Elevate Your Marketing Strategy with Cross-Channel Email Automation: A Detailed Guide

Due to its direct and personal approach, Email remains a stalwart in the world of digital marketing. Audiences engage with emails on a day to day basis, making it an ideal medium for delivering brand messages consistently. It is a versatile platform to foster engagement and loyalty as it allows you to send various forms of content, from informative newsletters to exclusive offers. 

But are you wondering how to integrate cross-channel marketing with email automation to elevate your business? Fret not! We’ve got you covered. In this article, we are going to explain how you can combine the power of email marketing with cross-channel marketing to scale your business. 

Cross-channel marketing is nothing but using various platforms to share a consistent message and connect with customers. It's about bringing together different ways of communication to create a smooth customer journey. This involves coordinating various channels to make sure that the messages are clear and consistent, no matter where customers see them. The goal is to use the different ways customers interact with your brand and eventually build strong connections with customers.

In today's business landscape, taking up a cross-channel marketing strategy has become not only effective but also essential for the growth of your business. Cross-channel marketing brings meaningful customer connections, brand establishment, heightened engagement, and, ultimately, an increase in sales.

Now let us take a look at the benefits associated with it.

• Cross-channel marketing helps in getting a unified database of the customer journey.
• Provides a 360 degree view of each customer.
• Enhances brand visibility and consistency, thus fostering loyalty.
• Successfully delivers informative and relevant content consistently  to the right audience.
• Leads to higher engagement that comes with higher conversions and a higher ROI.
• Helps in generating responsive content that’s tailored to individual interests.
• Less time-consuming and cost-efficient.
• Leads to increased customer retention and satisfaction & grows a strong and loyal customer base.
• Targets customers across platforms that share similar interests, messaging, or preferences.

Email marketing stands out as a potent instrument that can anchor and amplify your strategy in the dynamic world of cross-channel marketing, where numerous touchpoints are essential for engaging clients. Let’s take a look at some email marketing strategies that can help you in cross-channel marketing.

1. Build a contact list

Build an engaged and relevant contact list. First, you must ensure to convince your audience that they want to receive your emails, and second, you must keep them engaged so they want to keep receiving your emails consistently. Ensure that you have multiple platforms for people to sign up for your emails. Use an email marketing tool that has in-built CRM as it helps you collect the data sets from different platforms as it helps you know your audience and gather information about their interests, preferences, and behaviors from all possible channels. By using this data, you can understand what type of emails are most likely to be engaged with. Whatever methods you use, make sure that your subscribers have knowingly agreed to share their contact information and receive your marketing messages from you regularly.

2. Personalise your Emails

Crafting personalised customer journeys is at the heart of successful cross-channel email marketing. Because of the consistency between emails and other cross-channel marketing platforms, audiences can have a seamless, personalised journey that encourages engagement and brand loyalty. They can be targeted by sending customised emails with information about offers or features they might be interested in. You must begin by segmenting your email list based on audience demographics, purchase history, engagement rates and so on. The email content must be tailored to cater the needs and interest of the segmented contact list. Generate interactive email templates that are customised for every individual customer. This will not only boost engagement but also enable you to learn more about your audience, providing you the chance to tweak your marketing strategies over time. 

3. Send timely Emails

Emails can also be used to distribute relevant content to subscribers. To increase user engagement, use triggered emails into your cross-channel approach. Send a follow-up email when a user takes a particular action, like subscribing to your newsletter or leaving their cart unattended. Your business will improve with the timely emails and consistent message as it will motivate users to take the necessary action.

4. Use unified messaging and design

Cross-channel marketing relies on consistency. Match the branding elements used on other platforms, including social media and your website, with the messaging and look of your emails. This unified identity strengthens brand recognition and creates a seamless client experience. When readers receive an email that has a similar look and feel to a social media post or advertisement, it reinforces the message you're trying to get over and increases the effectiveness of your campaign.

5 . Social media integration

To increase the reach and engagement, establish a solid connection between your email and social media efforts. Include social media sharing buttons in your emails to encourage readers to follow you there. On social media, promote materials such as Ebooks, guides, whitepapers that are only available by email to entice users to subscribe. In order to maintain consistency across platforms and adapt to the interests of various audience segments, think about repurposing email content into social media postings.

6. Retargeting through Email

Combining email with retargeting strategies can help recapture potential customers who showed interest but did not convert. Use persuasive language to make them complete the purchase. Simultaneously, use retargeting ads on platforms like social media or search engines to reinforce the email message. This unified approach increases the chances of conversion by delivering a consistent message across channels.

7. Use Videos

Using videos in your marketing approach can produce outstanding results. A staggering 96% increase in open rates has been found to be possible when you include videos in emails. Additionally, this strategy helps to significantly reduce unsubscribe rates by 75%, demonstrating the value audiences place on interesting video content. Your email campaigns will be more professional and your business will have a stronger presence if you smoothly incorporate videos into them. This tactical choice can successfully put you ahead of your competitors. 

8. Measure the performance

A cardinal rule in cross-channel marketing is to consistently measure the performance of your email campaigns. This is essential to uncover effective strategies for your business and improve it over time. Moreover, diverse user behaviors on different devices significantly influence email interactions. Therefore, it's crucial to experiment, evaluate, and change your strategy in your upcoming campaigns.

1. Show by Animaker

Your success will depend on the email marketing platform you use. The entire feature set offered by Show, the AI-powered email marketing platform, includes automation, personalisation, and analytics. Its user-friendly interface makes it simple to build, send, and track email campaigns, giving you the ability to interact with your audience in a meaningful way.

2. Build list & use CRM

Building a worthwhile email list from several sources, including your website, blog, social media, and events, is essential. Create alluring lead magnets that appeal to your audience and convince them to subscribe voluntarily. After collecting the list, using a CRM system effectively allows segmentation based on demographics, preferences, and behaviour. You may customise email campaigns by adjusting the content for different segments using Show's integrated CRM.

3. Use Email templates

To make the process of creating emails more efficient, Show provides a range of expertly created email templates. Since these templates are completely editable, you can add your branding elements and modify the content to fit your campaign needs and goals. You may save time and keep your brand identity consistent by using these templates.

4. Automate your emails

To promote conversions and engagement, use persuasive language, storytelling techniques, and a clear call to action in your interactive emails. And after that, sending the emails at the right time is really important. You may decide when to send emails by looking at your audience's behaviour, open rates, and click-through rates. You can create automatic campaigns that engage with subscribers at the most advantageous times by using Show's comprehensive scheduling tools.

5.  Analyse your email campaigns

By keeping an eye on important performance indicators, you can evaluate the success of your email marketing. The detailed analytics offered by Show offer information on conversions, click-through rates, open rates, and other statistics. Identify patterns, comprehend audience preferences, and optimise your tactics for ongoing progress by analysing these indicators. Making data-driven decisions and optimising next efforts are made possible by consistently measuring and analysing your email performance.

1. Welcome email

Termed as a welcome series, a welcome email serves as a warm greeting extended to new subscribers or customers. This initial contact offers a valuable opportunity to introduce your company and secure sales, given that 48% of welcome emails result in successful conversions.

Example: 

Hello Sarah,

Welcome to our [Brand name]! We are excited to have you as a customer.

Our business is dedicated to providing the best possible shopping experience for our customers. We offer a wide selection of products, great prices, and excellent customer service.

We hope you enjoy your time shopping with us. If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Thank you for choosing  [Brand name]!

Sincerely,

[Brand name]

2. Abandoned cart recovery email

When a registered customer adds a product to their shopping cart but then leaves without making a purchase, this email automation workflow is triggered. The objective is to urge them to finish their order by reminding them of the abandoned product.

Example:

Hello Joseph,

We noticed that you left some items in your shopping cart on our website, but didn't finish the purchase. We would love to help you complete your order, and we want to offer you a special discount on the items left in your cart as a thank you for considering our product.

If you're still interested in purchasing the items in your cart, please let us know within the next 48 hours and we'll be happy to help you complete your purchase.

Thank you for your interest in our product, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

[Brand Name]

3. Visitor re-engagement email

Win-back emails, often referred to as automated re-engagement emails, are sent to subscribers who have not interacted with your communications for a certain amount of time. Re-engagement works well for keeping subscribers' interest because it's normal for some to become less active over time.

Example: 

Dear Solomon,

It's been a while since you last visited us at [Brand Name], and we've genuinely missed having you around! We understand that life can get busy, but we wanted to remind you of the amazing experiences and offers that await you.

Here's a quick look at what you've been missing:

We've added some incredible new products/services that we think you'll love. Discover the latest trends and innovations tailored just for you. As a valued visitor, you're eligible for exclusive discounts and promotions that are too good to pass up. We want to ensure you get the best deals!

Ready to dive back in? Simply click the button below to return to [Your Website/Platform Name] and continue your journey with us.

Thank you for being a part of the [Brand Name] family. Let's make great memories together!

Warm regards,

[Brand Name]

In conclusion, email marketing offers a direct and individualised line of engagement with your audience, serving as the foundation for successful cross-channel marketing. You may develop a seamless customer experience that resonates across numerous touchpoints. This all-encompassing email marketing strategy encourages engagement and loyalty while maximising the results of your cross-channel marketing initiatives, resulting in higher conversion rates and brand expansion.