The Types of Emails Every B2C Company Needs

B2C abbreviation speaks for itself: the core of this sector marketing are communications between companies and clients. We mean both actual end-users and prospects.

As for essential qualities, B2C marketing totally differs from other sectors. Firstly, consumers are matchlessly more numerous than B2B partners, so communications are very intense. Secondly, in B2B most tricks are needless and people communicate in a straight-to-the-point way, while B2C is based on sophisticated practices because our goal is to hook consumers up, appeal to emotions, persuade and intrigue them. Consequently, the marketing style is loose and bright, so far from moderate business etiquette.

Last but not least are the reasons and ways to reach out to people. This is what we’re going to talk about, of course, in the context of email marketing.

Yes, email is a channel that suits all the B2C requirements. Email messages are popular, cheap, fast and reliable. With brand new Google AMP technology, the new era of email marketing opens. Forget all the croaker forecasts, good old emails won’t die. And the strongest argument is an amazing ROI: each invested dollar may bring up to $40.

Surely, eCommerce is not easy-peasy. We need skills, inspiration, and original ideas to reach success. So let’s explore one of the basic things we need to know - what types of emails are essential for B2C.

Table of content

• 1. Welcome emails
• 2. Promo emails
• 3. Order confirmations
• 4. Shipping confirmations
• 5. Abandoned carts
• 6. Notifications
• 7. Reactivation emails
• 8. Apologies
• 9. Survey Invitations

1. Welcome emails

Setting the tone of further communications is where success starts, and this task is all about first impressions. HubSpot stats say that welcome emails show the highest open rate – 50% and more. How to make them so performing?

Well, this is your first contact with customers. So you should kindly greet and thank them. Where is the best place to do this? A banner. “Thank you” words are flawless, and they build the client’s loyalty.

The next step is the extended presentation of your brand. The best practices are to tell your brand story or introduce the CEO. With photo, of course.

A welcome email is a perfect occasion to know subscribers better. You’re right, we mean personalization. It’s much deeper than addressing by names, so don’t hesitate to add forms and collect the precious info: age, gender, occupation, interests, etc. Another critical tip: add the option to set preferences. It will significantly reduce unsubscribes as clients will choose only the relevant content.

With the design, it purely depends on your own ideas and brand book requirement. The only tip: make it catchy and noticeable. It especially goes to the CTA button. And be always recognized with your corporate style. But in the meanwhile you can use ready-to-go HTML email templates.

Add all the contact information, date of foundation, social links, map, phone numbers, etc. If you have some rewards – it won’t be tasteless to boast.

2. Promo emails

We got familiar with new customers. Now it’s time to continue with promo emails - in fact, campaigns of this type are the lion’s share of the whole B2C email marketing. Let’s take a look at best practices.

What frequency is best for promo campaigns? It’s individual. But the optimal solution is to send emails once a week. According to research by CampaignMonitor, 60% of subscribers find this frequency most comfortable. More mailings may be annoying and even cause unsubscribes and spam reports. Don’t forget about seasonal and holiday emails to grow your business - btw, this is the case when even headers, footers and other elements that usually remain the same with each campaign may be decorated with thematic design. For ex., snowflakes or Santa hat added to the logo.

What makes the promo campaign really performing? In a nutshell, magic keys are:

• Catchy subject line - this is the very first thing recipients see in inbox email and decide whether they will open an email or not
• Attention to the smallest details of value offer
• Emotions in email. Keep it in mind when working on design and content. Choose the best words and visuals that appeal to emotions; implementation of hot trends. Use interactivity, countdown timers, AMP-powered elements… And yeah, clients like to interact with inbox emails.
• Personalization and hyper-personalization everywhere, from subject line to content
• Promo series - they are especially useful when it comes to a product launch or forthcoming event announcements. Do you know about teaser campaigns? Just what the doctor ordered to intrigue clients and engage prospects.

And number one tip: emails should be really unique and outstanding to be noticed among the tons of competitors’ mailings.

3. Order confirmations

The next point is about a special type of email. Order confirmations are being sent to inform people that their orders are processed successfully.

What matters here is time. Always send a confirmation immediately. You also have to add an option to change items or order more. Mandatory components of order confirmation emails:

• Ordered items list
• Photos of ordered items
• Prices of all items
• Total cost
• Delivery date
• Delivery method
• Contact information

4. Shipping confirmations

This is a continuation of the previous point, so to say. You should send them immediately too - as soon as you have news. Btw, all triggered emails must be sent immediately, except cases when terms are specified.

Some tips to craft shipping confirmations:

• Stick to your corporate style
• Confirm the list of ordered items
• Inform about shipping way once again
• Add total cost and taxes
• Say “Thank you” as politeness always wins
• When a client made an order, each message is a gesture of your care - and more chances that people will order from you again.

5. Abandoned carts

What does the abandoned cart mean? This is the money we lost. Just a fact: only 33% of clients complete shopping, while the rest 67% say “duck this” halfway. But many of them remind us about interrupted shopping when we kindly remind them. So follow the tips below:

• links should navigate clients right to their carts;
• all the discounts should be active;
• send sequences, not single emails;
• personalize these emails;
• write clear and appealing subject lines;
• add clients comments;
• include pics of abandoned items;
• the design should be bright yet simple.

6. Notifications

The easiest way to inform subscribers about what’s happened or about to come. These messages show the best open rate. The best practices are:

• the subject line here is not a field of kinky experiments - it must be the very notification itself. The email content is only about details;
• one clear message at a time. It’s not about promos and sales;
• get straight to the point;
• one clear CTA per email;
• send notifications immediately.

7. Reactivation emails

Sad but true: sometimes people unsubscribe despite all our efforts. HubSpot research stats show that average annual losses of contacts are about 22%.

Unsubscribes reasons are many. But we can re-engage many unsubscribed clients. How to do this?

• appeal to the sense of blame;
• tell clients that you feel sad (but do this in an honest manner!);
• show subscribers what they are missing;
• show generosity;
• offer an alternative;
• show your new image;
• add the “Update preferences” option.

8. Apologies

According to Statista, 82% of eCommerce clients are satisfied. Sounds good? Not so much. A bit of negativity: these numbers mean that 18% rest angry and disappointed.

That’s why apology emails are critical to change the situation. How to make them effective?

• react in time;
• make design sweet but not too festive;
• stick to brand book style;
• be polite and honest;
• be creative. Be fun and cute. Just look at this. Yep, cats rule the world!

9. Survey Invitations

We’ll end this post with email invitations to the survey. Surveys are basics of feedback, they show a 10% response rate but famous brands even reach 25%.

There are two ways to arrange surveys: Google Survey Forms and SurveyMonkey. The first is easier while the second is more advanced. And some good recommendations:

• offer something for participation - it may be a discount for the next purchase or so;
• find the best time to send invitations. When a questionnaire is short (2 or 3 questions), you can send it anytime. But when it comes to long questionnaires, it’s better to send them in the evening;
• people want to know the results - never forget to share them.

Summing up

This is how B2C set of emails looks like. We’d like to add some all-purpose hints:

• never underestimate personalization, hyper-personalization and database segmentation - this is the core of personalization. Use every opportunity to collect data and apply everything. Customers should be treated as a personal way as possible and even more;
• be cheerful, be emotional, be polite;
• follow the trends and be on-time;
• brand consistency is a mantra. Make people recognize you at first sight;

That’s all? No. The main key is your love and kindness. We are doing all this to make life better, right?

We wish you the best of luck!