eBook - Silverpop

Send Email After the Purchase
to Stay in Touch
What kinds of emails
Q: should I send after
someone buys from me?
Triggered emails can help you build your
A: email business after the sale as well
as before it. They can help you learn whether
your customers are happy with their purchases,
encourage future purchases and invite customers
to become extensions of your marketing
department.
About three-quarters of marketers have added
these triggered emails to their regular email
programs, according to Silverpop research.
The list below presents some of the most
frequently used post-purchase email messages
and how you can implement them.
Note: Many of these messages require pulling
data or content from your e-commerce, Web
analytics, review or personalization/recommendation
systems.
1. Service Satisfaction Survey
What: A follow-up message asking the customer
to complete a brief survey on the purchase
experience: order process, shipping, etc.
When to send: Typically sent a few days after
the customer has received the shipment. Test
several time periods to see which generates the
highest response.
Why: Provides additional customer touch point
and important customer-satisfaction feedback.
Benefits:
• Alerts you to potential problems in the
transaction/fulfillment process and areas
for improvement, plus minimizes customer
defection.
• Can identify content for possible testimonials.
• Post-purchase survey emails deliver 20
percent higher revenue per email than a
standard broadcast message for Silverpop
client Tafford Uniforms.
2. Product/Service Review Request
What: An email sent after a purchase inviting the
customer to post a review of the item(s) purchased.
Purchases can include products, travel, a
service or other activity. Incentives can be offered,
but test to see how they impact quantity and quality
of reviews, as well as follow-on purchases.
When to send: Send times vary by the kind of
product purchased and whether it would have a
specific use day, such as travel or a purchase the
customer identified as a gift.
Use common sense initially. Monitor response
rates. Test different numbers of days after purchase
to send the emails.
Why: Reviews are becoming a key source of
purchase-process content, and email is typically
the top means to encourage posting reviews.
Customers increasingly use them when evaluating
possible purchases.
Benefits:
• Generates significant percentage of your
posted reviews.
• Additional touch point, engagement and
brand awareness.
• Additional revenue from follow-on purchases.
• Fresh customer-generated content can help
boost your website’s search-engine rankings.
• While results can vary widely, Silverpop client
S&S Worldwide sees follow-on purchases
from 14 percent of customers that click on
purchase-request emails.
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