7 Amazing Ways Email Triggers Can Keep Customers & Grow Your Business

image

What is the key to successful email marketing in 2020? Personalization is the key.

If you want to grow your eCommerce business fast, you should familiarize yourself with the email personalization technique that goes beyond a customer’s name.

You should find a way to personalize your message and make your customers feel valued and special.

Today, we’ll talk about setting up automated personalized behavioral trigger emails. We’ll explain how you can use trigger emailing to retain your customers and achieve long-term business growth.

What are trigger emails?

A trigger email is an email that your customers receive once they complete a specific action or once a particular event occurs. For instance, when shoppers complete the checkout process, the system sends them an order confirmation email.

The idea behind the trigger emailing is that you need to understand buyer intent and send the right email at the right moment.

You need to define the main triggers (actions and events) related to the customer journey and engage your customers with personalized messaging and relatable content.

Does it sound complicated to you? Further, we will consider a few good examples of trigger emails, so you understand how they work.

1. Onboard new customers in the right way

What is the first trigger email you should send to your prospective customers? Not hard to guess that it’s a welcome email.

Once users sign up for your website, they should get the first personalized email.

You should welcome your new email subscribers and try to persuade them that you will do your best to satisfy their wants and needs.

Also, you should briefly describe your product and its key features or benefits. Your welcome email should encourage people to take the next step – to try out your product.

Well, it happens pretty often that users do not react to the welcome emails and do not want to take any further action. They sign up for the website but never start using it and never make a purchase.

To engage such users, you should send one or a few follow-up emails. You should provide prospects with some valuable information and assure them that you are ready to answer all their questions.

Be friendly, and welcome your new email subscribers personally. Make subscribers want to learn more about your product. Write your first email in an engaging manner; don’t be pushy.

2. Reduce abandoned carts

Another common email trigger is cart abandonment.
Some shoppers add products to the shopping cart without having any intention to make a purchase. For instance, a high school girl, who is adding Jimmy Choo’s bridal shoes to the shopping cart, has no real intention to proceed to checkout.

Other shoppers have an intention to buy a product but still abandon shopping carts.

For instance, a bride plans to buy fancy white shoes but wants to consider a bunch of other products before making a purchase. Your task is to use trigger emails to get these shoppers to complete the checkout process on your website.

Here is what you should include in your cart abandonment email:

  • Remind the recipients of what products they have left at the shopping cart
  • Recommend a few similar products (no more than three items to avoid choice overload)
  • Add a few CTA buttons

Gently remind prospective customers about the products they have left in a shopping cart. Make sure that your email doesn’t sound too salesy.

3. Inform your customers about completed or upcoming transactions

Every transaction made by your customers can be considered as an email trigger. Every time people make a purchase on your website you should send them an electronic receipt.

Transactional email should contain the following:

  • The receipt information
  • “Thank you” note from your team
  • Invitation to contact the customer support center
  • Information regarding the future subscription fees or payments (if applicable)


If you provide subscription services, you should also send a “pre-transactional” email a few days before the transaction occurs.

You should remind people that you will charge them a fee soon.
Well, in the short run, pre-transactional emails may cause an increase in service unsubscription.

But you should understand that the use of such trigger emails will benefit your e-commerce business in the long run. Pre-transactional emails will help you to create transparency with your clients and boost retention.

Notify your customers about important transactions, including upcoming ones. Also, use transactional emails to remind subscribers about the benefits and features of your product.

4. Invite customers to provide you with feedback

What actions do your customers take after the transaction takes place?
They use your products and experience your services. That’s another stage of the customer journey – and another email trigger.

At this stage, you should ask your customers to provide you with feedback. You may invite them to take part in a customer satisfaction survey or ask them to write a review.

The biggest challenge here is to define the right moment to send your email. It all depends on the type of product or service.

For instance, a cosmetic company that sells hair growth stimulating shampoo asks customers for feedback one month after the purchase.

Why does the company wait for so long to send a trigger email? The answer is simple. Customers need to use the shampoo for at least a few weeks in a raw to spot the signs of new hair growth.

What about the airlines, they use the opposite strategy.

They send a trigger email the day after the flight. Companies try to collect feedback while the flight experience is still fresh on the passenger’s mind.

So your task is to estimate how much time your customers actually need for testing your product.
You should choose the right day to send your trigger email to gain more positive reviews.

Show your customers that you care about their opinion. Ask for feedback politely. If customers do not provide feedback after the first email, you can send one or two reminders.

5. Re-engage your existing customers

Have some of your customers stopped visiting your website and using your product? You can re-engage them with the help of a well-written email.

It’s worth mentioning that in this situation, not a specific action, but the absence of any actions plays a role of an email trigger.

If customers haven’t been interacting with your brand for more than 10 or 30 days, you should remind them about your brand and your products.

Here is what you should write in your re-engagement email to win your customers back:

  • Write about how much you have missed your customers. Use the emotional appeal to enhance your message.
  • Share news and explain what has recently happened to your brand.
  • Encourage your customers to go check what’s new on your website.
  • Inform your customers about the new project you are working on to generate interest.

Re-engage your leads by sending “I miss you” emails. Write about what is happening in your company right now and share some valuable information.

6. Keep your customers informed

As we have mentioned at the beginning of the article, not only customers’ actions but also events can be considered as an email trigger.
When something important happens in your industry, or in the world, you need to write an explanatory email to your customers.

You should provide information on how your eCommerce business is dealing with the consequences of the event. And you should explain what steps you are taking to keep serving your customers under the given circumstances.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, all companies, including big corporations and small eCommerce businesses, sent coronavirus response emails. They explained what they did to protect their employees and to keep selling their products.


Why should you write emails like these ones?

  • This is a great way to show your customers that you care about them.
  • This is your chance to tell people more about your company and humanize your brand.
  • And anyway, you need to inform your customers about the changes in your working hours, delivery terms, etc.

Otherwise, people may presuppose that your business is closed – they will stop visiting your website and ordering your products.

If you find it challenging to write such a long informative email, feel free to get professional assistance.

Use writing services like WriteScout, or hire a freelance expert via Upwork or Fiverr.

Take each and every chance to strengthen your brand image. In a time of crisis, explain to your email subscribers how you respond to industry and world events.

7. Guide your customers

Trigger emailing is all about guiding customers through all the stages of their journey.
If you have already satisfied all the customers’ current needs, that’s great.

Now you need to go the extra mile and give your loyal customers some additional support. You should provide them with some ideas on what they should do next and encourage them to “stay tuned” for your upcoming projects.

In this simple way, you will build long-lasting customer relationships and make your eCommerce business a success.


Stay connected with your customers after the sale. Create an intriguing atmosphere for your new product launch and your upcoming projects.

Keep nurturing your email list

For achieving success in the long run, it’s important to keep growing the email list week by week.
You should encourage your website visitors to sign up for your newsletters. You can do it in multiple ways:

  • Use lead magnets (e.g., eBooks, checklists, templates, guides, tutorials)
  • Create evergreen content and embed CTAs into every blog post
  • Leverage social media advertising
  • Run contests and giveaways
  • Use popups to promote special offers
  • Add a few sign-up forms to your website
    At the same time, you should keep using email triggers to keep your leads and customers engaged:
  • Welcome your new email subscribers and encourage them to learn more about your product
  • Remind prospective customers about the products left in an abandoned shopping cart
  • Notify your customers about the transactions
  • Ask for feedback
  • Re-engage your leads by sending “I miss you” emails and sharing your company’s news
  • Explain to your email subscribers how you respond to recent industry and world events
  • Make your customers “stay tuned” for your upcoming projects and new product launch.

Wrapping up

If you want to retain your customers, make trigger emails an integral part of your marketing strategy.

Try to understand your customers’ intent and automate your email marketing in a proper way.

If you do it right, you will boost your customer relationships and take your business to the next level.

About the Author

Kristin Savage nourishes, sparks, and empowers using the magic of a word. Along with pursuing her degree in Creative Writing, Kristin was gaining experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in marketing strategy for publishers and authors. Now she works as a freelance writer at Studyker and Subjecto.

amir

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *