7 Methods to Personalize Automated Emails Based on Subscriber Actions

In an age of personalization, a universal strategy for email marketing does not perform today. E-commerce businesses and email marketers often have a lot of data about their customers, however they mostly fail to use that data to their full advantage. There is a growing number of businesses utilizing email marketing, it's imperative that as an email marketer, you come up with new strategies to maintain your customers' interest.

The days of including the "first name" of subscribers in the emails was considered to be among the most successful strategies used to increase conversions. Sending subscribers timely, behavioral emails that are appropriate to their preferences is essential to ensure they are interested with your company.

Automation and personalization, when combined, can be a boon to businesses. A analysis illustrates that according to Experian, brands who personalize their marketing messages have more unique click rates and 11% higher open rates as compared to those that don't personalize. Additionally, it states that triggered emails result in more results in conversion with the same amount of messages as compared to "batch or blast" blast and batch emails.

In order to create customized campaigns for your e-commerce email marketing, it is essential to adhere to a few easy and complex procedures to drive your campaigns to the right place.

  Answer the Right Questions  

For sending automated triggered emails, it is necessary to gather data from your clients. A good way to accomplish this is to ask them to make certain preference choices to assist to segment the information. When customers opt-in to your email newsletter, you should ask them their purpose of choosing to receive your email. The responses will give you insight that will guide you to send targeted and relevant email messages.

This is an example of an email sent by Marisa Murgatroyd who is the founder of Live Your Message. In this email, she asks her email subscribers to fill out a brief survey that will enable her to separate them based on their preferences and then send only messages that are for them.

  Develop Customer Personas  

When you receive responses from your clients, you can build customer personas out of the information you've gathered. If you can understand your customers and your subscribers' email preferences better and gaining more personalized experiences for the users. This helps give the email recipients better experience and a more targeted.

  Take into account Time and Location  

Test your emails according to location and time in order for a better idea of what works for you. Certain hours of the day are proven more effective for email delivery . Your clients could be spread across the world in different times zones, so it's important to cater to all of them. Customers might respond better to emails if they're delivered at specific times in the day. Be sure to conduct A/B test for your email and find out the best moment when customers reach out to your emails and adjust your sending time accordingly.

  7 Types of Automated E-mails triggered through Subscriber Behavior  

Once you've collected enough data for you to correctly classify your email recipients, it's time to create automated trigger emails based for certain segments or behaviors.

  Here are 7 types of trigger emails you could send out to your clients:  

  1. Welcome E-mails

These welcome emails help create a connection to your new subscriber. The first email that you will send to confirm that you have signed up. This will help you sort the list of subscribers by asking customers about their preferences. You should preferably run a sequence of welcome emails; the first one is a welcoming note that introduces the services you offer, then the third one will ask about your subscribers their preferences and the next few emails about special offers and discounts on their future purchase.

Have a look at this sample welcome email from Hootsuite. This email directs the user to sign up for the online service. This email is the first in the series of emails that are triggered. It is sent when the subscriber chooses to join.

  2. Abandoned Cart Emails

Abandoned cart emails are emails which are sent out to clients who added products to their shopping cart, but did not go through with their purchase. The emphasis on the products that were abandoned with a coupon or free shipping to proceed through checkout is a fantastic way to make them complete the purchase.

Check out the email sent by Asics. They have highlighted one of the products that have been abandoned by placing it in the top banner, and displaying the remainder of the products in the cart beneath. The site has also highlighted items for cross-selling, which increases the likelihood of a customer returning to the site to make a purchase.

3. Return to Stock Emails

Back in stock emails are those emails that are sent out to customers who wanted to purchase a certain item that was out of inventory and who have chosen to receive an email notification when the item is back in stock. Sending an email that notifies the customer about the availability of the product can be a fantastic method of bringing the customer back to your website to purchase the item.

The email sent by Kauffmann Mercantile is a good instance. This is an excellent tool and service to make your customers feel loved.

4. Price Drop Reminders

Price drop emails are sent to those who have left your online store or cart most likely because of the price of specific products for which there is no discount. If items that you have previously visited are offered at a reduced cost, it's a good idea to inform customers of it. It is a good occasion to draw in customers who had previously considered buying from you.

Look at this example from The Target that informs customers about the discounted new price of the items they have in their carts, as well as other products that are recommended. The customer will be convinced to buy the item.

5. Order Confirmation

After customers checkout and place an order, you must immediately notify them via email of their order confirmation to them, confirming and thanking them for completing the transaction. This allows them to review their purchase and adjust it if necessary. Also, include a receipt for payment and an order summary to keep the transaction clear. Give them the option to track their order and to provide feedback. You can also consider , crossing-selling, or presenting similar products.

This is an example of a confirmation email from Amazon. The purchase in question was an ebook, and notice how Amazon offers similar ebooks in the end of the email:

  6. Order Following-up E-mails

Once your customer places an order through your website When a customer places an order on your website, you must deliver follow-up emails to customers who placed an order. Create follow-up emails that are automatically sent which include product-related recommendations as well as related suggestions for products. These emails will also include information about tracking orders, an order summary and payment details.

Look over this email from Etsy to inform the buyer about the progress of the shipped order.

7. Re-engagement Emails

Re-engagement emails are designed to renew the relationship between your clients and subscribers who haven't opened your emails or haven't purchased your products within a specified amount of time. Effective re-engagement emails induce the customers to revisit your website. Send a sequence of emails in order to woo the customers you have lost interest in and draw customers to purchase from your website. Additionally, you can include promotions and special discounts that will entice your subscribers to revisit your site and place an purchase.

Here is an example of the reengagement emails sent by Pinkberry that offers its customers complimentary yogurt when they go to any Pinkberry site within seven days:

  Automated emails work best when they are personalized  

Hyper-personalization is what will keep your email subscribers interested in your business. When you next plan for your email marketing campaigns ensure that you not just add their names to the emails. The creation of personalized email messages based on your subscribers' behavior and interests is the key to ensuring 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 companies that specializes in crafting stunning email templates and Photoshop to HTML email conversion and Free HTML template for email. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts regarding email marketing techniques and best practices at his blog on email marketing.