What does ‘email workflow’ mean?
Simply put, the term ‘email workflow’ refers to a series of emails that are designed to be automatically sent out based on predetermined triggers and/or conditions.
If you want a more in-depth understanding of this topic, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: What is the purpose of an email workflow?
The main purpose of an email workflow is to make communicating with and keeping both leads and existing customers engaged significantly easier and more scalable using automation.
Instead of manually crafting a new email and sending it out every time you need to get in touch or respond to members of your email lists, you can just set up an email workflow for situations with predictable triggers and responses, such as:
- Confirming and processing online purchases
- Confirming and processing online bookings
- Confirming receipt of inquiries and support tickets
- Welcoming and onboarding new users
- Recovering abandoned carts
Just imagine how much time you can save by not having to manually email every single person who buys something from you, books something on your site, sends in a question or asks for help, signs up to use your service, or fails to complete a purchase.
Question #2: How do I set this up ?
The actual process of setting up an email workflow varies from platform to platform, but it always involves the same three basic steps:
- Define the triggers/conditions
- Define the steps
- Define the recipients
- Craft the emails
Let us take a look at each one in more detail:
First, you need to define what events would trigger your email workflow to begin. Examples can be:
- A new user signing up for your newsletter
- A customer making a purchase
- A student completing a section of your course
- A user uses your chatbot
- A customer files a complaint
Second, you need to define what happens after the first automated email is sent. How long should the workflow wait before sending the next email in the series? Should it wait for a different trigger? Should it abort the process if certain situations come up?
Third, you need to identify the target recipients of your workflow. Should it send the same email to your entire email list or just a specific subset of it? What is the criteria it should use?
Finally, you need to craft the right emails for the situation you are building the email workflow for. If you are setting one up to help new users get familiar with your platform more quickly, for example, then your emails should contain things such as instructions for use, tips, and tricks.
Question #3: What are the benefits when using it?
As we have seen earlier, the biggest benefit of using an email workflow is that it saves email marketers a whole lot of time through automation.
In addition to this, however, it also improves the overall customer experience as well by eliminating the need for users to wait for a long time to hear from a brand they are interacting with. The emails can be set up to go out as soon as the need arises, regardless of the date and time it does.
Question #4: What are the limitations of email workflows?
The biggest limitation of email workflows is that you cannot effectively use them for situations with unpredictable triggers and responses.
An example of such a situation would be a customer sending in an inquiry. Since there is no way to identify all possible questions—and possible ways to phrase those questions—that a customer might ask, there is no way to come up with a fully automated email workflow in this case. The best you can do is send an automated email confirmation along with some basic troubleshooting instructions.
Another similar example would be a recipient replying to one of your emails. In this case, there is also no way to know all possible responses that a recipient might send so there is no way to set up an email workflow that would cover all your bases.
This article from Mailup will help you understand more about the limitations of email workflows.