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Turning Repetitive Tasks Into Revenue With Marketing Automations
How To Leverage Email Templates and Automation To Boost Engagement and ROI
Aaron Nichols
January 6th, 2025
Table of Contents
Why Listen to Me?
I’ve built email automations for brands of all sizes in my five-year career as an email copywriter. You can connect with me on LinkedIn here.
Understanding Marketing Automation and Its Benefits
Remember when you were a kid, fighting through your homework and wishing so badly that there was a robot to do it for you?
Welcome to the future, baby! Robots can actually do your homework now, freeing you up to do…other homework.
Sorry, you’re an adult, and the homework doesn’t stop, but it’s now possible to make the robots do the most boring, tedious parts of your homework.
What Is Marketing Automation?
Marketing automation refers to using software to automate repetitive marketing tasks across multiple channels. This can include email marketing, social media posting, ad campaigns, and more—often from a single platform.
By automating these tasks, businesses can nurture prospects with highly personalized content that converts them into loyal customers over time without needing to be directly involved in the pipeline.
Marketing automation tools also track customer behavior and engagement, allowing marketers to tailor their strategies to each lead based on real-time data.
Advantages of Using Marketing Automation Email Templates
Increased Team Efficiency: Automating repetitive email tasks frees up valuable time for any marketing team. Instead of manually sending emails or scheduling posts, your team can focus on strategic planning, content creation, and other higher-value activities that require more creativity.
Better Targeting: Marketing automation platforms allow for advanced segmentation of your audience. You can create personalized messages for customer groups based on their behavior, preferences, and demographics.
Improved ROI: While the robots send emails out for you, you can optimize your campaigns for better performance. Automation tools provide analytics on open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, helping you allocate resources effectively.
Consistent Branding: If you build your automations correctly, your email templates will ensure that all of your communications maintain a consistent brand voice and visual identity at scale. Proper branding in your automation flow will help you maintain trust and recognition among your audience as your organization grows and team members have less time to be hands-on.
Enhanced Customer Engagement: Automated emails can be timed to reach customers at the most opportune times. With some email software, you can schedule emails to hit customer inboxes when they're most likely to engage, no matter which time zone they're in.
Key Types of Marketing Automation Emails
In the email world, the sky’s the limit to what you can automate.
I once had a client who asked me to write and automate a sequence lasting almost two years, with exponentially larger gaps between emails as time went on. From then on, everyone who signed up to their email list automatically received emails until time expired or they opted out.
Many of those people who signed up more than a year ago are still converting into leads today!
There are several types of email sequences that you can automate. We’ll get more into these below.
Welcome and Onboarding Emails
You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
Welcome and onboarding emails set the tone for your relationship with new subscribers. They pique their interest and guide them through the next steps. It's critical to nail these.
Best Practices:
Personalization: Address recipients by their first name to create a connection.
Highlight the Benefits of What You're Selling: Emphasize what readers can gain from your product or service.
1-3 Clear Call-to-Actions (CTAs): Direct potential customers toward setting up their profile, exploring features, or making their first purchase. Do not pack a welcome email with CTAs. Ensure that the most important actions you want them to take are above the fold.
Example: A software company sends a welcome email thanking the user for signing up, provides a tutorial link, and offers readers a discount on their first subscription.
Lead-Nurturing Emails
Not all leads are ready to convert immediately. In fact, most of them aren’t.
Research shows that only 4% of leads are ready to convert right away.
Lead nurturing emails keep potential customers engaged by providing valuable information that guides them through the sales funnel over time.
Best Practices:
Segmentation: Once you've gathered at least 1000 emails, group leads based on their behavior, interests, or stage in the buying process.
Educational Content: Share ebooks, webinars, or blog posts that address readers’ pain points.
Consistent Follow-Up: Schedule regular emails to stay top-of-mind without overwhelming potential customers.
Example: An e-learning platform sends a series of emails over the course of a year to prospects who downloaded a course guide, continuously offering additional resources and free trials until those leads convert into customers.
Re-Engagement Emails
Over time, some subscribers will likely go inactive. Re-engagement emails aim to win them back and rekindle their interest in what you offer.
Best Practices:
Attention-Grabbing Subject Lines: Use intriguing or personalized subject lines to entice opens.
Incentives: Offer exclusive discounts, freebies, or access to premium content. Make these enticing (no one is running back to you for 5% off).
Feedback Requests: As a last-ditch effort, survey readers and ask for their input to understand why they disengaged.
Example: An online retailer sends a "We Miss You" email with a 25% discount code to a past customer who hasn't made a purchase in several months.
Product Recommendations
Personalized product recommendations can boost sales by showcasing items that align with the customer's interests and past behavior.
I fall for this almost every time REI sends out their email campaigns.
Best Practices:
Behavioral Data: Tailor recommendations using browsing history, previous purchases, and wish lists.
Social Proof: To build trust, include customer reviews or ratings underneath product recommendations.
Urgency and Scarcity: Highlight limited stock or time-sensitive offers to encourage quick action.
Example: A streaming service suggests new movies or shows for a rental fee based on what the user has previously watched. They highlight the fact that the show they want the user to watch is going off-platform in two weeks.
Transactional Emails
Transactional emails give customers essential information about their actions, like purchase confirmations, shipping notifications, or password resets.
You may be wondering, "Why is this writer adding transactional emails to this list?" Because they're often overlooked, that's why! They have high open rates and can reinforce customer trust.
If you nail your transactional housekeeping emails, you will build overall customer trust that you can leverage further down the line.
Best Practices:
Clarity: Ensure that all necessary details are included and easy to understand.
Brand Consistency: In transactional messages, maintain your brand's look and voice.
Cross-Selling Opportunities: Gently suggest related products or services (once the essential information has been dealt with) without overshadowing the main message.
Example: After a customer completes a purchase, an email confirms the order details, estimated delivery date, and recommendations for accessories.
Best Practices for Crafting Marketing Automation Email Templates
Now, just because we can automate something doesn’t mean that it’s going to work.
As one of my high school football coaches used to say, “If you put hot sauce on a turd, all you’ve got is a turd with hot sauce on it.”
Therefore, if you automate and send out a mass volume of terrible emails (as many people do, my inbox can attest) then you’re not going to get a lot in return.
If you’re going to automate and send out a volume of scheduled emails, they need to be good.
Personalization and Dynamic Content
Personalization makes emails more relevant, which, in turn, increases engagement and conversion rates.
We're not talking about "Hey, ," here. That's old hat at this point. We're talking about personalized offers and product recommendations, baby!
Dynamic content allows you to tailor different parts of an email to various recipients based on specific criteria, like products they've looked at or links they've clicked in the past. Most modern CRMs collect enough data to make this a seamless process.
Strategies:
Use Personal Details: Incorporate the recipient's name, location, or company.
Dynamic Content Blocks: Include dynamic blocks that change images, offers, or messages within the same email template, based on the recipient's data.
Behavioral Triggers: Send emails responding to specific actions, like abandoning a cart or browsing certain products.
Example: An airline sends personalized flight deals from the customer's nearest airport to destinations they've shown interest in.
Segmentation and Targeting
Well-planned segmentation divides your audience into groups that share similar characteristics, making your campaigns more targeted.
Strategies:
Demographic Segmentation: Group subscribers by age, gender, income level, or occupation.
Behavioral Segmentation: Segment based on purchase history, website activity, or engagement levels.
Psychographic Segmentation: Consider values, attitudes, and lifestyle choices.
Example: A fitness brand sends different workout tips to beginners and experienced athletes so that content stays relevant to each group.
Crafting Effective Subject Lines
The subject line is your first (and sometimes only) chance to grab the recipient's attention. It significantly impacts open rates. Make it too dull, and subscribers won't click. Make it too exciting, and it will feel like spam and be promptly ignored.
One strategy I've found to work particularly well for subject lines is "internal camouflage (IC)." To experiment with IC, make your subject line sound like it came from inside the receiver's company.
Strategies:
Keep It Short and Sweet: Aim for 50 characters or less to ensure that your subject line is fully visible on mobile devices.
Internal Camouflage: Make your subject line sound like it came from a colleague. Subject lines like "tax analysis" or "assessment results" often outperform flashy lines like "John, your exclusive offer is inside."
Personalization: Include the recipient's name or reference their interests.
Example: A roofing company sends out a thousand emails to potential clients that their prospecting team has identified as fitting into their ideal customer profile (ICP). They use the subject line "roof problems."
Designing for Mobile Responsiveness
With most emails now being opened on mobile devices (up to 66%), ensuring that your emails are mobile-friendly is critical.
Strategies:
Single-Column Layout: Simplify the design and improve readability on small screens by using a single-column layout.
Legible Fonts: Use font sizes that are easy to read without zooming in.
Touch-Friendly Buttons: Ensure that buttons are large enough to tap easily.
Optimized Images: Use compressed images to reduce load times.
Example: A shoe brand sends an email with a responsive design that adjusts content layout based on the device, giving its customers an optimal viewing experience on smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
Examples of High-Performing Marketing Automation Email Templates
Each phase of the customer journey is different. If someone hasn't heard of you, they will likely need some education and convincing before agreeing to buy from you.
Luckily, you can automate this entire process with different templates!
Each stage below represents a different phase in the customer journey that you can automate. I’d recommend sequences of 4-7 emails for each phase once you’ve segmented your lists for each one.
Templates for Different Stages of the Customer Journey
Awareness Stage
At this point, your ideal clients haven't heard of you, and you need to make them froth at the mouth over the problems you can solve for them.
When you’re only trying to make customers aware of what you do, use educational content, provide valuable information that addresses customer pain points, and introduce your brand's mission and values.
Offer potential customers something helpful and free in exchange for their email address.
Example: A cybersecurity firm sends out a free course educating their list on the latest online threats.
Consideration Stage
Now that your potential customers know about you, it's time to bring in the big guns—your past customers!
Share success stories from satisfied customers. Send reviews to your list that showcase the value of using your products. Highlight how your offerings differ from competitors and slap potential customers in the face with how freaking awesome people think your product is.
Example: An SaaS company shares a case study with testimonials demonstrating how their software increased a client's sales team productivity by 50%.
Decision Stage
Now, we're cooking! The potential customers are still here; they haven't unsubscribed. They're interested!
But what do you do with these people now? You hit them with killer offers, of course!
In this phase, encourage prospects to try before they buy. Create urgency with limited-time exclusive deals.
Example: An email offers a 14-day free trial of a project management tool with a guided tour.
Retention Stage
Ok, let’s assume that all of the above stages worked! But you don't want customers to just buy once. You want a customer for life!
Reward repeat customers with points or discounts. Show that you value their opinions by offering them a freebie or a prize in exchange for a review.
Example: A coffee subscription service offers a discount on the next month's delivery and asks for feedback on the previous one by offering a free creamer in the customer's next order if they write a review.
Analyzing What Makes Emails Effective
Emails, scheduled or otherwise, are only going to be an effective marketing channel if they don't suck. I receive many emails that aren't compelling, aren't structured well, and are full of horrible, sometimes misspelled copy.
It's critical to ensure that your email checks the following boxes if you want it to be effective:
Great layout: A clean layout is essential for any email. Avoiding clutter makes the content easily digestible for the recipient.
True to Brand: Maintaining brand consistency through your brand's color scheme, fonts, and imagery helps reinforce brand recognition and trust.
Explicit Action: Highlight essential elements like calls-to-action (CTAs), guiding readers’ attention to where it's most effective for you. Make what you want them to do clear. Incorporating strong CTAs with action verbs and creating a sense of urgency encourages immediate action.
Great timing: Sending emails when your audience is most likely to engage increases open and click-through rates.
Implementing and Optimizing Marketing Automation Email Templates
Integrating With Your Marketing Automation Platform
It’s critical to choose the right platform right off the bat.
If your business is going to grow, you need the right tools. You need to find what’s best for you now and five years from now!
Follow the steps below, and you’ll be humming along in no time.
Steps:
Choose the right platform.
Assess your needs: Determine which features you need and don’t need, like customer relationship management (CRM) integration, analytics, or social media management.
Consider scalability: Ensure that the platform has growth features that will help you grow (and can grow with your business).
Some popular options: beehiiv, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign
Import templates or use built-in ones.
Use built-in templates: Many platforms offer pre-designed templates.
Customize designs: Adjust and customize templates to match your branding.
Write email copy: Draft reusable emails that are true to your brand voice.
Integrate data (if you’re migrating and not just starting out).
Sync CRM: Connect your customer relationship management system to import contact data.
Map data: Ensure that fields match between systems (e.g., first name, email, purchase history).
Ensure privacy compliance: Adhere to regulations like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM) (beehiiv does this automatically).
Setup workflows.
Define triggers: Set up actions that initiate emails (e.g., signing up, abandoning a cart).
Set conditions: Specify criteria for who receives which emails based on their demographic information.
Schedule timing: Determine delays between emails in a sequence.
Start sending emails and managing your campaigns!
Tips:
Test any new software: Send test emails to yourself to ensure that everything works seamlessly.
Train your team: Ensure that all users understand how to use the platform effectively.
A/B Testing and Continuous Improvement
A/B testing allows you to compare two versions of an email to see which performs better, leading to data-driven decisions and continuous optimization.
If you’re unfamiliar with the phrase, it simply means running side-by-side tests of different emails to see which performs better.
Tried and true A/B testing strategies:
Test One Variable at a Time:
Subject Lines: Compare different wording or personalization.
Images: Use different visuals to see which ones resonate more.
CTAs: Experiment with button text, color, or placement.
Measure Results:
Set Clear Goals: Define what you're testing for—open rates, click-through rates, conversions.
Use Statistical Significance: Ensure that the results are not due to chance.
Iterate:
Implement Winners: Apply the successful elements to future emails.
Test Continuously: Always look for new opportunities to improve.
Measuring Success With Key Metrics
Marketers should closely monitor several key metrics that provide insights into the effectiveness of their campaigns. These are listed below:
Open rate
Click-through rate (CTR)
Conversion rate
Bounce rate
Unsubscribe rate
Open Rate
The open rate ( percentage of recipients who open your email) indicates how compelling your subject lines are and the strength of your sender reputation.
Industry benchmarks for open rates typically range from 15% to 25%. A higher open rate means that your emails are reaching the inbox and piquing recipients' interest.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The click-through rate (CTR) measures the percentage of recipients who clicked on one or more links within your email. It helps you see how engaging and relevant your content is.
To enhance CTR, focus on creating clear calls-to-action (CTAs), providing engaging content, and offering relevant promotions that resonate with your audience.
Conversion Rate
The conversion rate is the percentage of recipients who completed the desired action (such as making a purchase).
Optimizing this metric involves simplifying the conversion process and ensuring that your landing pages (where you send them once they click on something) align with your email content.
Bounce Rate
The bounce rate includes hard bounces (emails that couldn't be delivered due to invalid addresses) and soft bounces (temporarily undeliverable emails, like when a recipient has a full inbox).
Regularly cleaning your email list to remove invalid addresses helps maintain a healthy sender reputation and lowers your bounce rate.
Unsubscribe Rate
The unsubscribe rate indicates how well your content meets recipients' expectations; a high rate may mean that you're sending out too many emails or your content is irrelevant to the receiver.
To mitigate your unsubscribe rate, ensure that your content is valuable, avoid over-emailing, and segment your list for more targeted messaging.
Closing Thoughts
Marketing automation is just like everything else in the business world—it’s a lot of work. It takes significant time and effort to get people to sign up for emails from you, segment them correctly, sell to them through email, and keep them coming back for more.
If done right, email automation can be deadly effective. If done well, email marketing can bring in as much as $42 for every dollar spent on it. If done incorrectly, however, it can hurt your domain reputation and abuse the trust you’ve built with customers.
If your brand is ethical, honest, and creative, automated email marketing will be a killer strategy for you.
beehiiv would love to help your brand maximize email return on investment (ROI). We’ve designed our software with features to do the heavy lifting of building a newsletter, like built-in templates, a plug-and-play ad network, and a “boost” feature that’s a win/win for all creators involved.
If you’re ready to start leveraging high-growth, high-volume automated email, start your free trial of beehiiv today!
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