The humble email has served many purposes since the early days of the internet. From connecting loved ones across the world to conducting business, email has been a trusty method of communication.
In 2020, 306.4 billion emails were sent, and with a 42% open rate on smartphones, it’s clear to see why email marketing performs.
But often overlooked are transactional emails. While these may not seem as exciting as other B2B marketing strategies in a digital world, they are vital deal closers for retaining customers, keeping them on board, and increasing conversions.
Too many businesses get it wrong, and their boring transactional emails are left unread. Success lies in understanding the needs of the modern-day consumer.
This guide will look at nine deal-closing transactional emails you’ll need for optimized conversions.
But let’s start with a brief overview.
What exactly are transactional emails?
In a nutshell, transactional emails are emails sent automatically to a customer once a certain action has taken place on a website or other platform. These actions are known as triggers.
Examples of transactional emails include confirmations, updates, and account changes.
Unlike other marketing emails, transactional emails are the result of specific interactions and are sent to a specific individual. Transactional emails can be sent automatically using clever applications for businesses that allow email automation and data sourcing.
Why are transactional emails important?
Most professionals agree that transactional emails are important for engagement, retention, and conversion. As they are the result of a certain transaction, customers will anticipate these emails and should be more likely to open them over general B2B marketing promotions.
Prospects and businesses benefit from transactional emails. Prospects benefit from having their query or interaction acknowledged or solved, while businesses keep prospects happy with an optimized and efficient service. To improve their experience, ensure high email deliverability and security.
Some of the obvious benefits of transactional emails include the fact that they:
Build rapport with customers and prospects
Good lines of communication lead to increased trust and will set you above competitors who leave customers in the dark.
Just a simple updated payment details notification or welcome email for a new subscriber will go a long way in making customers feel rest assured that they are dealing with a reputable business.
💡Learn more tips on closing deals and bagging more prospects.
Increase engagement
Modern-day consumers expect a more personalized experience that caters to their needs.
Thankfully, transactional emails are easy to personalize as there’s already been an interaction between the business and the customer.
Personalized business emails stand out in a crowded inbox and will increase engagement. There’s also the opportunity to add links to social media pages to further increase engagement.
Increase brand awareness
Adhering to your brand’s overall styling is a good way to increase awareness and familiarity.
If a customer begins to recognize your brand in their inbox, whether it’s a shipping update or a payment confirmation, they’re likely to open it automatically without second-guessing its nature.
Increase sales
A solid transactional email strategy can lead to increased sales. Prioritize your tasks so you can focus on them.
Design your emails to take advantage of upsells and show customers other products they could purchase. For example, on a purchase confirmation, include links to ‘other products you may like’ or offer discounts on future purchases. This will help you improve sales conversion rates.
Even if the customer initially chooses not to make a further purchase, they can always come back to this email later on if they change their mind.
Create a good user experience
In today’s digital landscape, customers expect an optimized and intuitive experience from the start to the end of their journey.
Transactional emails enhance this journey by keeping customers updated every step of the way. A good transactional email will tell a customer exactly what they need to know and what to do next if required. This prevents customers or prospects from having to chase up for answers, thus losing faith in your services.
Let’s now dive into nine examples of transactional emails you’ll need for optimized conversions.
1. New member or customer welcome emails
After signing up for your services or buying a product, welcoming a new customer will help them feel they’ve made the right decision by choosing a company that goes the extra mile.
As this is the first contact point between a new customer and your business, make sure to:
- Answer the most common questions about your services or product and include links to extra resources and services.
- Display a value proposition of how the service or product is going to benefit the new customer.
- Make the new customer feel like part of your brand’s wider family with ongoing support and access to a community of users.
- Include an email signature with a picture of your CEO or other key individuals.
You can also use this welcome opportunity to offer sign-up bonuses such as discounts or freebies.
By creating a good impression from the start, you can hope to convert new customers into repeat buyers and long-time subscribers.
2. Confirmation emails
Many triggers can lead to a confirmation email. This could be an order confirmation, password change, updated details, shipping confirmation, and more.
These transactional email open, click, and conversion rates from 2020 show how valuable they can be. The conversion rates are an increase of 346% from the previous year. This should continue to grow.
Your confirmation emails need to:
- Reassure the customer their transaction was successful.
- Tell them what’s next.
- Provide contact details for further support.
Failing to send a confirmation email to confirm a transaction might leave your customer feeling anxious. A simple confirmation will put them at ease and boost satisfaction.
3. Reminder/notification emails
You’ve probably got reminders sitting in your email inbox right now, and they’re really useful.
Perhaps it’s a subscription coming to an end, or maybe you only have four days left to pay a bill.
Whatever it is, reminder emails are crucial for making sure that things operate smoothly and customers aren’t locked out of your services. Neglecting these emails could see you lose them and their future business.
To avoid this, make sure reminders and notifications:
- Are easy to understand and functional.
- Prompt your customer to take action and show them how.
- Aren’t overwhelming or packed with information.
By notifying customers of expiration dates and any outstanding payments, you’re giving them the best chance to fix any issues and remain a customer.
4. Request/feedback emails
There are times when businesses need feedback or extra information from their prospects.
Perhaps a potential customer hasn’t purchased since making an account weeks ago, or maybe a new customer has left already but didn’t say why.
When asking for requests, you should:
- Remind customers why choosing you is the best option. For example, ‘Dialpad free video calls’ would remind them you offer this service. There are also Dialpad alternatives with more features and options for cloud communication.
- Describe how their feedback will benefit the customer.
- Add incentives for completing feedback forms.
The scope of your requests will depend on the data you want to collect. Analyze this data for insights into why customers and prospects aren’t making purchases, then build your future strategies around these findings.
5. Shipping updates
Something as mundane as shipping presents a great opportunity when it comes to transactional emails.
Usually, when a customer makes a purchase, they will be excited to receive shipping updates. This means shipping emails are likely to be opened with a rate of 60% and can be optimized to increase business growth. By offering shipping updates, customers will know you didn’t forget about their order, and they’ll also be able to plan for receiving the order.
A lack of updates may leave customers feeling anxious and more likely to ask for a refund or avoid your services in the future. To mitigate this, make sure your shipping updates are clear, concise, and friendly in tone. Shipping can be stressful, do your best to alleviate this.
6. Shopping cart abandonment emails
Cart abandonments offer the perfect opportunity to send an email reminding your prospect of the items they didn’t purchase but might still want. That’s why these emails saw a 34% conversion rate in 2020.
This method of communication makes use of automation software that can track cookie data from users who have abandoned their cart and target emails towards them.
For cart abandonment emails, include:
- An image and description of the abandoned product with clickable links back to your store.
- An incentive to convert those on-the-fence prospects like discount codes or rewards points.
It’s also wise to make these time-limited so that prospects feel compelled to take action immediately.
7. Password reset emails
We’re all guilty when it comes to forgetting the odd password.
The good thing about these transactional emails is that they’re bound to be opened, so use them to your advantage. Make sure your password reset emails are:
- Short and sweet. You don’t want to bore the prospect into never using your services again.
- Helpful and reassuring. Emphasize that the password change is a secure process.
- Keep in line with the tone of your overall brand. Inject humour if you need to; something like ‘Uh-oh, has somebody forgotten their password?’ could be a good way to lighten up the process and increase your brand’s reputation.
8. Goodbye emails
Believe it or not, saying goodbye might be the best time to say hello.
If a customer hasn’t interacted with your business for 60 days or more, it’s time to invite them back. Things to include in these types of transactional emails are:
- An emotional heading that makes the customer stop and think, for example, ‘We hate goodbyes, what did we do wrong?’
- A reminder to customers of the value you bring.
- Incentives and rewards to tempt them back.
- Use names for extra personalization.
Making your customer feel valued and inviting them back might just turn that goodbye into a second hello.
9. Behavioral onboarding emails
Tracking the behaviour of new customers opens up new possibilities for transactional emails.
For example, if you offer a 30-day free trial, you could track how much users use it. If free trial customers choose not to buy after the period ends, offer another free month to those who used it for 50% or more of their trial period.
In this case, your transactional email is triggered by user behaviour. A non-purchasing customer with a 50% engagement rate of your free trial triggers an automated email.
These emails also offer an opportunity to ask for further feedback by asking questions such as “Why did you decide not to buy?” and “Would you recommend us to others?”
Transactional emails: the last word
Transactional emails are often neglected, but after reading this guide, you’ve seen some of the reasons why they should be a priority for increasing conversions and revenue. Maintaining effective communication with the modern-day consumer is key to providing value for both sides.
As part of your workforce management, make sure your team is working on transactional emails for optimized conversions going into the future. You’ll be surprised how much you can get from them.
Author bio
Grace Lau is the Director of Growth Content at Dialpad, an AI-powered cloud communication platform for better and easier team collaboration through handy features such as a visual voicemail app. She has over 10 years of experience in content writing and strategy. Currently, she is responsible for leading branded and editorial content strategies, partnering with SEO and Ops teams to build and nurture content.
