Make a great first impression – after the fact with 15 ideas for post-purchase emails
In a white paper created by Silverpop, titled Ultimate Guide To Post-Purchase Messages: 15 Ways To Build Loyalty And Drive More Revenue After The Purchase, the editors there said, “If you think of customers in terms of a simplified lifecycle, with customer acquisition first, initial purchase second and repeat loyalty third, it’s easy to see how a first-purchase focus could leave precious little time for surprising and delighting existing customers.” And Silverpop would know. As a leader in marketing automation, it was recently purchased by IBM to enhance the company's leadership role in B2B and B2C omni-channel marketing.
To follow-up its statement, Silverpop said that “Many businesses are leaving money on the table by neglecting current customers in favor of increasing new business.”
The Silverpop approaach to that issue? “The good news is that there’s a wealth of post-purchase messaging tactics you can use to drive more purchases, engage these buyers, and encourage them to become extensions of your marketing department.”
And the methods for putting that approach into play? According to the Silverpop white paper, there are 15:
1. Post-purchase welcome:
Ever received an e-mail from an online retailer offering 15% off of your first purchase after you already made your first purchase? For those who have, it’s incredibly frustrating and has a tendency to erode customer confidence.
To connect with first-time shoppers, Silverpop recommended that retailers not just send one but a series of welcome e-mails, starting with a simple thank you message followed by bounceback messages and messages that define other channels in which customers can engage.
2. Post-purchase surveys
When shoppers elect to receive a retailer’s e-mails, an incredibly valuable asset is granted to them: a captivated audience to learn from. By sending subscribers post-purchase surveys, retailers can discover areas for improvement in regard to the fulfillment aspect of their business.
Silverpop recommended that retailers wait to send these messages until after a package has been received. Survey questions could include whether a package arrived on time, whether it was easy to order and if the overall customer experience was a positive one.
3. Profile enrichment:
According to Silverpop, profile enrichment e-mails can be directly related to the purchase, including questions surrounding the level of brand loyalty they have with the purchased item as well as the activities they enjoy while using said item.
“Leveraging a recent purchase as a trigger to get customers to provide information about themselves is a savvy move, because they’re much more engaged and likely to provide information versus a random person who opted in eight months ago,” Silverpop explained.
4. Product reviews and rating requests:
Studies have proven that shoppers trust their peers more than they trust a retailer, which is why product reviews and ratings are so essential. To propel increased product reviews, wait to send this type of follow-up e-mail until the customer has had adequate time to use and test their new purchase.
For retailers wondering if incentives can drive an increased number of reviews, Silverpop suggested to test the quantity and quality of reviews as well as follow-on purchases first.
5. Bounceback:
Unlike the erroneous “save 15 percent off your first purchase” e-mail that went out to those who had already made their first purchase, retailers can encourage repeat purchases through bounceback e-mails. Bounceback e-mails – simply defined – provide an offer to a first-time purchaser for their second purchase.
6. Cross-sell
“These emails provide another touch point with customers and are typically big performers because they’re inherently related to the item the customer bought,” Silverpop explained. “Who wouldn’t want to receive an email with cool accessories related to an item they just purchased?”
7. Recommendation e-mail:
Although similar in nature to cross-sell and up-sell e-mails, recommendation e-mails are based on multiple purchases and other behavior. Here, retailers can cast a wider net and offer up a selection of items based on a customer’s purchase and browsing history or website wish list.
8. Share your experience on social:
Give your customers a chance to tell their own story by prompting them via e-mail to share pictures and experiences using your product on social media. Customers love sharing their experiences, especially when it entails a new and innovative way to use a product.
9. Replenishment/Reminder/Reorder:
Sending replenishment, reminder or reorder e-mails can be a major boon for customers. By sending a message when it’s time to repurchase a consumable product, when a previously purchased item is close to running out of stock or when a previously purchased item would typically be expected to need replacement, shoppers can rest assured that they won’t find themselves empty-handed.
10. Win back:
These messages fall under the “we miss you” umbrella. Try sending win-back e-mails four months after the last purchase was made and then again at eight months. Testing time frames and then testing them again will prove helpful in formulating the long-term strategy for win-back e-mail messaging.
11. Up-sell:
As one can imagine, the goal of an up-sell e-mail is to drive a higher price-point purchase. The trick, Silverpop said, “is to avoid disparaging the product the customer previously purchased, and instead highlight the cool features the higher-end model offers and how it will enhance their experience overall.”
12. Loyalty program:
As the name infers, loyalty programs are typically geared toward a company’s most loyal customers and can include anything from informing members of their current number of loyalty points, how they can redeem their points as well as other rewards that may be available. Silverpop suggested that businesses use a gracious tone when sending this type of post-purchase message.
13. Purchase anniversary:
In addition to informing a customer that “it’s been one year since your first purchase with us!” purchase anniversary e-mails can incorporate up-sell and cross-sell messaging according to a customer’s historical purchase and browsing data.
14. Date/Event-based purchase follow-ups:
In the white paper, Silverpop used Valentine’s Day as a great example for how to send date/event-based purchase follow-ups. The editors recommended that a business tracks who purchased Valentine-related SKUs the year prior and reach out to those customers to encourage similar purchases. They also mentioned the traction that businesses can gain doing a series of countdown e-mails, reminding customers that Valentine’s Day is only one week away and so on.
15. Best customer:
To send best-customer e-mails, businesses must first identify who those customers are. An example could be those customers who fall in the top 5 percent of purchasers. From there, businesses can make these individuals feel special by offering them a free gift or incredibly exclusive products.
For each of Silverpop’s 15 post-purchase e-mail recommendations, the team of editors there also included a method to “take it up a notch,” which should serve as a great motivator to download the entire white paper, which can be found here.