After Sales Marketing: Build Customer Loyalty with Email Marketing Automation
Improve post-sales customer relationships by automating your after-sales emails.
You already plan and send regular newsletter campaigns with our CleverReach newsletter tool and increase the sales in your online shop? Then you are already doing a lot of things right and have realized the great potential of email marketing.
But what happens after a purchase? The time immediately after a customer purchases a new product from your online store, as well as a few weeks thereafter, is critical to customer retention. We’ll show you how you can use email marketing automation to create a successful after-sales marketing campaign and turn your customers into long-term fans of your brand.
What is After Sales Marketing?
After-sales is an important but often neglected marketing component. The goal here is to provide support for the customer even after the purchase has been completed, to create long-term loyalty to your company and to generate follow-up orders. After-sales marketing includes all activities that occur after the sale, including consulting, support, service, warranty, and training.
Increase the Likelihood of Repeated Purchases by Sending After-Sales Emails
Email marketing is an important part of after-sales marketing and is a great way to stay in touch with your customers and give them the support and assistance they deserve after the sale. More than that, email marketing can help you retain your existing customers and keep them loyal to your business in the long run.
With effective after-sales marketing, you can significantly increase your customers’ likelihood to buy again. Customers are more likely to buy from you again if they are satisfied with the purchase process and after-sales communication. However, there is much more potential in after sales: even customers who were not satisfied with the actual buying process and would quite likely be lost without further communication can be convinced with successful after sales marketing and still be turned into long-term customers.
A Successful After-Sales Email Automation Example
The CleverReach email marketing automation tool allows you to create several automation workflows for your after-sales communication. In your account you will already find a template for the automation of a newsletter workflow after the purchase of a product in your online store.
In the automated template, the product purchase is already set as the trigger to send out the email. You can specify whether the automated email should be triggered for all orders placed in your online store, or only for specific products. In the latter case, you can specify which items you want to include in the email. This allows you to target the content of your after-sales emails to specific products or product groups.
After-sales emails require an established interface to your online store. CleverReach offers newsletter integrations for all popular shop systems like Shopify, Shopware or WooCommerce.
Positively Influence the Customer Experience after Their Purchase with a Thank You Email
Sending an automated thank you email after a customer purchases a product from your online store can positively impact the customer experience and is an important step in customer retention. This follow-up email makes your customer feel valued and taken seriously, which builds trust in your company.
A “Thank You” email is the first contact with your customer after their purchase. This is a very important moment because you can reassure them with a personal and positive newsletter that they have made the right decision by buying from your online store.
That’s why your “Thank You” email should emphasize a personal message and build anticipation. For example, provide more information about how to care for or use the item, or link to your social media channels where your customers can get more inspiration about your products.
Videos that show how to install, use or maintain the product and prepare the customer for the moment of receiving the package are also a big trend. Of course, information about the estimated time of delivery is also a helpful piece of content to include in your “Thank You” email.
Promote Bonus Program and Provide Relevant Details
The after-sales newsletter is also a great way to introduce customers to your bonus program. Bonus programs have been proven to increase customer loyalty by offering your customers additional benefits, such as discounts or exclusive offers. A bonus program like this not only makes your customers feel valued. It also motivates them to buy from you again.
You can also use the after-sales email to point out other relevant blog posts or info material that your customer may want to read.
Get Customer Feedback
Customer reviews are essential in ecommerce to build up trust in potential buyers. For this reason, it’s helpful to ask your customers to leave a review after they make a purchase or to share their experience with the product on social media. Customer reviews give you valuable feedback and allow you to improve your products or services. It also makes your customers feel valued and taken seriously. To motivate them to give an honest review, you can also offer incentives such as discounts or coupons.
Tip: Want to learn more about collecting customer feedback via email? Take a look at our blog post “Collecting Customer Feedback via Newsletter”.
Use Cross and Upselling Newsletters to Get Customers to Return to Your Shop
Another important aspect of after-sales marketing is cross-selling and up-selling, where you can offer your customers other suitable products in the newsletter. Encourage additional purchases by targeting and recommending products that complement the original purchase. The important thing is that the products actually add value to the customer, not just maximize profit. This is the only way they will feel taken seriously and remain loyal to your company for the long term.
You may want to consider sending a newsletter with a discount code that can be redeemed for matching products.
In a Nutshell: After Sales Marketing with CleverReach
- After-sales refers to supporting customers after the sale to help build lasting relationships.
- Successful after-sales emails significantly increase the likelihood that customers return to your shop.
- CleverReach newsletter integrations for common shop systems allow you to create successful after-sales email automation workflows.
- The CleverReach email automation tool allows you to easily create after sales automation workflows for several products or product collections.
