• By michelle
• In Marketing Strategy
• Posted Aug 28, 2014

Post Purchase Emails: Your Key to Ongoing Clients

You’ve made the sale. OK, awesome.

But are you nurturing your customers after they purchase? If you’re not, here’s why you should….

According to HubSpot’s recent findings, nurturing is the one marketing strategy that locks in returning customers…

And returning customers are exactly what you’re missing out on.

If you’re a data freak like us, check out a few statistics about customers who made recent purchases:

• Recent additions to your marketing list are 2-3% less active with your business…so why aren’t you nurturing?
• Emails relevant to the audience drive 18 times more revenue to your business…and that means a recent purchase is relevant.
• Your most recent subscribers are the most likely to click through.

**Cough, cough: all of these subscribers represent people who just purchased.**

Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.

Use these strategies to write post purchase marketing emails that turn new, first-time buyers into lifelong customers.

Your customer purchased once. That doesn’t mean she’ll do it again.

Get that tattooed on your forehead if you have to. When someone becomes a new customer, that purchase doesn’t guarantee more sales.

More revenue flows in once your post purchase emails continue to nurture. Upsells work—they really do—but not unless you’ve connected the new offer with the existing purchase.

That leads me to the next point…

Are those post purchase emails personalized?

Personalization proves that you value your new client, especially when it comes to post purchase emails.

Blanket messaging makes people feel like a name on a list, not an individual who has specific needs. Make it a point to “divide and conquer” with list segmentation that delivers the right message to the intended audience.

“Personalize and categorize” based on what product or service your recipient purchased. In doing so, you’ll know more about their needs, and how to communicate with them.

If you use marketing software such as Infusionsoft, you can whittle down your audience with ease.

Example: you have two different eBooks. One is a healthier version of Julia Child’s cookbook; the other is a guide to cleaning ovens. Because both of these purchases have something to do with cooking…

That doesn’t indicate that customers who bought them have the same needs, interests, and personalities.

Then why would they get the same post purchase emails?

Our suggestion: Write a post purchase email sequence specifically for every service/product you have.

Here’s an example: Amazon.

When you buy a book…

1. You get an email confirming purchase.
2. Then another asking how you liked it.
3. And then you receive reviews of other books with similar buyers.

Note the word “reviews.” That’s not a direct sale; it’s nurturing with content that speaks to the individual purchaser.

Your audience wants something relevant to them. Speaking of which…

Are you still giving info away after purchase?

If so, good.

If not, slap yourself on the wrist. (Just kidding!)

Once a purchase is made, upsells are part of the picture. But that’s not the only route to take. In your post purchase emails, pretend that you’ve started the relationship fresh.

Here’s a metaphor: In purchasing from you, your customer has decided to go from dating to marriage. Now, once the nuptials happen, do you still lay on the charm? Are you still spritzing yourself with perfume? Wearing that snazzy suit to dinner?

When you don’t engage with post purchase emails, it’s as if you’re wearing sweat pants and scarfing cheese puffs 24/7.

In other words, it’s still important to “date” your customers even though they’ve said yes to your big question. (OK, this metaphor ends now.)

Keep your customer relationship new with relevant content that helps your existing client base in one way or another. This is not about bonuses…

It’s about relevant content that engages.

It’s about nurturing your client relationships.

It’s about cementing your expertise.

It’s about post purchase emails, and how you use them to create ongoing clients.

Don’t have your post purchase emails ready?

Check out our professional copywriting services.