Archive for the ‘MessageFocus’ Category
Encourage your potential customers to complete their purchase with an ‘abandoned basket’ email
No company will have a 100% conversion rate on their website; it is inevitable people will abandon their basket before completing their purchase for one reason or another.
You can improve that rate, though, by sending an abandoned basket email. It can help encourage some of these potential customers who have added something to their basket on your website and abandoned the purchase process, to return and complete their transaction.
Below I have included answers to a few of the most common questions we get when it comes to abandoned basket emails.
How long after the potential customer abandons their basket should I send the abandoned basket email?
This is something that needs to be tested, as the length of time will vary depending on if it is a high involvement purchase or a low. You don’t want to send the email immediately after they have abandoned their basket, you don’t want to give the impression of stalking! Plus if the recipient got distracted while adding items to their basket it is possible they are still busy. Or if they simply needed a little time to think about the purchase before placing their order, this wouldn’t have given them enough time. Equally you don’t want to wait too long after the recipient has abandoned as they may have bought the product elsewhere in that time. I would recommend anywhere between 3 and 24 hours.
What should be included within the abandoned basket email?
- Avoid cluttering the email; including other messages could confuse the recipient.
- Pull the products the recipient has in their basket into the email creative, reminding them of what they wanted to purchase.
- Place a strong/clear call to action within the email, e.g. ‘return to your basket here’, or ‘have you not found what you are looking for’.
- Reinforce your brand values: why would they buy the product from you?
- Offer the recipient help and assistance in order to complete their transaction, include a phone number they can call in case they are having problems purchasing online.
Should I include an incentive?
Many people ask whether they should use incentives within their abandoned basket emails. To answer this, you need to consider why people would have abandoned the basket. Did they get distracted by something else? Were they not 100% sure about the purchase (do I really need this?!)? Was it a cost issue on price or delivery?
If they simply got distracted you don’t want to offer the recipient a discount, when they may have purchased anyway, with just a reminder. You also don’t want to teach your regular customer that abandoning their basket will result in a discount, encouraging them to do this every time before they make a purchase. Therefore if you are going to offer a discount, first do some testing to ensure that offering a discount is actually increasing the number of conversions enough to justify the discount. Also offer it irregularly, so customers don’t come to expect it. Maybe create a series of two abandoned basket emails, with the first one reminding the recipient that they have things within their basket and then send the second if the recipient has opened the email and not completed the purchase containing the added incentive.
How do I automate this process?
Adestra’s Conversion Capture feature allows for real time emails to be automatically sent to those recipients who have abandoned their basket on your website. For further information click here or contact your account manager.
Email client detection – how much do you really know about your email recipients?
One of the most powerful features you can use for campaign optimisation is email client detection reporting. Knowing which email clients your recipients are using is hugely important when planning your email campaigns.
Using this kind of data to ensure campaigns are optimised (design and CTAs) for your readers’ most popular email clients is a great way to improve your email marketing results!
How does this help?
Review your past email campaign data and see which your top email clients are for opens to determine how best to tailor your email content. Use the email client detection report to shape your email content with these tips:
- If your top email client is a desktop client, such as Outlook, remember that images will not automatically download. Improve results by adding short, descriptive ALT text to encourage people to download images and lots of opportunities to click within the copy.
- For webmail clients use lots of linked images, and ensure the amount of text is truly tailored to the email purpose – does it need lots of text to get your message across? Also consider spicing your email up with an animated gif or by integrating video within your email
Need some inspiration?
Check out these emails that are well tailored to the most popular email client of their recipients:
Simple and effective for webmail clients!
Great for desktop clients!
What does MessageFocus email client detection show you?
If you’re a MessageFocus client, you can find the Email Client Detection report in the campaign reporting tab. The feature provides you with an overview of the email clients that your campaigns have been opened on, and allows you to view specifically which webmail, desktop and mobile clients are being used to view your content:
There is also a tab to look at hits, showing the version (where available) of email client and the browser for webmail clients. This allows you to ensure you’re designing content that has been optimised for your most popular browser. It also enables you to tailor your content so it’s designed to maximise response rates for your campaign.
Check out what kind of insights you can glean from digging into your campaign email client data. And if you are a MessageFocus user, contact your account manager to discuss your requirements, analyse your deliverabilty and maximise the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Adestra reveal Conversion Capture at TFM&A/eCommerce Expo Manchester, their answer to higher online sales by recapturing basket abandoners.
Email marketing still remains a powerful channel for generating ROI*. However automation remains lower down on the list of utilised tools to maximise it. Automated abandoned basket emails are commonly used by many online retailers (56%*) and now Adestra are enabling users to send automated and personalised abandon basket emails through their enterprise email marketing platform, MessageFocus
Conversion Capture
Conversion Capture identifies when a visitor hasn’t completed their online store purchase and automatically targets them with relevant and real-time email campaigns to remind them of the abandonment and encourage action. Messages can be configured to be automatically sent within minutes of abandoning or later depending on the purchasing behaviour of a particular brand’s shoppers.
Importantly, Adestra’s Conversion Capture utilises strong personalisation techniques to maximise engagement and conversion rates. Email campaigns can include images of a shopper’s abandoned items, using cookie-less technology. The result is a highly targeted and personalised message designed to encourage action from the recipient.
Visit the website to learn more
At the show
Adestra will be running demos of Conversion Capture on their stand (142) at TFM&A/eCommerce Expo Manchester so it’s the perfect opportunity to pop over and see how their automated abandon basket email solution makes higher online sales the future.
Furthermore Andrew Abram, Sales Manager at Adestra will present ‘Challenging the misconceptions about mobile email’ in the Integrated Marketing Theatre at 13:45.
*Source: Econsultancy/Adestra Email Marketing Industry Census 2013
Encourage your potential customers to complete their purchase with an ‘abandoned basket’ email
No company will have a 100% conversion rate on their website; it is inevitable people will abandon their basket before completing their purchase for one reason or another.
You can improve that rate, though, by sending an abandoned basket email. It can help encourage some of these potential customers who have added something to their basket on your website and abandoned the purchase process, to return and complete their transaction.
Below I have included answers to a few of the most common questions we get when it comes to abandoned basket emails.
How long after the potential customer abandons their basket should I send the abandoned basket email?
This is something that needs to be tested, as the length of time will vary depending on if it is a high involvement purchase or a low. You don’t want to send the email immediately after they have abandoned their basket, you don’t want to give the impression of stalking! Plus if the recipient got distracted while adding items to their basket it is possible they are still busy. Or if they simply needed a little time to think about the purchase before placing their order, this wouldn’t have given them enough time. Equally you don’t want to wait too long after the recipient has abandoned as they may have bought the product elsewhere in that time. I would recommend anywhere between 3 and 24 hours.
What should be included within the abandoned basket email?
- Avoid cluttering the email; including other messages could confuse the recipient.
- Pull the products the recipient has in their basket into the email creative, reminding them of what they wanted to purchase.
- Place a strong/clear call to action within the email, e.g. ‘return to your basket here’, or ‘have you not found what you are looking for’.
- Reinforce your brand values: why would they buy the product from you?
- Offer the recipient help and assistance in order to complete their transaction, include a phone number they can call in case they are having problems purchasing online.
Should I include an incentive?
Many people ask whether they should use incentives within their abandoned basket emails. To answer this, you need to consider why people would have abandoned the basket. Did they get distracted by something else? Were they not 100% sure about the purchase (do I really need this?!)? Was it a cost issue on price or delivery?
If they simply got distracted you don’t want to offer the recipient a discount, when they may have purchased anyway, with just a reminder. You also don’t want to teach your regular customer that abandoning their basket will result in a discount, encouraging them to do this every time before they make a purchase. Therefore if you are going to offer a discount, first do some testing to ensure that offering a discount is actually increasing the number of conversions enough to justify the discount. Also offer it irregularly, so customers don’t come to expect it. Maybe create a series of two abandoned basket emails, with the first one reminding the recipient that they have things within their basket and then send the second if the recipient has opened the email and not completed the purchase containing the added incentive.
How do I automate this process?
Adestra’s Conversion Capture feature allows for real time emails to be automatically sent to those recipients who have abandoned their basket on your website. For further information click here or contact your account manager.
Email client detection – how much do you really know about your email recipients?
One of the most powerful features you can use for campaign optimisation is email client detection reporting. Knowing which email clients your recipients are using is hugely important when planning your email campaigns.
Using this kind of data to ensure campaigns are optimised (design and CTAs) for your readers’ most popular email clients is a great way to improve your email marketing results!
How does this help?
Review your past email campaign data and see which your top email clients are for opens to determine how best to tailor your email content. Use the email client detection report to shape your email content with these tips:
- If your top email client is a desktop client, such as Outlook, remember that images will not automatically download. Improve results by adding short, descriptive ALT text to encourage people to download images and lots of opportunities to click within the copy.
- For webmail clients use lots of linked images, and ensure the amount of text is truly tailored to the email purpose – does it need lots of text to get your message across? Also consider spicing your email up with an animated gif or by integrating video within your email
Need some inspiration?
Check out these emails that are well tailored to the most popular email client of their recipients:
Simple and effective for webmail clients!
Great for desktop clients!
What does MessageFocus email client detection show you?
If you’re a MessageFocus client, you can find the Email Client Detection report in the campaign reporting tab. The feature provides you with an overview of the email clients that your campaigns have been opened on, and allows you to view specifically which webmail, desktop and mobile clients are being used to view your content:
There is also a tab to look at hits, showing the version (where available) of email client and the browser for webmail clients. This allows you to ensure you’re designing content that has been optimised for your most popular browser. It also enables you to tailor your content so it’s designed to maximise response rates for your campaign.
Check out what kind of insights you can glean from digging into your campaign email client data. And if you are a MessageFocus user, contact your account manager to discuss your requirements, analyse your deliverabilty and maximise the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Adestra reveal Conversion Capture at TFM&A/eCommerce Expo Manchester, their answer to higher online sales by recapturing basket abandoners.
Email marketing still remains a powerful channel for generating ROI*. However automation remains lower down on the list of utilised tools to maximise it. Automated abandoned basket emails are commonly used by many online retailers (56%*) and now Adestra are enabling users to send automated and personalised abandon basket emails through their enterprise email marketing platform, MessageFocus
Conversion Capture
Conversion Capture identifies when a visitor hasn’t completed their online store purchase and automatically targets them with relevant and real-time email campaigns to remind them of the abandonment and encourage action. Messages can be configured to be automatically sent within minutes of abandoning or later depending on the purchasing behaviour of a particular brand’s shoppers.
Importantly, Adestra’s Conversion Capture utilises strong personalisation techniques to maximise engagement and conversion rates. Email campaigns can include images of a shopper’s abandoned items, using cookie-less technology. The result is a highly targeted and personalised message designed to encourage action from the recipient.
Visit the website to learn more
At the show
Adestra will be running demos of Conversion Capture on their stand (142) at TFM&A/eCommerce Expo Manchester so it’s the perfect opportunity to pop over and see how their automated abandon basket email solution makes higher online sales the future.
Furthermore Andrew Abram, Sales Manager at Adestra will present ‘Challenging the misconceptions about mobile email’ in the Integrated Marketing Theatre at 13:45.
*Source: Econsultancy/Adestra Email Marketing Industry Census 2013