The Core Email Marketing Automations That Your Brand Needs

Automations, also known as flows, are a marketing automation feature that enables you to tailor and personalise your communications with your subscriber base. These automations (whether this is an email or text) are triggered by a customer’s action, like placing an order or adding a product to their basket. Most email marketing providers will have the ability to set these up within their platform, you just have to learn how to set them up effectively, and work out exactly what it is that you want to set up and then you’re a go!So, you might be thinking, what automations are the most effective and how do I pick from the long list? We can help!Below we list out what we at 303 think are key for your brand’s success.

Welcome Series

Having an engaging welcome series is key. Often, this is the first email that a reader will receive from your brand and so making a great impression is really important. It’s likely that the user will have subscribed to your mailing list because of an incentive, for example, 10% off their first order, and so it’s imperative that you get that offer into their inbox as quickly as possible. If someone has subscribed to your list, we consider them a warm lead, so actioning it quickly is key. This is the perfect opportunity to highlight everything that makes your brand unique, honing in on why they should buy from you, and not your competitor. You can also use this opportunity to promote your social media channels and find out exactly how your customers would like to hear from you in future communications.

Abandoned Cart Automation

We’ve all received one of these emails. You’ve added something to your basket and changed your mind, or got distracted. A few moments later an email arrives, reminding you of what’s in your basket, and (likely) a few hours later another arrives offering you a discount on your purchase - great news! This is the brand’s abandoned cart automation. It can be difficult these days, with so many websites to choose from, to remember exactly what it is you had been intending to purchase, especially if something quickly pulls you away. The abandoned cart automation reminds your customers of the items that they’ve left sitting in their shopping cart. Additionally, if set up properly, it’s possible to include dynamic content, like an image of the specific product that they abandoned, and other products that we think they might like! With abandoned cart automations, it’s important to A/B test time delays. For example, brands that sell higher ticket items may benefit from a longer time delay. This is because it’s less of an impulse buy than something of a smaller value. So it’s definitely worth testing times.

Thank You Email

This is the perfect opportunity to foster brand loyalty by expressing gratitude to your customers for their business. This email goes out in splits, depending on the number of purchases a customer has made. For example, they’d receive a different email after their first and second purchases. A small thank you can go a really long way, and this can be a great opportunity to ask them to recommend you to a friend, request a review or simply just say thank you.

Cross-Sell & Up-Sell Automations

Cross-selling and up-selling is the perfect way to suggest products and drive more revenue for your online store. You can use this automation to showcase some of the other products that you have, for example, you could handpick some of your best-selling items, or suggest products depending on what the user has purchased before.Implementing time delays is key to ensuring you’re not spamming the reader. Implement a time delay here so that after someone buys an item, you can send a message to them to buy a complimentary item.

Birthday Automation

Who doesn’t love a birthday gift? Using your signup form, you can gather birthdays off your subscribers, and use them to personalise your flows even further. Implementing a birthday flow is the ultimate way to connect with your reader on a personal level, on the most personal of days, their birthday. You can celebrate with them by offering a discount, free-shipping, a free gift, or simply just saying happy birthday.

Browse Abandonment Automation

We caught you looking 👀Ever received an email like this and wondered how they’ve done it? Clever isn’t it. Part of the fun of shopping online is being able to window shop across the whole web. But with a browse abandonment automation set up, it’s not quite so anonymous. Your subscribers will receive a message based on what they’ve been looking at, and you can control exactly what this looks like. This flow is particularly important around holiday seasons where consumers might browse the web more often than before.