Have you ever entered the bookstore and bought the first book that caught your eye, even though you knew nothing about it? Never! I know, right… Just by picking up the book, you have shown interest. Your primary instinct is to check the plot, isn't it? Yeah. Next, you pull out your smartphone and google some book reviews. Once you are done reviewing those reviews, you make the purchase and happily walk out of that bookstore. It's almost the same when it comes to email workflows.

What's that? For those who don't know, automated email workflows will give your prospects a clear idea about your brand. Thus helping them shift from the consideration to the decision stage. Automation enables you to send out the right emails to the right audience at the right time. As a brand, it really doesn’t get any better than that! Imagine sending out the various types of automation emails to all your leads manually. That wouldn’t just cost you a ton of money, but also your precious time. Forget about that. 1995 is long gone - you don’t need to do anything manually anymore, thankfully. And we should also mention that automated emails generate 320% more revenue. Huh. Now that's awesome.

What are the best email workflows to build in 2022?

  • Welcome workflow
  • Added to cart workflow
  • Abandoned cart workflow
  • Browse abandoned workflow
  • Viewed page workflow
  • Post-Purchase workflow
  • Non-Purchaser workflow
  • Subscriber Re-engagement workflow
  • Purchaser Re-engagement workflow
  • Purchaser Winback workflow
  • VIP customer workflow
  • Cross-sell workflow
  • Up-sell workflow
  • Subscriber Sunset workflow
  • GDPR Consent workflow
  • CASL Consent workflow
  • LGDP Consent workflow
  • SMS Sign-up workflow
  • Giveaway Welcome workflow

Best Subscription-based Business email workflows to build in 2022?

  • Started Subscription workflow
  • Subscription Cancelled workflow
  • Subscriber Winback workflow
  • Subscriber Up-sell workflow
  • VIP Subscriber Prizes workflow

The best part of email workflows is that they operate on their own, while you focus on some higher-value activity. All you need to do is to determine the scenarios in which an automated email marketing workflow would serve your business needs, we'll set it up, and let your automation solution do the rest. 

Not sure what I'm talking about here? No worries at all, these Klaviyo experts are here to be the guru to your email workflows strategy. Here are six highly effective email automation workflows for you.

Let's get it on.

Best email workflows to build in 2022 Post Highlights:

Email workflows for abandoned carts

Abandoned shopping cart emails are the mainstay of the e-commerce world. What is an abandoned cart email anyway? Well, it's a follow-up email you would send to somebody who has added items to their cart but somehow decided to leave your website without purchasing.

It doesn't matter how much water you pour into the bucket, the reason it doesn't retain it is because it's leaking somewhere. For the majority of digital marketers, one of the most significant leaks in their marketing and sales funnel are shoppers that add certain items to their cart but abandon them at checkout. I know this is hard to accept, mainly because you spent a lot of time and money gaining that prospects' attention.

However, this is not a new phenomenon.

More than 70% of buyers would abandon carts at checkout and unfortunately, this number has been slowly increasing in recent years. Although maybe the key is to send more than one of these emails. Studies have shown that customers who get multiple abandoned cart messages are 2.4x more likely to buy than those who only get one message.

The upside

Let’s look at the silver linings of this though. Although your customers might be abandoning their carts at a greater rate than before, you now have an opportunity to leverage automation and convert them to not only come back to their cart, but your store and eventually, the checkout page as well.

Implementing this strategy will not only help you convert more of those visitors that you are attracting to your online store but also recover more of your previously lost revenue. Sounds so simple, right? Nevertheless, the challenge with abandoned cart recovery is that pretty much every e-commerce business out there is using the same tried-and-tested methods that we learned about years ago.

Don't look at me like that - you're probably using similar (if not the exact same) tools and tactics to your competitors.

It has become waaay harder to stand out in your subscribers' inbox, so I guess know that hiring an expert email marketing agency will help you out with gaining that attention, which is a crucial component to get your prospects to take action and finally complete that purchase.

The Kombucha Shop The Kombucha Shop

Email automation for browse abandonment 

Let me ask you this. First, a person visits your website and views a particular item but doesn't add it to their cart - What would you do next? Send them a browse abandonment email? Correct!

These are the types of emails that serve as a reminder of the items your prospects have expressed interest in. Also, they are a way to entice them to purchase.

And if they somehow don't end up purchasing after receiving your browse abandonment email, not all is lost - it's an excellent way to lure your potential customers back onto your site. The more time they spend on your website, the more likely they are to make a purchase in the future.

Doughp Doughp

Email workflow - Welcome series

Welcome emails are incredibly effective, and these enjoy higher open rates Than newsletters. Why would you consider sending these types of emails?

It's just polite. And yet…

For e-commerce marketers, a welcome series' purpose is to introduce your new subscribers to your business and eventually turn them into customers. In fact, there are a couple different ways to incentivize new subscribers to make the first purchase, though it all comes down to offering something of great value.  

Give your new subscribers the push they need towards their first purchase by offering a discount or exclusive content; you can also facilitate the process, personalize and so much more.

As I said, It's so much more than just an email to deliver that coupon you promised them when they signed up. Welcome series introduce your customers to your brand. It's what gets them excited about doing business with you guys. So let them know what they can expect.

Moreover, with any Welcome Series strategy, you should focus on categories and that conversion. When thinking about which categories or products to feature in your earliest messages, make sure to showcase those that are most likely to convert non-purchasers into purchasers rather than just your top sellers.

Highwave Highwave

A post-purchase email workflow

Significantly, around 80% of customers say that overall, a positive brand experience post-purchase is essential to them. What does this mean? Well, once a customer has made a purchase, it's a must to have an effective strategy to maintain loyalty. 

Post-purchase, you'll have some new information about your customer, so what should you do? Don't wait for me to tell you this - Incorporate that information into your messaging strategy! 

Additionally, think about why your prospects may be purchasing your products. Is it to achieve a difficult goal, like maybe weight loss, healthy eating, or bodybuilding? Either way, they want more support, more information, more options.

So...why not give it to them?

After the initial purchase is completed, don't just offer them one of your products at a discount. Offer a bundle - at an irresistible price!

An example of a subscriber winback workflow

Those unsubscribed email notifications can feel just so… unexpected, and...rough. You feel me?

Like, you thought that you had a great thing going with your subscribers. They thought…oh well, I suppose they must have thought a bit different.

Hey, cheer up, sport. Don’t despair - it's not too late! In case they still haven't unsubscribed, what you can do is to regain their interest…H-how do I do that?

With a subscriber winback email marketing campaign (winking).

But why should you bother winning back that subscriber who ignores your emails? Why invest your money, energy, and time in somebody that isn't interested in you? That can't be good self-care, right? I mean, the goal of a subscriber's win-back email is to get them to interact with your emails and call-to-actions again. You want that? I know.

Purchaser winback 

I'm pretty sure that every single marketer has heard this before - acquiring a new customer is much more costly than getting the already acquired one to repurchase.

Don't just shrug your shoulders and let your lapsing customers ride off into the beautiful sunset. It won't get you anywhere. But it will take your customers away from your competitors and who wants that?!

What are you waiting for? My permission? Oh gosh. Go give your lapsed customers an unmissable winback email to encourage them to get back to purchasing your products (this ranges from non-monetary perks to discounts). Put them onto a dedicated winback email workflow until you win them back. 

Look, your customer's journey needs to feel personalized from the beginning to the end, whether they're a frequent spender or at risk of lapsing. But if you're going to meet your goal of persuading your customers to come back, then your win-back emails need to be more engaging than ever. To optimize this process further, consider implementing effective deliverability performance tracking to ensure your emails reach your audience and encourage higher engagement rates.

Other kinds of Workflows

There are so many types of workflows you can choose from - it all just depends on what your brand needs. Here are some other cool series you can use:

Loyal Customer Workflows - Showing your appreciation to frequent purchasers is always a good idea. These emails often include some kind of exclusive discount code or a coupon. Not only does this make your customers feel like you care, but it also sends them back to that checkout page.

Upsell Workflows - Another way to get customers to purchase again is to focus on what they've already bought. This series will include complementary items to their previous purchases or upgraded versions. It's all about "if you liked that, you'll LOVE this."

Webinar Workflows - This is super-relevant at the moment. If your brand does webinars or other virtual events, the first people you'll want to invite are your subscribers. And this isn't just one email, it can include reminders, teasers, and follow-ups afterward.

Free Trial Workflows (sometimes known as lead magnets) - If you've got a brand that offers services or courses then this can be especially great. It can help you get feedback about your product and gain new customers of course. In fact, some software platforms have witnessed about 40% of their free trial users become paying customers.

Wrapping up

There are loads of automation examples where email marketing workflows are advantageous, though may not every single of them will apply to your unique business model. Take the time to consider your subscribers' interests and needs, and you'll be sure to zero in on the workflows that will produce the best possible results for your use case.

That's it. What are you waiting for? It's time to choose your best email workflow, email service provider, and create an offer your customers can't refuse.