If there’s one thing our last few articles have highlighted, it’s that transactional emails build trust — and trust makes sales. Matt Pritchett, SendWP’s managing partner, explored this concept in-depth at WordCamp Atlanta (watch the video here, or get the gist of his insight in this article). He also explores some ways to boost trust, customer retention, and revenue in your transactional emails.
Step one is reliability: you must find a dependable transactional email service. Your web host won’t reliably send your emails. Today, we’re going to cover step two: your transactional emails must be on-brand.
What does being “on-brand” truly mean?
The idea of a “brand identity” is tossed around frequently in marketing, and there’s always a push to stay on-brand across different marketing channels. But what does your “brand” mean — really? Before we talk about what brand is, let’s clarify what it isn’t.
Your brand is not your logo
The Nike swoosh. The Amazon smile. The Pizza Hut red roof. Logos may make a brand recognizable, but they aren’t the brand itself. Slapping your logo onto your transactional emails doesn’t mean the message is “on brand.”
The same goes for your color palette, fonts, illustrations, and images. These elements help tie your brand together and create a memorable experience for consumers, but they aren’t the brand itself.
Your brand is how your customers see you
Beyond the colors, fonts, and icons, your brand is how your customers see you. What do they think of when they recognize those identifying elements? What kind of emotional experience do they tie to your company?
Think of a brand — any brand. For example, Toyota. A few different words come to mind: sensible, comfortable, reliable, and — most importantly — long-lasting. The Toyota brand evokes feelings of confidence. We know a car made by this brand will last for years, with minimal maintenance issues.
That’s the meaning of “brand.” It may sound abstract, or even a little scary. After all, this means your brand isn’t entirely within your control. You cannot “set” your brand. But you can influence it and shape it over time.
How? By creating the emotional experiences you want to be known for. You can achieve this during customer interactions, but also through strategic branding in every marketing channel — including transactional emails.
Don’t sleep on transactional email
You’ve spent time on your brand. You’ve thought about the emotions you want to evoke, the experiences you want to provide, and the way you want to be seen by customers. After dedicating so much time, effort, and thought into your brand identity, why wouldn’t you communicate it through every possible avenue?
Transactional emails are often forgotten in the brand world. Although you may brand your marketing emails, our internal research shows only approximately 4% of all transactional emails sent each year are on-brand.
This is a huge missed opportunity. Transactional messages have an 80% open rate. Most customers anticipate them and read them immediately, making them the perfect opportunity to strengthen those relationships. The same can’t be said for marketing emails (which have a 25% open rate).
Branding transactional emails is something few companies think about — but the ones that do will see an increase in customer trust, engagement, and retention.
Examples of on-brand transactional emails
Staying on-brand means making sure all aspects of your transactional emails reflect your company’s identity and the way you want consumers to see you.
This includes everything from logos and images to verbiage and special offers. If you’re a light-hearted brand all about joy, you might include bright colors, fun illustrations, and witty copy. If you’re a healthcare brand, those same choices wouldn’t be on-brand. You must be true to the emotional experiences you provide (or seek to provide).
Let’s take a look at some real-world examples to see how companies are staying on-brand in their transactional emails.
Example 1: Dove
Here’s a welcome message from Dove, a personal care brand that focuses on authentic beauty, self-acceptance, and inclusion.
This transactional email, triggered by subscribing to their email list, is a great example of on-brand messaging. Along with their signature logo, icon, colors, and font, it also includes on-brand copy and imagery.
The verbiage here is warm and inviting, and it touches on the brand’s values with phrases like “real beauty.” The image reinforces this message by including models of various races, body types, and ages.
Recipients who receive this transactional message immediately understand that they can trust Dove to champion inclusion, diversity, and body positivity.
Example 2: Starbucks
Here’s another example from Starbucks — a confirmation message for joining their rewards program.
Starbucks is well-known around the world for its welcoming atmosphere, great customer service, and custom beverages. When you walk into a Starbucks, you know you’re about to get exactly what you want and have a great experience while doing so.
Not only does this transactional email have the instantly recognizable Starbucks’ signature, a mermaid and dark green color scheme logo, but it also uses graphics and copy to reinforce the brand. Every sentence screams “convenience, customization, and overall satisfaction.”
Branding for trust, retention, and revenue
Branding is a powerful strategy for building trust, engagement, and retention. While logos, colors, and fonts contribute to brand recognition, your brand goes beyond these visual elements. It is how your customers perceive you and the emotional experiences they associate with your company.
While most businesses put a lot of time into their brand identity, few take advantage of transactional emails as an outlet for that branding.
As we’ve explored, this is a huge missed opportunity. Transactional messages are the most engaged with and most opened emails you’ll ever send. Whether it’s a welcome message or a reward confirmation, these emails communicate the values, authenticity, and unique experiences that define your company — but only if they’re on-brand.
Every interaction your company has matters. If you don’t stop to consider how you can improve your transactional messages, you’re leaving money on the table. Embrace the power of on-brand transactional emails and watch as trust grows to fuel higher retention and revenue.
Try SendWP today
As you implement strategies to improve your transactional emails (and therefore grow your revenue), don’t forget to start with a reliable transactional email service. SendWP helps ensure a 99.5% deliverability rate, so you can write on-brand messages with confidence — knowing those emails will land in the recipient’s primary inbox.
SendWP is only $9/month (and just $1 for your first month), so get started today.
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I talked with Matt and he provided wonderful customer service. In a ecosystem of developers and plugin authors, SendWP stands out in a great way by offering respectful and helpful service. It’s not enough to have a great plugin, but to also have great customer skills. I think that’s how the cream rises to the top. Thank you Matt and SendWP!
