A post-purchase email sequence represents a unique opportunity for your business to introduce cross-sells and referral schemes to newly acquired customers. Here’s the best way to achieve this with an evergreen email automation.
It’s 10 times more expensive to find new customers than it is to sell to existing ones.
Existing customers are also 9 times more likely to repurchase from you.
Given these stats, it’s shocking that so many companies don’t take advantage of the unique opportunity a post-purchase email sequence provides them with.
We’re talking about cross-sells, up-sells, referrals - a carefully crafted post-purchase email series enhances all of these when executed correctly.
And it’s not just applicable for Ecommerce businesses. Companies in the B2B space can take advantage of a post-purchase email sequence to increase reviews, referrals and strengthen their relationships with newly acquired customers.
Here’s a 5-part Post-Purchase Email sequence that increases sales further and strengthens your relationship with newly acquired customers.
Email 1: Order Confirmation + Upsell
The average email open rate across most industries is 18%. A confirmation email, however, is as high as 70%.
Given this staggeringly high open-rate, you need to take advantage of the unique opportunity this affords you.
The first email you should send after somebody converts is an order confirmation. This should thank your customer for purchasing from you and provide detailed information, such as:
- When their product/service is likely to be delivered
- List to FAQs
- Introduction to a related upsell
Yes, you read that correctly: an upsell proposition.
Think about it logically. Your customer has just purchased from you. Research shows they’re 30% likely to purchase again if they’re introduced to another relevant product/service that complements their initial purchase.
For example, if you’re selling protein supplements to build muscle, then now would be the perfect time to introduce creatine for strength and performance.
If you’re like us selling digital marketing services, we would introduce you to our email marketing services after purchasing a Lead Magnet.
The opportunities are endless and unprecedented with this email so it’s essential to take advantage of it.
Below is an example of GoDaddy’s order confirmation email:
A logical upsell: introducing further savings off domain names to customers who have just purchased.
Strike while the iron is hot to maximise your average order value and increase your overall profit per consumer!
In addition to upsells, referral programs like Referralcandy.com give you options to incentivise referral schemes among your customers. This is particularly powerful if you’re in Ecommerce.
Email 2: Warm-Up & Eliminating Remorse
The second email in your sequence should be focused on building excitement about your product/service and eliminating any remorse your customer may have.
This is particularly important to minimise returns and also ensure customer satisfaction remains high.
Effective ways to do this are by including testimonials related to the product they’ve just purchased as well as guides on how to get the most out of their purchase.
Your goal with the second email is to show that you genuinely care about your newly acquired customer and are willing to go the extra mile.
By doing this, you’ll also increase the probability of repeat purchases in the future.
Email 3: Ask for a Review
By the time you send your third email, it’s safe to assume your customer will have used the product/service they purchased from you.
Now is the time to ask for a review.
Reviews should be a fundamental part of your online business strategy. With over 60% of customers looking at reviews weekly and over 93% saying online reviews have influenced buying decisions, it’s a no-brainer to have a strategy for harvesting reviews.
Who better to ask than the individual who just bought from you?
Email 4: Reintroduce Upsell with Time Sensitivity
If the customer didn’t accept your first upsell offer, you’ll want to re-incentivise them with a time-sensitive offer.
This can be anything from 10-20% offer, or a custom thank you code to send them back to your products or services.
It’s important to note that discounts shouldn’t be a wider strategy across your business. While a limited, time-sensitive offer can be effective, excessive discounting can diminish the perceived value of your proposition.
This leads us on perfectly to the next Email in the sequence.
Email 5: Offer Expired
It may seem like a slap in the face to customers to let them know that an offer presented to them has expired, but it actually reaffirms your credibility.
This trains your customers to trust your word and also creates scarcity around your offers in future, a powerful tactic for driving conversions.
A company that uses this tactic to great effect is digitalmarketer.com.
They use intelligent dynamic elements in their email (I am revisiting this in my browser, hence the “offer expired” header) to let you know when you miss out on their offers.
Ultimately, it’s about conditioning your followers to trust your word, and to maintain the value of your products and services. The only way to do this is by being consistent in your marketing, and time-sensitivity is the most effective way to maximise upsells if they haven’t taken you up on your initial offering.
It should be noted that the last two emails in this sequence will need to be segmented if the customer takes you up on your initial offering. Most popular email servers integrate with shopping software effectively allowing you to do this seamlessly.
Conclusion
A carefully crafted post-purchase email sequence will increase the average order value from each customer you convert while simultaneously building trust in your company.
If you need help creating one, then contact us here for a free consultation and we’ll analyse the best solution for your business.
What examples have you found to work well in your post-purchase emails? Share some thoughts with us as we’re always hungry for new ideas!
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