Automation in emailing: 5 effective campaigns + examples

Do you use email marketing in your online strategy? Sending newsletters regularly is a good start too. Email marketing's potential is far greater, though. Try considering preparing automated campaigns. Their advantage is a one-off setup, after which you only watch the results and optimise. 

In this article we will introduce 5 types of automated campaign through successful examples from brands around the world.

The advantages of automated campaigns

To begin with, let us introduce the advantages of automated campaigns.

• Personalisation and relevance

You can use automated campaigns in every phase of the customer's buying process. This way you can communicate with them constantly and give personalised content on the basis of their behaviour on the site. This raises the content's relevance and subscribers' engagement, because they get exactly what interests them. 

• Time efficiency 

Preparing newsletters every month takes time. And that is precisely where automation's main advantage lies. You set it up in advance, determine the particular trigger on the basis of which it starts, and the campaign then runs automatically. You only watch the results and optimise. 

• A high conversion rate

VentureBeat reports that automated emails raise the conversion rate by 180% compared with bulk emails. Abandoned basket automation, for instance, reminds customers of unfinished purchases and motivates them to complete the transaction. According to Experian, customers are almost 3 times more likely to complete their purchase if they receive an abandoned basket reminder email. 

• Consistency and regularity

In this article we will look more closely at the 5 most effective types of automation. There are, however, many other options. They need not be only sales automations such as the abandoned basket. It may also be a series of emails you will send your subscribers regularly. This way you keep communication with them going and strengthen awareness of your brand.

• Wide-ranging options 

Email management platforms offer plenty of automation variants. At the same time you are not limited in their number. When using a large number, though, you have to watch carefully that they do not overlap. You do not, after all, want to spam your subscribers with several emails at once. 

How do automated campaigns work?

Automated emails are created in Mailchimp or another tool in the "Automation" or "Journeys" section. To start an automation an action from the customer is needed. It may be an e-commerce event happening on the e-shop, such as abandoning the basket or buying a particular product or product category.

An example of triggers on the MailerLite and Mailchimp platforms:

If you want to choose another type of trigger, Mailchimp offers options such as signing up for a subscription or a date-based event. That means the automation starts on a particular date (an anniversary or birthday, for instance). Besides these examples there are plenty of other triggers depending on the particular email platform. 

An example of event- and date-based triggers on the Mailchimp platform:

After one of these actions is taken, emails start arriving to the subscriber automatically at the intervals you set. You can put the steps of the automated sequence together as you like. You can add a "Delay" (the email fires after a certain time), a "Condition", an "Action" or an "Email".

An example: choosing steps in an automated sequence on the MailerLite platform:

Types of automated campaign

During an automation you can segment users into groups. With thoroughly thought-through campaigns the sequence map can look very chaotic. 

If you do not need to set up a complicated automation, feel free to choose a sequence of just 2 to 3 steps. Let us introduce the 5 best-known automated campaigns and ways of using them. 

Welcome emails + an example

A welcome email is a type of automation that fires as soon as a subscriber is added to the email database. It offers an excellent chance to acquaint the subscriber with the brand and its products or services. Regardless of whether the subscriber was drawn by regular news or a discount on a first purchase, courtesy requires welcoming them to your list :) 

It need not be one brief email. Create a "Welcome new contacts" sequence and prepare a series of follow-up emails. You will give the reader information in pieces, thanks to which they will not feel saturated with new content. 

There are no limits to creativity 

Take inspiration from the Czech company kytary.cz. At the E-mail Restart 2024 conference they revealed how they called in a helper to launch their welcome campaign. They invented a personality whose tone of voice ran through the whole email copy. The series of welcome emails thus felt like a rounded story with a beginning, an end and a main character with an original name. This unconventional approach will help you set yourself apart from the competition and at the same time entertain the subscriber. As a brand you will come across as far friendlier.

If you want to come across more seriously, address your subscribers yourself. Film a welcome video for them and put the link in the email. Interactive elements are very in now. Take a look at other email marketing trends for 2024. 

You may be thinking: all right. But what should the content be? Tell subscribers what you do. But do not talk only about yourself. To begin with, tell them what you will send them and how often. Give them a reason to open the next email. Send them 1 - 2 tips a week. Or give out chapters from your e-book in parts. Do you have articles on your site? Lead them there. 

In this period you can find out plenty of information from your subscribers. Add a questionnaire or poll to the emails asking about their interests. Through the answers you can divide subscribers into groups and send them personalised content in future. That is what the company Southside Cycling from the United States did. 

Tip: do not let the computer screen limit you. Do not be afraid to personalise emails, use the same tone of voice as on social media or at a meeting in person. 

Abandoned basket + an example

The British company Omnisend reports that in 2023 they recorded a 2.7% conversion rate with abandoned baskets. This type of automation has thus become one of the best-performing strategies for e-shops. 

Abandoned basket automation lets you win back lost customers who did not complete a purchase. You certainly know it yourself. You are shopping, you have products in the basket and suddenly someone rings you. You get chatting for a while and forget you wanted to order something. Maybe you have no signal, cannot find your card, or the postage is too high. The reasons vary, which is why it matters for companies to remind prospective customers of themselves.

Email specialists recommend setting up an automation consisting of 3 emails:

• Send the first 1 - 2 hours after the basket is abandoned. Do not complicate this email, it serves as a simple reminder.

• Send the second 12 - 24 hours later. In this email try to emphasise the products' value, add customer reviews or a discount, free shipping or a gift with the purchase if they complete it at once.

• The third email 24 - 48 hours later will serve as a last reminder. Now stir a sense of urgency in the customer that pushes them to complete the purchase. You can add reviews from satisfied customers to the email.

As an example we give the company Nomad, which used entertaining copy to engage the customer. Besides that they reassured customers at the end by giving information about a 2-year warranty and the returns terms. 

Reactivating inactive subscribers + an example

You do not have to delete inactive subscribers from your database at once. Try creating an automated campaign aimed at people who have not bought anything from you for a while or have not interacted with your emails. 

If you learn languages through Duolingo, you have certainly already received such a reactivation email. 

Or choose a strategy like Cuisinart and give inactive subscribers a choice.

Post-purchase emails + an example

You can use automated campaigns in the CARE buying phase too. It is an excellent chance to stay in touch with your customers. If you sell electronics (cameras, for instance), send your customers tips a few days after the purchase on how to look after the camera, offer them additional products for cleaning the lens or inspiration for photographers.

As an example we give the company Dossier, which gives customers tips after buying a perfume on how to store it so that it lasts longest.

Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays + an example

Another effective automation is events such as birthdays, anniversaries or holidays. Do you have information about a customer's date of birth? Use it and delight them with a discount on a purchase. 

If you run an e-shop with treats for pets, try using the automation the other way round. Do not aim the communication at the owner but at the pet. This tip comes from Patrik Votočka, who shared it at this year's E-mail Restart 2024 conference. Patrik shared his experience where an email addressed to a dog achieved a far higher success rate - a 39% open rate, compared with a classic email addressed to its owner, which got only 23%.

You can take inspiration from the company FitOn, which also used an element of personalisation. 

Encouragement to finish

Automated campaigns are a piece of the puzzle that will complete your email strategy perfectly. At first there is plenty of work with them. Part of it is creating an original concept for your brand and preparing it, but then they run and generate sales themselves. Is that not worth trying? We think it is ;)

And do not forget. Automated campaigns are worth A/B testing too.