Must-Have Email Campaigns: 4. The Triggered Email

Critical to customer engagement are relevant, targeted emails that directly relate to a customer’s behavior. Automated email marketing gives you the ability to use a customer’s actions as a “trigger” for targeted, relevant emails. B2C organizations that use automation have seen conversion rates as high as 50 percent.

This fourth installment of our “Must-Have Email Campaigns” centers on triggered emails, including why they matter for a successful marketing campaign, how they can be used and tips for leveraging them to drive engagement.

Why do you need triggered emails?

Triggered emails are automatically delivered when a subscriber takes a certain action, offering relevant content for every subscriber. By automatically sending messaging that directly relates to content they have engaged with or products they’ve shown interest in, these emails are a simpler, more efficient way to have personalized communication with your audience.

Triggered emails can be promotional or educational, depending on the campaign’s objective and the triggered behavior. When implemented properly, triggered emails nurture potential customers throughout the customer journey, improving engagement rates, satisfaction, conversion and retention.

How to execute triggered emails

Ready to get started setting your triggered emails into motion? Keep these tips in mind.

Use the right type of triggered email for your campaign

There are numerous types of triggered emails you can use for marketing campaigns, any of which can be used together or on its own. Some can continue running for months or even years, such as welcome emails (but be sure to update as necessary); others should be selected based on the goal of your campaign.

Types of triggered emails include:

1. 1. • Welcome email: Introduce your brand to a new subscriber by thanking them and encouraging them to make their first purchase.
      • Reactivation email: Re-engage subscribers who have stopped interacting with you by offering deals on products they’ve browsed in the past or providing content they are interested in.
      • Activity-based email: Deliver specific messages when you are top of mind, like when a person clicks a certain link on your website.
      • Abandoned cart email: Give a customer the nudge they need to make a purchase－car abandonment emails sent within an hour boost conversions by 6.33 percent.
      • Transactional email: Send receipts, confirm purchases and shipping, and keep customers informed about their orders in real-time.
      • Cross-sell email: Suggest related products based on a previous purchase.
      • Account update email: Notify recipients of password, email, mailing address, or other changes to their account.
      • Event or milestone email: Give a gift of thanks for a subscriber’s birthday, milestone with your brand or other holiday.

If you have multiple triggered emails or campaigns running simultaneously, avoid overlap with existing email sequences. Architect your triggered email flows so that they instead complement and support one another. Sending a barrage of emails to subscribers in a day or week will only create customer frustration with your brand.

Prepare messaging for different customer segments

Your email database should be divided into various segments based on subscribers’ demographics like age, gender, marital and parental status and employment status, as well as interests, activity and behavior. Craft content and messaging for each segment that takes individual characteristics into account; the more specific you can be, the better engagement you’ll likely see from every email send.

As with other email campaigns, test and measure the response rates of all trigger emails to determine whether they are successfully re-engaging your audience and moving them along to the next phase of the customer journey. If they aren’t getting you the results you want, spot trends in lower or higher engagement and make updates accordingly.

Keep your voice and branding consistent

Although you want to personalize experiences for every email subscriber, every single item of correspondence should be recognizable and feel familiar as your brand’s voice. Keep email designs, language and tone in line with your branding guidelines. This consistency will help you build a “personality” for your business that your customers feel comfortable with and know what to expect moving forward.

Keeping all content “on brand” also makes a customer’s transition from one channel to the next seamless, resulting in a positive customer experience.

On average, a working professional receives 120 new emails every day. By automating and setting triggered emails, you get the most compelling content to the right inbox at a time they are already thinking about your brand, increasing engagement and potential revenue.

Learn more in the fifth installment of our series: 5. The Post-Purchase Email