Trigger Emailing as a Tool to Nurture Customer Relationships

An email trigger provides you with the means to reach out to your customers when certain conditions are met. Learn some great ways to use trigger emailing.

5 Types of Trigger Emails You Can Use to Nurture Customers

Nurturing customers is something that should take place all along the customer journey. It’s what nudges people from slightly interested to engaged customer to brand advocates. To accomplish the goal of keeping customers engaged you have to remain in their view, doing things that add value to their journey.

One way to do this is to send trigger emails that are driven by specific customer behaviors. This is an effective way to keep their attention on your brand.

What is a Trigger Email?

A trigger email is sent to your customer’s inbox when they engage in a certain activity, or meet a specific criterion.

One type of trigger email is event-based. For example, if your customer places an order, you send a confirmation email. That’s a trigger email based on the event of making a purchase.

Next, there are segment based emails. These are emails that are sent to customers or businesses that fall into certain categories. Imagine that you sell educational software. You might create monthly email to customers who have purchased your software for in-classroom use, and another for parents who have downloaded a free version for in-home use.

Five Examples of Trigger Emails That Nurture

1.   Keeping The Conversation Going

When customers are first engaged, brands do an excellent job at keeping them engaged. They might send an email when the customer signs up or makes a purchase, a follow up a few days later, and several others over the course of a month. Then, nothing or next to nothing after that.

Why not keep customers engaged with an ongoing series of emails that allows you to inform them of best practices about your products, problem solving tips, and other valuable content. You could also use these emails to remind customers that you have support available for them to use if they have any questions.

Bottom Line: Use your emails to engage customers in that open space between making a purchase, and needing to buy your product or service again.

2.   Reach Out to Inactive Customers

Busy customers don’t have time to think about your brand or your products regularly. Unfortunately, the resulting lack of engagement could dim your future prospects with them. You need a strategy to reach out to customers who haven’t engaged with your brand.

Trigger emails are a perfect solution for this. Simply pick criteria. This might be:

• Customers who haven’t made a purchase in six months.
• Followers who haven’t clicked through any previous emails.
• Customers who haven’t logged in through your app.

Once you identify who you’d like to reach, you can compose the ideal email, or series of email to do so. You might consider a special offer, a reminder that they have products in their shopping court, or ask them additional questions to help you send them the most relevant content you can in the future.

Here’s something else to keep in mind. Your emails can include a bit of a pain point as well. There’s nothing wrong with indicating that their lack of engagement could lead to their being unsubscribed, or missing out on some special offer.

3.   Reach Out With Important News And Information

Some trigger emails are related to customer service and support rather than sales and marketing. Use trigger emails to reach out to your customers to:

• Confirm a change made to their account.
• Warn them that a warranty or service agreement is expiring.
• Tell them that shipping has been delayed or canceled.
• Address missing information in their account.
• Warn of a denied charge.

Not only do these emails keep customers engaged, they keep them informed. Most customers appreciate knowing about items that could impact them financially or otherwise.

4.   Reward Brand Advocacy

When customers do things that benefit your brand, use email to reward them. Ideally, this will motivate them to continue to do the same. What are the events that might trigger an email like this?

• A customer they referred makes a purchase.
• They write a testimonial for your website.
• The customer completes a helpful survey.
• They share your content, or tag your brand in a post.
• A sales person makes a connection thanks to their referral.

You can also reach out to customers to celebrate their loyalty over a period of time. Consider sending an ‘anniversary’ message to customers that have been part of your loyalty program for a year, for example.

Remember that the more effective these emails are, the better. You want your customers to see them, and engage. Consider using tools to make your email content more engaging and accurate like Canva, GrabmyEssay, Grammarly, Studicus, or LanguageTool.

5.   Onboard New Customers

Use trigger emails to help new customers learn more about your products and services. Even better, by sending out a trickle of emails, you can make the process much less intimidating. To personalize your onboarding emails, you can send them when your customers complete certain tasks. For example, you can send them an instructional video for advanced users after they complete an online tutorial.

By onboarding your customers, you essentially act as a tour guide, showing them the details they need to use your product correctly. Not only will teaching them all the features help with customer retention, it may also motivate them to recommend your products to others.

Use Trigger Emails to Your Advantage

Be creative! The emails listed above are just a small sampling. Take a close look at the journeys your customers might take before and after they purchase your products. Then use carefully targeted and customized trigger emails to provide them with better experiences along the way. A well-timed, relevant email trigger has the power to encourage customers to move through the sales funnel, encourage others to use your services, and continue to engage with your brand in the future.