What is email automation?
As the name suggests, email automation is the process of automatically sending out emails to a single user, an entire mailing list, or a specific subset of a mailing list based on specific triggers.
If you want a more in-depth understanding of this topic, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: How does email automation work?
As we have seen in the previous section, email automation requires predetermined triggers to work. Whenever one such trigger happens, a specific email gets sent out to a single person, specific members of a mailing list, or all members of a mailing list.
An example of a trigger would be a user registering for a webinar. Instead of manually sending out a confirmation email every time someone registers for it, the organisers can just use email automation to, well, automate the entire process and send their confirmation emails out on autopilot.
All the organisers have to do is write the email once, configure it to automatically include the recipient’s personal details (e.g., first name and registration info), identify the trigger, and they are all set. The system will handle the rest.
Question #2: What types of triggers can I use for email automation?
You can use virtually any type of predictable digital event as a trigger for email automation, including:
- Mailing list sign-ups
- Purchases
- Inquiries
- Abandoned carts
- Lesson completion
Let us take a look at each one in more detail:
First, you can use email automation to send out a welcome email whenever a new user gets added to your email list. You can even personalise it so it feels as if you are speaking directly to said user.
Second, you can also use it to send out not only confirmation emails whenever a buys something from you online, but also upsell emails with personalised offers so you can earn more from each paying customer.
Third, you can also use it to send out email responses to any inquiries you get. Depending on how sophisticated the system you have in place is, you may be able to just send out a confirmation email saying you will get back to each user shortly or an email with the actual answers they are looking for.
Fourth, you can also use email automation to encourage users who put items in their online shopping cart but did not complete the checkout process to come back and do so. You can even include discount codes or any other exclusive deal in your email.
Finally, if you sell online courses, you can use it to automatically send out things such as progress reports, quizzes, and even actual course content to your students based on where they are in a specific course.
Question #3: What are the benefits of it?
The biggest benefits of email automation include:
- Time savings
- Fewer missed opportunities
- Scalability
- Improved customer experience
- Improved customer retention
Let us take a closer look at each one:
First, email automation can save you a whole lot of time. Instead of manually typing out an email and sending it out every time something happens in your business, you can just automate the whole process and send out the most relevant emails to the right people at the right time.
Second, email automation also allows you to capitalise on opportunities that you would not be able to if you did all your emailing manually. Examples of such opportunities include:
- Upselling people who just made a purchase
- Getting people who abandoned their carts to come back and complete their purchase
- Getting people who are inquiring about a product to buy it by answering their questions in a timely manner
Third, email automation makes it possible for you to send timely, relevant emails to a million people just as easily as doing it for 10.
Fourth, since email automation allows you to instantly respond to your customers in the form of confirmation emails and the like, it can help you make them feel more valued and heard.
Finally, since email automation allows you to easily stay in touch with your mailing list—no matter how big it gets—through timely and relevant emails, it can help you retain more of your leads and customers.
You can check this helpful article from Digital22 to more about its benefits.