Transactional Email: The Definitive Guide

All clients expect to get some email confirmation after they've purchased an item online. It serves as proof that they've made the payment. And the confirmation sent out is one example of a transactional email. Password recovery email is another one. But although all types of transactional emails have a specific practical purpose, they can also increase your company's revenue. That's right. Whether your business is providing online games like Book of Ra or selling antiques, you can embed marketing messages in your emails and get an additional sale. Or even better: use transactional emails to build a stronger connection between the customers and your brand. Sounds good? Let's take a closer look at some more uses for transactional emails and how to use them to grow your business. Here we go.

What are Transactional Emails

The primary reason to send out transactional emails is to inform your clients about completing an action. This action can be any of the typical online commerce processes, from recovering the password to subscribing to a mailing list to ordering an item. These are all situations where the customer expects an immediate response. So transactional email services send such confirmation letters out automatically. And look, although the emails you send out during a marketing campaign are also automated, they're very different. Transactional email providers send the emails out every time a user completes a specific action. The campaign emails get sent in a sequence every time you decide to start a campaign. So guess what? Because of the functional purpose of transactional emails, they get opened 99% of the time. That's an impressive open rate considering that the average marketing emails get opened only about 15% of the time.

What Happens if You Decide Not to Use Transactional Emails

The thing is that customers need assistance in their purchasing process. Imagine paying for something online and not getting a single notice on that. In 2021, it would look like a scam. That is why transactional emails are so important. They assure the customers that everything is well with their order and they get what they paid for.

So if you want to keep your reputation intact and build a solid ground for customer trust, use the transactional email templates in as many places as possible. Here are the four most commonly used types :

The Different Kinds of Transactional Emails

1. Alerts

Sometimes people sign in to their account from a new device. The system registers it as unusual activity and sends out an alert. That is a standard transactional email meant to protect you from others hacking the account or using it without your permission. It helps to keep information like your credit card details, home address, etc., safe.

2. Recovering Passwords

Every once in a while, users forget their account passwords. Luckily, with the recovery emails, it's super easy to create a new password. The users only need to click on the link "Forgot my password" or something similar, enter their email address, and they'll receive an email with a password reset code.

3. Confirming a Subscription

After users enter their email into your webpage's opt-in box, they get a transactional email asking if they seriously want to receive newsletters from you. Sometimes people enter others' email addresses as a prank. But sometimes, it's a bot that puts down random emails. Either way, subscription confirmation emails are great to determine whether the email holder is interested in your content.

4. Confirming the Order

And last but not least, there's a transactional email going out every time someone places an order. These emails usually feature all the information about the delivery and a link to additional customer support. Without this email, your company can't appear trustworthy. Customers expect to get it immediately after making the payment.

Using Transactional Emails to Make Extra Sales

As we mentioned before, setting up transactional emails is not for customer assistance only. You can also use them for marketing purposes. With the right elements, even the most mundane transactional emails can engage the recipients and make them buy an additional item. Let's take a look at what to include in the emails to achieve this:

1. Include an Offer With a Quick Link to Your Website

Here's an easy way to entice the customer to make an additional purchase: add a link with an irresistible offer to your email. It can be a coupon for a discount, a 200% bonus cashback, a promo code, or giving away two items at the price of one. Whatever's your offer, it should come with an attractive call-to-action button that leads directly to your landing page.

2. Introduce Your Mobile App With a Download Link

If you haven't done it already, it's time to develop an app for your business. It's one of the best ways to make your company an everyday part of people's lives. And obviously, an engaging app is very effective in selling your products and services.

Once you already have the app, you can add a link to download it into any of your transactional emails. Add a little text about the app's functionalities and benefits to encourage people to give it a try. If the transactional email is about confirming the order, you can introduce the app as a simple way to track the parcel.

3. Display Links to Your Social Media Profiles

Almost every business in 2021 has a Facebook and Instagram page. People love social media and spend a lot of time on various platforms. So making your company visible on social media enables you to reach perhaps the largest possible audience these days. And with a solid social media strategy in place, you can share the links to your pages in transactional emails. Users can interact with your company by sending messages, sharing photos, asking questions, etc.

4. Add a Link to Additional Customer Support

Adding a link that directs people to customer support is never too much. This link will not lead to an immediate additional sale. But it ensures customers that if something should go wrong with their order, they can rely on your staff to get it sorted. You can also add links to your privacy and return policy, shipping, and handling. What it does is generate trust, which leads to a stronger relationship with the customers. In time, these relationships lead to repeat purchases.

Testing Your Transactional Emails

If you want to make sales with transactional emails, you need to treat them like marketing materials. That means A/B testing them for optimization. It's the only way to know how effective the emails are and whether they can hit their goals. And the goal is not simply to make more sales. It's also to make the transactional emails look more like all the other content you're putting out. Because if you're putting hours into creating the perfect blogpost and gorgeous website, then why shouldn't your order confirmations look just as good? Make them stand out by choosing an elegant color combination and upgrading the copywriting work. A brand that has a consistent voice across all possible channels has a higher chance of succeeding.

So what can you test? A lot. Here's a list of some options:

• Which works better, text links or buttons?
• Two different upsell offers.
• The length of the text.
• Try out different subject lines.

To keep your test results easy to understand, test only one thing at a time. And keep in mind: just because one email gets opened more often than the other doesn't mean you should prefer the more popular email. Always go with the email that actually gets conversions.

Which Service Provider to Choose?

By now, you're probably wondering which is the best provider of transactional email service? Some of the most popular options are Vero, Mandrill, and SendGrid. Mandrill also lets you keep track of all new signups in real-time. It can be handy if you're asking people to subscribe to your newsletter in transactional emails. SendGrid's main advantage is that it's cloud-based. So you don't need to worry about maintaining the email servers. And Vero excels in using customer data to deliver super personalized messages. All of these are safe and reputable choices.  Check them out online to see which one fits your company's needs the best.

Conclusion

Transactional emails are there to make everything about placing an order smooth and secure. And if you use them right, you can also generate more revenue via these emails. Use the tips from this article and seize the opportunity to sell products with emails that boast a 99% open rate. Plus, you'll increase your brand awareness and forge a stronger relationship with your audience. All this will lead to even more sales in time. It's your business, so give it the boost it deserves.

Have you been able to sell products with transactional emails? Let us know in the comments what works for you.