There were around 4.1 billion email users world-wide in 2021. Email conversion rates have seen good consistency over the years and the total number of email users is expected to hit approximately 4.5 billion by 2024 itself.
Email marketing has also proven its potential by delivering an ROI of $36 for every $1 spent.
But are the results the same for every business that puts it to work? NO.
When consumers receive thousands of emails every day, it’s becoming challenging for businesses to even get a decent open rate on their campaigns.
So who wins? The ones who are able to personalize their communication on email beyond the standardized subject lines and first names.
That’s where we’re seeing eCommerce businesses leverage dynamic personalized product recommendations in their emails.
What are dynamic product recommendations?
Product recommendations basically refer to suggesting products to an online shopper based on certain data points and parameters. For example, if someone is looking for a pair of jeans, you display product recommendations that consist of jeans from the other collections available on your store. Now these recommendations can be the same for a certain segment of buyers – for example, anyone who is looking for a pair of jeans.
But dynamic product recommendations work differently.
Dynamic product recommendations are those that vary from individual to individual. No two customers receive or are displayed the same product recommendations, keeping in mind the products they browse through on the store during their visit or those they buy from you.
For example, if someone has looked for a pair of blue jeans in a certain price range, they are sent recommendations that fit exactly that description.
Another buyer looking for blue pair of jeans from a different price range, will only be sent jeans from that range of pricing as product recommendations, along with other parameters like the fit, stitches, etc.
Yes, dynamic product recommendations are product suggestions that are unique to each shopper.
Dynamic Product Recommendations in Emails
As an eCommerce business, any email you send to your customers and subscribers has more influence than you think it does.
In fact, 59% of customers say that emails from marketers have influenced them in making purchases and the relationship they have with the brand. But more than half of the consumers surveyed also stated that businesses did not pay attention to their likes, preferences and needs when sending emails.
That’s where dynamic product recommendations come in.
Product recommendations have been a promising on-site conversion strategy for years. With industry leads like Amazon accounting 33% of their sales to the recommendations they make to their store visitors, product recommendations have become an integral part of personalizing a buyer’s journey.
So why not put them to use in your day to day communication on emails, and make them more contextual to every individual buyer subscribed to your store?
A well-planned email product recommendation strategy will have considerable impact on an average online customer’s experience. But when you make this experience more one-to-one, with dynamic product recommendations, you will drive better results from your emails.
That is; sending out dynamic product recommendations to the subscriber/ customer based on the buyers’ preferences or their previous interaction with your store.
Email marketers have found this to make their messages more contextual and relevant to the recipients. And well, who doesn’t love messages that speak directly to them instead of generic promotions?
But there is a way to use dynamic product recommendations in email too. Imagine getting bombarded by product recommendations in a store that you’re the least likely to even browse through – pretty sure you’d get irritated with the salesperson.
That’s where dynamic product recommendations in email come in; product recommendations that adapt to the recipient’s needs, preferences and buyer journey.
Here’s how to use dynamic product recommendations in email to get maximum conversions from your campaigns at every buyer stage.
How to Use Product Recommendations in Emails
1. Dynamic product recommendations in welcome emails
The first impression you make on your customer with your email should be like the hook of a good movie or a book. You should try and make them stick to your brand with the first glimpse you provide.
So perfecting your first welcome email will be worth the effort you put into it.
If the customer has already subscribed to your email list, you are in a position where you can actually influence them to make a buy with that first message.
Such a customer is already interested in your brand, now you need to get them to explore your products. The best way to do it and then learn their preferences is to direct them to your new arrivals, trending products, hot-selling items or similar product recommendations.
But a better way to do this is to add dynamic product recommendations to your welcome email that are based on what products or pages this customer browsed through before subscribing to your newsletter or updates. This will show the buyer that you care about their choices, from day 1.
MotherDirt is a company that uses visual-oriented welcome emails that offer a glimpse into the range of products along with good welcome offers. Combine the product recommendations with a good first purchase or welcome offer, and you have a conversion confirmed.
2. Dynamic product recommendations in promotional emails
Promotional emails really pack a punch when it comes to how they can spread word about your product or service. It is the strongest and most crucial part of your email marketing strategy and should be crafted with care.
Including relevant product recommendations to this mail will make it even more potent in increasing conversion rates. Because sometimes, just promoting your deals and discounts can’t get people to interact with your storefront.
With the help of dynamic product recommendations, you will be able to display product recommendations – out of the items that are on sale/ discount as well, in your promotional emails. This makes your promotional emails personalized as well, leading to higher conversions on them.
3. Dynamic product recommendations in abandoned cart recovery emails
The abandoned cart emails are another strategic way of pulling your customers right back into the purchase funnel. They serve as a gentle reminder for your customers to see what they have left behind and act as a little nudge to convince them to make a purchase.
But what if the customer isn’t interested in the exact product they added to their cart? And what if they bought the product from another store already before your reminder even came to their attention?
This is where adding in dynamic product recommendations in abandoned cart reminder emails come in. The idea is to show the buyer products that are unique and close to what they showed an intent of purchasing.
Here’s an example of the same; see how each product they showed an intent of buying was given a recommendation for in the email:
4. Dynamic product recommendations in seasonal emails
During the holiday seasons, the struggle gets real when everyone is desperately looking for the perfect gifts for their loved ones. Using product recommendations in your gifting guide for instance can be a strategy that works well during this period. But adding dynamic product recommendations in emails can level up your game!
The recommendations on the seasonal emails can be categorized on the basis of preferences too when you use an AI-powered product recommendation engine like WISER. This makes your seasonal emails contextual to each individual you’re sending an email too as well.
Here’s an example of product recommendations being used as gift guides in the seasonal emails:
5. Dynamic product recommendations in order confirmation emails
Being a buyer, most people would wish to double check what they have ordered. People find order confirmation emails important and some even keep them for future reference. But why send out these emails in a purely transactional manner, when you can use them as an opportunity to get that customer to explore more on your store?
Now that you know what the customer is interested in and has a high tendency to purchase, you can use the order confirmation email to send a few product recommendations too. With dynamic product recommendations, you can suggest products based exactly on what they have bought from you, increasing the chances of them buying from you again.
Here’s how West Elm does it:
6. Dynamic product recommendations in loyalty program emails
Who would say no to attractive incentives? That is the ultimate strategy behind the customer loyalty program. With great rewards comes great motivation and this is a proven way of drawing customers towards your products.
Incentivizing customers can really boost your sales and create a great seller-buyer bond. But adding dynamic personalized product recommendations in your loyalty program update emails can really get these buyers to make the purchase too because you’re suggesting items that are contextual to that very individual.
Here’s how ASOS does it:
7. Dynamic product recommendations in customer appreciation emails
Your existing customers are the backbone of your business. So, take a moment to thank them for their loyalty and support. This can do wonders to the way you are perceived as a business.
Customer appreciation mails can be employed when you gain a new subscriber or to thank an existing high-valued customer or when someone gives you a feedback or review or to celebrate your customer’s big day.
But instead of just saying thank you, you could also show them you truly care by sending out product recommendations. Letting them know of products available in your store that may be of interest to them, shows you’re paying close attention to their needs. With dynamic product recommendations, you will be able to suggest these products closer to what that individual really likes, and may purchase too.
8. Dynamic product recommendations in back in stock alert emails
What’s more frustrating for a shopaholic than seeing their favourite item going out of stock? And you now have a lost customer and a lost sale. This is where back-in-stock mails can back you up. With great marketing strategy, you can even boost the sales by widening the possibilities using product recommendations.
Take REVOLVE for example. Unlike other brands, REVOLVE deploys the clever usage of a typical back in stock alert by keeping it at the up, front and center of the email.
Apart from this, they also add dynamic product recommendations that pair with the product that the customer is looking for. Keeping in mind that they may have bought the product from elsewhere, they include some items under ‘you may also like’. These recommendations look different for every buyer, increasing the context of the email to every recipient.
9. Dynamic product recommendations in re-engagement emails
People fall out, don’t they? The competition out there is hard and with changing trends it’s natural that your buyers will get swayed by such changing interests. Re-engagement mails are the best trick up your sleeve to bring people back to see the amount of awesomeness they are missing out on – but now the standardized approach of sending out your discounts and deals will no longer work.
With the right approach, you can definitely win back some of your old customers. And dynamic product recommendations in here should be tempting enough to coax them back to shop from you – think about how Amazon gets you to come back and pick up where you left off by displaying the ‘last viewed’ or ‘inspired by your browsing’ product recommendations.
Pottery Barn’s “We’ve missed you!” messages are an excellent example of how product recommendations “just for you” can be enthralling enough to not only recall customers but also inspire loyalty instantly. Since these product suggestions are contextual to that individual, the response on these emails becomes higher.
Adapt product recommendations to sell better by making them dynamic
We have seen various examples of email product recommendations that are applied cleverly into very effective sales and conversion drivers. And it seems like a simple and easy business trick that can be applied just like that, but this is not the case.
Customer preferences change with time and such an inconsistent atmosphere requires businesses to change, adapt and constantly remain sharp with their email marketing strategies when it comes to using product recommendations.
This is why you need to leverage the power of a strong AI-based product recommendation engine that will dynamically alter the recommendations that are sent to a customer in the span of their relationship with the company. This will ensure that the recommendations are relevant to the individual customer’s needs and overall market trends.
And this is what WISER can do for you- install the app today!
