Transactional Emails: How to Use Automatic Responses to Increase Conversions and Enhance Customer Relationships

Learn how the careful use of transactional emails can help you achieve your online business goals.

Transactional emails are the best way to prove your company’s reliability and trustworthiness. They reassure subscribers and enhance your customer experience. 

These simple notices, sent to customers when they complete an operation such as buying a product or subscribing to a newsletter, really make a difference. 

A message that is not only late but also unclear and irrelevant can really test the patience of your readers. The wrong message at the wrong time can break a relationship with a customer forever. In this post you’ll learn how to improve your communication strategy with simple tips and practical examples that will help you refine your transactional emails and get the most out of your submissions.

What Are Transactional Emails and Why Are They So Important?

Transactional emails are the messages sent to users when they complete an action on a website or online platform. They’re the thanks that follow a newsletter subscription or an ecommerce purchase, the confirmation after a password change request, and so on.

Transactional emails are a valuable opportunity to create a one-to-one conversation with your customers. They let you respond precisely to the activities for which your users expect feedback. 

They’re an essential tool that should always be available in your toolbox. 

If you are an ecommerce or online business owner, transactional emails are vital to your activities and for achieving your goals.

Transactional Emails: Why You Should Use Them (and How to Do It Correctly)

Transactional emails can remove the obstacles that make interactions difficult. They bring you closer to your customers.

We’ve described them as automatic messages sent in response to specific actions

Your customers expect to receive the information they need at the time they need it. If you deliver that information, you’ll pave the way for a trust-based relationship. 

That’s why transactional emails are able to achieve better results in the form of more openings and higher click rates than even promotional emails or newsletters. 

Transaction emails:

  • Demonstrate that you run a reliable and reputable organization;
  • Reassure users that their action was successful;
  • Improve customer experience and develop a trust-based relationship;
  • Are an effective marketing tool that take advantage of high open and click rates.

Imagine you’re buying a plane ticket. The price is €700. You complete the order, choose the seat, enter your credit card number and click the Purchase button. 

And nothing happens. 

You don’t receive an email from the airline company. There’s no e-ticket in your inbox and no message confirming that your purchase has been confirmed. 

You might think you’ve been cheated.

Twenty-four hours of panic later, you finally receive a message from the company telling you your purchase has been completed. 

Would you buy from that company again? Not likely. 

An optimized, transactional email process will help you win your customers’ trust. They’ll be more willing to receive your messages and interact with your promotional emails. 

That’s why these messages must be sent from a secure email IP address to raise the chances that they’ll reach the inbox of your recipient on time. 

Messages such as: “Your order has been processed!”; “The payment has been completed!”; or “Your package is on its way” are always warmly welcomed. 

They’re reassuring, giving customers confidence that their action was successful. 

Give your customers the confirmation and information they need just when they need it and there’s a good chance they’ll come back.

Transactional Emails Can Improve Your Connection with Customers (and We’ll Tell You Why)

Take a look at your inbox. How many welcome messages, order confirmations or account expiration reminders do you see as you scroll down? 

Transactional emails play a vital role in our lives. We need them. That’s why the strategy you implement can strengthen or break the connection with your customers.

The punctuality, usefulness and accuracy of your transactional emails demonstrate the reliability of your company. The following tips will help you improve the transactional emails in your communication strategy and give you a real opportunity to leave a positive impact on your recipients.

5 Tips to Make the Most of Transactional Emails (With a Free Bonus Tip!)

1. Enable Replies on Your Email Address

Transactional emails shouldn’t be a one-way communication channel. Take advantage of user feedback to improve customer experience. 

A ‘no-reply’ address blocks communication from your customers, taking away their opportunity to interact with you. Using an email address that allows recipients to reply will show that you’re interested in hearing from them.

Provide a communication channel that recipients can use, and make sure there’s always someone there to respond. 

Close each email with a call to contact you if needed and add your contact information, such as phone number and physical address, in the footer.

2. Separate Transactional Emails from Marketing Emails

Transactional emails have higher delivery, opening and clicks rates than promotional emails or newsletters. 

So don’t waste them. Spam filters catch a surprising amount of marketing messages, even those messages recipients want to read. 

Any problem during an email marketing campaign can ruin the reputation of your entire domain or IP address.

Separating promotional and transactional campaigns ensures that order confirmations and shipment details don’t end up in the same spam folder as some marketing messages.

To avoid jeopardizing your mailing results:

  • Create different domains and subdomains.
  • Use different IP addresses for marketing and transactional emails.
  • Use different email servers from those used to send newsletters and promotional emails.

3. Build a Strong Relationship With Your Customers

Turn every communication into an opportunity to build a positive relationship with your subscribers.

Punctuality is vital; send your message as soon as an action takes place. Urgency is a key feature of transactional emails and a delay, even a short one, can make a customer confused or anxious. 

An interaction means you’ve already won a user’s trust. Guard it carefully. 

Use a familiar and friendly tone of voice, something personal rather than robotic. Send content or products that interest your customers, and supply reviews or video testimonials that will help them make a purchasing decision. 

And, of course, ask your customers to write their own review or a comment on a purchased product. Or invite them to share your content.

4. Communicate Clearly and Consistently in Your Brand’s Voice

A common error in transactional emails is the assumption that the recipient will immediately understand the reason for the message.

Automated messages should have one clear purpose. Only Amazon includes ads for related products in their shipping notifications. For everyone else, clarity and accuracy are vital.

The language of transactional emails should be simple and clear. 

In every transactional email you send:

  • Emphasize the reason for the message in the subject line (e.g. “Your plane ticket”);
  • Write catchy previews that entice people to read;
  • Provide the information the reader needs in the body of the text concisely and with links for further information;
  • Add clickable images and not more than one or two CTAs.

Your emails should also be instantly identifiable so make sure you use a sender email address clearly related to your company, such as shipments@yourbusinessname.com. 

Make sure your communications match your brand’s style and voice, and align even your transactional emails with your company’s personality. Include graphics and carefully written copy. Add your logo, and use the colors and fonts of your brand.

5. Customize Your Messages

A personalized email is a great way to make your customer feel unique. A few simple techniques can make sure that they feel special and valued.

When a customer purchases a product from your website, or even just subscribes to your newsletter, they leave important information. That information usually includes their first and last name. 

Use that data to make your emails more personal and more useful:

  • Call the recipient by name.
  • Send the marketing messages at times appropriate to their time zone.
  • Provide product recommendations based on their purchase history.
  • Send a special message on their birthday.

Transactional emails let you profile your audience in detail. Seize the opportunity and win valuable information by asking users to fill out a detailed form or complete a survey.

6. Analyze the Performance of Your Transactional Emails

Your sending statistics will help you to understand how well your communication strategy is working, and make adjustments for better results. 

Constantly track the most important metrics to avoid unwelcome surprises. Make checking your stats a frequent practice and always monitor the performance of your emails. 

Here is a list of key performance indicators:

  • Delivery rate
  • Open rate
  • Click rate
  • Bounce rate
  • Unsubscribe rate
  • Spam reports

For example, if the bounce rate is high, clean up your contact list by removing any incorrect, deactivated, or blacklisted addresses. You can also intensify checks during registration by creating an optimized form or using a double-opt-in, a double validation email address control system. And finally, if you haven’t done so yet, you can authenticate your sender domain.

Make constant improvements to be sure you’re always offering your subscribers the best possible experience.

Send your transactional emails safely, build customer loyalty, and improve your reputation online.

Do you want to improve the performance of your email campaigns?