In direct marketing, our end goal is always to make the sale. This can sometimes be a long process involving everything from developing eye-catching creative, crafting enticing offers, and targeting a viable group of consumers.  So once your gorgeous, alluring message goes out to all the right prospects and one visits your site, whips his credit card from his pocket and makes the purchase, your job is done, right?

Well, don’t head out to happy hour yet. While a purchase is often the goal, transactions can also be the starting point from which to build relationships with your consumers and increase repeat purchase.

One way to foster such a relationship is with well executed confirmation emails. Purchase follow up emails enjoy much higher open rates than ordinary email blasts due to the fact that customers know they often contain valuable information, such as shipping information or confirmation numbers.

By bundling this expected information with notes of gratitude or a call to action to return to your site, you can utilize these high open rates to grow return customers.

Use these 5 best practices from MediaPost Publications to get the most out of your post-purchase communication:

1. Keep the subject line simple: Confirmation emails get higher open rates, so make sure your customer knows it’s a confirmation email. Simple subject lines like “Shipment Notification 10397456” or “Confirmation Number W7656” quickly alert your consumer that the email has information pertinent to their recent purchase.
2. Have a consistent, branded design: This email serves as another brand touchpoint, and as such, should showcase many of the design elements that your site does. A well-designed email shows thoughtfulness as well as reinforces your brand in your customers’ eyes.
3. Customize your promotions: What your consumer recently purchased should drive what products you promote in your confirmation emails. If a consumer bought men’s tennis shoes, promoting a new gym bag will probably get you further than featuring a pair of high heels.
4. Follow the 80/20 Rule: 80% of your content should be transactional and 20% promotional. Ensure that the focus of your email is providing transactional information to your customer and thanking them for their business, not promoting your brand.
5. Ask them to opt in for further communications: Since you can’t pack everything into one follow-up email, ask customers to opt in to receive future updates, newsletters and deals from your company.

Follow these simple rules can and you can transform the end –goal of your marketing campaign into the beginning of a profitable customer relationship.

Posted by Nicole Hall, Account Manager with Mobilize Worldwide. Mobilize Worldwide develops mobile apps, mobile ad campaigns, mobile websites and just about anything else related to mobile marketing for brands interested in growing their sales and revenue using this new and emerging medium.