Email marketing is a form of direct marketing to your customers. Jump straight into their inbox to broadcast your message. Send a personalised email out to your database of recipients to advertise a promotion, gain brand awareness, gauge interest in your products, and much more. At Digilite, we perform A/B testing, prepare mail template designs, generate content, and follow up.
Intro
Automated emails deliver information to your customers right when they need it, in a way that’s efficient for you and your team. Send a series of emails to introduce your new customers to your company, share product recommendations based on the purchase history of your customers, wish your subscribers a happy birthday, and more.
We can create and track trigger-based emails that automatically send to your subscribers. Workflows are available in all paid MailChimp accounts. You can upgrade your account to a monthly or pay as you go plan in your account settings.
With Mailchimp’s marketing automation tools, we can send the right message to the right people at the right time.
The basics
Workflow use triggers to send an email or a series of emails to specific subscribers on a list. A trigger can be an open or click in one of your campaigns, a subscription to your list, or an action that’s combined with one of MailChimp’s other features. Every email in a workflow can have its own unique trigger.
A regular campaign sends to your subscribers at the time you choose. With an Automation workflow, emails are sent automatically to specific subscribers as they meet your trigger and sending criteria.
Trigger ideas
- When a subscriber signs up for your list: Welcome new subscribers with a single email—or a series—to help them get to know your company or organization. Tell them what they can expect in future newsletters, send a special coupon, or give them tips on how they can take advantage of everything you have to offer.
- When you have a series of emails: Maybe you have educational content, like an online course, that needs to be sent out on a regular basis over a period of time. Break that information into a series of steps that can be sent over days, weeks, or months.
- When you need to send an email once a year: This might be for a subscriber’s birthday or an anniversary. Set the workflow to send annually, and we’ll take care of the rest.
- Following up on website or app activity: When a subscriber navigates to a specific link on your site from a newsletter, automatically send them follow-up information using Goal. Help them make a purchase decision, thank them for downloading your latest song, or send a survey about their experience on your website.
- When you want to thank your best customers or most loyal fans: The customers who purchase from you on a regular basis are important to your business, so let them know they’re valued. Send a simple thank you, invite them to a special VIP program, or offer a discount.
- Follow up after a purchase: Send additional product recommendations or product care tips based on what your customers have purchased.
- When you want to get feedback: Use a survey to make your customers feel valued and get important feedback about their shopping experience on your site.
- When you want to create a win-back campaign: Develop a series of win- back emails to encourage inactive subscribers to re-engage, and utilize post- sending actions to automatically perform a specific list action on subscribers after they receive the final email in the series. This could be used to update one of their merge fields, move those subscribers to a different interest group, or to remove them from your list completely.
- When you want to send abandoned cart messages: Once you connect your store to MailChimp, you can easily follow up with customers who navigate away from their online shopping cart without completing their purchase. Send an email (or series of emails) to remind them what they’ve left behind and encourage them to return to your store.
What is the trigger?
The trigger is the catalyst that starts an Automation workflow and prompts all subsequent emails in the workflow to send to the appropriate subscribers. Every email in your workflow can have its own unique, independent trigger.
For example, if you want to send a follow-up email to every user that clicked a link in your last campaign, that click would be your trigger. Inactions can also trigger.
Maybe the subscriber opened a campaign, but didn’t click anything—that can be set as a triggering event, too. Or, you could add a customer to an Automation series after they join your list, send the next message after they open the previous email, the next after they make a purchase, and so on.
Email Marketing Strategies
Workflow options
E-commerce and Retail workflows
E-commerce workflows are triggered by a subscriber’s buying behavior. To use these workflows, you need to set up MailChimp’s e-commerce features in your account, so we can track your subscribers’ activity.
- Specific Product Follow-Up is used to send an email or series of emails to subscribers who have purchased a specific product.
Example: Provide tips for using their new item or to get feedback on their satisfaction with their purchase. - Category Follow-Up is used to send an email or series of emails to subscribers who have purchased a product from a specific category.
Example: Highlight other products that might also interest your customers. - Any Product Follow-Up is used to send an email or series of emails to subscribers who have purchased a product from your store.
Example: Thank your customers for their purchase or offer a limited-time discount to encourage repeat business. - Best Customers is used to send an email or series of emails to acknowledge and reward your best customers.
Example: Reward your biggest spenders or most loyal customers with a special coupon or offer to thank them for their patronage. - Customer Re-Engagement is used to send an email or series of emails to win back customers who haven’t purchased in a specific timeframe.
Example: Create a series of emails to give your lapsed customers an extra incentive to return to your store and make another purchase. - First Purchase is used to send an email or series of emails to new customers when they make their first purchase.
Example: Thank customers for their purchase, request feedback about their experience, and recommend other products they’ll love. - Abandoned Cart Email is used to send an email to encourage customers to complete their purchase if they leave items in their cart.
Example: When a customer navigates away from your store, automatically send them an email to remind them of the items they’ve left behind and give them a reason to come back. - Abandoned Cart Series is used to send a series of emails to encourage customers to complete their purchase if they leave items in their cart.
Example: When a customer navigates away from your store, automatically send them a series of emails to remind them of the items they’ve left behind and give them a reason to come back.
Education workflows
Education workflows are triggered by various events and student activity. Educators who want to inform and engage students can use these preset workflows.
- New Student Orientation is used to send an email or a series of emails to welcome new students or share helpful resources.
Example: Send your students a collection of tips to help them get acclimated with a new class or school. - Course Series is used to send an email or series of emails to educate students.
Example: Send your students the latest lessons, assignments, or other course-related information. - Student Re-Engagement is used to send an email or series of emails to re- engage students.
Example: Send your students new course offerings, study tips, or enrollement discounts.
List Activity workflows
List activity workflows are triggered by subscribers signing up or being added to a list, and can be sent immediately after the triggering action occurs.
- Welcome Message is used to send a welcome email to subscribers as they join your list.
Example: Provide additional information about your company or organization, inform your customers of upcoming events, and more. - Educate Subscribers is used to send a series of emails to subscribers as they join your list.
Example: Send new subscribers a helpful getting started guide or share links to online courses that might be of interest. - Welcome Series is used to send a series of emails when subscribers join your list.
Example: Share useful onboarding information with your new subscribers or simply welcome them with a series of friendly messages. - Joins List Group is used to send an email or series of emails when subscribers join one of the groups in your list.
Example: Give subscribers a quick taste of the content they can expect as a member of the group. - Leaves List Group is used to send an email or series of emails when subscribers leave one of the groups in your list.
Example: After leaving a group, suggest other groups or content that might catch the subscriber’s interest.
Integration workflows
Integration workflows are triggered by actions taken within an integration, like Goal or API 3.0.
- Goal Website Activity is used to send an email or series of emails to subscribers based on when they perform a specific triggering action. To use this workflow, you’ll need to set up the Goal integration in your MailChimp account and add the Goal tracking snippet in your website’s code.
Example: Send a follow-up message after customers visit a page on your website to encourage a purchase, download, or other type of action. - API 3.0 is used to send an email or series of emails triggered by API calls. After you create the email series—in the MailChimp app directly or through the API —a list subscriber can be added to the workflow with a call to a provided URL. API requests can trigger an Automation email when a single subscriber meets your sending criteria via the API delay settings.
Example: Send a quick email when a customer updates their profile in your CRM. - Mandrill Activity is used to send an email or series of emails to subscribers triggered by Mandrill email activity, like when they open an email sent through your connected Mandrill account. Choose a Mandrill email tag to target subscribers who received a Mandrill email with the selected tag.
Example: After purchasing an online course, send a series of homework assignments after a subscriber has opened the purchase receipt email that was sent through Mandrill.
Date Based workflows
Date Based workflows are triggered by a list field date, like a birthday or the date a subscriber was added to your list. To trigger a Date Based workflow, you must have subscriber information saved within a Date or Birthday field on your list.
- List Added Date is used to send an email or series of emails based on when a subscriber joins your list.
Example: Welcome your newest subscribers, give them a recap of what they’ve missed and what’s to come. - Recurring Date is used to send an annual recurring email or series of emails based on a specific list field date.
Example: Send your subscribers a yearly reminder about a holiday or special event. - Birthdays is used to send an email or series of emails based on a Birthday list field.
Example: Send an offer for a free item or download to help your subscribers celebrate their birthday. - Specific Date is used to send an email or series of emails based on a specific list field date.
Example: Send coupons for school supplies in the days and weeks leading up to the first day of school.
Software workflows
Software workflows are triggered by various events and subscriber activity. Use these workflows to promote new products and features.
- Product Feature Engagement is used to send an email or series of emails to announce product updates and new features.
Example: Reach out to all customers who’ve downloaded your app to let them know what to expect in the next update. - User Onboarding is used to send an email or series of emails to help new users become experts with your product.
Example: Send a series of instructional documents or videos to help customers learn how to use a new program or item. - Pre-Launch Series is used to send an email or series of emails to announce the release of a new product.
Example: Introduce your customers to your latest innovation. - Whitepaper Download is used to send an email or series of emails with a download link to your product whitepaper when a user performs a specific action on your webpage.
Example: Share usage instructions, research, or any other type of useful data with your customers.
Nonprofit workflows
Nonprofit workflows can be triggered by a variety of events and list fields to suit your business needs. Use these preset workflows to inform and engage your donors.
- Top Supporters is used to send an email or series of emails to acknowledge your most generous donors.
Example: Add a “Donor Level” merge field to your list and send a special thank you note to everyone who reaches the top level. - Supporter Onboarding is used to send an email or series of emails to welcome new volunteers or donors, and present other ways they can support your organization.
Example: Let your new volunteers know about the upcoming opportunities they’ll have to help out around the community. - Membership Renewal is used to send an email or a series of emails to remind members or donors that their membership is up for renewal. You can send based on a donor’s last contribution or when they joined your list.
Example: Schedule an annual note to let folks know that their membership will soon be expiring and remind them of all th eperks of being a member. - Event is used to send an email or a series of emails announcing a volunteering opportunity or fundraising event.
Example: Invite your donors to an upcoming luncheon benefiting your charity or organization. - Supporter Re-Engagement is used to remind inactive supporters of your mission and share ways they can support your cause.
Example: Thank donors for their contributions, provide an update about your organization, and share new opportunities to support the organization in the future.
Music workflows
Music workflows can be triggered by a variety of events and list fields to suit your business needs. Use these preset workflows to promote new music, events, and engage with fans.
- Download Follow-Up is used to send an email or series of emails when a listener purchases or downloads your music.
Example: Thank fans for their support or suggest other songs they might enjoy. - Fan Orientation: Band is used to send an email or series of emails to welcome fans to your band’s email list, share news, and offer free downloads.
Example: Share all of your latest news and offer exclusive downloads to fans. - Fan Orientation: Record Label is used to send an email or series of emails to welcome fans to your label’s email list.
Example: Introduce fans to artists on your label and offer free downloads from your most popular acts. - Event is used to send an email or series of emails announcing an upcoming concert or tour .
Example: Keep your audience informed about when you’ll be performing in their area. - Event Follow-Up is used to send an email or series of emails to follow up with fans after a live show.
Example: Thank your fans for attending your tour by offering them a special merch offer or unique download.
Custom workflows
If none of the workflow options above quite fit your needs, consider customizing a workflow to help you target subscribers. These flexible workflows allow you to create an automated series of emails based on a combination of different triggers.
Keep in mind that depending on your use-case, certain list fields, e-commerce data, Goal integration, campaign reporting data, or the Mandrill add-on may be required.