Email automations are a great way to put in some work now, that can then keep working for you for weeks, months or even years to come. It’s simpler than you might think to set up a few automatically triggered emails that will help your subscribers get to know you and your business, and help you keep your email list engaged and in good shape.
Keep in mind that when someone signs up to your email list, that’s the moment when I’m most interested in what you have to offer… as the weeks go on, they'll likely lose interest. So when they first subscribe is the best time to make a connection with them! If you’re running a small e-commerce, product-based business here are four simple emails you can create to boost your email marketing success.
1. A Welcome Email
Many of the people who land on your list will know little to nothing about your business, the person/people behind it, your values and even what your products and services are. Maybe someone opted in as part of a prize giveaway, or after a 5-minute visit to your website. Even if they've landed on your list because they've shopped with you, they still may not know the story behind the business.
You may want to create two welcome emails, one for new customers and one for new subscribers, or just keep it simple by creating one email which can work for both.
Introduce Your Brand
Your welcome email is your chance to introduce your brand and tell them what’s unique and special about it. The goal of this email is to increase the ‘know, like and trust’ factor. This email should be personal, from you, the business owner. Focus on your unique selling points and values - e.g. everything is handmade, designed locally, sustainably sourced, exclusive to your store etc. You want to share all the things that set your business apart and make you special. You should share with them what exactly to expect from being on your list. For example, will you be sharing discounts and sales? Do you share your latest designs/products or events? Or, will you be educating them about a particular topic?
Bring out the personality of your business in your language and choice of words, e.g. will you take a more serious or humorous tone? Is your brand more sophisticated and elegant or more quirky and cutting edge?
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Make sure that your email contains photos of you and your products. You can also include a discount code to thank them for subscribing and encourage them to make a purchase. Lastly, don't forget to include a call to action. You want your new subscribers to click through to your store and shop with you right away, so give them plenty of opportunities to do that!
2. An Informational / Story Email
This email will be sent a week or so after the welcome email. This will be a longer-form email with more background information about the what, why and how of your business. The goal is to let them get to know you/your business so that they start to understand what’s unique about your business so they should choose to shop with you, and also develop some kind of virtual personal connection. You could answer questions like...
How did you get into this?
What drives you, how do you want to serve your customers?
Why do you sell these particular products, what’s special about them?
How do you source/create your products?
What are the categories of products that they can choose to buy from you?
Are there any unique systems they should know about (e.g. rewards points, lead time for bespoke items etc.)
Include lots of pictures and be sure to ask them to follow you on social media.
3. Thank You / First Time Buyer Survey Email
When someone has bought from you for the first time, you can automatically send them a thank you and survey. If you’re using Mailchimp this can be easily automated and managed within that system, no need to host a survey anywhere else. This email can be short and to the point, and can give you valuable feedback on how you can improve your products or systems.
4. Re-engagement Email and Perhaps a Discount Code
Set up an automation to contact people who haven’t bought from you for a certain period of time, whatever seems appropriate for your business, e.g. if you’re in the grocery business then you’d expect people to buy more often than if you’re selling artwork.
This can be pretty short and to the point, just tell them you’ve noticed that it’s been a while since they’ve shopped with you and ask if they'd like to give you a try/another try.
At some point you will need to take people off your list who are not engaging or shopping with you. Having inactive people on your list will lower your email delivery rates as your emails will start to look ‘spammy’. So consider what makes sense for your business and after you’ve given people a reasonable chance to engage, unsubscribe them. It feels counterintuitive to unsubscribe people but really if they’re not interested then it’s better to get them off the list (especially if you’re paying for the number of subscribers you have in your email system!)
Do you use automations? Do you find them useful?
