Swipe These 6 Winning Emails from Top Ecommerce Brands

Behavioral targeting is a staple of email marketing strategy for brands of almost every kind.

It's simple.

When a user takes an action, they automatically receive a certain kind of email.

Not only does the automation aspect make it a whole lot easier to stay in touch with customers,

But tailoring emails based on behavior is a way to make sure your brand always sends out the right message at the right time.

If you're looking for some inspiration, Kissmetrics delivers with five outstanding examples of behaviorally targeted emails from well known brands.

They've honed in on five essential kinds of behaviorally targeted emails:

Onboarding, cart abandonment, upsells, follow-ups, and the end of a free trial period.

Each of these emails below does a fantastic job of hitting the right chord with the brand's customers, inspiring them to get engaged and, ultimately, make a purchase.

1. Onboarding Email

Onboarding is the process of getting a user or customer acclimated to your brand and product.

Although it’s most often used in human resources departments to get an employee up to speed on company culture and processes, it can also be used in email marketing to help prospects become more comfortable with your product or service and more receptive to an offer.

Runkeeper

[image source: Kissmetrics]
RunKeeper’s onboarding email helps take all of the mystery out of logging fitness activities with this step-by-step example. Whether you decide to track and save your runs through the website or through the app, these simple instructions and the large call to action button will help make the process much simpler and easier to understand.

2. Cart Abandonment Email

Cart abandonment reminders are one of the most common types of behaviorally targeted emails.

Pinterest

Image Source

Pinterest always does a good job with their emails and this one is no exception. If you’ve pinned an item that’s for sale, but you ultimately don’t purchase it, Pinterest will notify you not only to remind you of the item, but when the price is lowered on it as well.

3. Upsell Email

But wait, there’s more! Upsell emails are designed to make you an irresistible offer.

Spotify

While Spotify receives the majority of their revenue from user subscriptions, they have another revenue channel – merchandise and concert sales. If you listen to any specific artist enough, you’ll receive offers when the artist goes on tour.

[image source: Kissmetrics]
These emails are behaviorally triggered because the user listens to a particular artist and receives an email based on their listening history. This makes them very targeted as well.

4. Follow-up Email Examples

Not quite a cart abandonment email, but not quite an onboarding email, follow-ups fall somewhere in between — often teaching the user a new tip or trick to getting the most out of their favorite services.

Kickstarter

Kickstarter is great for getting funding for projects and ideas – but what happens after your idea is funded? To avoid people using the system once and leaving, Kickstarter sends this follow-up email when a user’s project is successfully funded. It not only provides tips and insights into what makes a successfully-funded project really shine, but also how to keep project backers in-the-loop.

[image source: Kissmetrics]
5. Notification Email

These emails are sent as a result of inactivity or simply when new things happen and the user hasn’t been seen it yet. These emails serve to alert your users of important activities going on in your app or store.

Netflix

Netflix will send you an email when a show you’ve been watching releases a new season.

[image source: Kissmetrics]
They’ll also send a “suggested” show based on your viewing history and rating.

[image source: Kissmetrics]
6. Trial Ended Email

Goodbye doesn’t have to mean forever – and these example behaviorally-targeted emails perfectly demonstrate that although the free trial is over, the really good stuff is just getting started.

Kissmetrics

Kissmetrics’ email focuses on what the user will get if they don’t upgrade the plan.

[image source: Kissmetrics]
The two CTAs make it clear what the next step is – upgrading the plan so they can keep using the analytics & engagement platform.