What is email marketing automation?

Email automation involves using software to send emails based on specific triggers or schedules automatically. This technology allows you to deliver personalised and targeted emails without manual intervention.

Beyond just automating the sending of emails, it allows you to concentrate on your online marketing strategy. Email automation works through preset workflows, also known as email flows. You can plan and execute a series of emails with a commercial objective in mind.

Why is email marketing automation important for your business?

Imagine having a personal assistant working for you 24/7, without breaks or sleep. That’s essentially what email marketing automation does for your business. Instead of manually sending emails, the automation tool handles it for you. This saves you time and allows you to focus on other critical aspects of your business.

Automate sending the right emails at the right time

Email marketing automation ensures that the right message reaches the right person at the right time. For example:

• When someone (a lead) signs up for your newsletter, the automation software automatically sends a welcome email.
• When a potential customer leaves a product in their shopping cart while visiting your webshop, the automation tool sends a reminder email to encourage the purchase.

Automation is part of email marketing

Email automation goes beyond simply sending emails automatically. It offers significant benefits for your marketing strategies and is useful in various aspects of email marketing. This technology should not be underestimated. Let’s dive deeper into all the benefits of this powerful marketing tool.

Benefits of email marketing automation

Email automation offers numerous benefits for businesses, from increasing efficiency to improving customer satisfaction. Let’s explore the biggest advantages of this tool.

1. Automation saves time

One of the most significant benefits is the time it saves. Instead of manually sending each email, you set up a system that handles it automatically. While setting up email automation initially requires some time and testing, once it’s up and running, it operates seamlessly without further intervention. Previously, as an email marketer, you might have had to create new welcome emails for new customers or colleagues regularly. Now, you only need to set it up once, and the automation flow does the rest.

2. Personalisation and relevance in marketing automation

Personalisation and automation often go hand in hand:

• Automation ensures that the same message reaches many people (leads).
• Personalisation ensures that this message remains relevant to each individual.

By using data such as your customers’ names, purchase history, and preferences, you can send emails specifically tailored to your target audience’s interests.

More complex automation flows

You can extend this further by building more complex automation flows based on specific actions. For example, you can send a series of emails to people who clicked on a particular link or follow up with those who didn’t open any emails after the third attempt.

Loyalty

Personalised messages increase engagement and loyalty. People feel more valued and understood when they receive messages relevant to their interests and behaviour. This not only boosts customer satisfaction but also increases the likelihood of repeat purchases.

3. Perfect timing

Email automation helps you send the right message to your target audience at the right time. It’s nearly impossible for an email marketer to manually send emails to every individual at the perfect moment.

Using trigger automation

Email marketing software allows you to use trigger automation to create the perfect timing for each customer. For instance, when a customer abandons their cart, you can automatically send a reminder email or offer a discount code when their most purchased item goes on sale.

Personalise by sending time

Maileon even lets you personalise the send time, ensuring your emails always appear at the top of recipients’ inboxes. This increases the chances of your customers opening and clicking on your emails.

Be relevant

The more relevant your emails are, the better. You want your customers to see your emails in their inbox and be delighted by them. This ensures higher open and click rates, ultimately leading to higher engagement and more conversions.

Types of email flows

Now that you have read about the many benefits of email marketing automation, but where do you start? It’s important to know that while you can build various email automation flows, not all of them are equally relevant. Several factors influence where you should begin:

• Your business type
• Your target audience
• Available data
• Available manpower
• Experience in building automation

Let’s explore the different types of email automation flows.

Automating welcome emails

Welcome emails are a great way to greet new subscribers and set expectations. These emails often have high open and click rates because people are curious about what you have to offer. They are useful across multiple industries:

• Government organisations that want to onboard new colleagues
• B2B companies communicating important information to their customers
• Education institutions wanting to help new students arrange necessary tasks before starting the year

The simplicity of welcome flows

A welcome flow is usually the easiest automation flow to start with. They typically consist of just one or two emails in sequence without too many complicated conditions. Since the recipients are new, you don’t have much personal information about them yet, making these flows less complex.

Birthday emails for existing customers

Birthday emails are a fun and personalised way to show your existing customers that you are thinking of them. These emails can include special offers or discounts, but they don’t have to. Just thinking about them and celebrating with them can increase engagement and loyalty.

Easy set-up

Birthday emails are easy to build. All you need is the date of birth, and often one email is sufficient. You can collect the date of birth through a registration form or use existing data. In any industry, sending a birthday email is appreciated. Yes, even in the finance and insurance sector.

Reactivation emails for your business

Reactivation emails are designed to re-engage inactive subscribers. By sending them a special offer or gaining their attention with an interesting piece of content, you aim to make them active again and keep them engaged with your brand.

Personalisation

Personalisation is crucial here, as is an attractive subject line. You want to grab their attention so they open your email. Once opened, the content should be relevant to win back their engagement.

Effective strategy

This automation flow can be very effective in bringing customers back to your shop or service. However, keep in mind that sometimes this can also mean the end of the line. If your customers don’t respond to these emails, it might be time to say goodbye. It’s better to part on good terms than to be marked as spam.

These types of automation emails are common in e-commerce and retail but are relevant across all industries, both B2B and B2C.

Abandoned cart emails for leads

One of the most effective forms of email marketing automation is the abandoned cart email. These emails are sent when a customer leaves a product in their shopping cart without completing the purchase.

By automatically sending a reminder, you encourage these customers to return and complete their purchase.

Different sectors

Abandoned cart emails are especially relevant in the e-commerce sector, where customers often leave products in their shopping cart. They are also useful in other sectors, such as travel (for booking trips or accommodation) and sports (for completing sign-ups or tickets).

Complexity and integration

Abandoned cart emails can be slightly more challenging to set up than, say, welcome emails. This is because an integration is needed with your shopping cart, and you need data that can be tracked in real-time.

Software solutions

Platforms like Maileon offer built-in solutions for abandoned cart emails, simplifying the process. This shows the value of email marketing software. Experience a big difference in the ease of building these kinds of automation flows.

This actually brings us to our next topic.

How can I set up an automation flows?

1. Select an email marketing software platform

The first step in setting up email marketing automation is to choose a suitable platform. There are many different platforms available, each with its own features and price points. It’s important to choose a platform that suits your company’s needs and budget. Consider your email marketing automation goals and ask yourself the following questions:

• What data do you need to make your automation flows work?
• Do you need any integrations?
• Are there additional measures you need to take to protect your customers?

Email marketing automation platforms, like Maileon, factor your goals into the price, so you only pay for what you actually use. You want a tool that grows with you and supports your marketing automation strategy.

2. Collect the data for a good marketing automation flow

A good marketing automation strategy goes hand in hand with personalisation. For this, you need customer data. Usually, you already have some data through your website, registration forms, or other channels like social media interactions. Ensure you have the right integrations to make your automation flows seamless. Segment your groups to spot trends.

If you don’t have customer data yet, use creative ways to collect it, such as organising contests or sending fun quizzes to your customers. Just make sure you have permission from your customers to use the collected data.

3. stetting triggers and actions with the tool

Once you’ve chosen a platform and collected customer data, it’s time to set triggers and actions.

• Triggers are events that initiate an automated email, such as a new subscription or an abandoned shopping cart.
• Actions are the emails sent in response to these triggers.

Make a list of all the triggers and actions you want for your business. Start with the one that could have the biggest impact, whether it’s growing your customer list, increasing conversions, or saving time for your team.

4. Personalise and create engaging emails

It’s important to create emails that are attractive and relevant to your target audience. Pay attention to both the content and design of your emails.

• Ensure your emails are visually appealing and contain valuable information that resonates with your customers.
• Don’t forget to test: send your emails to yourself first, and also to a few colleagues to see if they land well.
• Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and view the emails from their perspective. Make sure they aren’t too repetitive and are engaging.

Setting up an automation flow takes time, but the ROI is worth it.

In the next chapter, we’ll look at a few success stories that demonstrate this.

Examples of successful email marketing automation campaigns

Email marketing automation campaigns can significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Here are four success stories of companies that have elevated their email marketing using Maileon as their marketing automation software.

BAS World

BAS World, a company specialising in trading commercial vehicles and machinery, has extensively utilised marketing automation flows in Maileon. With 59 live flows, they communicate with their customers in 17 languages.

This automation has made their email marketing highly efficient and personalised, saving them 55 hours a week of manual work within one department.

One of their most successful applications is the automation of stock updates and markdowns, which generates 9,000 extra website visitors every month.

Klaverblad Insurance

Klaverblad Insurance, a medium-sized insurance company, uses Maileon to strengthen communication with direct customers and insurance advisors.

They have launched a fully automated welcome campaign for direct customers and are in the process of extending it to insurance advisors.

Maileon makes it easy for new employees to get started with the system. The automation helps Klaverblad insurance achieve fast response times and better understand the needs of their advisors.

Frontis

Frontis, a full-service digital marketing agency that works as a strategic partner for B2B companies, chose Maileon for its functionality and usability.

One of their successful campaigns was an extensive webinar campaign. Maileon played a crucial role in reaching the right target audience with personalised information.

The campaign involved multiple channels and phases, achieving excellent results and leading the client to consider the campaign highly successful.

Spare Rib Expres

Spare Rib Express, a premium meal delivery company, worked with agency Bikkelhart and Maileon to optimise their email marketing.

Since the collaboration, Spare Rib Express has been sending newsletters with an open rate of around 40% and a click-through rate of 2-3%.

One of their successful automations is the ‘scratch and win’ campaign, which boasts an open rate of around 50%. The user-friendly tool helps Spare Rib Express reach their customers effectively and improve customer relations.

Ready to save time?

These examples demonstrate how effective email automation campaigns can lead to significant improvements in customer engagement, efficiency, and ultimately, business results.

Tips for optimising with automation software

Now that you know what email marketing automation is, what you can do with it, and how to set it up, it’s time to look at how to optimise your automation flows. Here are some tips to take your campaigns to the next level:

1. Segment your target audience

One of the best ways to optimise your email automation campaigns is to segment your target audience.

This means dividing your subscribers into different groups based on characteristics such as demographics, purchase history, or interests. By tailoring your emails to the specific needs and preferences of each group, you can increase the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Usually, you don’t need to create additional emails for this; you can use dynamic blocks to better personalise the email for each segment.

2. A/B-testing your emails

A/B testing is another effective way to optimise your email campaigns.

This involves creating two versions of an email and testing which version performs better. By experimenting with different elements such as subject lines, content, and design, you can discover what works best for your target audience.

It’s important to test only one element at a time so you know exactly which change caused the improvement.

3. Monitoren en analyseren van resultaten

Regularly monitoring and analysing the results of your email campaigns is crucial. This helps you understand what works and what doesn’t, allowing you to adjust and improve your strategy.

Pay attention to statistics such as open and click rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribes to get a clear picture of your campaigns’ performance.

To learn more about which KPIs to watch and what they mean for your campaign, read this blog: Which email metrics should you focus on?

Starting with email marketing automation?

Email automation offers numerous benefits for businesses, from saving time to a more personalised approach with customers. By using different types of automated emails and continuously optimising your campaigns, you will increase the engagement of your target audience and improve your business results.

Start today!

Start implementing and optimising your email automation flows today and discover the benefits for your business.