The 10 Most Important Automated Marketing Email Flows
Reaching the right audience at the right time is what successful digital marketing is all about. Enter email flows — a powerful tool that allows businesses to automatically send targeted messages to specific audience segments, based on their preferences or actions.
Email flows are designed to nurture leads and guide them through the customer journey, all while saving time and boosting conversion rates. Whether you're looking to incentivise new subscribers, re-engage inactive buyers, or drive sales, automated email flows are an easy and strategic way to keep your audience engaged and move them closer to making a purchase.
In this article, we'll explore the most important types of email marketing flows that every business should be using.
Welcome Series
A welcome series is how you say ‘hi’ to new subscribers. Your goal is to introduce your brand and nurture leads. By providing value right from the start, you’re setting great expectations for consumers.
Content:
Email 1: An initial welcome message and thanks for subscribing (we suggest adding a new subscriber discount, too).
Email 2: Introduce your core products or services
Email 3 could be any of the following:
Share customer testimonials or success stories.
Provide a helpful resource (blogs, FAAs, three tips on…)
Cross promote your social media accounts
Onboarding Series
Did you know you can link automations to specific purchasing actions? It might be a good idea to follow up with first-time buyers of specific products. This helps new customers get started with your product or service, ensuring they understand how to use it properly.
Content:
Email 1: Product features, tips, and tricks — from FAQs to video tutorials.
Email 2: Request a review of their purchase.
Abandoned Cart
Anyone who’s added an item to their cart is called a hot lead. They’re super interested in your offerings, and were almost converted, but something presented as a barrier at checkout. Often, it’s pricing or lack of delivery options. Your abandoned cart flow could look like this:
Email 1: Reminder of the abandoned items.
Email 2: Offer a discount or incentive.
Email 3: Urgency reminder (limited stock, sale ending soon).
Post-Purchase
The marketing funnel doesn’t end with a purchase. A post-purchase flow is vital to drum up returning customers, or to get more engagement out of your buyers beyond a sale. An example of a post-purchase email flow:
Email 1: Order confirmation and thank you.
Email 2: Shipping information and tracking.
Email 3: Product care tips, or related product suggestions.
Re-engagement Series
If you have inactive customers, a re-engagement series can encourage them to interact again with your brand. The art of a good re-engagement email comes down to offering value, whether it’s a financial incentive like a sale or a new product they might be interested in.
Content:
Email 1: “We miss you” message with an exclusive offer.
Email 2: Highlight what’s new or improved since their last purchase.
Feedback Request Series
You might have a feedback request included in another series, but you can also create a whole flow aimed at receiving customer reviews. Show customers that their opinions matter, while also gathering valuable social proof for your products/services.
Content:
Email 1: Request for feedback on their recent purchase or experience.
Email 2: Follow-up reminder if no feedback was given.
Email 3: Thank you message with a small reward for providing feedback.
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As we've explored, email flows are a great tool for engaging with your audience at crucial touchpoints in the customer journey. Each series serves a unique purpose in the marketing funnel — from increasing brand awareness to nurturing leads, creating conversions, and building loyalty.
The best part about an automated email series is that it’s relatively low-effort to set up, but achieves significant results over and over again without needing much intervention on your part. They’re a true marketing hack!