Building a solid customer base is something any e-commerce store should strive to do. Otherwise, how do you plan on growing? Ask yourself, where would you be without your customers? Where would any store be without its customers? In a world of trouble, that's where. And it isn't enough just to have customers, you must have returning customers above all else. New customers can be a flash in the pan, but your customers who return are your bread and butter. The best way to get customers to return is to send them emails constantly. You should make sure that your email targets are a mix of new and existing customers.

On the surface, this may seem like a bit much, but it really isn't. Considering that around 90% of the population check their email first thing in the morning, this is a great way to garner some returning followers. Given that statistic, and another one that cites that, potentially, you could boost your ROI by a whopping 4400% with the right email campaign, chances are you're not sending enough emails. There are a few email campaigns that can help you in this endeavor.

1. Welcome

welcome! Doesn't that make you feel all warm inside when someone says that to you? Once your customers sign up with your site, welcome them aboard! Loyalty starts with feeling welcomed and wanted. This email, where you introduce your brand to the customer, should be specifically targeted to your new customers who haven't purchased anything yet. This email could help win over some new fans.

Emails like this are how you set the tone for your potentially longstanding relationship with this customer. So, no pressure, but it's kind of a big deal. This email will be less of a promotional/sales email and more of an invitation to be a part of your brand. Some emails tend to refer to their subscribers as "family," thus allowing the consumer to feel more inclusive, which is an absolute win.

2. Re-engagement

What happens if you have a customer who hasn't purchased from your site in awhile? You send them an email of course. Let them know what they've been missing and entice them to return. Another way to get them to return is to sweeten the pot a little bit. Tell the customer you miss them and will give them a percentage off of a purchase if they will return. Speaking for myself, if I see a coupon in my email, that will definitely sway me to want to purchase something from the site.

Alerting the customer to things that are coming up might be a good incentive too. Say, for example, the Holiday season is approaching. You might remind the customer that, while they haven't purchased anything for themselves in awhile, a season is arriving in which they could use your site to make not only themselves, but others happy.

Regardless of which methods you choose to re-engage the customer, make sure you try. At the very least, if a customer sees a new email from you, that could be enough. One of the reasons why you want to send these emails from time to time is to ensure that your emails don't begin to get cycled to the spam folder. Make sure the subject line is something they can't refuse and get them to open your emails and re-engage with your company.

3. VIPs

You don't just want to send emails to new and lapsed customers. You want to make sure that your A-1 customers get love too! One of the most annoying things I experience is when a company (let's say cable) focuses solely on new customers, but ignore their current, and particularly longstanding, customers in the process. It's not just cable, though. Many companies take their existing, heavy hitting customers for granted. All department stores give percentages off to new customers signing up for a store credit card, but not all of them give ongoing incentives to keep that card. The people who use that card the most can begin to feel left out and wonder why they should even continue.

Your VIPs are, obviously, very important! You don't want them to ever feel like your store can survive without them because in all reality, it can't. Your VIPs can make or break your company. You cannot subsist on new customers alone. Make the effort to ensure the comfort of your VIPs.

4. Cart Abandonment

I am not sure if you have heard, but over half of all consumers abandon their carts at one point or another. If you're not sending a single email to this demographic, you're absolutely missing out on a lot of potential revenue. Chances are that even if you think you're sending a good amount to these consumers, I'm willing to bet you're not sending enough emails.

There are many reasons why consumers will abandon a cart. Perhaps they got distracted with something and forgot. Starting an email campaign will assuredly help them remember. Among the many other reasons for sending email campaigns, such as price issues or just browsing, an email campaign can help sway the tide in your favor. Using an email campaign to invite the customer to purchase can do nothing but help.

5. Replenishment/New Stock/Low Stock

If your website is frequented a lot then you may have a few instances of running out of items. This is a good thing for you, but may not necessarily be the case for the next person who wanted to buy said items. If the items are particularly popular in nature, then trust and believe that your consumers are going to want to know when those items are back in stock. Rather than have the customer constantly checking back manually, running the rick that they will forget to check back, you can provide the option to the consumer to be notified once any sold-out items are replenished. This is a win-win because the consumer is in the know, and you can add them to your email list.

Additionally, just as consumers would like to know when items are replenished, they want to know when new items arrive too. Use this opportunity to showcase the latest and greatest stock that has arrived. Maybe you have some new holiday items that you can showcase. An email campaign for new stock items are a great way to remind customers to periodically return to your site.

When you want to put a little fire under your dear customer, you can let them know certain items are low on stock. Many people like to wait until the last minute to buy certain items, but if you tell them that their items are running out, it may entice them to hurry up and buy.

Conclusion

Finding the perfect email campaigns may take a little trial and error. There are also many other email campaigns that you can send. These are just some that can sometimes be ignored. If you're not already sending these types of emails, then you're not sending enough emails in general. It's time to get that helmet on and get in the game!