Triggered email messages continue to outperform their “business as usual” (BAU) counterparts in both open and click rates, according to a recent study conducted by Epsilon and Email Institute. The report found that open rates of triggered emails, which feature strong customer engagement and relevance, were 76.7% higher than other types in Q3 2014, an increase over the Q3 2013 lift of 68.6% over other emails. And the report found that click rates of triggered emails were 151.9% higher than other emails. “This is in line with Q3 2013 when triggered click rates had a 156.1% lift over BAU,” says Epsilon.
Triggered emails are those sent as the result of a consumer action, such as Welcome, Thank You, Abandon Shopping Cart or Confirmation,” according to Epsilon.
How else can triggered emails be employed? We asked Shannon Aronson, Vice President of Customer Experience Design at Epsilon. “A trigger strategy is key to identify your best opportunities,” Aronson told
Loyalty360. “Looking at conversion funnels, post-conversion opportunities and behaviors to determine a rules based trigger program that will have the biggest impact on your business goals. Start with your business goals and analyze the customer experience and analytics to determine where the best opportunities are.”
The power of triggered emails—which fuels the significant open rates—is the recognized relevance of such communications. Customers immediately know why they’re receiving the emails, and can surmise their importance. “Relevance is the number one factor in a successful relationship with your consumer base,” Aronson said. “Consumers demand that brands provide them with information they want and need when they need it. This is the mantra all marketers have been saying for years—trigger emails make this much more possible. Smart
and innovative trigger emails always perform significantly better—the numbers have proven this over and over again.”
Another interesting number in the report: Triggered emails accounted for 3.9% of total email volume in Q3 2014, a 7.3% increase YOY.
Epsilon’s triggered email metrics are compiled from approximately 340 million triggered emails sent from July 2014 to September 2014 across multiple industries.