There are still so many companies ignoring the huge benefits of email marketing. One area of email marketing I personally feel a lot more attention should be given is the humble confirmation email or the ‘Reflector Email‘ as I call it. Every person who signs up to a newsletter, registration or any request for your service should immediately receive some form of confirmation acknowledging it (at the very least). When last did you visit a shop, check out and not be thanked for your custom? Never!
Confirmation emails should be sent out immediately after signing up. This is the time when it’s highly likely the recipient is still in a very receptive state of mind toward you and your company (and what you have to offer of course).
So why do so many companies still waste this excellent opportunity to upsell, cross-sell or further cement customer relationships? Perhaps the person responsible (usually a marketing person) feels the new recipient won’t be bothered? Or, perhaps it’s because it’s a customer services thing and marketing aren’t involved? Either way marketers need to be heavily involved as everything that touches the customer should reflect your brand and create a selling opportunity… even more so in these tough times.
The advantages of confirmation emails:
1. Upsell and Cross-Sell opportunities. The lesson here is to scrutinise your confirmation email messages to make sure they reinforce why your customer signed up and they up- and cross-sell your offerings.
2. Improve deliverability. An opportunity to invite the new recipient to add your sender email address to their safe senders list so the email never finds its way to the junk folder
3. Brand and identity. It gives you, the marketer, an opportunity to give your newsletter some organic feel – a personality that feels real right from the start. This also gives you a great first impression and hopefully reduce the likelihood of the recipient unsubscribing later on.
4. Professionalism. Confirmation/welcome emails instals confidence in your email system and states your professionalism.
5. Contact. Use a welcome email to include all the ways the recipient can contact you. It should not only include editorial contact, but marketing and sales too.
6. Protection. Should the need ever arise you can protect yourself. By sending the recipient a confirmation email you’re effectively issuing them a receipt. In any event you need proof of request your server log files will have a record of that email that was sent.
Remember, whilst the confirmation (welcome) email is important don’t under estimate the importance of the unsubscribe (goodbye) email either. Use this opportunity to ask why they left the mailing list. So make sure you have a link to a survey to collect this valuable information along with a pleasant parting message. The main idea is to show that you are genuinely sorry to see them leave.
Imagine you could place a value (and you should place a value) on each subscriber that left your list? If you were to start counting how much money you would lose you might start paying more attention?
Rob Enslin 