E-mail on Steroids

This type of reminder-triggered e-mail might be sent several hours after the cart is abandoned. A simple approach is to send text messages to remind shoppers they can log into the site and continue with their orders. Some marketers feature a picture of the actual item left in the shopping cart. And some send more than one follow-up message.

Another great opportunity is to use triggered e-mails to cross-sell after a purchase. If you have a good Web analytics package in place, you know that people who buy one particular item are likely to purchase other related products. Marketers selectively use this technique. They set up rules based on the most popular purchases and then develop cross-sell promotions for those purchases that may consist of one or more additional items.

You should test to find the optimal timing for these messages. A popular approach is to wait until you know the person has received his or her order. At this point, the individual is a happy and satisfied customer — a perfect time to capitalize on the sale.

Use these tools judiciously
Dynamic personalization and triggered messaging allow you to create a focused and rich experience for your customers and prospects. If you customize and personalize your relationships, you should see big dividends.

However, be mindful of your customer’s right to privacy. Your messages should be crafted so that the individual doesn’t feel you’re watching every action she takes. I’ve received many e-mails that do this well. For example, I was searching for airfares to Chicago on a travel site and later received an e-mail with four headlines in the table of contents. One of the headlines promoted hotels in Chicago. This was a subtle touch, but it homed in on a topic the marketer thought would be of interest to me.