Transactional Email Software Features
Deciding on what a company needs out of a transactional email tool determines which is right for that organization. Some transactional email tools are simple solutions for only sending email, while others give a whole dashboard of options. Some solutions even allow users to write lines of code to fully customize their experience. Advanced statistics, notifications, email design, and more are all things to consider before making a transactional email software decision. The following are some features you may come across as you research the diverse offerings in this category
Workflow automation — At any given moment, an established brand can have dozens of automated messages queued up for delivery. These messages serve as appropriate responses to various actions or events in the customer lifecycle. Transactional email services map out responses and automatically send emails when the customer takes the correct course of action. Response flow features within these products are similar to those of chatbots software. In addition to choosing which email to send, these automation workflows help associate sent emails with different domains based on their purpose. Large businesses may have many unique domains for sending emails, and may find a case-by-case effectiveness for different domains after testing the performance of email campaigns.
Email segmentation is a significant component of an automated email sending service, such as those made possible with these products. Segmentation enables businesses to target specific groups of recipients when sending emails, and distribute the most valuable message at the optimal moments. Administrators using these tools adjust segmentation when configuring or editing transactional email workflows, to further streamline the flow of messaging and maximize the ROI potential of each email sent.
Email customization — Transactional emails always contain something unique. This can be the name of the customer or social media user who has signed up for a service or the confirmation on a product purchased through an e-commerce site. Depending on how custom each email needs to be, different transactional email tools help solve these problems. Think about how unique each email sent out needs to be before making a transactional email decision, as certain tools offer more robust customization features than others.
To prepare an email for delivery, platforms often include templates with different email designs, layouts, fonts, and other features. These involve everything from the margins of an email to custom buttons in the messages. In addition to templates, some transactional email apps allow for complete customization from scratch, using a built-in layout tool or an integration with external software. It is important to consider the purpose of each email sent, and use this to inform the design and messaging of the different responses in a workflow. This may mean including different buttons in an email or rearranging the order of email sections based on deliverability analytics.
Email analytics — Transactional marketing relies on continuous improvement to succeed. Several products featured in this category include some degree of reporting capabilities. With these features, businesses can track email after they send it, and capture metrics including open rates, click-through rates, and engagement with each section, link, or button. Analytics also help users identify deliverability issues, so organizations can remedy underlying issues and improve their email services. Certain products include specialized spam filter testing, domain testing, or other tools to ensure maximum deliverability and customer trust with each email sent.
Some transactional email software tools allow split testing to compare the success rate of different versions of the same email. This is also known as A/B testing. The A/B testing features in some products uncover an additional layer of insights to help shape an ongoing email strategy, and make the choices that are most likely to benefit an organization and customers alike. People are constantly flooded with new emails, and it takes a well-thought-out message to be worth their time and consideration. The richer the email analytics, the higher chance of an effective transactional email campaign.
Integrations — Transactional email tools integrate with certain applications, frameworks, and existing email campaigns to execute automated responses to customer actions, capture the appropriate data, and steer customers to their desired outcomes. A few examples of these integrated systems include CRM software, email marketing software, and e-commerce platforms. It is important to research a product’s integrations to see how they align with current technology infrastructure. If a platform does not offer ideal integrations, it may not be used to its full potential. Reach out to the vendor of a given product to ask about integrations, and how to get the most value out of a transactional email service.
