Is your Transactional Email a Yawn?
I recently received a great transactional email to my personal inbox and I thought I would share with everyone. We have written about this type of email in the past, and it’s a great way to add value to your customers after an transaction, but does it have to be so boring?
When was the last time you really dug in to the contents of your Amazon email receipt? Have you ever read anything other than the purchase amount and the shipping date? I will be the first to admit that I haven’t. I purchase things online on a fairly regular basis, and never have I felt compelled to actually read the email. That is until I made a purchase from RoadId.com.
RoadID is a company that specializes in selling identification products to athletes and outdoor enthusiasts to protect them in case of an unfortunate mishap. Very serious stuff, but they don’t let the weight of that bring them down, at least not in their emails!
When I made my purchase I immediately received the customary receipt, and very shortly after I received another email with a thank you and a discount coupon code to pass on to friends. This is a great way to spread awareness of a company or product (and increase sales!), but they took it one step further. The email included a sample email to copy and paste and send to friends, and it actually made me chuckle. Take a look:
SAMPLE EMAIL: Feel free to copy the following text and paste it into a new email to your friends.
**********Begin Sample Email**********
Hey Everyone,I just ordered one of the best products ever. It’s called a Road ID - perhaps you’ve heard of it. If you haven’t, go to their website and check it out. Road ID is a great product that could save your life someday.
When I ordered, they gave me a coupon that I could pass along to my friends. Here’s the coupon number:
Coupon Number: (Code)
The coupon is good for $1 off any Road ID order placed by 04/18/2008. To order, simply go to RoadID.com or click the link below:
(link)
If you prefer, you can call them at 800-345-6335.
You can thank me later,
Melanie SimsOh by the way, their website is awesome, the customer service is outstanding, and the owners are very smart and good looking.
**********END Sample Email**********
There are certainly improvements that can be made to this email. For one it was plain text, and it is always a good idea to send HTML if possible to enhance the design element. But the next time you are composing a transactional email, think about the tone you set. It can really make a difference in engaging the customer!
April 2nd, 2008 at 10:15 am
[...] decided to be proactive in their email marketing (as opposed to sending the customary, boring transactional emails that I have received in the past), but what I really love is how they really utilized dynamic [...]