Marketing through transactional emails is an important strategy that when done correctly, increases website traffic and sales. Transactional email is unique because it is often initiated by the recipient, with much higher open rates than bulk emails. This mail includes any direct communication such as welcome and thank you emails, order confirmations, password resets, and much more. As this mail is more likely to be expected and opened by the recipient, it is an opportunity to add marketing to entice that individual back to your website. However, remember to follow best practices and stay within industry guidelines. Here are some tips to help get you started

Placement:
Keep the transactional portion of the email at the top, as this is the expected part of the message for the recipient. Meaning, all marketing messaging should be at the bottom. Do not include any marketing within the subject line as this should continue to identify the purpose of the email. Additionally, use less than 30% of the email for marketing.

Appearance:
The appearance of your marketing portion of the message is important to entice the recipient to continue looking at it. Even though the email’s intent is to be transactional, it does not need to be plain text. It is also important to include company logos and images.

Functionality:
Linking company logos to your website and images to specific products makes it easier and more likely for users to return to your webpage. Furthermore, adding a preference center link in your emails allows for the recipient to sign up for additional email communications.

Personalization:
Personalizing your marketing to the recipient also increases the likelihood of that individual interacting with the content. For example, when sending a receipt for particular items, include marketing with items related to or that compliment their previous purchase.

Continued Evaluation:
It is important to keep track of and measure the results of the changes made to your emails and track your inbox placement on your transactional stream. This can help you to continue fine tuning according to what has been working and what hasn’t. Also, it is important to ensure that your marketing strategies have not affected your placement, as this mail should continue making it to the inbox. Lastly, don’t forget to communicate with your email service provider, as they have the knowledge and experience to help make your email communications successful!

~ROI Email Team