Joining the world of business will require you to always be updated and stay connected. You must know the latest trends in the world of ecommerce and be knowledgeable enough to handle changes. Being aware of what is happening within your business includes keeping yourself committed to your audience. Why? Simple, the lifeline of your business depends on your customers. If you want your business to earn loyal customers, you must know how to “court” them. And what is one way to do that? Through using transactional email.
What is Transactional Email
A transactional email can be defined as a kind of system generated email that exists between a company and its audience. It is a functional email usually related to a user’s account notifications, a specific activity or even a commercial transaction. Transactional email is also called “triggered” email because it is commonly sent by businesses due to an event or interaction between services.
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Mastering what is transactional email helps companies to recover abandoned carts and even activating some of their inactive clients. With transactional email, companies can have the chance to send personalized emails to their old patrons and update them with all the latest information about their business. A transactional email is usually sent one at a time to specific people making it more possible for companies to increase their engagement rates.
An effective transactional email is often created to serve as either one of the following:
- Account creation alerts
- Welcome emails
- Email for account subscription ending
- Alert for Credit card expiration
- Abandoned cart notifications
- Event notifications
- Order Shipping notifications
- Order confirmations
- Sending purchase receipts
- Customer service response
- Account password reminders or resets
- Requests for feedback
Why Use Transactional Email
You may still find it confusing to understand why use transactional email for your online business. Well, we are here to help you see a better picture of that. To help you get started, we collected below the different importance of transactional email you should know about.
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1. A Transactional Email Helps Build Trust
A customer’s trust is essential to any business. Customers tend to fall deeper with businesses who know how to make them feel appreciated—something which an effective transactional email can help you with. Using transactional email helps your business provide your clients with all the valuable information they need during transactions. A well-written transactional email will save you time from answering questions and make your customers feel empowered and appreciated. By sending a transaction email, you foster respect and gain a solid foundation of trust from your audience.
2. Using Transactional Email Increases Engagement
Customer engagement is important in establishing a good, working business website. If your website has many visitors, you have more chances of conversions and eventually gaining more sales. One of the best importance of transactional email is that it helps increase customer engagement. The “personalized” characteristic of a transactional email makes them appear more special and inviting for customers. When customers feel you take time and effort in appreciating them through your transactional email, they will immediately be fond of you. And if this goes on, you can easily build stronger bonds between them.
3. An Effective Transactional Email Increases Sale
Using transactional email helps in increasing sales. How? Businesses that master some transactional email best practices often include photos and videos in their email. This is another importance of transactional email you should master—enticing your clients to make another purchase. Customers easily get hooked on products that complement their previous purchases. Sending them a transactional email equipped with ads of your other products can help you do conversions. Understanding what is transactional email can even lead your customers to go and browse more on your business website and eventually make a “wish list” for their next purchase.
4. Using Transactional Email Helps Promote Brand
If there is one importance of transactional email you should never forget about, it can help you a lot in promoting your company brand. New customers tend to easily forget businesses they just made transactions with. As a business that wants to earn loyal customers, it is important to master different transactional email best practices is important. Using transactional email helps you put a sense of awareness in your client’s minds. As soon as they see your company logo, customized message, and brand name on your transactional email, they will start to remember who you are and what made them transact with you. With learning why use transactional email, you easily have the chance to present clients your business in your own unique way.
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Common Uses of Transactional Email
Now that you’re done understanding what is transactional email and its importance, it's time for you to learn some of the ways to
The most famous use of transactional emails is through purchase receipts and confirmations. This type of transactional email is usually sent after an online sale has been made. Nowadays, customers are fond of online shopping and purchasing products on their favorite online business platforms. As soon as they’re done paying for the product they bought, this is the time they receive their transactional email containing all the important details of the purchase they just made. Such information may include payment details, shipping schedule, date and time of purchase, as well as photos of the product they just bought. Using transactional email for this purpose makes it easier for customers to know everything they need to know about the purchase they just made.
2. Explicit Requests
Explicit request is a type of transactional email that contains important information that a customer explicitly asked for. A transactional email used for this type is often expected by customers to be sent immediately. One best example of a transactional email is an email sent for an account password reset. Users who cannot access their accounts send requests to companies to help them open their account portal. During these times, users expect an immediate reply from companies. A transactional email containing all the necessary information a user will need to reset his password is sent by the company immediately to avoid getting back feedback from their user. Verification codes are also another best example falling on this type of transactional email.
3. Alerts
Sending account-related alerts are also one of the main reasons why use transactional email. Customers need to know whether they have successfully made an account, have an overdue invoice, failed a payment attempt, or are close to their account expiration date. Using transactional email makes it easier for a business to send notifications and alerts to their client. A functional transactional email also helps them keep updated on their billing schedule and avoid deactivating their account.
4. Referrals & Invitations
Using transactional email for referrals and sending invitations is another must for businesses. Many businesses create effective ways to turn their customers into reliable ambassadors. Mastering what is transactional email makes it easier for companies to easily let their clients invite family, friends, and colleagues to go on and visit their business website. Users can simply enter their colleagues’ email addresses onto a form provided by the company. The company will then send the transactional email to their friend, letting the business have the chance of turning them in as potential loyal customers.
5. Customer Support & Feedback Requests
Communicating with your customers is essential to gain positive results. A customer support-based transactional email helps both the business and the customer to communicate with one another. By using a transactional email, a business can easily request feedback from the customer. Through feedback, companies can easily know the areas they excel in and the things they need to improve as a service provider.
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Transactional Email Best Practices You Should Know
To get only the best out of your transactional email, you’ll need to keep yourself updated on the different transactional email best practices. Got zero ideas? Well, you’ve got nothing to worry about because we in Strikingly definitely got your back.
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Written down below are some of the transactional email best practices you should know about. Take note of these three tips and who knows, your transactional email may be the strongest key to your digital marketing success.
1. Keep It Personal
Customers love affection and attention. If they feel that you are paying them attention, they’ll love you even more. When writing your transactional email, one tip we give you is to include your business’s name and the person you are sending it with. Many businesses that do this in their transactional email tend to be more recognized than those that don't. When customers read your transactional email and see that you take time to remember your clients, they’ll feel appreciated and will most likely keep you in their minds.
Here are some ways to keep your transactional email more “personal”.
- Good day! Here’s your order receipt, Mark.
- Get excited, Johnny! Your purchase is now on its way.
- Hi Jay, did you know that your account is about to expire?
2. Hype Them Up
Customers do not only seek reliable businesses. Most of them nowadays prefer companies who make them feel like they are just talking to their friends. When writing your transactional email, make sure that it does not appear too formal or disrespectful. Do your best to keep your transactional email more friendly and approachable. Hype them up about their purchases. By doing these transactional email best practices, your customers will become fonder of you and will be more comfortable in asking for help in case they need to. As much as you can, make your order confirmation and shipping notifications appear more exciting like these:
- “Yey! Your order is on its way!”
- “Get excited — your order is coming today!”
3. Send It Immediately
Time is essential to any transaction. If you send a transactional email involving important requests like password resets, order confirmation, or account verification, always send them immediately. When customers see that you reply immediately, this instantly adds to your list of positive feedback.
Connecting with customers is essential in maintaining good relationships. To gain the recognition you’ve been wanting, you must not just learn how to write your own transactional email but also understand what your customers truly want. What’s one effective way to do that? Start a website!
Got more questions about eCommerce? Chat with us today, and we’ll get you started.
