16 thank-you emails to boost customer engagement, brand loyalty and sales

Looking to reach out and touch your leads and customers in a strategic and engaging way?

Sometimes, it is a simple as saying “Thank you.”

If the prospect of saying “Thank you” conjures images of your Mom being the head of the Politeness Police and you rolling your eyes as a kid, think again.

Thank yous can be a goldmine for your business.

Many businesses are losing out on a vastly untapped marketing tactic to engage with their target markets: thank-you emails.

The psychology behind a thank-you

Before we jump into what type of thank-you emails you can implement in your lead nurturing and marketing automation processes, let’s take a step back and look at the psychology behind thank-you emails.

When leads or customers sign up for a newsletter or make a purchase on your website, thanking them and expressing gratitude makes them happy and incites them to maintain a relationship with you. Scientists call this the Find, Remind and Bind Theory of Gratitude. This theory purports that in the moments people experience gratitude, they feel as though they have found or have been reminded of a high-quality relationship. This, in turn, binds them closer to the party that thanks them.

In other words, showing gratitude allows you to connect on a more personal level with your leads and customers, which guarantees a more favourable response to your business in the future.

In addition, thank-you emails can be an effective means to bring leads down the sales funnel by providing them new information, content or a timely discount. And for existing customers? You can generate additional conversion opportunities by upselling or cross-selling products and services to them. In all cases, thank-you emails can also help to educate recipients about your brand and the value you bring to the table.

Success factors for thank-you emails

Naturally, the most important factor in successful thank-you emails (read: open rates and follow-throughs by recipients) is personalization. Many studies and A/B tests have shown that the higher the personalization, the higher the conversion rates. That means that all of your thank-you emails should go beyond “just” saying “thank you.” Depending on how you have set up your lead/customer nurturing process and segmented your email lists, make sure your thank-you emails include:

• Thank you in the subject line
• The recipient’s first name
• Personalized words, such as “you” and “we” (aka: ditch the formality or Mr. Roboto-like message that just seems automated)
• Relevant content, information and promotions based on the recipient’s past behaviour, purchases or interests
• Means for the recipient to provide feedback or a review
• Secondary, personalized calls-to-action (CTAs) to keep the relationship humming; these click-worthy CTAs can be based on any detail in your email database, such as persona, industry or stage in your funnel

And remember, many people forward emails, which means your brand and content can reach an entirely new audience. Add language that invites people to share your message with others and include social media sharing buttons or links. The goal is to spread the love!

When to send thank-you emails

Wondering when you can send a thank-you email? There are a multitude of occasions when you can send out a thank-you email (and automate the process too!). Here are just some ideas to get your creative conversion juices flowing:

• Thank you for signing up, becoming a member or registering for X (event, webinar, etc.)
• Thank you for creating an account (but no purchase has been made). Here’s a promo code or get free shipping when you place your first order.
• Thank you for your visit (at an event, tradeshow or business meeting).
• Thank you for attending (a webinar, special event, etc.).
• Thank you for your purchase/order/reservation. Here’s a great offer to upgrade/complement your recent purchase.
• Thank you for downloading our software/content.
• Thank you for registering your product.
• Thank you for renewing your subscription/agreement.
• Thank you for your payment.
• Thank you for sharing our content.
• Thank you for referring a friend.
• Thank you for being a loyal customer.
• Thank you for your comments/suggestions/feedback.
• Thank you for choosing [YOUR BUSINESS NAME].
• Thank you for helping us achieve X milestone (anniversary, number of users, etc.).
• Thank you for ________ and Happy (Birthday, Merry Christmas, New Year, etc.).

As you can see, the list can go on and on. Again, make sure that with each thank you, you tie in a link to highly related content, information or promotion.

Gratitude is definitely a virtue—and one of the simplest ways increase engagement, brand trust and sales. Using the right triggers for your thank-you emails definitely differentiates your company from all the others who didn’t listen to their moms as kids!