Ultimate Shopify Email marketing Guide for 2023 [+5 email apps]

Shopify Email Marketing: Since email marketing and your Shopify store are a winning combination for increased sales, we’ve decided to cover everything you need to know about Shopify emails marketing!

Email marketing has already proven to be a profitable channel of digital marketing , with a email return on investment up to 42 dollars for every dollar spent. Email is a valuable tool, and your business should leverage newsletter creation in order to increase customer retention and profitability.

We’ll help you improve your results by helping to structure an email marketing strategy.

Click here if you know how to use Shopify’s email marketing and would like to see some of the best apps that you can use for email marketing on your store.

11 Steps to Build your Shopify Email marketing strategy

You need to master your email design, copy, images, and calls-to-action to create a successful Shopify marketing campaign. Are these the only steps you need to take to go from customer acquisition to retention?

You’ll need advanced marketing automation to go from eCommerce zero up to eCommerce hero! The first step is to…

1. Email marketing automation is a powerful tool.

A platform for email marketing automation will allow you to create your newsletter and manage your subscribers list. It will also automate your emails campaigns.

Shopify offers its store owners the Shopify email option. The app allows you to create branded emails, and import customer lists into your Shopify Store. Even though it’s a convenient solution, dedicated tools can help you achieve eCommerce success.

Choose an advanced Email Marketing Platform if you’re serious about your business. It will give you all the tools you need to make email marketing your main customer retention tool.

Email marketing tools will allow you to:

• Automate workflows at every stage of the customer journey
• Segment your audience to manage it.
• Schedule campaigns for later
• Perform A/B tests on different elements
• Metrics can be used to monitor the engagement of subscribers
• create responsive email campaigns

Check out our list of the top email marketing services or scroll down for the top 5 apps.

2. Start building your Shopify email list

building your email list is the next step in a Shopify email marketing strategy. You’ll need two lead generation tools to get started: signup forms, and landing page!

Create effective newsletter signup forms

You can first embed your Shopify shop with pop-ups. Your forms, whether they are in-line, full-page, or floating bars, should include the right message and CTAs to grab your visitors’ attention.

The oldest trick for online stores is to offer a X% discount or coupon on the first order. Here is an example from Under Your Mask.

This is a simple signup form that will help you capture more leads, and convert them into subscribers. You can see that the store begins with a question in order to entice new visitors, and then offers a 10% discount.

The secret is to add that “the discount is only valid for 24 hours” to the form. This is a great method to increase urgency and encourage new subscribers to purchase.

You can now create forms that are very simple or you can choose something “brand-oriented” to grab attention. Don’t forget the number of fields in your form. They will help you segment and personalize email content.

Create landing pages that generate leads

By creating landing pages, you can generate leads and make them an offer that they cannot refuse. Build a landing page that convinces your audience to sign up for the newsletter without overloading them with information.

This beautiful example from Boxycharm will inspire you:

To nail your landing page, make sure to:

• Add an interesting headline
• Create an irresistible Value Proposition
• use a beautiful landing page design
• Make them mobile-friendly

You can use the right visuals and CTA to grab the attention of your visitors, and show them why they should join your list and gradually turn them into brand advocates.

You can create exit-intent Pop-ups to boost your list building. These pop-ups can be easily added to your eCommerce store or landing pages as a final resort in order to capture visitors.

3. Add effective subject lines to your preview text

You can increase your open rate by creating clever subject lines, or as I call it, the art of making an excellent first impression. If your subject line is not impressive, your email will be a waste of time.

Shopify stores need subject lines which will make them stand out. Here are four ways to make your subject lines pop.

• Write concise and direct copy
• use personalization elements (recipient name)
• include urgency (today, now, limited, etc.)
• add emojis

Let’s look at some of the subject lines I receive in my email.

These brands use these elements in order to grab the attention of their subscribers. Bottle Breacher, GUESS and other brands use emojis and urgency to encourage their email subscribers to interact with their campaigns.

It is crucial to master the art of writing the perfect subject line in order to boost your eCommerce store. Do not worry if you aren’t confident with your subject lines. You don’t have to spend hours on end trying to figure out the best subject line combination. can help you by using AI.

You can get extra help from a great subject line tester such as Refine. Let’s try the subject line below: Sales end tomorrow.

Let’s make a few changes: Marilia! Sales end tomorrow. Follow the suggestions and check it again:

You can see that adding elements such as your subscriber’s name or an emoji to your subject line will increase the rate of open. Let’s take a look at something that marketers often forget. Behind every good subject line is , a preview text.

You can add extra information to your audience about the email content by adding this text. A preview text may be a clever copy that will excite your subscribers or an incentive such as “free shipping/gifts” to encourage them to click.

will promote your email engagement and open rate by adding a preview. You can find a few examples of preview texts from popular brands below:

You can see that preview texts are different in length and content. Make sure that your first text is a valuable support to your subject line, such as Rogue + Wolf.

You should also pay attention to the length of your text, as many mobile devices will not display it in its entirety. Let’s talk about another important Shopify email marketing component: the design of your newsletter .

4. Select the best email design

You’ve built your first list of email addresses. Now it’s time for you to send out your first newsletter. Create a campaign to represent your brand, including colors, visuals, and tone. This will provide your subscribers with a consistent experience leading them to conversion.

To give you an example, here’s Manitobah Mukluks’ eCommerce store:

When new visitors sign up for the brand’s newsletter, they receive a welcome email campaign that includes: The brand sends the following Welcome Email Campaign to new subscribers who sign up for its newsletter.

Brand uses similar elements to create an email design that is beautiful and resembles its store. Manitobah can create a link with its campaign and brand, giving new subscribers an ongoing customer experience.

If you want to nail your email like Manitobah:

• Choose colors that match your brand
• Use visuals to promote your products
• Add elements that are related to your brand

Even though creating a campaign will take some time, remember that providing an amazing experience can be the difference between a low conversion rate and a high one. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you should not use pre-made templates for email newsletters to save time.

Moosend’s email marketing platform, for example, lets you choose from a variety of customizable email templates. You can then tweak them with a drag-and drop editor.

This feature can be tried by creating a free account. You can then enter the editor and choose a template. Customize it and save!

5. Value-added copy helps to increase sales

Unfortunately, conversion copy is necessary to convert your subscribers into customers. It’s not easy to master the copywriting. You need to create persuasive copy that reflects your subject line.

Before we examine eCommerce copywriting examples let’s first establish the essential principles of effective copy:

• Always write for your audience
• Highlight the immediate value of products
• Personalize your copy by adding the subscriber’s name (write in the second person).
• Use social proof to your advantage (reviews and testimonials).

Let’s look at an GUESS example to illustrate this.

Subject: Marilia, Your new outfit is here

GUESS begins this campaign by using subscriber names in the subject line. It is important to do this because the email content now feels more personalized. Subscribers will see the email copy of the brand when they open it. Here, GUESS uses “you deserve” to make potential customers feel special.

In this email, you/yourself is a great way to make the message more friendly and less impersonal. If you want to boost your credibility with your email campaigns, add social proof. Take your Shopify email strategy to the next step by showing your customers that your products have credibility!

Here’s an example of The Citizenry utilizing customer reviews on its product page.

6. Send emails that are visually appealing

A picture is worth 1,000 words. Your biggest asset in email marketing is a visual which complements your copy, and converts the audience. However, random visuals in your campaign will not work. Your visuals should fit your brand, message and audience.

images of high quality are the best way to impress subscribers, particularly when you’re promoting new products! But wait! What does this mean?

Let’s look at Kate Spade ‘s Campaign to answer this question:

This campaign is used by the brand to promote its latest product. Kate Spade uses a realistic image to make the bag look more real.

Kate Spade does not stop there. She adds a second version of the product. This time has used a GIF in place of an image, to make the product look more dynamic.

Kate Spade subscribers can see the item in question before they check out. GIFs play a vital role in eCommerce Email Marketing. They allow marketers to show different aspects of products and make their campaigns more attractive.

7. Call your subscribers to Action

We have seen how your Shopify store’s design, copy and visuals can help you move your subscribers down your funnel. When creating emails for Shopify, you must never forget your call to action.

Your CTA is your most important conversion point. To nail them down you must pay attention to the following:

• Their placement in the email body
• The color of the CTA buttons
• Copy your CTA Button

You should place your CTAs strategically beneath valuable lines of text. The subscriber will be able to click on the CTAs and go directly to your product page.

Color is also important! Here’s an example of how CTAs that are brightly colored will attract attention.

Ipsy makes the CTA stand out with a vibrant orange color. The brand added several elements before that to encourage subscribers to click. The brand created an irresistible deal, from the headline (“Free Glam Bag”) and the copy that highlights the free products.

If you want your Shopify store to convert as much as possible, be sure to add double CTAs so that your subscribers are caught before they leave your campaign.

How companies like masterclass operate:

8. Automate workflows

Email marketing automation allows email marketers to trigger automated emails at the exact moment they require them. You can create these workflows using a tool that has an easy-to use workflow builder.

Before you begin massaging your Shopify audience, you need to set up some must send campaigns. These recipes can be found in your email automation platform. Start building automated workflows for Shopify.

You can create a Moosend free trial to see how automated workflows function. Open the workflow editor and set up your automated sequence.

Here are the most essential automation workflows that you should set up on your online store.

Welcome emails

It is important to create a welcome message that will win your subscribers over. These emails are important because they create first impressions. They should be created with care.

Sending no welcome email to newly added email list members would be like inviting someone and then letting them stand at the front door. It would be awkward. You can avoid this by creating an automated Welcome workflow as part of your Shopify Email Marketing Strategy.

Welcome emails for eCommerce are the best way to encourage new subscribers to make a purchase. To boost eCommerce sales, add a discount for first-time purchases or invite potential customers to join your loyalty programme to earn extra rewards.

Don’t forget a stunning design and an irresistible deal to encourage conversion. As an example, here’s Tattly welcome email:

Having trouble with your welcome messages? You can do it! You can also check out our welcome emails for more inspiration!

Abandoned Cart Campaigns

Cart abandoners are a major problem for every Shopify store. Shopify stores need to run effective campaigns in order to say goodbye to cart abandonment.

Your abandoned cart campaign must be compelling enough to entice abandoners back and increase your revenue. Set up a Cart Abandonment Workflow to target visitors who abandon their shopping cart minutes or even hours later.

You can then create an abandoned-cart email campaign. You can get your customers’ attention by adding extra incentives, or reasons that your product is beneficial to them. Don’t forget Make your CTAs Visible in order to maximize your revenue recovery efforts.

Here is an example of a customized abandoned cart by the dollar Shave Club.

If your abandoners still hesitate, you can send them some follow-up emails that offer additional discounts in order to encourage them to take action!

Re-engagement emails

One of the biggest eCommerce store issues is disengaged customers. Don’t fret too much. Shopify’s email marketing solution is the best for your store. reengagement campaigns andalso known as win-back emails.

can be used to create a re-engagement sequence to target your loyal customers and offer them special discounts!

How Seafolly reminds customers who forgot about their discount to redeem it before the expiration date:

Cross-sell/upsell campaigns

Upselling is a popular technique that increases the average order value of your customers by promoting the premium versions of products they have chosen.

You can create an Upselling Sequence based on the purchasing patterns of your customers to demonstrate the benefits of upgrading products.

As you can clearly see, MOO has a special campaign for its business cards that promotes the upsell.

Cross-selling Workflows can be used to promote relevant products across your Shopify store and increase sales!

Post-purchase emails

The post-purchase emails can include transactional emails, such as the order/shipping confirmatons, product reviews, and discounts for repeat purchases. Some confuse these emails with the double-opt-in messages that new subscribers receive.

It is important to set up these campaigns to keep customers informed about their orders, and to push them closer to retention. To do this, you can create repeat purchases workflows.

This is how Graze uses an email campaign to encourage customers to purchase the brand’s product again:

When it comes to sending transactional emails, remember that you will need an server to do so. Sign up for a plan to get access to transactional email and other features that will power up your shop.

9. Track email performance

What now? The first step in Shopify email advertising is to design your campaigns. The second half involves monitoring everything. Tracking email performance may seem like a lot to do, but it will give you valuable insights about your subscribers and customers.

You should always track these metrics to stay one step ahead.

• Open rate
• Click-through rate
• Conversions
• Bounce rate
• subscribes/unsubscribes

Tracking the performance of your campaigns will help you better understand your subscribers, and what content they prefer to receive from your brand. If you see a pattern of declining campaign performance, it may be time to make changes to your email design or copy, CTAs and offers.

It is important to monitor these metrics via your platform’s analytics and reporting to move on to the next stage of Shopify email marketing. This involves improving your email campaigns by A/B testing!

10. Shopify Store Campaigns: A/B test them

If you have low open and click through rates, it is time to make changes. How do I know which parts of the email need to be changed? A/B testing is a powerful tool for this.

To find the best combination, you create variations of your original design (control). You can test each element of your email. If you believe that the copy or CTAs in your emails are the issue, you can test different versions of your newsletters to determine the cause.

The secret to a successful eCommerce business is lead generation and nurturing. If you want to avoid stagnating store sales, you should run tests even if your metrics look promising.

11. Integrate Shopify Email Marketing with Social Media

You are now prepared to master email marketing with Shopify. But to make it a bit more interesting, I will share with you another step that can help power up your email marketing strategy.

Social media can be a engagement powerhouse. When you are ready to build your email strategy, invest some time into setting up your Social Media Marketing strategy.

In a nutshell:

• Lead generation is a great way to increase sales.
• Brand awareness
• Brand loyalty can be improved
• Additional Customer Support

You can integrate social media and email by turning your profile into a machine that generates leads. You can, for example, do this on Facebook by changing your main CTA to a signup button similar to KKW Beauty Shopify:

Add social buttons to the Email Footer is another great way to cross promote between email and social media.

Natori offers a great example of an email that encourages engagement with a company founder through an Instagram event:

These events are crucial to increasing brand awareness and building solid relationships among your email list members and social media followers. If you want to grow your social media presence don’t be afraid to integrate your channels. This will boost the engagement of your Shopify store.

After we’ve covered all the basics, let’s look at the best email applications you can use to send and create emails in Shopify.

5 Best Tools for Email Marketing to Create Shopify Emails

Shopify’s app will allow you to create emails for your audience. A dedicated email platform, however, will give you additional functionality as well as tools for running your campaigns automatically.

You can find Top 5 Shopify Alternatives below to automate and manage your online store campaigns, as well as create your audience.

1. Moosend is the best all-in one email marketing service

Pricing:30 day free trial ( Click here to sign up) Paid plans starting at $9/month

Unique feature Advanced automated workflow editor

Moosend allows you to create automated workflows for your business , manage your email list and send out newsletters.

The platform also allows you to provide personalized recommendations for your customers based on their behavior online. You can also create shoppable email using product blocks.

Drag-and-Drop Template Editor is perfect for beginners. It offers advanced elements that will power up your Shopify campaign. Both the subscription form and landing pages share a similar philosophy to ensure a seamless user experience.

The platform also provides powerful analytics and reporting tools that can be used to improve and monitor your email marketing campaigns. You can request a free trial to try out all the features of Moosend for your Shopify Store.

Features of the Best Ecommerce AI Tool

• Automated workflows for advanced marketing automation
• Save time with pre-made email templates
• Segmenting your email list to better group your audience
• Subscription Forms and landing Pages to Increase Lead Generation
• Track performance with powerful reporting and analytics
• Zapier integration of and Shopify

Pricing

Moosend subscriptions begin at $9/month and include all the features available, including transactional emails (SMTP servers), landing pages, etc. You can sign-up for the free trial and try out the features to see how they will help power up your Shopify shop.

2. Constant Contact is an alternative to Shopify Email Tool.

Pricing: Free trial; paid plans starting at $12/month

Unique feature: Online event invitation management

Constant constant can be a powerful Shopify email tool, particularly if you are looking to host online events for subscribers and customers. The platform allows you to manage, create and promote online events with its Eventbrite integration.

The tool offers autoresponders, email management tools and other features to help you organize your contacts. Constant Contact can be used by Shopify store owners to segment their customers based on the behavior of their websites.

The platform also gives you access to a form builder that allows you to create newsletter signup forms to boost your lead generation. The ESP, in addition to its CRM features, will also give you access an email builder as well as a workflow editor for creating your eCommerce store campaigns.

The workflow editor is not as flexible as other alternatives to Constant Contact.

Features of the Best Email Platform

• Automated workflows for simple tasks
• Management tool for event invitations
• Subscription form builder tool
• Tracking email performance
• Social media and eCommerce integrations

Pricing

Constant Contact does not offer a free trial, but you can test the service for 14 days. The platform offers two paid plans after the 14-day trial. These start at $12 per month and $35 per monthly.

3. ActiveCampaign is a powerful marketing automation tool.

Pricing: 14-day free trial; paid plans starting at $39/month

Unique feature: Built-in CRM system

ActiveCampaign has a reputation for having advanced marketing automation capabilities. If you are looking to create complex work flows, this platform is for you.

The tool can help eCommerce store owners create workflows that will restore revenue and bring back customers. You can use the personalization features to hyper-personalize Shopify emails, and thus increase subscriber engagement.

You can use repeat purchases, average order value and other factors to create segments of customers for your business.

ActiveCampaign offers a powerful marketing automation platform with a wide range of features and capabilities. The platform is designed for experienced email marketers and may not be suitable for Shopify store owners who are new to the platform.

Features of the Best Marketing Automation Software

• Advanced Automation Builder
• The CRM is integrated into the software to help marketing and sales teams.
• Hyper-personalization features
• Analytics for eCommerce platforms

Pricing

There is no free plan for email marketing, but you can test it out with a 14-day free trial. ActiveCampaign offers four premium packages starting at $39/month. These include email marketing, automated forms, automation and more.

4. Omnisend is an Ecommerce email platform

Pricing:Free Plan, Paid Plans Start at $16/month

Unique feature:SMS Marketing Tool

Omnisend allows you to create emails, newsletter signup forms and Omnisend for your Shopify business. You can also send push notifications and SMS to combine SMS with email marketing.

Omnisend’s Template Builder is an easy-to use tool that allows you to add eCommerce elements such as store products. The service offers a number of pre-made templates to save you time. They are only limited, so you will have to create your own if you need more.

Omnisend is a great platform for eCommerce, but there are some shortcomings in the deliverability area. The platform also allows you to preview your campaigns prior to sending them. However, it does not offer a spam-testing option.

Features of the Best Email Builder Tool

• SMS Marketing Option
• Simple email builder
• Landing Page Builder Tool
• Reports on campaign and automation

Pricing

Omnisend offers 500 emails per month, making it one of the free email platforms that you can use. plans cost $16/month and include 6,000 emails/month. Additional features, such as SMS campaigns or audience segmentation are available for an additional fee.

5. Klaviyo is an email and SMS marketing tool

Pricing: Limited Free Plan, Paid Plans Start at $20/month (based upon list size).

Unique feature: Powerful segmentation options

Klaviyo is a service that offers eCommerce email marketing with SMS options, as well as advanced features. Its integration with platforms via API is the first thing that you will notice.

Klaviyo’s email feature allows you to design branded emails that will capture the attention of your audience. Automated workflows are built into the platform, such as welcome sequences and post-purchase follow ups.

Klaviyo also offers advanced segments that are based on campaign engagement and customer activity. You can also use this feature to create specific segments, and tailor an audience for platforms such as Facebook.

Best Email Services Features

• Advanced Segmentation Options
• Features of SMS and Email Marketing
• Exit-intent popups
• Automated A/B testing

Pricing

Klaviyo has a free plan but it is quite limited. You can only send up to 500 emails per month to 250 contacts. Paid Plans Start at $20 per 250-500 contacts.

Increase Your Sales with Email!

Email marketing is a powerful tool for Shopify. After reading this guide, you should be one step closer in mastering email marketing automation.

While it is convenient to use Shopify’s email app, an email marketing platform gives you more customization options and flexibility to create effective sequences.

If you’re ready to explore your options, you can begin by creating an account for Moosend. It’s now time to create some amazing email campaigns for your shop!

The post Shopify Email Marketing Guide for 2023 [+5 Email Applications] first appeared on Email Automation Platform for Thriving Business.

Author: Marilia Dimitriou