One of the issues related to our activity in the agency that we often encounter is the little attention that companies give to transactional emails. As their name indicates, these are emails that are sent to the user in response to or with the aim of informing them about a transaction : confirmation of reservation, creation of an order in the e-commerce, receipt of purchase in the application, notice of credit card expiration, etc.
Since these are emails containing highly relevant information for the user, both the open and click metrics significantly exceed those of marketing emails (the open rate is around 45% and the click mexico mobile phone number list rate is around 4.8% — 3 times higher than the average of 1.6% for marketing emails — ).
(Source: IBM)
With emails being so well received by users, why aren't they getting the attention they deserve? Why aren't they taking advantage of their potential to increase engagement and support marketing?
The reasons that explain this reality are, fundamentally, the following:
Their implementation depends on poorly updated systems.
We are referring to the fact that many companies developed email notification systems that have barely been updated. These are systems that have been working autonomously and to which no one has paid attention.
Difficulty in defining who is responsible for these emails.
Another situation we experience in the agency has to do with the lack of definition about who is responsible for these emails: is it the IT department? Is it the responsibility of the SAT? CRM? It is common for the interest in taking advantage of the marketing potential of these emails to arise from marketing, specifically from those responsible for Email Marketing, however, their nature means that IT, e-commerce, CRM and customer service must also be involved. The difficulty arises when we want to coordinate the different departments involved.
Difficulty in testing when we have multiple languages and local peculiarities.
This is another factor that can slow down the initiative to improve transnational emails in the organization. The situations that must be tested before starting up a new transnational email system are many and have to do with the combination of the type of email (order confirmation, password change, expiration of a service, etc.), the languages, currencies and legal conditions of the different markets. It is understandable that facing a job of this nature, having other more urgent and “important” tasks, tends to be postponed “for later”.
It is common for the interest in taking advantage of the marketing potential of these emails to come from marketing, specifically from those responsible for Email Marketing, however, its nature means that IT, e-commerce, CRM and customer service must also be involved. The difficulty arises when we want to coordinate the different departments involved.
Although in a context like the one described above it is understandable that many companies still do not optimize and take advantage of the potential of transactional emails, at Digital Response we believe that an effort should be made, as the benefits will be much greater. We have been lucky enough to participate in some projects to renew transnational emails for large companies. What we have learned is that the project must be led by three different profiles.