Friday, August 9, 2013

Baby Come Back: Measuring Upsells in Transactional Emails

Pat yourself on the back, marketing genius. A customer has visited your website and made a purchase. If they've gone that far through the funnel, you're definitely doing something right.

Thanks to JangoSMTP triggers, your customer receives an email confirmation of their order soon after the transaction. As they'd expect, the confirmation includes all the usual suspects - item(s) or service(s) ordered, pricing, shipping method and address. And if you're really on the ball, their estimated ship date.

To this engaged customer, you may have even included a thoughtful "thanks for your business" or "please visit us again." And while that's a step in the right direction, why stop there to secure a repeat customer?

Consider a cross-sell while customers are in the mood
To make the most of your JangoSMTP experience, consider a cross-sell. Not a follow-up email or customer service outreach but an offer right inside the transactional email. You know, that expected outreach they're expecting and sure to open.

Cross-sell content, images and offers are commonplace in transactional emails these days. Customers expect to see them, so it's totally fine to deliver upon those expectations, especially if it means the potential for another transaction.

Cross-sells can not only show customers that you want to ensure they get the most from their product or service purchased, but also that you know them personally. If they purchased exercise gear, highlight water bottles. If they ordered tickets to a movie, educate them on upcoming releases. If they opted into your quarterly newsletter about knitting, ask them to opt into other lost arts email groups. The more products and options that are relevant and public to them, the more likely they'll respond to both of your mutual benefits. Grow their attachment to you ... grow more lists and sales for your business.

Careful placement is key
Unobtrusive is typically the key. Make sure the important information is the most obvious (what was ordered and how much it costs, anticipated ship date). Place the upsell imagery or content low on the email or to the side within a margin. Be discrete, yet eye-catching and attention-worthy. This is a value-add, not an anvil to the head. Highlight related items, services, coupons for future purchases, newsletter or blog opt-ins to horizontally grow your lists. Try testing upsell sizing. Does smaller work better? Do customers respond better to one item or three? If you're a JangoSMTP customer, testing and tracking is a snap ...

Track and attack: The JangoSMTP difference
JangoSMTP, unlike many other services, offers open and click tracking features on transactional emails. So you can see how successful your transactional emails are at encouraging customers to come back. Are customers clicking on the promoted sections of the email or just parts related to the order? Mystery solved - all the information you'll need to determine what's working and what's not is at your fingertips.

Order to ship: Stay with engaged customers
Order confirmations are just the beginning. Include cross-sells in shipping confirmations, too. Use tact. If recipients have already received cross-sells and not responded to this tactic, try another strategy. Perhaps their shipping confirmation updates include a coupon or discount for future services or product purchases. Try testing these options by switching out which cross-sell will be presented to different groups first. Based upon those test results, you'll discover a winning strategy that reaps the most ROI. Do different blast times make a difference? Higher or lower purchase levels? Test again and nail down your winning path.

If you have any questions about making the most of your transactional emails, contact us any time. We're here to help!