Campaign emails take effort every time you send them. Automated email flows are written once and then work in the background, sending the right message when a customer does something. If you only set up five, make it these.
1. Welcome series
Sent when someone joins your list. This is when people are most interested in hearing from you.
- Email 1, straight away: say thank you, deliver any promised discount and show your best sellers
- Email 2, two to three days later: tell your story and what makes you different
- Email 3, about a week later: share reviews and answer common questions
2. Abandoned cart
Sent when a shopper adds items to the cart but does not check out.
- First reminder: one to four hours later, showing the exact items left behind
- Second reminder: about a day later, answering likely objections such as shipping, returns and sizing
Hold back on discounts in the first email, or shoppers learn to abandon carts on purpose.
3. Browse abandonment
Sent when someone views products but does not add anything to the cart. Keep it light: “Still thinking it over?” with the products they looked at and a few similar ones. It reaches shoppers earlier than the cart email and often recovers sales you would otherwise miss.
4. Post-purchase
Sent after an order. This flow builds loyalty more than it sells.
- Confirm the order and set expectations for delivery
- Share tips for getting the most out of the product
- Ask for a review once the item has arrived and been used
- Suggest a related product a few weeks later
5. Win-back
Sent to customers who have not bought for a while. The right timing depends on how often people usually reorder from you. Start with a friendly “we miss you”, show what is new, and save any offer for the last email in the series.
Make them work harder
- Use dynamic product blocks so each email shows items relevant to that person
- Stop promotional flows as soon as someone places an order
- Review the results every quarter and test one change at a time, such as subject line, timing or layout
Most email platforms include templates for all five flows, so you can have them running within a week. If you would like them planned, written and built for you, take a look at our email and SMS marketing service, and for one-off sends see email campaign management. Before you scale up, check your setup against Google’s email sender guidelines so your messages reach the inbox.
