Automated emails
What are automated emails?
Automated emails are pre-written messages sent to recipients automatically based on a behavior, action, trigger, or schedule. Instead of manually sending emails, you can set rules or workflows and let the system send the right message at the intended moment. They're often a series of emails rather than a one-off email blast.
Automated email vs. transactional emails
There's only a thin line between an automated and a transactional email. Essentially, transactional emails are a subset of automated emails. Here's how these two types of emails are similar and different.
Similarities
Both emails are automatically sent; they don't require manual sending.
Both are often personalized with customer data.
In some cases, transactional emails contain subtle marketing elements that are less pronounced than in other automated emails.
Distinction
Purpose: Automated emails can be used to drive engagement, nurture leads, and encourage conversions, whereas transactional emails are used only to communicate information about or confirm a user action.
Trigger: The trigger for automated emails can be behavioral, time-based, or segment-based. Transactional emails are always triggered by a specific user action.
Content: Automated emails may contain marketing content, product recommendations, promotions, or educational content. Transactional emails content is strictly information or an acknowledgment.
Why does the distinction matter?
Deliverability and compliance: Knowing the difference between automated marketing emails and transactional emails helps optimize the delivery routes of both. Most automated emails must be optimized for engagement while transactional emails should be optimized for fast delivery. Mixing marketing content into transactional emails must be done carefully to avoid spam complaints and legal violations.
Strategy alignment: The end goal of automated emails and transactional emails is quite different. Automated emails are best for long-term engagement and conversion, while transactional emails are essential for trust and customer satisfaction. Knowing the difference will help you build the right strategy and workflow for each type.
User expectation: Recipients expect transactional emails to be instant and accurate; automated marketing flows can be more flexible in timing and tone. Categorizing the emails you send incorrectly into these two groups could lead to frustration for the customer.
Benefits of automated emails
Time and effort optimization: Automation eliminates repetitive manual tasks, freeing marketers and sales teams to focus on strategy instead of execution.
Personalization: Automated emails leverage segmentation and behavioral data, delivering targeted content and offers to highly specific user groups. This makes them more relevant and timely.
Higher engagement: Automated emails are designed to be sent at the most optimal time, which is also the most relevant touchpoint in the customer's journey. They have much higher open and click rates than bulk campaigns because recipients expect and value relevant information.
Consistent brand experience: Automated sequences foster consistent communication, improving retention and reinforcing brand identity. They ensure that every new subscriber or customer receives the same high-quality communication.
How to implement automated emails effectively
There are few basic steps that are common to any good automated email workflow irrespective of the specific use case:
Define clear triggers: Identify and capture the user action, behavior, or milestone that justifies a personalized message without feeling intrusive.
Segment the audience: Use behavioral data like purchase history or prior feedback and demographic data, if available, to create groups of users so you can personalize the messages sent to them.
Craft relevant content: Ensure that you keep the trigger and the audience segment for the email in mind while crafting the content. The emails should deliver value aligned with the recipient's need and lifecycle stage.
Measure and optimize: Track recipient engagement metrics like open rates, click rates, conversions, feedback, and unsubscribes to refine the message and modify the workflow for maximum performance.