How To Create An Effective New Customer Thank You Email Journey (With Examples)

Let’s face it, new competition for your brand is popping up every day, and consumers are always looking for reasons why they should choose one brand over another. Giving customers a reason to stay loyal is undoubtedly good for business, but do you know how much of an impact it can have on your bottom line? Repeat customers are responsible for 40% of the average ecommerce store’s revenue. Which, on average, is created by only 8% of its customers.

One of the easiest ways to up your repeat customers is by saying thanks. Think of the last time you received a ‘thank you for purchasing’ email from a brand – it likely made an impact! Setting up automation to thank new customers is a simple way to be remembered, differentiate your brand, and make customers feel cared for.

This post will take you through some best practices to help you easily set up your first new customer thank you email journey.

Step 1: Consider the content of your email

There are a lot of options you can consider including in your new customer thank you email journey. A simple one: saying thank you and reminding the customer of free returns to increase customer satisfaction.

Want a little more? Add an incentive to purchase again with free shipping on their next order. Or increase repeat purchases further with a coupon code for future use. Last thing: if you have a referral program, your new customer thank you email is a great place to share details to encourage customers to recruit their friends.

The Dolan Twins have a simple new customer thank you email with a fun GIF, short and sweet message, and incentive to share on social.

Step 2: Plan out your new customer thank you email journey

One thank you email is a great place to start, but if you want to include a few different pieces of information in your new customer thank you email, it’s a good idea to turn that one email into a series. Here’s an example of how your new customer thank you email journey can pan out:

• Email 1 – One Hour After Purchase: Thank you note with a reminder of free returns
• Email 2 – One Week After Purchase: Free shipping offer and referral program information
• Email 3 – Two Weeks After Purchase: Coupon code for next purchase

Look into your customer buying cycle to see if there are patterns, like when new customers often make a second purchase and time your emails accordingly. If you’re not sure about creating multiple steps just yet, don’t be afraid to create a one-step thank you email, set it live for a month, then reassess adding more steps.

Erika Costell has a one-step new customer thank you email with a short thank-you note, two recommended products, and an explanation of Sezzle, which lets you pay in installments – helpful information to incentivize future purchases!

Step 3: Automate your new customer thank you email in your ESP

Now it’s time for the fun part! Create your template(s) and set up your new customer thank you email journey in your ESP. If you’re looking for some subject line inspiration to increase opens on your thank you email, this post will help: 8 Subject Line Formulas. You can also learn the step-by-step process to create a new customer email journey for Shopify or Eventbrite in Hive here.

Typical goes a step further in engaging customers with their new customer thank you email by asking for feedback – an easy way to show they care. Lastly, they remind customers of free shipping and returns, which is helpful to keep top of mind when choosing to make future purchases.

Step 4: Monitor results and make updates to your new customer thank you email journey

Monitor your new customer thank you email journey for the first month after you’ve set it live to see how customers are engaging. There could be a specific email in the journey that outperforms the rest, or one that seems to be underperforming. Take a look at each email to assess what you can tweak – better subject lines or clearer CTAs. What works for you will be unique to your brand, so take some time to critique the performance of the email journey and make updates as necessary!

Wrap Up

Setting up a new customer thank you email automation is one of the best ways to add a personal feel to your email marketing and help you differentiate yourself from other similar brands. Try out some of the tactics listed here to create an engaging email, and you’ll be well on your way to building customer loyalty and increasing repeat customers!