Transactional messages: go the extra mile to boost your sales

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1 Whitepaper Transactional messages: go the extra mile to boost your sales

2 Transactional messages: go the extra mile to boost your sales A huge amount of companies still do it. Sending a single to their entire customer base. And that's a shame, because chances are that your ends up in the trash just as quickly. What if you could tailor the message of your to the needs of each reader? Moreover, what if you let the content of your depend on the actions of your recipient? You can achieve that with transactional messages. So what exactly is a transactional message? It s an that isn t send in bulk to your entire contact lists. It s an message that is sent to a single individual based on a specific action: An action that s performed by your contact An action that s triggered for your contact An action that your contact didn t take Once a contact subscribes using the opt-in form on your website, you should welcome him with a clever and informative welcome . This is probably the very first transactional message a contact receives from you. Simple, right? Another example are the Someone reacted on your post s you get for your different social media accounts. Here, the s are triggered by other people, but are still relevant to you. To make it really easy, you could group transactional s under "automated", "triggered", "real-time" and "personalized messages. So it doesn t really matter which term you prefer to use. The highest goal of every company that sends s should be to present relevant content to each individual contact. Transactional s that you automatically send to the receiver once a specific action or criteria is triggered. Start with a clear scenario You can use transactional s for lots of different situations. Let your imagination run wild to get the best results for your messages. The very first thing that should be on your to-do list is getting a scenario on paper. Think about the steps a contact could potentially go through once he receives an or visits your website. Which s should he get when he registers for an event? And which if he doesn t? That way you can create dynamic content based on the action a contact performs within your scenario. In order to achieve the best results, you set up marketing automation throughout every step of your customer lifecycle. Even if your prospect hasn t performed an action yet. He hasn t registered for the event? Then you try to convince him with reasons why he should be there. Do you have dormant contacts? Wake them up: Look at all the new features or products you missed since you last logged in. Or maybe someone recommended a product to a friend? In that case, the friend didn t take the action, but he is definitely the target. 1

3 Turn a purchase into a memorable experience with transactional messages Would you like to boost the sales of your store? Give your prospect a proper motivation. Let s take the example of a biological food store. You could organize cooking workshops in which you demonstrate your cooking with organic products. After that you can easily ask visitors for their opinion. Can they easily adopt the tips of my workshops into their daily routines? Do they cook with my products? Can I draw lessons from the feedback of my visitors in order to attract new potential customers? Have they checked out your other workshops or recipes? Also keep track of this information in your database. That way you can re-address specific audiences with personalized messages. Of course you can also keep track of your customer after his purchase. Which woman doesn t want to hear that the her new jacket is being shipped to her address? The chance that your contact opens these kind of s, is really big. You remain top-of-mind with customers by informing them regularly. s that come from a personal sender also increase click through rate. Opt for the address of the CEO or representative of your company, rather than an impersonal info@ address. Maybe the most obvious example of a transactional message is sent when a customer orders a product on your website. He s waiting for the message that you have registered his order correctly, ànd that you re sending it in time. No surprise that these type of messages can get up to 8 times higher open rates than regular campaigns. Make sure you use these messages to let your personal side shine through and to turn the situation into an experience your customer won t easily forget. A smart marketer should be able to recognize this unique opportunity to make this an as positive experience as possible for your customer, to make them come back for more. 2

4 Lift the relationship with your customer to a higher level Using transactional messages and marketing automation you can set up targeted and relevant communication. And that goes a lot further then just addressing him by his first name. That way you can stay closer to your customer in every phase of the buying process. Did someone buy a product from your online shop? Make sure you give your customer a reason to come back to your website after his original purchase. Ask him how he would rate his purchase, and present him with products that your customer could use in combination with the product he already bought. No sport watch without a cool wrist band, right? By asking for reviews you can collect valuable information and great social proof for new visitors of your products. On top of that, you get the opportunity to present your customer with new and relevant products. Powerful communication: the right message to the right contact at the right time By focusing on the right audience you re not only using your marketing budget very efficiently, you also get to know that audience a lot better. Transactional messages don t just make sure you land with the relevant audience, but also that you can split up that audience into different interest groups. Did your recipient already indicate an interest into baby and toddler apparel, you know that he would probably appreciate an interesting discount. That way you can really play into the needs of your contacts. Because the messages are personalized and relevant, they will also generate more clicks. An optimal result for your invest in marketing. You can see that transactional messages offer lots of benefits. You strengthen the relationship with your customer, and you ll see an increase in your sales. On top of that, there might be a positive influence on the time your spend on your marketing campaigns. You set up a strategy, you create a scenario, and once your campaign is rolling out, you don t have to pay attention to it. They run completely automatically. But don t forget to plan a revision round now and then, to see if your design and content are still up to date! Go for transactional messages in your own marketing campaign! Would you like some inspiration to implement transactional messages in your own marketing strategy? Here you ll find a number of strategic moments to implement marketing automation: When your prospected subscribed to your newsletter and you ask him to confirm his address. When your prospect or customer changes his password or profile. When you confirm his purchase. Maybe try to sneak in some upselling options. 3

5 When you want to thank him for a specific action, e.g. sharing your message on social media or with a friend. When you notify him of his points balance. When your client needs to buy his monthly invoice. When you send him your weekly or monthly newsletter. Showcase limited editions or other cool stuff your contact can find in your online shop. When your contact creates a profile on your website, send him a confirmation that you have registered his data correctly. When someone sends you a question through the website. When your visitor places intems in his shopping basket, but leaves your website without making a purchase. When you haven t heard or seen any activity from a customer and you want to get back in touch. When your customer registered for an event or webinar. In the following cases you ll find some examples of transactional messages that are integrated into a case. Hopefully they will spark your AHA-moment to get started yourself. Emma has an online store with artistic DIY materials and would like to sell more products. Every week she sends out a newsletter to present her audience with fun DIY ideas. She promotes her newsletter through various channels and tries to collect as much subscriptions as possible. Anne is a busy bee that loves to work with her hands. She immediately subscribes to the newsletter of Emma. Anne immediately receives a warm welcome from Emma. Emma incorporates her own products into her DIY ideas, in order to get Anne to buy her products on the website. In the newsletter Emma uses different links to her products. Recipients are automatically saved in interest groups based on the links they click. At the end of the newsletter, Emma gives her reader a final push: Would you like to get started yourself? Here you ll find everything you need.. Sophie wants to learn to knit and crochet. In the newsletters from Emma she has already found a few articles about knitting and crochet pieces and clicked through to the website to get to know more. By clicking on those articles, Sofie is now a member of the interest groups knitting and crocheting. Emma sends her an automated message: "Hi Sophie, we noticed that you are very interested in knitting and crochet stitching. Here you'll find a handy guide for beginners. If you have any questions, I would love to help you out.". In the manual she reprocessed products from her own online store. Sophie feels inspired, and orders a number of balls of wool and knitting needles on Emma s website. Sophie immediately recieves an that her order has been processed succesfully. From the moment her package is sent, she gets another . Her products have arrived. The Christmas period is approaching, and Sophie gets a new message in her inbox: Hi Sophie, hopefully you ve found the time to create your own original knitting and crochet stitching projects. Christmas is almost near. Maybe you d like to surprise your family or friends with a home-knit Christmas present? Maybe you ll get some inspiration here. Sophie checks out the new DIY projects and clicks through to the products online. 4

6 Why invest in transactional messages for your marketing strategy? We invest so much time in creating beautiful websites with a positive user experience, persuasive copy and calls to action, and speed optimization. Don t our automated s deserve the same treatment? Too often they are treated as the ugly stepchildren, quickly set up and hidden away. Your website texts are so convincing, but who has looked just as carefully at the texts of your confirmations and welcome s? Your designer took weeks trying to determine the color and look & feel of the website, but why do most of notification s seem to lack color and inspiration? Try to extend that kind of perfectionism to your automated messages as well. Make sure you can determine exactly how much opens and clicks every in your scenario generates, and optimize where necessary. Do the results correspond to the goals you have set? That s the only way to set up an effective and successful strategy for your online shop or website. Looking for design inspiration? We ve collected lots of beautiful examples on the Flexmail Pinterest account. 5