As you may have already realized, the content of such emails varies because it depends on the trigger involved in a message. Let's look at two examples:
1. A customer bought an inflatable boat. In the email, you can invite the user to purchase accessories for the boat, as well as offer premium client programs. The purpose of the email is to thank the client for the purchase, as well as sell additional goods.
2. The user looked at certain products but didn't buy anything. You can show the user these products again or offer similar products. The goal is to keep in the user's attention and stimulate the purchase.
Trigger emails work great as part of e-commerce projects and sales and service sites because they contain a set of actions on the way to the final goal and additional options for actions that can serve as the basis for triggers.
Transaction Emails
Trigger emails also include transaction emails because they are automatically sent based on certain conditions. They are unique emails from the rules point of view — they do not fall under advertising because they don't contain a call to buy something. They only inform the client that the order has been received, the payment has been processed, the payment has been completed, and so on. The company can send them even to those users who didn't give consent for commercial emails.
Such emails have slightly different headers, and mail services treat them more leniently, sending them spam folders less often. The main thing to remember is to resist the temptation to place any sales banners in these emails. Doing so would immediately turn it into a promotional email. A user who did not subscribe to receive advertisements may complain about such an email.
The lack of advertising and calls to buy something significantly reduces marketers' interest in this type of email. Many of them believed that if you can't sell anything in them, then they're not needed. Therefore, many companies let the IT department write and send transaction messages, resulting in boring, simple messages.
According to an internal Sendsay study, more than 70% of recipients open and read transaction emails, which is much higher than the number of recipients who open any other types of promotional emails. They are opened even by those who are not subscribed to other kinds of messages. Don't miss the unique opportunity to communicate with customers, even if you can't offer them something directly. With the right approach, such emails can significantly increase the number of sales.
How to Involve Subscribers in Communication Using Transaction Emails
Let's look at a few techniques.
1. Create interesting content and add sharing buttons for posting in social media.
All professional platforms can embed sharing buttons in emails. If there is a web version of the email, it can be shared on Facebook and other sites in the same way as regular text.
Instead of the expected "Thank you for the order," send something creative to the client. Then, the client will be more likely to share his purchase with his friends, and you can get a fairly large coverage of new audience from social networks.
2. Implement referral marketing.
Referral marketing is similar to word of mouth — customers give recommendations and leave feedback about the goods and services that they have used. Telling the customer can she can give a discount on the company's products to her friends and receive a bonus herself doesn't directly call on the customer to buy something, so it's allowed in transaction emails.
3. Create content that allows you to return a customer to the website.
Such a technique is suitable for those who provide online services, especially those that offer a free trial or subscription. If you send customers a description of the possibilities of those services they have already purchased (or to which they have subscribed), or instructions for further steps (without insisting on buying anything), then such emails completely fit into the rigid framework of transaction messages and can be sent even to those who are not subscribed to sales emails.
Even though you can't directly sell goods or services in transaction emails, you can significantly increase user loyalty with a competent approach. As a result, the likelihood that they will buy something from you again increases dramatically. Do not miss the opportunity to repeatedly interest subscribers and communicate with them.
Correctly configured trigger emails do not land in spam folders and have a very high opening percentage. How can you understand when and what kind of triggers to use? You can learn about it from the book Email Marketing for Business: From Idea to Sales. We will also tell you the advantages of promotional emails, the role they play in marketing strategies, how to build a database of email addresses, segment the audience, evaluate the effectiveness of emails, and more!