7 Strategies to Personalize Automatic Emails Based on Subscriber Actions

In the age of personalized marketing, a standard-fits-all method of marketing via email doesn't work any more. E-commerce businesses and email marketers typically have lots of customer data, but they are unable to utilize that data to their full advantage. As more firms using email marketing it's imperative that you, as an email marketing professional you implement new ways to keep your customers engaged.

The days of including the "first name" of your subscribers' names in emails was considered to be among the most successful strategies used to improve conversions. Making sure that subscribers receive timely, relevant emails that are relevant to their interests is essential to keep them engaged with your company.

Automating and personalization, combined, can be a boon to businesses. An study compilation illustrates that According to Experian research, businesses who personalize their marketing messages experience 27% higher specific click rates as well as 11% higher open rates than those that do not personalize. It also states that triggered emails result in an increase of 624% in conversion responses for the same number of emails as opposed to "batch or blast" email blasts.

If you are looking to design custom-designed campaigns for your online store emails, you need to adhere to a few easy and complex procedures to drive your campaigns to the right place.

  Be Prepared to Answer the right questions  

For sending automated triggered emails, you need to get customer data. The most effective method to collect this is by asking them to make certain preference choices that will help you to segment the information. When the customers subscribe to your email newsletter, you should inquire about the reason for selecting your emails. The responses will give you insights that will lead you to send relevant and better-targeted messages.

This is an example of an email sent by Marisa Murgatroyd who is the founder of Live Your Message. In the email she asks email recipients to complete a short questionnaire, which allows her to separate them based on their preferences and then send only messages that are most relevant to them.

  Build Customer Personas  

When you receive feedback from your customers, create personal profiles of customers using the information you've gathered. If you can understand your customers and email subscribers better and gaining customized experiences for your customers. This can help provide your subscribers to your emails a better experience and a more targeted.

  Take into account Time and Location  

Check your email messages with respect to time and location in order to determine what works best for your needs. Certain times of day prove superior in terms of . Customers may be spread across the world in different times zones, so it's important to meet the needs of all. Customers might respond better to your messages if they're sent out at a particular time in the day. Make sure you do A/B tests for your emails and determine the ideal moment when customers are able to contact your email and adjust your sending time accordingly.

  7 Types of Automated E-mails triggered through Subscriber Behavior  

When you've got enough data to classify your email recipients and then create automatic trigger emails that are based on particular segments and specific actions.

  Here are 7 kinds of emails with triggers that you can send to your clients:  

  1. Welcome E-mails

These welcome emails help connect you to your new subscriber. It is the initial message you will send to confirm that you have signed up. It will allow you to filter your list by asking your customers about their preferences. It is recommended to send the series of welcome messages; the first one as a pure welcoming note that introduces your services, the second one will ask about your subscribers' preferences, and following emails about special offers and discounts on their future purchase.

Have a look at the example Welcome Email from Hootsuite. It guides subscribers to sign up for the online service. This email is the first in the series of emails that are triggered. It it is delivered after the user chooses to join.

  2. Abandoned Cart Emails

The emails for abandoned carts are ones that are sent to buyers who added products to their cart but didn't proceed to checkout. By highlighting the items that have been abandoned, with a coupon or free shipping to checkout is a great method to get them to complete the purchase.

Have a look at this mail from The Asics. They've highlighted one the products that have been abandoned by placing it on top of the main banner and showing the rest of the items in the cart beneath. They have also displayed items to encourage cross-selling, increasing the likelihood of a customer returning to the website in order to make a purchase.

3. In Stock Emails

Emails with back in stock are the emails sent to clients who wish to buy a particular product which was not in stock and has chosen to receive an email notification when the item is back in inventory. Sending an email that notifies customers of the availability of the item/s is a great way to get them back to your website to make the purchase.

The email sent by Kauffmann the Mercantile can be a great illustration. This email is a fantastic way to let your customers feel loved.

4. Price Drop Reminders

Emails about price drop are sent to those who have left your store online or abandoned their cart most likely because of the price of specific products for which there is no discount. If the items you previously looked at have been discounted price, you should to let customers know about the discount. It is a good opportunity to attract customers who were once interested in buying from your.

Look at this example from Target, which informed customers of the reduced price on the items they have in their cart, along with other recommended products. This will convince the customer to make the purchase.

5. Order Confirmation

When customers have completed their checkout and placed an order, you must immediately make sure to send an order confirmation email to them, confirming the order and thanking them for making the purchase. This allows them to review the order, and alter it if necessary. Include a payment receipt and overview of the order to make the transaction transparent. Additionally, offer them the ability to monitor their order, and give a feedback. It is also possible to consider crossing-selling, or presenting similar products.

This is an illustration of an order confirmation email sent from Amazon. This particular purchase was for an ebook, and notice the way Amazon suggests similar books at the end of the email:

  6. Order Following-up E-mails

When a customer has placed an order on your site You must email follow-up messages to the customer. Create follow-up emails that are automatically sent which include product-related recommendations as well as related suggestions for products. They will also contain the tracking information for your order, a summary of your information about the purchase and order details.

Take a look at this email sent by Etsy that informs the customer about the progress of the shipment of the order.

7. Re-engagement Emails

Re-engagement emails aim to strengthen the bond with those users and clients that haven't read your email or didn't purchase from you in a specific timeframe. Re-engagement emails that are effective can encourage visitors to visit your website. It is possible to send a string of emails to win back those customers who aren't interested and encourage customers to purchase from your website. Additionally, you can include offers and discounts to entice users to visit your site and place an purchase.

Here's an example of a re-engagement email from Pinkberry which offers their customers a complimentary yogurt when they go to any Pinkberry location within 7 days:

  Automated emails are most efficient in the event that they're customized  

Hyper-personalization is what will keep your email subscribers interested in your business. The next time you plan for your email campaigns, make sure you go beyond just adding their names in the email messages. The creation of personalized email messages based on your subscribers' behavior and interests is essential to ensure that the automated emails you send out work effectively.

Kevin George is the Head of Marketing at EmailMonks, one of the fastest-growing email design and coding firms which specializes in creating beautiful email templates and PSD to HTML email conversion and free HTML emails templates. He enjoys sharing his insights and opinions about email marketing strategies and top practices in his email marketing blog.