7 Marketing Automation Best Practices To Boost E-Commerce Sales

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This is a guest post by Jeremy Moser. Jeremy is co-founder & CEO at uSERP, a digital PR and SEO agency working with brands like Monday, ActiveCampaign, Hotjar, and more. He also buys and builds SaaS companies like Wordable.io and writes for publications like Entrepreneur and Search Engine Journal.

Running an e-commerce business can feel overwhelming. You might be struggling to scale your online sales. While also staying on top of customer communications, promotions, and analytics. That’s where marketing automation can help. It simplifies repetitive tasks and optimizes your marketing strategy. This, in turn, boosts your sales funnel performance. 

Let’s take a closer look at some marketing automation best practices you can use to boost e-commerce sales.

But first …

Understanding Marketing Automation

Marketing automation uses software to streamline customer communications and sales engagement. It helps move leads through your sales funnel so you can turn prospects into loyal customers.

Integrating marketing automation software with your existing tools helps you:

  1. Generate leads.
  2. Convert them.
  3. Improve your return on investment (ROI). 

But to make the most of it, you need to understand your target audience and create detailed buyer personas.

Using an API gateway platform helps you connect tools and ensure data flows between all systems. For example, you can connect your CRM, email marketing platforms, and analytics software. It also automates key processes like sending personalized emails and tracking customer behavior in real time. 

The data you collect from this gives you valuable insights into your customers’ habits and preferences. Use it to ultra-refine your buyer personas.

Incorporating solutions like Convesio’s Marketing Automation feature provides even greater control. 

It helps your site handle traffic spikes and optimize performance while managing multiple APIs. This extra security layer gives you automated, secure, and reliable marketing campaigns. (This improves the overall customer experience and your bottom line.) Scroll down to the “Examples” section to take a closer look at how this works.

Marketing Automation Best Practices

Marketing automation is powerful. But you need to follow some best practices to get the most out of it. Here’s how you can leverage it to increase e-commerce sales.

1. Know Your Audience

Knowing your audience means understanding their demographics, interests, and habits. 

These details help you create precise buyer personas. They also help you better segment your audience so you can hyper-personalize your marketing efforts for them.

For example, a suit retailer launching a new collection of tweed jackets for men could segment based on location. Or buying history. (Targeting colder regions or customers who like vintage styles could help create more relevant campaigns and encourage higher engagement.)

Audience segmentation is the backbone of successful marketing automation. Whether you’re grouping customers by preference, location, or past purchases, use it to personalize communication.

2. Map Your Buyer Journey

Mapping your buyer journey helps you understand every step a customer takes — from awareness to purchase. 

To enhance the journey, analyze your audience’s behavior using marketing automation tools. They’ll help you track and predict how your customers interact with your website, emails, and products. You can then personalize experiences based on user actions.

For instance, use data collection to create automatic triggers that send personalized recommendations (for example, when customers view specific products). This tailored approach encourages customers to return to your site and complete their purchases. It also fosters loyalty over time.

3. Leverage Lead Scoring

Lead scoring helps you prioritize which potential customers are ready for conversion. You analyze data (like engagement and buying signals) to assign scores to leads. You then focus on the ones most likely to convert. 

Marketing automation platforms with smart segmentation features take this a step further. These features help you understand what your high-value leads have in common. 

Automating this process streamlines your sales team’s efforts, allowing them to spend time on the most promising leads.

Convesio’s Smart Segmentation feature takes lead scoring further by segmenting leads based on behavior, interests, and engagement patterns. The feature helps you identify sales-ready leads quickly. (And guarantees that your marketing automation delivers relevant content to the right audience at the right time).

To implement lead scoring effectively in your sales strategy, be sure to:

  • Define clear criteria for what makes a lead “sales-ready.” This might include behaviors like frequent website visits or a high email engagement rate.
  • Use a point-based system to rank leads based on these criteria. Assign higher points to actions that indicate buying intent — like downloading a holiday coupon code.
  • Continuously refine your scoring system. Review the data and adjust points based on what leads to actual conversions.
  • Automate the handoff to your sales team or marketing campaign when a lead reaches a predefined score.

4. Personalize Your Content

Personalizing your content is key to keeping customers engaged. Marketing automation tools analyze customer behavior so you can tailor messages to individual preferences. 

For example, dynamic content changes elements of an email or website based on who’s viewing it. It can also offer product recommendations based on past behavior.

Automated behavioral targeting takes this a step further by sending personalized messages at key moments in a customer’s journey. Personalization like this helps increase conversion rates, so your marketing efforts are more effective.

5. Integrate Automations With Your CRM

Your customer relationship management (CRM) tool holds valuable data. 

But integrating it with your marketing automation platform is where the magic happens. 

When you sync these systems, you can: 

  • Send qualified leads to your sales or marketing team
  • Track customer interactions
  • Manage leads better

When choosing marketing automation tools, consider features and pricing. For instance, if you compare Microsoft Dynamics 365 pricing plans, look at features that align with your budget and business growth. 

If you start with essential tools, you can scale up as your e-commerce business expands. 

With these tools, your marketing and sales teams can work in harmony, share insights, and close more deals.

6. A/B Test

A/B testing helps you fine-tune your marketing strategy. Whether you’re testing email subject lines or landing page layouts, running controlled experiments reveals what resonates most with your audience. 

It works by comparing two variants of your marketing content. (The goal is to figure out which version performs better by analyzing performance metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and engagement levels.) 

To conduct an A/B test, maintain equal conditions for both variants. For example, make sure that factors like audience size, timing, and distribution channels are consistent.

For instance, test two email subject lines to see which receives a higher open rate.

Make A/B testing a regular practice for ongoing user experience (UX) improvements. Regular testing helps you identify areas for enhancement across various marketing elements, including:

  • Calls to action (CTAs)
  • Landing pages
  • Copywriting
  • Visuals

Continuously iterating based on real data helps you refine your content strategy and boost overall engagement and conversion rates.

7. Track Your Results

Tracking your results is how you understand what’s working and what needs to improve. 

Use analytics tools to monitor key performance metrics like click-through rates, engagement, and sales conversions. Analyze these metrics regularly to adjust your campaigns and encourage sales.

Convesio’s analytics tools, for example, give you key insights into your campaigns so you can make data-driven decisions that improve your marketing performance.

Examples of E-commerce Marketing Automation Done Right

Let’s take a look at some examples of effectively implementing automation to drive sales and improve customer experiences.

The Weed Mann 

The Weed Mann (TheWeedMann.com) needed a new way to remarket to inactive customers and recover lost sales from abandoned carts. They used two automations with ConvesioConvert: 

  • An email that reminded inactive customers to stock up 
  • An abandoned cart recovery email

These simple automations generated an extra $8,700 in revenue in less than 30 days, delivering effective, low-effort revenue growth.

Remix

Remix (Remixshop.com) created a personalized email onboarding plan based on user behavior. 

One week after registration, if the user hadn’t made a purchase, Remix sent a follow-up email prompting the user to save their preferences. A few days later, a second email was sent telling users how to mark a brand as a favorite. It included a list of the available brands on the website. A third, final email followed, explaining how to combine orders and save money on shipping.

The strategic email sequence increased first purchases by 104% compared to the previous quarter.

Consumers love to save money, especially on shipping. Discounted shipping is a great strategy to nudge customers over the fence to a sale. If you need a creative solution for discounted shipping, consider partnering with a local courier service.

Partnering with local or new businesses and offering reduced shipping fees or additional delivery options in certain areas can help everyone involved and pay off in big ways. The customer gets a great shipping solution while you and the courier service gain a new business relationship. 

Level Up Your E-commerce Sales With Marketing Automation

Marketing automation helps you streamline repetitive tasks, personalize customer experiences, and boost online sales. When you know your audience, map out their journey, and use tools like lead scoring and CRM integration, you can drive growth for your business.

Ready to see what marketing automation can do for your online retailer? Get started with Convesio today and take your e-commerce sales to the next level!

FAQS

What is marketing automation in e-commerce?

Marketing automation in e-commerce means using software to streamline repetitive marketing tasks. These might include sending emails, segmenting audiences, and tracking customer behavior. 

How can marketing automation increase e-commerce sales?

Marketing automation can increase e-commerce sales by personalizing customer experiences, improving targeting through lead scoring, and automating follow-up actions based on customer behavior. 

These processes help drive conversions and increase customer retention.

What tools are best for e-commerce marketing automation?

The best tools for e-commerce marketing automation depend on your business needs. Popular platforms like HubSpot, Mailchimp, and Klaviyo offer robust solutions. 

Integrating with your CRM, like Microsoft Dynamics 365, can also help you streamline your efforts and increase sales.

Is marketing automation suitable for small e-commerce businesses?

Yes, marketing automation can benefit small e-commerce businesses by freeing up time for more strategic tasks.

With the right tools, even small teams can manage large-scale marketing efforts effectively.

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