8 Essential Email Automations Every Website Needs

Email marketing is nothing new, but it’s just as powerful as ever before.

Email marketing is a long-term strategy but that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to get the most of your list and the improve the effectiveness of your emails.

That being said, writing emails is hard work, which is why email automation is so important, especially if you’re running a blog or business website. But what kind of automation should you be using?

Perhaps you’ve got some ideas and need some more. Or maybe you’re missing out on some prime opportunities.

With this in mind, let’s check out 8 essential email automation sequences that any website needs to have.

Welcoming new subscribers

It’s so important to welcome new subscribers on board to your email list. There’s no better way to do this than setting up an email automation.

Whether you’re just saying hello and welcoming people to what you’ve got to offer, or you’re sending a series of emails, giving attention to new members of your list is essential when you want them to stick around.

You can include a ton of information here, like what is being expected, links for useful content for the user to get started, and answers to frequently asked questions, so they have the most seamless experience possible. And if you are offering a free download, video course, or or coupon code, try to explain on the first email how to obtain it. It is better to explain things from the beginning to avoid confusion or misinformation.

Recovering lost sales

If someone has made their way to the checkout page of your e-commerce website and they are literally a handful of clicks away from signing up, it’s important to make sure you’re securing these sales.

For someone to come so far means they are interested in what you’re offering and may just need a little guidance to help complete their journey.

“Following up with a simple email can be enough, especially when you include information like what benefits they’ll enjoy once they sign up, and addressing any common concerns they may have, like saying you can cancel any time, or the price you’re offering is an urgent offer that’s running out soon,” says Tillie Rose, a tech writer at Paper fellows.

Use email automation tools to connect your marketing systems

Today, more than 5,000 solutions exist to help marketers manage, measure and execute digital communication.

In fact, on average, enterprises use 91 marketing cloud services. With such a complex ecosystem, you can’t rely on native integrations to connect disparate systems.

Native Integrations: A connection (integration) between one app/software program and another that is built and maintained by the service provider. Example: Personalize natively supports an integration with HubSpot.

Zapier allows you to connect to over 1500 apps and bypass the need for native integrations. The possibilities with Zapier are nearly endless. We like using custom “Zaps” to connect previously disconnected website forms with CRMs and much more.

There are Zapier alternatives as well, such as Integromat, Pabbly Connect, and Integrately. Try them on and let us know which one you prefer.

Automatically reminding people of subscription renewals

If you run a membership site and the membership runs out, your aim will be to get the customer back to renew again. A good renewal rate is anywhere over 80%. While some people may not want your services anymore, there are plenty of people out there who just need a little push in the right direction with signing up again. You just need to remind them.

Therefore, you need to get up an email automation sequence that get back in touch with people who no longer have a membership with you.

“Even if you run a membership website that automatically renews their subscription, sending a reminder is important so they won’t be surprised by a large chunk of money coming out of their account and ultimately cancel, or they can make sure they have enough money in their account to make the payment,” explains Josie Harris, a business writer at Australian help.

Use dynamic content to leverage FOMO

FOMO (or fear of missing out) is a common consumer emotion that marketers and advertisers tap into to encourage their customers to make a decision and ask themselves the question: “Can I afford to pass up this opportunity?” Persuasive copywriting is one way to leverage FOMO, but marketing copy can be further enhanced by dynamic content, such as countdown clocks for limited-time offers, interactive tools and personalization.

A good example of email automation is: you can use dynamic content to tailor a single email for different contacts in your audience based on conditions you choose.

Set up email sequences based on behaviour  

Email automation and nurturing is a tried and true way to improve your productivity levels and save you time. 

When building out email programs, it’s important to use the behavior of your customers to trigger new emails. 

Klaviyo is one ecommerce email marketing service provider that allows you to set custom triggers based on user behavior. For example, you can trigger an email to send if the customer started a checkout but didn’t finish or if they viewed a product and haven’t purchased that item after three days. 

Use email retargeting

Instead of guessing what people want, just look at the data you already have. Researching is important for any size business, entrepreneurs, and blog writers.

Many marketers have put retargeting to good use with ad networks but your presence in the inbox is much more powerful. There are two ways to do this.

First, you can track what your email subscribers click and show them ads based on that data.

Or, you can track logged in users behaviour on your site and trigger emails based on their activity. For example, Airbnb has mastered this type of email automation. When a logged in user views a listing but doesn’t actually rent, Airbnb will trigger an email to that user with more information on the listing as well as nearby rentals in the same price range.

Control frequency of email

It’s important not to spam. We all know this. No matter how much you try to control email nurtures with admin master workflows, you still run the risk of sending a contact too many emails. 

Thankfully, in most enterprise-level marketing automation systems you can control the frequency at which emails can be sent to contacts. 

For example, HubSpot controls the flow emails by allowing you to set the maximum number of emails a contact can receive in a given time period.

Conclusion: Email automations

As you can see, there are lots of approaches you can take to create an authentic email subscriber experience. All you have to do is choose the right software and the right email marketing strategy to help you get there.