If you focus on existing customers over always chasing new ones, you stand to earn 60% more profits. Customer retention emails will make that happen.
In this article, you will learn the critical components of effective retention emails. We will also share 6 tactics to guarantee your emails engage your audience.
By the end, you can reduce customer churn rate while growing your customer loyalty.
4 Critical Customer Retention Email Components
Before typing up that marketing email, familiarize yourself with these 4 components as your templates and think about how to apply them to your own brand to encourage customers to stay loyal.
A. Add A Persuasive Subject Line
Your subject line should grab attention and keep your customers engaged enough to want to open your email. Otherwise, your email might go straight to the trash.
How do you do this?
Focus on being relevant. So identify first what the main point of your email is. Then, make sure the subject line reflects this.
Make sure it is specific and clearly states what the email is about so it doesn’t set any unwarranted expectations. Plus, aim for just 6 to 10 words because long subject lines can get cut off, especially on mobile devices.
You should also use action words like “Get” or “Discover” to prompt action. Add phrases like “Last Chance” or “Limited-Time” as well to create a sense of urgency or curiosity.
For instance, let’s say you run a wellness niche brand like this at-home medical spa service. Try out these catchy subject line ideas:
- Book Now: 20% Off Lip Fillers at Home!
- Hurry! Book Your Botox Home Service – Save $50!
- Last Chance: 15% Off Home Micro-Needling Sessions!
These subject lines are clear, action-oriented, and create urgency. They can make your email marketing more effective and convince your paying customers to stick around with your brand.
B. Embed Clear & High-Contrast Visuals
Humans process visuals 60,000x faster than text. So add vivid graphics in your retention emails to capture attention instantly. Use them to make your emails stand out in crowded inboxes.
To do this, use Hyperise’s image tool for emails. Add logos, screenshots, QR codes, text, and maps to your visual assets to make them more personalized and appealing. For instance, if you offer rewards, Hyperise lets you do this:
If you are doing promotional emails, you can also do product mockups:
Now, this is applicable to all industries and business types to help retain customers. But it is especially valuable if your target market is seniors or Gen X since they likely have poor eyesight or difficulty understanding the message. So use visual aids to relay the message and tone.
For example, let’s say your company is a portable oxygen concentrator supplier for seniors. You can include clear images of your product in use. You can also visualize the step-by-step process of how to set it up. Also, add a QR code for easy reordering or a map showing service areas, like this:
With helpful visual components in your emails, you improve the customer experience and make it easy for them to engage and do your desired action.
C. Include A Clear Call-To-Action (CTA)
A strong CTA guides your email recipients on what to do next. This helps you drive repeat purchases, remind customers of your offer’s value, and direct them to take the action you want.
To guarantee your CTA is clear, make it simple and direct. So know what you want your loyal customers to do and make sure your first word is always action-oriented.
If you want them to sign up for a webinar, your CTA should be “Sign Up for the Webinar” instead of something vague like “Learn More.
Additionally, add 2 CTAs: a primary and a secondary. The former should drive the main action, like making a purchase. Meanwhile, the latter should offer an alternative, like learning more. Here are examples:
- Primary CTA: Order Now & Get Free Shipping
- Secondary CTA: Read Our Latest Blog Post
But make sure you position the primary CTA at the top to immediately capture attention and the secondary one at the bottom as a follow-up option to retain interest.
Once you know what you want to say, make it stand out more. Use contrasting colors and bold text to make it pop. Hyperise’s image editor can help you be as creative as you want as shown earlier.
Next, to make sure it is effective, use A/B testing (aka split test) to compare which CTAs work best in your retention emails. Experiment with different wording, colors, and CTA placements one element at a time. For example, try “Claim Your Discount” versus “Redeem 20% Off!”
You can also test buttons at the top versus the bottom to see which gets more clicks. With this, you can adjust your marketing strategy before hitting send.
To do this, use ActiveCampaign to automate your email split tests. Here’s how to use it:
A/B Testing automations using easy drag and drop builder (Case Study)
It also lets you easily review the results:
B2B Vs B2C CTAs: What’s The Difference?
Typically, B2B CTAs are more formal and focused on logical benefits to cater to a professional audience. In contrast, many B2C CTAs are geared to tug at emotions (ex. urgency) and are more simple to create immediate engagement.
But both should align with your brand voice and fit naturally into the customer journey to make sure it hits the spot for your customer base.
Let’s try this out for 2 of the most popular niches: fashion and skincare.
For instance, if you are a B2B fashion company like Mannequin Mall and Handicraft, here are CTA’s you can use:
- Download Our Dress Form Catalog!
- Get Your Custom Dress Form Quote!
- Schedule a Virtual Demo of Our Dress Forms!
- Read Our Latest Fashion Industry Case Study!
If you are a B2C skincare niche like Sugar Me Smooth and Osea, here are a few to get started:
- Get 15% Off Your Next Sugar Scrub!
- Shop Our Best-Selling Sugar Scrub!
- Join Our Loyalty Program for Exclusive Deals!
- Enjoy Early Access to New Sugar Scrub Scents!
D. Deliver Useful Content
When your customer base finds your emails useful, they are more likely to continue buying whatever you are selling. Valuable email content lets you earn their trust and increase customer satisfaction. It also helps you feel confident that you are sending effective customer retention emails.
How do you do this?
Know your audience and understand their interest and pain points. By now, you should already have this data since you are in the retention stage. If you want to get more information, use SurveyMonkey to get customer feedback.
You can also go to your Google Analytics dashboard and see your most clicked pages. Simply go to “Reports,” click “Engagement,” and navigate to “Pages and screens.” Then, you will get this overview:
To see how your audience behaves on social media, use Sprout Social’s sentiment analysis feature. Identify which posts gain positive reactions and which ones draw negative feedback to adjust your content strategy accordingly.
Once you know what your audience likes, create useful and actionable content. For example, let’s say you are in the leather goods niche, selling products like these multi-functional card holders and Texas-inspired cowboy boots.
Customers who buy leather items often seek advice on product care, styling tips, and the craftsmanship behind these items. Here are example topics you can share with them:
- What the best type of leather is
- A list of products for leather care
- How to remove water stains from leather products
- An in-depth guide on how to maintain leather card holders or leather boots
Use these as starting points for your content ideas and tweak them based on what you offer.
With your valuable content locked down, you can nurture long-term customer relationships or win back the inactive ones.
E. Apply Email Security Measures
Email security measures protect your customers from phishing scams and fraudulent emails. It also improves your deliverability rate since emails from authenticated domains are less likely to be marked as spam.
Additionally, it builds trust with your customers. If they see the email is from a verified source, they are more willing to open it rather than delete it.
To apply these measures, focus on email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. They can stop unauthorized outsiders or phishers from using your domain to send fake emails to your customers.
You can set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in your domain settings. However, you will need to set them up individually. It can get technical so it is best to let your IT team handle it, especially since the steps can vary depending on your email provider.
Then, make sure your team checks your email authentication reports to make sure everything is working correctly and adjust as needed. Use Google’s authentication report guide if it is your email provider.
6 Tactics To Guarantee Your Customer Retention Email Engages Customers
Highlight the “hows” and brainstorm with your marketing team to find ways to apply them to your specific products or services.
1. Get To Know Who Your Customers Really Are
An effective customer retention email strategy understands and addresses your audience’s interests. So divide your current customers into groups based on their shared characteristics.
Use this to create targeted customer retention emails to meet each segment’s specific needs. Personalized emails will also increase engagement and make your audience feel valued.
How To Implement
Review your contact list and collect information on customer demographics, behavior, and purchase history. Use HubSpot’s segmentation feature to gather and organize your data.
You can be as specific as you want with HubSpot’s filters. If you only want to see customers who clicked on a specific page, you can do so as shown in the image.
Let’s take a brand with several product categories like a sports apparel boutique, as an example. Here’s how you can create your segments:
Behavior: Group inactive customers to try and get them engaged again.
- Send a special re-engagement email with a discount code to customers who have not purchased in the last 6 months. Highlight new arrivals like shirts tailored for athletes to pique their interest.
Demographics: Segment by age group and location to tailor regional promotions.
- Promote performance-enhancing socks designed for colder climates to customers in northern regions during winter while you focus on showcasing stylish athleisure hoodies to younger customers in urban areas.
Purchase History: Identify repeat buyers versus one-time purchasers.
- Offer exclusive pre-order discounts for new high-performance running shoes to repeat customers. For one-time buyers, make your offer relevant to what they previously bought. So if it is running shoes, highlight other running accessories to encourage a 2nd purchase.
2. Launch A Referral Program To Grow Your Client Base
This only works if you offer rewards to the referrer and the new customers to create a win-win situation. For example, set up a referral program where currently satisfied customers get a 10% discount for every new customer they refer, and the new ones also get 10% off their first purchase.
With this, you increase your customer retention rate and strengthen brand loyalty while getting new customers. Plus, this can lower your customer acquisition costs since your existing customer is doing the marketing for you.
How To Implement
Create a clear and enticing reward system. Offer discounts, loyalty points, free products, free shipping, or exclusive pre-order benefits for your latest collections.
But make sure you are not giving away too much to the point that you are barely earning. For example, you can limit the number of discounts each customer can earn. You can also implement volume discounts to encourage larger purchases without sacrificing profit.
Once you are clear on that, use ReferralCandy to create your referral campaigns, track them, and monitor their impact on your profit margins. With this, you can adjust rewards as needed.
In addition, promote your referral program through your website, email campaigns, and social media accounts. The goal is to reach as many of your audience as possible to maximize its impact on your overall customer retention strategy.
Referral programs are especially needed for brands like Pergola Kits USA. Since their products do not need to be repurchased as often, referrals help keep a steady stream of new clients.
3. Celebrate Customer Milestones To Show You Care
Recognize important events or achievements in your customers’ journey with your brand. This can be their anniversary as a customer or their birthday. You can also congratulate them when they reach a spending threshold.
Use this tactic to create meaningful connections with your customers and show them you value their loyalty. Make them feel they are appreciated and special. When they stay, it increases their customer lifetime value.
How To Implement
Identify customers who reach specific milestones. To do this, use the data in your CRM. Simply go to your contacts list, click one of them, and you should see at least 4 types of customer data.
Then, here’s how to set up your congratulatory retention email campaigns in ActiveCampaign:
Never Miss Another Special Day with the Birthday and Anniversary Coupon Email Automation Recipe
The platform also lets you personalize the email templates so your customers will not think that you are just sending generic messages. When you edit the templates, include the rewards you are giving away.
For example, if a customer has been with you for a year, send an email saying, “Happy Anniversary! To celebrate, enjoy 15% off your next purchase.”
4. Showcase Customer Testimonials To Build Credibility
Make this part of your email marketing strategy to build trust and credibility. When they see positive reviews from others, they feel more confident to continue buying from you. You can also use this to create a sense of community through shared positive experiences.
How To Implement
Collect positive reviews from your satisfied customers. You can do this through follow-up emails, surveys, or social media. Then, create a dedicated section in your emails to highlight these testimonials or success stories.
You can include this in all email types, but this tactic is especially useful in a welcome email.
Here’s one of the customer retention email templates you can tweak:
Subject: Welcome to LuxeLeather – See Why Our Customers Love Us!
This helps you reinforce your products’ value early on in their journey with your brand. When a new customer signs up, seeing testimonials assures them they made the right choice.
5. Share Your Roadmap
Share your company’s plans and product roadmap. Let your customers know what exciting developments are coming up. Use this transparency to show them you have a clear vision of where you want your brand to be.
Additionally, this can make them feel more involved in your brand journey. It can also make them feel confident that you are committed to continuous improvement to elevate their experience.
How To Implement
Use a pitch deck to keep it professional yet visually engaging instead of just having a whole block of email text. Highlight the key metrics and milestones that your brand achieved to demonstrate growth.
With this, you can show how past successes contribute to future goals. Then, you can transition to what those future goals are and present your roadmap already.
You can also explain how upcoming developments will increase customer satisfaction and align with their interests more.
For example, if you run a tech company, create slides to show your latest product release’s success. Then, outline your plans for future updates and new features like better security measures and more integrations with third-party apps.
Once your slides are all done, include them in your retention emails and a brief explanation of what they can expect with the slides and how this benefits customers.
6. Conduct Polls & Surveys To Get Into Their Heads
Show your customers your commitment to improving as a brand through their valuable feedback. Give them a direct role in shaping your products or services. This helps create a sense of ownership, which increases their loyalty.
The results can provide you with insights that can spark new ideas and innovations. For example, let’s say you run an online bookstore. Send a survey asking about your customers’ favorite genres and authors so you can recommend books in your retention emails that are tailored to their preferences.
How To Implement
Use Google Forms. Once you are signed in, you can choose from templates or create your own.
For the questions, keep them short and easy to answer so your recipients do not get bored midway. Then, share the survey link through your email campaigns. Offer a small incentive–free shipping or a discount code on their next purchase, to encourage participation.
Next, review the responses to identify common themes and what needs improvement. Going back to our bookstore example, if many customers mention wanting more mystery novels, consider expanding your selection in that genre. If they express interest in author events, plan virtual meet-and-greets with popular writers.
Google Forms makes this easy with instant charts and results from the responses. It also lets you download a Google Sheet to analyze the data in more detail.
Conclusion
Time to get into action. Gather your team to create easy-to-edit customer retention email templates that include each critical component. Then, discuss which tactics to prioritize or are more feasible for your brand currently.
Want a jumpstart already?
Hyperise is ready when you are. Our image editor tools and other features like extensive integration capabilities are here to make your emails stand out and get to the right people. Register now and start your free trial today.
Author Bio:
Burkhard Berger is the founder of Novum™. He helps innovative B2B companies implement modern SEO strategies to scale their organic traffic to 1,000,000+ visitors per month. Curious about what your true traffic potential is?
- Author picture: Here
- Gravatar: vip@novumhq.com