Create the perfect follow-up email to boost your sales!

1. What is a follow-up email? 

As an e-commerce brand, the tracking email will allow you to inform your customers that they have ordered the right products (phew) and the real-time position of their package.

In this article, we will give you the keys to create emails that are not only effective but that will allow you to sell more.

2. The essential elements of the follow-up email:  

To reassure your customers as much as possible, it is necessary to give as much (useful) information but without overloading your email. 

What are the elements to remember?

Branding! 

One of the major elements of your follow-up emails is your branding! 

The first thing your customers will see when they open your email and that will reassure them is your visual identity: your logo and your colors.  

We’ve all received an email from DHL, UPS, Colissimo to tell us that we were going to receive a package, but we couldn't know which order it was: no brand logo, no branding, not even a name...

If you order once a month, it's not too bad, but more and more people are ordering online several times a week, sometimes even several times a day. According to Fevad, in 2020, online buyers ordered, on average, 3.5 times a month. 

 The order 

Another way to reassure your customer (or at least to inform him) is to include a summary of the order in the email: give the name of the item(s), the number of pieces, and add the image of the product. 

In your email, there will be:

• The names of the products
• An image of the articles 

The status of the order   

Have you ever ordered on an e-commerce site? All you want is for your order to arrive quickly! 

Each follow-up email will inform your customer about the state of preparation of his order: in preparation, on the way, and arrival! You can even adapt the commercial elements to each email. 

For example, you can adapt the commercial elements to each email:

• When your customer receives an email announcing the preparation of his order, you can add the icons of your social networks at the bottom.
• Once the order has been shipped, your customer will be able to benefit from are ferral code in his email that he will share with his friends and family. 
• Once the order arrives, it will trigger an email alert that will contain a customer experience rating scale.

Adding the order status will reassure your customers and improve their experience! 

Bigblue Tip: you can even add "your package is on its way!" as a different item depending on the status of the order. 

3. Reinsurance elements:

There are small elements that, as their names indicate, allow you to "reassure" your client. They are generally placed at the bottom of your follow-up emails. 

The customer reviews 

According to Search Engine Land, 88% of consumers trust online opinions as much as the advice of their relatives. It's a great way to use your customers who have already ordered on your site to generate new sales. 

How do you get your customers to leave a review? 

In the email your customer will receive, you will add a way to leave a review at the bottom. This is a key element for you to make it as attractive as possible, like this one: 

If you are not convinced of the power of smileys, you can reward your customers for leaving a notice with a discount code, for example. We'll see that later in the article! 

Bigblue tip: You can use Trustpilot, which allows you to have 100% verified reviews. Future customers will want to order from you all the more!  

A contact in case of emergency 

During their post-purchase experience, your customers may have questions or a small problem with their order. Include an "emergency contact" at the bottom of your email that redirects either to your FAQ page or an option to create a new email. 

In addition to improving your customer experience, you'll build customer loyalty. 80% of consumers stop ordering from an e-merchant if the customer experience is bad. 

4. Creating a community:

Your customer has already ordered your product, and he is almost part of your community. All you have to do is push him to follow your news daily to turn this new customer into a recurring customer. 

You have a 60 to 70% increased chance to sell to an existing customer than to a new customer! 

How do you do it?  

Bigblue Tip 1: You can discreetly add your network logos at the bottom of the email.

Or in a much more visible way with photos of publications.

Bigblue Tip 2: Engage your clients more by marking "follow us on Instagram" or "join our community."

5. Discount coupons: 

Recent customers of your e-commerce may not reorder immediately.  Discount coupons will be your best tool to bring back your customers or attract new ones in their circle of friends and family.  

How can you do this? 

There are several types of coupons:

The classic coupon code: you send a coupon code right after the order to get your customers to reorder on your site. 

The reward code: you promise your customers a discount code under certain conditions: a subscription to the newsletter, in exchange for opinions, sharing on their social networks. This strategy allows you to involve your customers (in addition to having ordered from you!) by improving your visibility, for example, if they share their products on their social networks or increase your customer base if they leave their email address. 

The referral code: If your customer liked your little gourds, he might want to recommend them to his friends and family. Offering a sponsorship code that rewards both the new customer and your ambassador will build loyalty for the former and convince the latter. Two birds with one stone!

6. Other products from the product range:

Presenting your new product range, for example, or products that complement your customer's order is a strategy that pays off! 

Emails containing cross-selling have a 20% higher conversion rate than those without. 

But what is cross-selling? 

It is the presentation of additional products to your customer's order. Let's take our example again; with the email confirming that the orange gourd is on its way, you can add at the bottom of your email: 

7. In brief ...

The follow-up email is both a very good tool to reassure your customers but also to build customer loyalty.

How can you do this? 

The balance between reassuring elements (reassurance elements, customer reviews, contacts), essential elements (the summary, order status) and promotional elements (cross-selling, social networks) as well as the use of the different follow-up steps to push different content, will allow you to create a perfect follow-up email that converts! 

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