Today we’re going to be talking about the power of personalizing your email automations.
I’m not talking about just adding merge tags and content specific personalization. I want to talk about a far more personalized approach to your emails. For example, Say hello! Say thank you! Ask how they are getting on! Let your audience know where you are and that you are their go to to talk about anything in your industry.
Now we’ve seen even pro marketing agencies doing this and that’s not putting love and personalization into those all important automated emails. Gray backgrounds, white boxes, dull fonts, a simple “Welcome to the Mail list” 👎
Often email marketers will create a welcome series or a loyalty journey that gets long forgotten about. Created back in the day of first onboarding with Mailchimp. Yes it’s awesome that you can just leave these automated emails running in the background but let me tell you. These emails are your voice to your customers. They are your “greetings” and your “thank yous”. They are the most important emails to get right!
When you personalize your emails, you’re able to connect with your subscribers on a much deeper level and build relationships that are more likely to last. You are going to spark conversation and get replies that help you engage with your customers.
If this is sounding like you… get your arse back into Mailchimp and rethink those automations!
So here at Chimp Essentials we have grown as a business on the mindset of minimizing workflow to maximize the value we have to offer. This is where automation has become a foundation of our email marketing training. We help people streamline their customer engagement with email allowing more time to focus on the product or service they offer.
It’s essential to any business to learn these hacks!
So let me show you a few ways in which you can revamp your email automations.
The welcome series
Now the welcome series is an essential automation for any mailing list. Subscribers need to feel like they have been acknowledged and welcomed into your community.
These automations are a true reflection on your brand and how you treat your customers so these emails must look smart and be fully loaded with your branding.
So your first email in the welcome should be a “Welcome and thank you” let them know what they can expect from your email list and prove that value with an offer or subscribers perk of some kind.
Your second email in the welcome series should be a bit more informative. This email is perfect for introducing your brand in more depth. Mention your company values, your mission and your top products.
The third email should be an educational email. A how to, or a guide. This email is the one to show you are an expert in your field and prove your placement in your subscribers inbox.
The forth email is a great place to throw in a promotion. Thanks for being part of the community, here is a discount or offer free shipping on their next purchase.
The fifth email can be your final email in the welcome series and this is where we like to add an engagement email. Ask your subscriber how they are getting on and do they have any questions and of course ask for some feedback in the form of a Mailchimp poll.
This is a welcome series that will offer great value, remind your customer who you are and what you do and is incredibly engaging!
Milestone Series
Automated emails such as the welcome series should not come to a stop when it’s completed, and that is where we like to let the milestone series take over.
These emails are perfect for regular check ins, birthday gifts and reminders that you are glad to have them in your community. You could build 12 emails with a different variation of asking how they are getting on or if they have any questions and set these to run once a month. Include a button to your website’s latest blog post or your latest or most trending product.
Everyone loves a birthday email so don’t forget to gather data of your subscriber’s birthday so that you can send them a discount or a promotion of some kind on their special day.
Ecommerce Emails
There are a handful of automations that revolve around ecommerce and these will massively improve your customers’ experience.
Thank you email
Customer aftercare is almost as important as the product itself these days so make sure you are following up with a thank you for purchasing email, an email about how to use the product and a feedback email asking about their experience with the product.
These are amazing ways to make your customer feel like they are being looked after as well as a great way to promote any upsells or cross sells that may compliment the product or be of interest to the customer.
Abandoned Cart emails
Another important automation email is more of a pre-sale email and that is the abandoned cart email. These emails are sent to customers who have added items to their cart but haven’t completed their purchase. The email can include a reminder of the items in their cart, as well as personalized recommendations for related products or promotions.
These emails have a 45% open rate and a conversion rate of around 10.7%. This means that out of every 100 abandoned cart emails sent, approximately 11 customers will return to complete their purchase. Well worth doing right?
The other advantage of abandoned cart emails is the ability to suggest similar products. For example your customer may have changed their mind but then the abandoned cart email says “Perhaps you would like this alternative? And displays products in the same category or with the same tags”.
Re-engagement emails
These emails are sent to customers who haven’t made a purchase in a while. The email can include a personalized incentive or discount to encourage them to return to the website and make a purchase. These are incredibly powerful ways of reminding your customer about your product without being too salesy.
We also like to run similar automations for subscribers who have never made a purchase. Using segmentation you can automate these emails to only send to new customers and offer them an exclusive new customer offer or incentive.
Personality
So these are just a handful of common automations but back to my original point of this video and that is to stress the importance of adding you and your brand’s personality to your emails INCLUDING the automated ones!
Say thank you, ask how they are doing and spark chat with your audience to increase the connection they have with your brand.
Automated email are the response emails to your audiences actions and engagement so make sure these emails are personable and reflect your brand.
Thanks for hearing me rant on about this but we are incredibly passionate about mannerism in email marketing and simply can not stress enough how important and engine it is!
One final point is.. Do not be afraid to ask me or the team here at Chimp Essentials for some help. You will be pleasantly surprised just how much knowledge and help we can give you without a charge!
Speak soon and take care
Mark
