Transactional emails have some of the highest engagement rates because they’re sent after a customer takes an action with your business either in person or on your website. They are actively asking to be emailed!

What they too often get in return is a poorly formatted, 3 sentences long email in tiny font with a generic ‘thank you’ and no graphics, design, or logo. You know the ones — we’ve all gotten confirmation emails like that. If your company sends transactional emails, it’s time to get creative with the content that goes in them!

A user signing up for an account is a potential life-long customer. Use this first confirmation email to shine!

Especially with an account set up, new users will be excited to get started and take advantage of your goods or services. Make it super easy for them to dive back into the website and get started like in Slack’s email. They keep it short and to the point so that you can jump right into the workspace but include tips for making Slack easy to incorporate into your daily routine.

Order confirmations are getting a facelift and becoming more and more on-brand and a helpful all-in-one tool where customers can see order details, track shipping information, contact support, and snag offers.

The perfect first step to creating order confirmation emails that build brand affinity is to…well…brand them. 

Time to get branded content in those emails!

The most effective way to know what your customers think of your business is to ask them. Simple, right? Yet, marketers get so in the weeds on daily tasks that most businesses forget to ask for feedback. Transactional emails are the perfect space for this because they’re automated to send while the interaction is still fresh in the customer’s mind.

Did you know that businesses who have an AOV of $100 to $500 recover 4% to 5% of their abandoned carts on average? That’s a good reason to start using them if you haven’t already.

However, abandoned cart emails have privacy policy backlashes in certain parts of the world. Be sure you are in line with your local ordinances before sending.

Remember that this conversation isn’t your usual mass blast to a group of people. These really are one-on-one conversations with an engaged customer.

When it comes to best practices for transactional emails, it’s important to keep in mind:

• Always include branding.
• Make them helpful.
• Create functional follow-ups.
• Make use of specific landing pages.
• Pay attention to the rules and laws of the land.