Email automation eliminates the need for you or an employee to handle all communications and it’s sophisticated, allowing you to push out effective messages tailored to different scenarios.
Between juggling supply chain and staffing issues and the daily logistical challenges of selling a perishable product, many floral professionals lack the time to be intentional with their marketing. Enter: automation. In the latest issue of Floral Management, marketing expert Melanie Spilbeler shares why it pays to invest in this technology.
For starters, automation eliminates the need for you or an employee to personally handle all communications. Furthermore, it’s sophisticated, allowing you to push out polished and effective messages tailored to different scenarios, such as welcoming new customers and reminding past customers of an upcoming birthday or anniversary.
“Nearly 80 percent of marketers acknowledge automation as the No. 1 contributor to their success,” says Spilbeler, managing partner of FreshPath Marketing, a floral-focused marketing consulting agency, who is also the head of the Wholesale Florist and Florist Supplier Association’s marketing committee and a member of the Society of American Florists’ Wholesale Council.
In one of automation’s most common applications — email — marketers can expect to earn, on average, $36 for every $1 spent, according to research by Litmus, a globally recognized email marketing company in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That’s the area Spilbeler focuses on in the magazine’s Digital Strategy column, where she breaks down five must-do automated email campaigns. Here are two of them:
Cart Abandonment Series
Online shoppers often add things to their cart that excite them, but for whatever reason (sticker shock, a tedious checkout process, or maybe they don’t have their credit card nearby), they don’t follow through with the purchase. According to Danish research firm Baymard Institute, as many as 81.4 percent of online shopping carts are abandoned, which business insiders estimate amounts to about $4 trillion in unearned sales. “The good news is that savvy marketers can recover more than 60 percent of that lost revenue with an effective cart abandonment series,” Spilbeler says.
Her advice? Use a sequence of emails and don’t procrastinate. “Flower purchases are time sensitive, so send that first email as soon as 30 minutes after the cart has been abandoned.” The first message should just remind the customer that they left something behind. The second email, sent three hours later, should include language aimed at overcoming objections. It might be worth sending a third message with a promotion, as some consumers have learned that, if they abandon their cart, they might receive an emailed discount if they wait long enough.
Customer Reviews
Covid-19 has made e-commerce more competitive than ever, which make online reviews more important. They determine your reputation and boost your search engine ranking so more prospective shoppers can find you. Spilbeler recommends nudging customers to leave a review in delivery confirmation emails. “Make it personal,” she says. “Remind them what they purchased, and don’t be shy about offering them links on flower care.”
To learn more about automated email campaigns, check out the Floral Management article, “Tap Into the Power of Email Automation.”
Want more advice on email marketing? Check out these other features from the Floral Management archives:
Katie Vincent is the senior contributing editor for the Society of American Florists.
