to talk to your customer at each step of the buying journey
  • Cart Abandonment is THE must-have flow for any business
  • Personalised thank you messages work great as post purchase emails
  • Use evergreen, non-sales emails to build relationships during slack season
  • Email swipe files don’t work
  • Start testing email titles and content to identify what resonates with your audience before iOS 15 rolls out

Covered Topics:

On today’s interview Kunle and Jessica discuss,

• Relevance of Email in 2021
• Best Email Capture Strategies
• Recommended Flows
• Choosing Communication channels
• Email frequency basics
• Building an email marketing calendar
• What decides email frequency
• iOS 15 fallout

Timestamp:

• 10:20 – Jessica’s background:
  • Started off in retail at the age of 16
  • Managed eCom for a 7-figure brand by herself
  • Started consulting helping clients with Klaviyo
  • “There are not a lot of resources available for mid-level eCom brands”
• 14:30 – How relevant is email in 2021:
  • Lack of control on social media platforms drives the importance of email marketing
  • Your email list is your own property
  • “Email gets you $40 for every dollar you spend”
• 17:10 – Best way to capture emails:
  • Giveaways are a big no-no
  • Offer the incentive of early access to drive relevant signups
  • Quizzes work well when you have multiple products
  • Content upgrades on your blog posts
  • Offering discounts in exchange for emails is also a viable approach
  • Spin-to-wins are worth testing if it resonates with your brand
• 21:05 – Which customer touchpoints / events to track:
  • Klaviyo’s functionality and flexibility is better than most enterprise level solutions
  • “You want to speak to your customer at each step of their journey”
  • Recommended flows:
    • Welcome
    • Browse abandonment
    • Cart abandonment
    • Post purchase
    • Winback
    • Never purchased
  • Additional segments would be necessary as per your business
• 24:04 – Top segments to start with:
  • Cart abandonment – “68% of carts are abandoned on eCommerce sites”
  • Browse abandonment (works with people already on your list)
  • Welcome – this is your first expression
  • Post purchase – personal notes work really well as a post purchase email
• 26:45 – Choosing the right communication channels:
  • SMS is not a relationship building tool, best for notifications
  • “You need your systems to be talking to each other”
  • Klaviyo email and SMS work very well together
  • Each customer usually has a preference for either email or SMS
• 30:50 – Why you shouldn’t always listen to your consultant
• 34:20 – Email frequency basics:
  • You have to always be top of mind of your customer
  • Consistency is really important
  • The bigger and wider your email list, the more emails you can send
• 37:00 – Building an email marketing calendar:
  • Do it quarterly
  • Earmark your important dates
  • Factor in shipping cut-offs
  • Don’t forget to factor in your own holidays
  • Identify what you are looking to focus on
  • During slack periods focus on non-sales, relationship building emails
• 39:50 – Factors that should determine your email frequency:
  • How often do customers purchase from you
  • How many avatars do you have
  • How much of your audience is actively engaged
  • Watch data in realtime to make course corrections
  • Start with a plan but be willing to adjust
• 44:00 – Do email swipe files work?
  • What works for one brand will not work for another
  • Some good brands to look for inspiration: Beard brand
• 47:30 – Boosting transactional emails:
  • Adjust the voice to make it sound more like the brand
  • “Clear over clever”
  • Upto 20% of transactional emails can be used for marketing
  • Product recommendations, cross sell work well
• 53:00 – iOS 15 fallout:
  • Loss of open rates and ip location
  • 70% of iphone users use the apple mail app
  • It is not the email apocalypse
  • Start testing with your list in preparation for the release
  • Start collecting 1st party data
• 57:40 – Top tips for marketers looking to leverage more from email:
  • Stop overthinking – take off your CEO hat and speak to them as a person
  • It is ok to use evergreen emails
  • Don’t be afraid to say the same thing often

Takeaways:

• Leads generated from giveaways are generally low quality
• Cart Abandonment is THE must-have flow for any business
• The bigger and wider your email list, the more emails you can send
• Email calendars should be built quarterly

Links & Resources

• Jessica on Instagram
• Jessica’s Podcast: eCommerce Badassery
• Klaviyo
• Special resources for 2xers

Tweetable Quotes:

“You want to speak to your customer at each step of their journey.”

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SPONSORS:

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