When to Use Email Automation for Maximum Engagement

Are you wondering when and how you should use email automation for maximum engagement? If so, you’re in the right place! 

Email marketing is vital for business leaders and marketers across all industries. You’d be hard-pressed to find a successful business that doesn’t have an extremely active email list.

But here’s the thing; automating campaigns is just as important as having an email marketing strategy.

It’s next to impossible to manually send subscribers emails whenever they interact with your site or join your email list. This process is not only time-consuming but also mentally draining.

That’s where email automation comes in.

As the name implies, automated emails are messages delivered automatically to your subscribers during a predetermined time or after the user takes a specific action.

Research shows that around 77% of all email marketing revenue comes from a triggered (automated) campaign.

These emails work so well because they are timely, relevant, and help users have the best experience possible with your brand. 

Today, I’ll show you five crucial times you should use email automation to connect with your subscribers.

The following strategies will save your team countless hours each week and, if used correctly, can help dramatically boost engagement. 

Let’s begin!

Welcome Campaigns

The first thing you should do is create an automated welcome campaign for new subscribers.

Believe it or not, welcome messages have an open rate of 82%, which makes them one of the most clicked emails you’ll ever send your subscribers.

New subscribers may lose interest in your brand if you wait too long to send your welcome email. In a worst-case scenario, they could move on to a more attentive competitor. 

Instead of putting your audience in this situation, set up an automated welcome email series that helps them get comfortable with your brand. Here are a few things you should include in this series:

The subscribers’ name - Personalization plays a significant role in engagement. 

Say thanks - Simply thanking users for their time can help build rapport.

Set Expectations - Subscribers want to know what to expect from your list. Share a few details about your next few newsletters and emails.

Ask for preferences - Asking subscribers to share their preferences can help you personalize future emails. Allowing your audience to choose their preferences can reduce churn and boost satisfaction.

Lead magnet - If the subscriber signed up to receive a lead magnet, like a content upgrade or promotion, don’t forget to include it in your first welcome email. 

Once you’ve developed an effective automated welcome campaign, you can use your CRM to fill in details like users’ names. I’ve found this to be one of the easiest yet most effective emails to automate. 

Nurturing Existing Subscribers

Email automation is an excellent way to nurture existing subscribers, regardless of where they are in your sales funnel.

You can connect with users who recently joined and want to know more about your products as well as people who’ve shopped with your brand for years. 

The key to automating your lead nurturing process is to segment your audience. Segments are groups of customers that share unique goals, pain points, and interests.

I suggest reviewing on-site analytics, customer feedback, and social mentions when figuring out how to segment your audience.

Once you compile enough data, you can create buyer persona profiles for your brand.

Buyer personas are fictional profiles that sum up your average customer’s needs. Each business has several different personas they need to please, based on what they sell. 

For instance, a pet supply store has different segments for people who own cats, dogs, reptiles, and birds.

Each type of pet owner has slightly different needs, so content and promotions need to be adjusted accordingly. 

Research shows that this type of personalization and nurturing can yield significant results. A whopping 80% of shoppers say they prefer to engage with businesses that consistently send personalized content and offers. 

It’s also worth mentioning that including hints of personalization in your subject lines can also boost conversions. On average, targeted subject lines have a 22% higher open rate when compared to other marketing emails.

Automation makes it easy to set up campaigns for each of your segments. You can customize when each email is delivered and what it will look like for each group.

Once everything is set up, you can focus your energy on other tasks while your automated campaigns nurture subscribers and keep them interested in your brand. 

After a Visitor Abandons Their Virtual Cart

Shopping cart abandonment is a major problem for business leaders across all industries. In fact, the average abandonment rate is close to 70%.

In other words, you can expect 7 out of 10 people who add an item to their cart to leave before they check out. 

When prospects consistently abandon their carts, the result is a significant loss in revenue and engagement, which isn’t good, regardless of your industry.

Email automation can help you recover a significant portion of your sales and build rapport with your subscribers. Here’s how it works: 

Step 1: A subscriber joins your email list

Step 2: The user adds an item to their cart but leaves before checking out. 

Step 3: An automated email is sent out one hour after they leave; this message invites them to come back and complete their order. 

If the user ends up making a purchase, the campaign ends. If they don’t, you should send two more emails over the next week.

I recommend sending emails 24 hours, 48 hours, and one week after they abandon their cart.

Research shows that sending three cart abandonment emails after users leave your site can result in 69% more orders. 

The key to creating engaging cart abandonment emails is to offer subscribers a special price or gift if they return to place an order.

For instance, if a user left because they thought your product was too expensive, a 30% discount could be the offer that brings them back to your site. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different promotions so you can develop a cart abandonment strategy that helps you maximize engagement and sales. 

Event and Registration Reminders

Automating event reminders is an excellent option if you regularly host webinars, interviews, or brand events.

Most people who sign up for events weeks in advance forget that they registered, make other plans, and miss the presentation. 

Well-timed follow-up emails can dramatically improve attendance and keep people interested in your brand. 

Creating an automated campaign that reminds users to attend is an excellent way to build rapport and keep people invested in your company.

Choose a time frame that aligns with the importance of the event as well as when you started allowing users to register.

For instance, if you’re interviewing a high-profile person in your industry, it’s best to open registrations early, perhaps a month in advance.

You’ll also want to send reminders to users one week, a few days, and the night before the event.

This strategy will prevent people from making other plans and can improve attendance and engagement. 

Follow-Up Emails for New Customers

Finally, let’s discuss the importance of creating an automated follow-up campaign for new customers. There are plenty of opportunities to keep users engaged with your brand after they’ve purchased your product or service. 

For example, you could automatically send your customers a satisfaction survey or link to the product review page two weeks after receiving their order.

Not only is this a great way to get more reviews on your site, but it will also help you improve your products over time. 

It’s also important to check in with customers to see if you can help them get more value from your product. 

We automatically email new customers a few days after their purchase and ask if there’s anything we can do to help.

If a customer responds and says they are struggling with a specific feature, our satisfaction team will meet with them and teach them what they want to know. 

While a live team does get involved, this process all starts with an automated email.  

These interactions with users can help you improve your existing products, improve customer satisfaction, and create a well-rounded UX.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, most stages of email marketing can benefit from automation. If you’re considering implementing this strategy, I recommend starting with campaigns that take up most of your time. 

Implementing automation slowly will help you track your results and ensure your team doesn’t get confused or overwhelmed by the changes. 

It’s hard to stress the importance of automation in marketing, especially when it comes to email marketing.

The examples presented here will help you prioritize your automation strategy and can drastically improve engagement across all marketing channels.