Transactional emails -- such as order confirmations and shipping notifications -- are the long lost (revenue) loves for businesses. Transactional emails are a terrific opportunity to increase revenue by establishing new and long-term relationships, and courting customers with sweet gifts like rewards, promotions and sales. But most companies don't realize this opportunity is staring them in the face, letting these customers become the "ones who got away."
If conducted the right way, love letters in the form of transactional emails can create two to six times more revenue than general marketing emails. Transactional emails make customers weak in the knees with 100 percent open rates (people want to hear from their vendor beaus -- they repeatedly and eagerly check the status of their orders, update their passwords, etc.).
The best way to accomplish this is to integrate transactional emails with marketing emails. The revenue opportunity is there: Order confirmation emails with a cross-sell message have a 20 percent higher transaction rate.
The opportunity for true love is present, but you need to pursue it the right way. Whether you're courting a mate or a customer, you can't assume love is blind. Do your research to know the object of your affection's likes and dislikes, communicate with just the right amount of frequency to prove your interest without being too aggressive, and say the right things.
This may sound like a lot of work and you may be intimidated about getting into the customer dating game. But there is no need to be, as the right email service provider (ESP) can serve as your Cupid, delivering combined transactional and promotional arrows that will always hit the mark. Keep these tips in mind when pursuing your customer paramours to make them fall head over heels for you.
•Love Must Be Sincere: When trying to win over customers and dates alike, sincerity must be the rule: You can only fake it for so long until your intended walks away. Understand your partner's desires and prove it by sending personalized and relevant emails. Select an ESP that offers powerful analytics to identify customer interests and values, and automatically match promotions accordingly. If customers like football, you shouldn't offer tickets to the symphony.
•Don't Hurt the Ones You Love: After a successful first date, you need to contact your date and reassure him or her that it went well. The same theory applies with customers. When they place an order, don't leave them hanging and wondering what they did wrong by not hearing from you. Send a confirmation, shipping status, and thank you with a bonus offer or other type of reward. Select a provider that can automate this process for you and easily integrate your transactional and marketing lists to make the process seamless.
•Sweet Talk Past Shotgun-wielding ISP Fathers: Think of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as the overprotective fathers: In order to reach the object of your affection you need to follow their spam rules. Select a trusted and experienced ESP that can serve as your dating coach and make sure your transactional emails are written appropriately (i.e., no promotions in subject lines) so they get past spam filters but still allow you to whisper sweet promotional nothings in your customers' ears.
•You Can't Hurry Love: Even if you think it's love at first sight, don't be too over-eager and over-bearing, filling customers' inboxes with too much information too frequently. Nothing will send customers into the arms of competing vendors' any faster. A wise ESP matchmaker will advise you on the most effective frequency and content of your emails, and provide analytics to let you know what is working best.
•Can't Buy Me Love: We're familiar with the expression, "love doesn't come cheap," but it doesn't have to break the bank either. You can court new customers and convert existing customers into long-term relationships at a minimal cost. Technology today, such as Campaigner SMTP Relay, can easily and quickly integrate transactional and marketing emails so you can focus your efforts on more important tasks like wooing customers with targeted and personalized offers.
Every time you communicate with customers is a chance to show your love by combining transactional and marketing emails. Follow these tips to turn a first date into a long-term, revenue-building relationship and you'll be sure to win at the games of love, marketing and sales.