Email marketing tools are among the most popular in a modern marketer’s customer engagement toolkit. In 2015, a staggering 73% of surveyed marketers considered email as core to their business. That number is up 5% from just 68% in 2014. While it’s been no secret that email marketing has generated a high ROI at a number of businesses in the past, the data makes it clear that the number of businesses succeeding with email marketing is growing rapidly.
Likely contributing to the increased rate of success are the improving capabilities of email tools available to businesses. These include triggered emails, which automate the sending of welcome emails (when a lead fills out a form), re-engagement emails (when a prospect goes idle), and post-purchase emails (after a customer completes a purchase) to a business’s contacts when relevant. Because each message is relevant to the recipient’s context, recipients find them more useful than the average bulk email. This results in considerably higher open-rates, and makes them highly effective vehicles for triggering next steps leading to customer success.
Whether you want to reach out to a prospect for the first time or request a customer referral after deal closure, use these email templates to grab attention and get replies.
Automated emails are no doubt powerful tools. If you aren’t yet using them to nurture your customers, consider using Vtiger’s workflows to automate some of the below popular types of automated email. You might find moving customers through your sales and marketing pipeline easier than you thought it to be.
Welcome email offers deliver 8 times the revenue of traditional email
More than 70% of customers expect a welcome email when they subscribe to a service or email list. When well designed, these emails enjoy four times the open rate and five times the click rate of other bulk emails. To fully leverage the elevated engagement, include unique or limited time offers in the email’s body to help move customers on to next steps. Doing this in a welcome email has shown transaction rates that are as much as 800% higher than if they were included in bulk email.
Re-engagement emails can reawaken dormant leads and customers
The “we missed you” email is like an alarm clock that awakens inactive leads and customers. Have it trigger when a measure of customer activity dwindles for several weeks or months depending on your customer engagement cycles. Using this strategy, a CNET re-engagement campaign successfully re-engaged 8% of inactive customers. To succeed, include a clear call-to-action, with a clear path for engaged recipients to re-learn about new products and services and re-enter your sales pipeline.
Thank you emails increase repeat purchases by 10%
Thank you emails are sent immediately after a customer’s purchase as a confirmation of, and to show appreciation for a purchase. They generally have high open and click-through rates, and so provide an excellent opportunity to motivate subsequent purchases. One way to do this is to showcase related products that a customer might be interested in. Another, perhaps more effective way is to offer a limited time discount coupon on a customer’s next purchase. Remarkety notes that one in every 10 customers who receive such “thank you” emails return to purchase again.
Transactional emails can help in cross-selling and driving future engagement
Customers spend more time reading transactional emails such as order confirmations, shipping information, and delivery information, than any other type of email. This information usually reaches a recipient hours, to days after an order has been placed. More than 60% of customers said that they find these emails more valuable than bulk notices and promotional emails. Like the “thank you” email, leverage this elevated engagement rate by tactfully offering deals that incentivize returning to you when another purchase is on the customer’s horizon. As this is often the last email a customer anticipates from you, those that are socially active and have had a positive experience with you may want to stay connected. Providing links to social channels here is a great way to do so.
Invoice payment reminder emails help you avoid the stress of getting paid on time
If you offer your customers payment terms, you can save time that you would otherwise spend following up when payments are missed by automating a payment reminder email. Especially true for smaller customers, missed payments are often the result of a customer forgetting that a payment is due. An automated and friendly payment reminder received a week in advance of an invoice’s due date will increase the likelihood that a payment is received on time.
Interested in learning how to use Vtiger for email marketing and email automation with workflows, or for other tips to delight customers? Contact us!
References:
Experian’s Welcome email report
Experian’s Transactional email report
