How to Build Rapport with Online Shop Customers via Newsletters

A newsletter is a great tool to build rapport with online shop customers. Moreover, this cheap instrument can increase sales if you know how to use it. Find out about the effective use of newsletters for online shops in the article below.

Maintain Blog to Attract New Customers

The first step toward new clients is networking. To achieve this goal, you should share useful content with your customers on the regular basis.

Why is it important? It’s simple, about 93% of consumers find online shops using search engines. Moreover, websites with blogs have 434% more indexed pages. It is a great way to get new leads. It is possible to post articles on the shop’s website or on other sites. Useful articles and mailing are helpful in founding trustful relationships with customers.

How does it work? By posting useful material on your blog, the company shows expert opinion, so customers and subscribers start trusting this brand. It is much easier to manage the audience with a positive attitude toward the company. And after several successful newsletters company owners start to realize that selling via mailing is generally simple. You can provide subscribers with free useful content and sometimes can offer paid solutions that are guaranteed to help your audience even further. Do not forget to send newsletters on the regular basis.

Post Relevant Content

Tips and Tricks are always a win-win that is very popular among readers. In addition, How-to articles can be very useful for a company because you can sell your product indirectly by listing all of its benefits. Most readers also like success stories and interviews. The content, made on the basis of such tips can be mind-blowing and also increase conversion. 

Some are interested in advice only; some would like to get special offers. With segmentation and sharing useful content, it is possible to increase click-through rates by an average of 14% and conversions by 10%. This is one more secret of building rapport with online shop customers.

When useful and interesting content is ready, it is time to add some new e-mails to your list. Subscribe button is a great way, but the pop-up window will be much more effective. 

Email Marketing Relevance

The popularity of social media casts doubt on the relevance of email as a means of connecting with shoppers. However, there are statistics showing that this remains an important aspect of marketing efforts. For example:

• Email marketing company Litmus estimates that email marketing brings in an average of $ 42 for every dollar spent.
• One study found that 55% of respondents were influenced by email when making a purchase decision.
• A study of over 1 billion purchases in 2019 found that email marketing had a 2.3% conversion rate compared to 1% for social media.

One of the huge advantages of email over social media is that customers see email more often than social media. Just posting something on social media doesn't mean everyone you want to see will see your message. However, the letter will remain in your inbox until it is read.

Improve the Sign Up Page

If you want to understand your potential customers, put yourself in their shoes and try to evaluate the sign-up page of your online shop. This page should not only attract their attention but also motivate them to leave an e-mail. Try to describe the benefits of joining the list using exclusive tips, promo codes and special offers. Then, ask subscribers to confirm their emails via the link. Try to avoid boring messages like “to confirm your e-mail OR to complete the subscription process”. The competitors already have used it. You can add a creative message to build rapport with online shop customers via newsletters.

Grow Your Email List 

To grow an email list is not a challenge at all. However, it contains several pitfalls you should be aware of. Always ask customers if they want to receive newsletters. Despite receiving a highly engaged audience, it is a legal requirement in some European countries. You should always add an unsubscribe link because it is another legal requirement. Do not buy email lists, otherwise mailing without permission could lead to punishment.

Try to get as much information about your subscribers as possible because the more you know about your subscribers, the easier it is to personalize your messages. First of all, you should ask them for their names and address, and further call them by their first name in every newsletter.

In addition, you can ask your subscribers about their occupation, gender, location, and purchase history. Using this information it is easier to segment them to make newsletters more effective.

Send Newsletters on a Regular Basis

If you want to build serious long-time relations with online shop subscribers, it is vital to make newsletters on a regular basis. The best option is to make a mailing once a week or every couple of weeks. When creating newsletters, try to answer these questions:

• What sublists do you have? 
• What is interesting to each subscriber group?
• How to add value to the newsletter?
• How much information will be the easiest to consume?

For newsletters, some companies use no-response emails. However, this option fits only companies that have already invested a lot in relationship building. No-response emails are not an appropriate option for new businesses because subscribers can not thank you for valuable tips.

After email list building and audience segmentation, there comes a time for newsletters automation.

Use Autoresponders

Newsletter automation is a great solution not only for professional marketers but also for communication with online shop customers. Most services for newsletters automation have a comprehensive user manual and you should just choose the task for autoresponders. For instance, it can be greetings for new subscribers. If you are still unconvinced about the benefits of newsletters automation, this list is for you:

• It generates actual content on the basis of current customers' behavior and actions;
• After several weeks of such newsletters, subscribers will start to trust you.

Implement Personalized Marketing

The rapport with online shop customers requires personalized marketing. It helps to build strong relations and to increase the conversion rate.

Such letters are customizable and based on the sign-up page subscriber data. According to Bain and Co. consulting firm, repeat customers spend 67% more money than new customers.

The segment of repeat customers increases the profit of every online shop. For that reason, you should treat them in a special way. For instance, you can offer them special offers via newsletters.

Tell Stories

Storytelling in newsletters increases engagement and is also a sales driver. How to become a storyteller?  There should be a hero, who faced obstacles that left a reader with a moral.

In order to create such newsletters it is necessary to answer these questions:

• What experience could be useful for your subscribers?
• What kind of storytelling will be suitable for that situation?
• How can my personal experience be connected with my business?

Make several newsletters with a short story about your personal experience and you will find out that this is a really effective tool for building rapport with online shop customers.

Conclusion

Building trust with customers takes a lot of time and attention. Every step you take should be confirmed with data and rechecked, especially for a new store.

In order for your newsletters to be useful and interesting to your customers, you need to adhere to the simple principles described above.

We recommend that you also read The Most Effective Communication Tools for Ecommerce Businesses.

If you have any questions or need experts’ consultation, feel free to contact us.