At Chilli we cannot stress enough the importance of lead nurturing in attracting new potential leads. Converting visitors into leads requires a strong call to action first and foremost. Email campaigns are an excellent way to do this and stay front-of-mind. Only last week we wrote a blog about informational emails. Now it’s time to find out how effective transactional emails can be.
Transactional emails work on a one-to-one format and are triggered by specific actions on your website (i.e. completing a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, downloading an eBook, etc.). Email automation processes trigger transactional emails, so you can simply store the workflows in your systems backend to be released later when required.
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Confirmation email
The power of the confirmation email cannot be denied. It can be incredibly frustrating as a customer when you don’t receive an automatic confirmation message after you purchase or book something online. How do you know your transaction is complete?
Typical complaints about confirmation messages (other than the fact they are sometimes not sent) include subject lines being too vague, or the information you want to confirm not being immediately evident when you open the email. Avoiding this confusion and providing peace-of-mind to the customer is as simple as improving the layout of your email. Keep it simple and easy to interpret with a brief summary of the important information at the beginning. Do not over design and do not include large amounts of text. All your customer is after is a chance to confirm the transaction was completed correctly.
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Form submission kickback
Automated messages can make your life a lot easier when it comes to setting time aside to communicate with your customers. But the same ease needs to be experienced by the customer too. Whenever a prospect, lead, or customer fills out a form on one of your landing pages, an automated kickback email will be triggered after their submission, sending them a follow up. Depending on the form, these kickbacks often thank the customer, advise them someone will be in contact with them shortly, or even provide them with content such as an eBook or blog. Therefore it is essential to have these messages set up and triggered accurately. How frustrating would it be if you tried to download an eBook and the email never arrived?
Automated messages should contain a strong call to action with a direct offer, thanking the reader, provide them with what they were promised (i.e. eBook, blog, free trial), and list the contact details of your business. Again, keep these messages succinct and to the point.
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Welcome email
Everyone likes to be welcomed to a new community, particularly when it’s an online environment and you may not meet this lead face to face. A simple welcome email is dependent on the specifics of what you’re offering. But generally speaking, they will include the following features:
- Showcase your brand’s personality
- Highlight your brand’s value proposition, and
- Include a friendly welcome message.
Remember, first impressions are important. So make sure you make a positive and lasting impression!
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Lead nurturing campaign
Lead nurturing campaigns contain a series of well-strategised, consistent, and connected emails that are highly useful and targeted to the customers needs.
For example, if a lead has recently downloaded an eBook from your website about what to look for when buying a new car, you could potentially send them follow up communications related to this same topic. The first might be a follow up asking how they enjoyed the eBook and provide a link to a relevant blog available on your website. The second might have a promotional focus, listing the latest cars for sale at your dealership. The final might be a prompt for the lead to contact your dealership to investigate different vehicles available further.
By identifying a particular group of leads that you already know are interested in a specific topic, you can then follow up with more relevant and targeted content. This in turn will make them more likely to continue their relationship with you.
The personal, one-on-one environment of emails makes them a very powerful channel. Campaign management can be made even easier thanks to automation tools like Capture. You can save time by automating your messages and content, increase the number of conversions, and send timely, relevant messages to your leads and customers.
Need a little incentive from us to get started on your next email campaign? Find out more about the in’s and out’s of marketing automation – Download our FREE Marketing Automation vs. Email Marketing Systems eBook here.
