Your email marketing list can be used for many different purposes. Indeed, email marketing can be a powerful tool for building brand loyalty, disseminating content, and driving traffic to your company website or blog. Of course, you can also use your email list to directly boost conversions—though doing so will always require strategy and skill.

More specifically, it will require a strong and effective call to action. If you want the readers of your email to take a specific step—e.g., to purchase a particular product—you’ve got to spell it out for them and leave no room for misunderstanding.

There are a few different ways of accomplishing that; in this post, we’ll list some of the most common and effective.

Abandoned Cart Emails

Anyone who’s ever worked in ecommerce knows the basic idea of abandoned cart customers. These are the buyers who see a product that they like enough to add it to their shopping cart, but for whatever reason they don’t complete the purchase, instead navigating to a different site.

Email marketing can be a great way to follow up with these customers, encouraging them to go back and finish their transaction. Sending a message as simple as “hey, did you forget about this?” can be an effective way to turn abandoned carts into completed sales.

Cross-sell and Up-sell Emails

Another way to use email marketing to boost conversions is to cross-sell or up-sell. In other words, if someone buys a product from you, send them an email to let them know about other products that might interest them.

This can take different forms. Sometimes, it means showcasing related products; for example, if someone buys a lawnmower from you, you might email them with some other lawn and garden products, encouraging them to really invest in the look of their lawn. Another option is to highlight auxiliary products. If someone buys a weed eater from you, send them an email letting them know that you also sell replacement spools, batteries, etc.

Trial Upgrade Emails

It’s not uncommon for companies to offer products and services on a free trial basis—with the assumption that, once the free trial is over, the customer will want to continue the experience at full retail price.

Email marketing is an essential part of this. As the free trial is winding down, make sure you follow up with that customer to encourage them to stay on board, and also to offer any support or help they might need.

Special Offers, Discounts, and Sales Emails

There’s nothing new about this one: For as long as there have been retailers, there have been special promotions and sales, trying to give customers the extra nudge they need to complete a transaction.

The next time you run a sale or promo on a particular product, make sure you let your email list know about it. In fact, providing discounts that are exclusively for your email subscribers can be a great way to help them feel special, and show them the value in belonging to your email list.

Referral Emails

When someone’s just purchased a product or service, that tends to be when they are most enthusiastic about it—and thus, most likely to recommend it to family and friends.

As such, there’s value in emailing your new customers and asking them to refer your products to a friend. Offer a discount off their next order for any customers they send your way. Take advantage of that new-customer enthusiasm to turn your happy buyers into brand evangelists.

Demo Emails

For products that are on the technical or complicated side, some customers will want a demonstration or tutorial before they commit to buying. If your company offers free demos, that can be a great opportunity to fire up your email list.

Following the completion of a demo, send the customer a follow-up to thank them for their time and invite them to make a purchase. And if they buy the product on the spot, immediately after the free trial, take a moment to thank them and invite them to consider your other offerings.

Use Email Marketing to Generate Sales

When used correctly, your email marketing list can do more than build brand awareness. It can actually be a sales driver—and as we’ve shown here, it can boost sales in more ways than one.

Is your email list creating conversions for your business? If not, there’s no time like the present to review your strategies and see how you can get more use out of your email marketing. We’d love to chat with you about the options available. Reach out to the email marketing pros at enCOMPASS Agency, and let’s start a conversation.