For online business, how you reach and communicate with customers online is always an important point that needs to be worked on. In this digital era, businesses have the privilege of making use of various powerful online communication tools to engage and communicate with their potential customers easily.
Email is the main form of digital communication that is generally used by online businesses to inform their customers regarding any information about their services or products. Today, email still remains to be the most popular and important channel used to communicate with customers thanks to a large number of email users and cost-effectiveness. It is also an online identifier, and most people strongly believe that email is still a necessity.
It will be advantageous for an online business if transaction email is used effectively. However, outgoing transaction emails are more likely to end up in spam or promotion folders instead of the customer’s inbox, thus decreasing the open rate and effectiveness.
The speaker for this webinar, Madhu Kiran from Handy Sends, shared knowledge about transactional and marketing emails as well as how online businesses could improve the open rate and click rate.
Before we are able to create an effective transactional email, first we have to understand what transactional email is and why it did not achieve an ideal open rate and click rate. At the same time, we must identify what improvement we might need to make in order to mitigate the possibility of the email going straight into the spam mail folder.
Key points from the webinar:
1. Types of Emails
a. Transactional Emails
- For developers
- From one particular system to one particular recipient
- Example: Purchase confirmation, shipping notification
b. Marketing Emails
- For marketers
- From one system to many recipients
- Example: Newsletters, launch announcements
2. Common mistakes when creating transactional emails
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Only Text in the Email
Having only text for the content (without any color or a clear format to showcase the products/services) is more likely to cause the customer to just open the email and then close it without taking any further action.
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Missing out a Call-to-Action
Having a call-to-action in the transaction email is very important as it will direct the customer to take the next step in order to fulfil the purpose of the company in sending the email.
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Unclear
The content of a transactional email needs to clearly explain your products and services. A clear call-to-action button can also ensure your customer is encouraged to click on the link or the button to find out more.
3. Dead-End Email Identification
Measure and identify the effectiveness of your transactional email through the open rate and click rate. By identifying the open and click rate of the email sent, you will be able to work out what the problem is and whether the email is going straight into the spam mail folder.
4. Making sure your brand is clearly stated in the email
The receiver will want to know who sent the email and where did the email have come from. Make sure you have your brand name clearly displayed in the email, so that the receiver is willing to open it and read it.
5. Clear subject line and intro text
It is important to ensure the appropriateness of the subject line and intro text as it is visible to the receiver before they actually open it and read the content.
6. Length of the email
Lengthy emails are not an effective way to communicate with your customers. They will be more likely to close the email before reading it fully, and miss the call-to-action button at the bottom of the email.
7. Test your email template
You should not assume that your email is perfect enough to send out to customers. Practise the good habit of testing your email before sending it; this will have an effect on the success of the email.
8. Improve the deliverability
In order to improve the deliverability of your transactional emails, both the technical and marketing sides need to work together to enhance the quality of the email, making sure it is delivered effectively and read by your customers.
Transactional emails play a vital role in communicating with customers. Therefore, if your email has not performed as it should, it is important to discover whether it’s due to technical errors or poorly portrayed email content.
A powerful and effective transactional email is able to increase the revenue of your online business. As it is sent directly to all respective customers, it feels more exclusive and can encourage the customer to take the next step — purchase a product or service, or seek more information about the company.
Keen to learn more about transactional email ? Watch the full video of the webinar, providing yourself more insight regarding what is transactional email and how to make it stronger!
