Are you effectively utilizing your triggered emails as a selling tool? If not, you may be missing out on a huge potential for ROI.
Whether you are sending a reminder, an update, or a confirmation email, ensure that you include an opportunity for the recipient to engage with your brand further. Why? Simple. Past purchasers are likely to be repeat purchasers. Triggered emails also allow you to keep your brand in front of recipients and hit them when they are ready (timely) to buy.
There are two companies that come to mind when I think of effective triggered emails: Netflix and eBay. Both Netflix and eBay send triggered, transactional messages (”movie has been shipped” or “you have won this item,” etc), that include a selling call-to-action as part of the email. (Note: review the specifics of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 for details on transactional messages).
So how do they do it and how can you do it too? By following the “commandments” below:
1. Thou shall include at least one sales call-to-action. You don’t want to over do it, but having at least one where the call-to-action compliments the main goal of the email, makes sense.
2. Thou shall align calls-to-action with business goals. Not only do you want the call-to-action to compliment the main goal of the email, you want to make sure it is in line with what you’re looking to accomplish as a business. For example, Netflix grows by increasing customer usage (rentals) and expanding their customer base through recommendations. So, it is logical that they include an incentive and call-to-action asking readers to recommend their service to family and friends.
3. Thou shall ensure relevancy of the message. It will be a struggle to make the selling call-to-action work if it’s not relevant to the customer at that moment. You can ensure relevancy by thinking about who you are talking to and what the triggered email is focused on. Cross-sell sensibly.
4. Thou shall know thy customer. If ever there was a case for personalization, this is it. You need to engage the customer in a one-on-one conversation by speaking directly to their wants and needs based on the content in the triggered email. Their past behavior is the best indication of their future behavior. What will compel them the most?
Netflix and eBay follow these commandments by leveraging the information they already have about their customers. This tactic isn’t just limited to the big guys, however. My local vet also followed these commandments in their monthly prevention email alert.
Do you know of any other companies that do this well? Share your thoughts below.
Kelly Lorenz
Account Manager at Bronto
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Kelly,
Great post. I manage all of the triggered and transactional at my org and can tell you from experience that business rules and cadence is also a factor. With that, I would like to add a commandment to your list
1. Thou shall establish business rules and cadence to effective communicate these triggers to the customer without over communicating.
Doing it without ever actually communicating is everyone’s goal. No? Thanks for the tip. A tip I have is simply grabbing Outlook Track-It, if you are an outlook user and enjoy GTD plugins. This add-on is a followup email reminder and helps get more done.