Effective Email Marketing: The Amazon Way

There are many reasons why Amazon has dominated the ecommerce marketplace – they offer a seemingly unlimited selection of products (from books to treadmills) and services (such as Amazon Prime), and they somehow make their shopping experience even more addictive (free two-day shipping!).

Even with all that Amazon has to offer, they didn’t evolve into an online retail titan without a rock-solid email marketing strategy. Their email marketing strategies aren’t new, but Amazon seems to have harnessed these ideas and made them work successfully. Here are four ways that Amazon implements successful email marketing, and by using ClickDimensions, you can practice these strategies too!

(1) Personalization – When Amazon sends an email to a customer, there is almost always dynamic content included; at the very least, customers are usually addressed by their personal names. Adding dynamic content to an email send is an easy way to appeal to your recipients on a more personal level.

ClickDimensions offers users multiple means of adding dynamic content. For more details, check out our Help article.

(2) Template Consistency – Amazon effectively brings their website directly into customers’ inboxes through consistency in their designs and templates. Notice the same colors and layout schemes used in both their email sends and throughout their website. While Amazon’s content is constantly evolving (especially based on the customers’ interactions), the familiarity of the layout and templates keep the content relevant to the Amazon brand. For example, emails from Amazon usually contain a “big yellow button” that is also found on their website.

ClickDimensions gives you the ability to clone templates, so you can keep your emails familiar and consistent, even though your content is changing.

(3) Call to Action – Amazon interacts with their customers by sending out interactive emails. It’s very common for customers to receive an email from Amazon encouraging them to “check out” a certain set of items or to order within X-amount of time to get XYZ. Amazon shows customers product recommendations based on what they have previously viewed or purchased and invites customers to give feedback and submit reviews of products they have recently purchased.

This benefits the customer (customers can earn recognition and perks by submitting feedback), the reseller (helps improve business practices or helps promote products), and Amazon as a business (generates more customer interaction, which leads to repeat business and product suggestions).

An interactive email is an email that isn’t quickly disregarded.

ClickDimensions offers the ability to build surveys and forms, which can include a rating system and the ability to submit feedback. Through ClickDimensions, you can track how customers interact with your emails and how they respond to these surveys. You can also build effective nurture programs, which help automate and organize the process of interacting with customers.

(4) Open Options – With Amazon, it’s easy to manage which of their subscription lists you wish to receive emails from. Amazon is transparent with subscribers about how often they can expect to receive emails, and subscribers can opt out any time and easily change subscription preferences.

ClickDimensions allows you to build and track subscriptions, as well as create your own opt in and opt out menu options. With the recent implementation of Canada’s Anti-Spam Law, this is especially relevant to our Canadian customers and those who conduct business in Canada.

It’s easy to see how Amazon sets the example when it comes to email marketing; you can’t be an online retail giant without effective marketing strategies. With ClickDimensions, it’s easy to take these strategies and implement them to yield better results.

Written by Molly Lambeth, Marketing Success Manager at ClickDimensions

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