7 Methods to Personalize Automated emails based on subscriber actions

In an era of personalization, a universal approach to email marketing doesn't make sense any more. Email marketers and businesses that are e-commerce often have a lot of data about their customers, however they don't always use that data to their full benefit. There is a growing number of businesses utilizing email marketing, it is necessary that as an email marketer, you come up with new strategies to keep your customers engaged.

There is a time when using the 'first name' of subscribers in the emails was considered to be one of the most successful strategies used to improve conversions. Making sure that subscribers receive timely, relevant emails that are appropriate to their preferences is essential to ensure they are interested about your brand.

Personalization and automation, when used together, work wonders. An research compilation shows that, According to Experian research, businesses who personalize their marketing messages experience an increase of 27% in specific click rates as well as one-percent greater open rates as compared to those that don't personalize. It also states that triggered emails result in 624% higher response rates to conversion with the same amount of sends as compared to "batch and blast" blast and batch emails.

If you are looking to design personalized campaigns for your e-commerce emails, you must adhere to a few easy and complex methods to run your email campaigns effectively.

  Ask the Questions You Should Ask  

To send automated email messages, you must collect data from your customers. A good way to accomplish this is to ask your customers to choose certain preference choices that will help you in separating the data. When the customers subscribe to your email newsletter, you should inquire about the reason for selecting your emails. Their responses will offer insights that will lead to sending more targeted and relevant email messages.

Here is an example of an email from Marisa Murgatroyd, Founder of Live Your Message. In this email, she asks her email subscribers to complete a short questionnaire, which allows her to segment them based on their preferences and to send only emails that are relevant most relevant to them.

  Create Customer Personas  

After you have received feedback from your customers, build the personas of your customers from the collected data. If you can understand your customers and your subscribers' email preferences better it will allow you to create customized experiences for them. This can help provide your email subscribers a much better experience and a more targeted.

  Take into account Time and Location  

Test your emails according to location and time in order to find out what is most effective for your needs. Certain hours of the day are proven more effective in terms of . Customers may be spread around the world, in different time zones and hence it is necessary that you meet the needs of all. Your customers may respond more positively to your messages if they're sent out at a particular time in the day. Make sure you do A/B testing for your emails to determine the most effective moment when customers reach out to your emails and set your send time accordingly.

  7 kinds of automate emails triggered by subscriber behavior  

When you've got enough data to divide your subscribers into segments It's now time to make automated trigger emails based for certain segments or actions.

  Here are 7 types of triggered emails that you can send to customers of yours:  

  1. Welcome E-mails

The welcome emails trigger to connect you to your new subscriber. This is the first email that you send to confirm your sign-up. It can help you filter the list of subscribers by asking customers about their preferences. The best approach is to run an series of welcome messages with the first one should be a simple welcome note and introducing the services you offer, then the third one will ask about your subscribers' preferences, and following emails about promotions and discounts that they can avail for the future purchases they make.

Have a look at this example of welcome email from Hootsuite. It guides subscribers to start using their online tool. This is the first email in their triggered series and it is delivered when the subscriber opts in.

  2. Mails from abandoned carts

The emails for abandoned carts are ones which are sent out to clients who added products to their cart but didn't make it to the checkout. By highlighting the items that have been abandoned, by offering discounts or a free shipping option to go through checkout is a fantastic way to make them complete the purchase.

Have a look at this mail from Asics. They have highlighted one of the abandoned products by putting it in the top banner, and displaying the remainder of the items on the cart below. They also have displayed products for cross-selling, which increases the chances of the customer returning to the site for a purchase.

3. Back in Stock Emails

Emails with back in stock are emails that you send to those who want to purchase a specific item that is out of availability and have decided to receive an email notification when the product is available in the stock. The sending of an email to inform customers of availability of the product can be a fantastic option to bring them back to your website to make the purchase.

The email sent by Kauffmann Mercantile is a good example. This email is a fantastic tool and service to make your clients feel appreciated.

4. Price Drop Reminders

Price drop emails are sent to clients who have abandoned the store likely due to the cost of certain products on which there's no discount. If items that you have previously visited are offered at a reduced price, it is good to let customers know about the discount. It's a great occasion to draw in customers who were once interested in buying from you.

Look at this example of the retailer Target that informs customers about the new discounted price for the items they have in their basket, in addition to additional products recommended by Target. The message will convince customers to make the purchase.

5. Order Confirmation

After customers checkout and place an order, you must immediately make sure to send an order confirmation email to them, validating as well as thanking them for having completed the purchase. This allows them to review their purchase and adjust it when necessary. Also, include a receipt for payment and an details of your order to keep the transaction transparent. Additionally, offer them the ability to keep track of their purchase and provide feedback. It is also possible to consider cross-selling or offering similar products.

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

  6. Order Following-up E-mails

Once your customer places an order through your website, you need to email follow-up messages to the customer. Create follow-up emails that are automatically sent that include relevant product recommendations along with related suggestions about products. The emails also contain the tracking information for your order, a summary of your the order's summary, and details about payment.

Take a look at this email sent by Etsy to inform the buyer regarding the status of their shipped order.

7. Re-engagement Emails

Re-engagement emails focus on rejuvenating the relationship between your subscribers and customers who haven't opened your emails or haven't purchased your products within a specified period of time. Effective re-engagement emails induce the visitors to visit your website. Send a sequence of emails to win back your disinterested customers and draw them towards buying from your site. It is also possible to include promotions and special discounts that will entice your subscribers to revisit your website and make a purchase.

Here's an example of an email re-engagement sent by Pinkberry, offering their subscribers a complimentary yogurt when they go to a Pinkberry site within seven days of:

  Automated email is most effective when they're personalized  

Hyper-personalization is what will keep your email subscribers interested in your business. When you next plan for your emails be sure to not just add the names of your subscribers in your email messages. Creating personalized emails basing on your subscriber's 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 businesses for email design and programming that is a specialist in the creation of beautiful email templates, Photoshop to HTML email conversions and the free HTML emails templates. Kevin loves sharing his experiences and opinions on email marketing tips and top practices in his blog about email marketing.