What is email automation?

Email automation is the use of software to automate the email marketing process. You can use email automation to take care of repetitive tasks such as sending a welcome email when someone has signed up for your newsletter. You can schedule emails to be sent at specific times and to specific groups of people based on specific conditions or triggers. And considering automated emails generate 320% more revenue than non-automated ones, automation sounds like a worthwhile investment. 

Several benefits come with email automation which may contribute to its popularity. Not only will automating certain tasks save you time, but it can also encourage more personalised content for your customers by allowing you to segment them into groups, making your emails more relevant to their needs. You'll also ensure your emails are sent to the right people at the right time, to increase open rate and interactions. 

How does email automation work?

You may assume email automation is a complicated process, but thanks to email marketing apps and tools, introducing email automation to your marketing strategy should feel straightforward. All you need to do is create a campaign and then set up a trigger. Your trigger is a specific event, date, or contact activity, such as someone signing up for your newsletter. That trigger will tell your system to automatically send an email should that event happen, without any manual intervention from your side. 

Considering 74% of consumers expect a welcome email once they subscribe, email automation can ensure you build a connection with your customers and fulfil their expectations. 

To get started, you’ll first need to choose the right automated email service provider for your needs. You may need to try out a few different platforms before you find the right fit (if you spot a free trial, be sure to take advantage of it!) When you’re just starting out, it may be sensible to choose an affordable provider that offers a more basic package so you can get to grips with email automation first, rather than investing in a platform with a high price point straight away. 

From there, you can decide on your email marketing strategy and set your objectives. What are you looking to achieve from email automation? Starting simple is often the best approach - choose a couple of triggers and follow-up messages to test as you get comfortable with the software. 

Once you feel more familiar with the platform you’re using, you can start to tap into customer segmentation. That way, you can personalise your emails to appeal to different groups of customers based on their shared characteristics, needs and preferences to get the most out of your email automation. 

And finally, be sure to analyse your efforts. Dive deep into your data, looking at metrics such as open rates, click-throughs and bounce rates on the emails you send, so you’ll know what’s paying off and what changes you can make for better engagement. 

How can it support your marketing strategy? 

Email automation can help you build and maintain your customer relationships which are integral to your overall marketing strategy. By automating your email marketing, you can get in touch with your potential and existing customers at the right time, with content that is relevant to them. This can help you boost your customer engagement and improve your ROI as a result.

Let’s say you’re a clothing retailer who’s looking to improve winter coat sales. You may have identified a significant number of customers interested in winter coats, who abandoned the item in their basket. You could use cart abandonment as the trigger for sending a follow-up email to customers, reminding them of the item, along with personalised recommendations of similar products that may interest them. This automated personalisation is sure to give your conversion rate a boost while nurturing your customer relationships too by recommending products that appeal to their preferences. See? Not only are you saving time by automating your emails, but you’re also sending relevant emails at the right time to support your overall marketing strategy. 

We’ll explore various ways you can use email automation to support your overall marketing strategy below. 

Sending back-in-stock notifications

So, you’ve finally launched a new product that’s been in the pipeline for months now, to find it sells out on its first day. While this may be the dream come true from a business perspective, this could leave customers who missed out feeling both disappointed and frustrated. This is just one scenario where email automation can help you maintain your customer relationships. Should an item be out of stock, you could invite the customer to submit their email address to receive a back-in-stock notification once their item becomes available again. As soon as the product returns, customers can be sent an automated back-in-stock notification with a link to the product page for them to purchase. Not only will this boost your conversion rate but your customers will be satisfied too. 

Building brand awareness

Email automation can serve as a powerful tool for building brand awareness. As mentioned, automating your email campaigns means you can consistently reach the right customers at the right time, with content that is relevant to who they are and where they’re at in their buyer's journey. This can help you remind your customers of your brand, your ethos and your message as your business grows. 

Here are just some of the ways email automation can improve your brand awareness:

• Personalisation: You can use automation to send emails with personalised recommendations or content based on how your customer has previously interacted with you. 
• Customer segmentation: You can segment your email recipients based on a specific criteria, such as their behaviours or preferences. From there, you can send relevant content that they’ll resonate with, making them more likely to connect with your brand.
• Consistent communication: Email automation ensures you’re in regular communication with your customers, allowing them to remember you and be kept in the know.

Helping to retain customers

Making the most of your customer data is key for customer retention. After all, your customer data offers valuable insight into who your customers are. The better you know your existing customers, the easier it will be to target them with relevant content that appeals to their needs and values. But how does email automation play into this? 

One way automated emails can improve customer retention is through customer feedback. You can send surveys to customers automatically once they’ve received their order, for example, to understand their buying experience and how they found your service. From this data, you can make any necessary changes to your product or service for improved customer retention. Similarly, you can use email automation to recommend related products to your customer based on their previous purchases, or browsing history. Considering 51% of businesses use cross-selling as their main growth strategy, isn’t it time you got on board? Email automation makes cross-selling straightforward, by essentially taking care of the hard work for you. Should a customer go on to make an additional purchase based on your recommendation, you’ll be increasing their lifetime value, taking them from a one-off buyer to a loyal customer.

Helping to drive more conversions

Email automation is an effective way to drive conversions without the need for manual effort. You can send relevant emails to the right customer, at the right time, to optimise your chances of conversion. For example, once a customer has signed up to your mailing list, you could send them a welcome email, followed by additional emails introducing your brand and products or services. You may even choose to send a discount code, such as 10% off their first purchase, to encourage them to buy. 

Is your conversion rate not where you want it to be? It may be worth tracking the effectiveness of your email marketing by diving into your data. Looking at email marketing metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates and unsubscribe rates on top of just conversion rates can offer insight into your customers’ behaviour and the changes you may need to implement. By measuring the performance of your email automation, you can test and adapt your strategy for increased conversions. 

Timely emails (such as abandoned cart emails) 

You can use email automation to send relevant, timely emails, such as abandoned cart emails, without the need for manual intervention. Automated emails allow you to respond immediately to a customer, should they abandon an item at the checkout - granting you the opportunity to potentially recover a sale. You may find that an abandoned cart email alone may not be enough to persuade the customer to buy. You could use email automation to send follow-up emails that are personalised to the customers' buying habits. Why not suggest alternative items in a similar vein to those they were initially interested in, to improve the chances of them converting further down the line?