Our recent post discussed the importance of setting up a ‘Thank You’ page to both encourage further engagement from leads and measure goal completions in Analytics.
An Email Confirmation is the next important step in the process; once your lead has submitted their details and is taken to the ‘Thank You’ page, an email should follow shortly explaining the next steps.
Creating an email response that provides both support and guidance will ensure that you’re remembered for all the right reasons; most importantly, it will increase the chance of further goal completions being made.
So, let’s start with the three most important things that an email confirmation should do:
1. Confirm to the prospect that they’re dealing with a trusted website
2. Provide them with the content they requested
3. Provide an opportunity for re-engagement
An inclusion of all of the above will ensure that your email responses are of the highest quality they can be, and a step above your competitors.
Here’s an example of what an email confirmation should not do…
This is just about the worst an email response could get.
From our own frustrated experiences, receiving an email like this makes us question how long the company will take to respond, or if they ever will. The ambiguity of the message strikes negativity within the user; whether they received the download from you or not, it’s safe to say that their chances of re-engaging with you any time soon have been significantly reduced.
The above example shows definite improvement; it fills the lead with reassurance that they will receive their sample soon and, as discussed previously, promotes other areas of the site to encourage further engagement. BUT, (and it’s a big but), where are the links?
It’s all very well educating your audience on the other services your company provides, but it’s also about making it as simple and straightforward as possible for the user. Adding links to the above would have immediately increased the chance of click-throughs.
After all, the effort to open a browser for many and search for it themselves can be all too time-consuming, or if anything, they’ll forget to look it up at a later date.
The above example displays a more thorough response, covering privacy policy statements and ways to unsubscribe if necessary. The lead is ensured that ‘Nuform’ are the ‘go to’ company for any questions, with their contact details included at the bottom. The email response immediately builds trust and convinces the prospect that they are genuinely there to help out whenever necessary.
And sure enough, shortly after we get a response…
These are the things that your company will be remembered for: helpfulness, generosity and efficiency.
Another great example below…
Hubspot have shown enthusiasm and creativity with their email confirmation, experimenting with different fonts and text colours. They provide sufficient guidance on what the next steps are for the customer, as well as informing them of upcoming events and additional demo’s. What is particularly impressive is that their informal, upbeat tone serves as a reminder that they are human.
It is this human touch which makes prospects more willing to engage and find out more about you, and serves leaps and bounds above the usual automated response received elsewhere.
So, key takeaways for creating an email confirmation are:
Achieve some form of differentiation that sets you apart from competitors; ensure your company stands out from the rest of the market by going above and beyond what your customers expect.
2) Keep the prospect engaged
Provide additional content; if you think customers will want more in-depth information about a related topic, or need answers to a problem, serve them links to satisfy this need.
3) Enable the user to share
Providing ‘social share’ buttons ensures that your satisfied customer will spread the word about your company to their audiences, encouraging further enquiries through positive word-of-mouth.
4) Provide a better user experience
Test your email for any broken links and ensure it looks exactly as planned before sending; this includes font changes and downloadable PDF documents.
5) Provide ‘hand-holding’ next steps
The layout of the email is crucial to ensure that the prospect knows exactly what actions to take. Provide clear ‘call-to-actions’ at each stage and place these in priority order: their free download first followed by additional links. This guidance will ensure that the process is made as simple as possible for the customer.
6) Manage expectations
It’s important to always let subscribers know exactly what they can expect from you at each stage of the conversion process. Then, meet or exceed those expectations. This will stand you in good stead for further engagement.
For more information on these digital opportunities give us a call on 01908 671 707, or download our Digital Profit Hunter Program
Excellent post. We are working on updating our demo confirmation email today, all thanks to this post. I saw you speak at London Build in the spring, thank you for providing excellent content!
Thanks for the kind feedback Katherine, glad it was helpful and good luck with your emails 🙂
Great content.
Easy reading and well presented.
Always good to recall and rethink some email marketing techniques to get the best possible performance.