Why don’t more e-retailers do triggered emails?

October 24th, 2007 by Carolyn Gardner

In the retail space, we typically see two types of emails:

1. Planned, but non-triggered emails based on overall marketing strategies
2. Triggered emails based on behaviors or subscriber data

Judging from most of our inboxes, the planned non-triggered type emails tend to be most prevalent. They’re often part of a bigger marketing blitz that could include direct mail, catalogs, etc. They can be one-hit wonders or a special series of weekly or monthly type broadcasts related to seasons or buying behaviors. And they often feature sales or the announcement of new products. To call them proactive marketing initiatives is totally fair. And kudos to every retailer who sets up a plan to maximize the email channel! To those who don’t, ugh oh …it’s only bad. You’re either taking the spray ‘n pray approach which nets poor results or you’re doing nothing which means you’re leaving huge cash on the table. Note to self: post on both these tragedies…

When you look at triggered emails, you’ve suddenly got something that’s both proactive and reactive (reactive in the good sense of the word). The proactive part of the equation is easy since you must still have a plan to set up the triggers - yes, they do require a strategy. They can be as simple as the welcome/thanks for signing up email that gets automatically triggered to everyone who successfully opt-ins. (Sadly this isn’t always happening - in fact Linda Bustos over at Elastic Path took it upon herself to run a little study on how retailers take advantage of the welcome email. To her horror, she discovered that only 1 in 3 triggered the much anticipated welcome email within 24 hours. That’s just the beginning. You should read Linda’s full post titled: Welcome Email Usability Tips for Online Retailers)

Triggered emails are also the very necessary transactional email that confirms a purchase.

But even more exciting are the triggers specifically designed to make or save a sale! Consider the triggers that get sent to anyone who hasn’t made a purchase in the last six months - aka the win-back trigger with the subject line that says: “We want you back!” Or the trigger that recognizes you’ve abandoned your shopping cart. Who knows, maybe your boss walked up to your desk right when you were about to enter your credit card and you had to do the fast exit? Wouldn’t it be nice to be reminded that your cart was still waiting for you and that you had options to order online or by phone!

Without a doubt, triggers should be included in every retailer’s email marketing plan. The technology is waiting…and frankly, so are the online shoppers! Entice us with timely messages at the right time and we’re likely to buy. It’s that simple.

Posted in Carolyn Gardner, Email marketing, eCommerce |