3) Don’t Forget About Existing Customers
Every now and then we need to remind ourselves that keeping our existing customers happy should be our top priority. What’s more, people who have already bought from you are your best leads for potential upsells! And since you have all the information (and permission, in most cases) you need to market to these people, they’re perfect candidates for triggered email campaigns.
So when a customer makes a purchase, you should…
- Immediately send them a confirmation email thanking them for the sale and letting them know when and how they’ll be receiving their product.
- Once the product ships, send another email letting the customer know an estimated arrival time along with a tracking number.
- Finally, when you know the product has arrived, send an email asking for feedback or giving additional information on how to get the most value out of what your customer has just received.
All three of these follow-up emails present a great opportunity to sneak in additional product or content recommendations to continue the sales engagement.
4) Messaging Based on Lead Score
Every company scores and prioritizes their leads differently, but all organizations should have a threshold for determining a marketing qualified lead (MQL) and a protocol for passing those MQLs to Sales. Once a prospect meets that threshold (whether by opening an email, visiting a webpage, or clicking on a paid ad), you should send an automated trigger email to the prospect that invites them to take a more dedicated action like scheduling a call or booking a demo. By this point, the prospect should be extremely familiar with your brand, educated about your products and service lines, and even doing some competitive research, which means now is the time to take this relationship to the next level.
Conversely, MQLs often drop below your lead scoring threshold following a period of inactivity or by doing things you’ve determined a negative action, such as unsubscribing from your monthly newsletter. This is another good opportunity for you to attempt to re-engage with the prospect by offering highly personalized content and/or an exclusive offer. Once the prospect is requalified, be sure your sales team reaches out to strike while the iron is hot!
5) Instruct Your Customers on How to Use Your Products and Services
There’s nothing more frustrating than making an expensive purchase and then being completely lost about how to actually use the thing you just bought. Familiarity breeds a lot of assumptions, and just because you think something is easy to use or self-explanatory doesn’t mean your customers will feel the same. Thankfully, this provides a great opportunity to trigger a helpful email!
Whenever your customer makes a purchase and then receives their product or service, send a follow-up email providing clear and simple directions for how to implement or use it. You can then send a series of automated follow-up emails detailing some best practices and innovative techniques to help them get the most out of their purchase.
Again, this is highly personalized material that keeps prospects and customers engaged with your brand over time.