Jun 09 | 6 minutes read

How to write the perfect reminder email

Writing a reminder email can be a tricky task. You never want to sound overly pushy or demand attention like a spoiled child, but you do want to get your message across in a way that’ll nudge a user to open your email.

It’s also important to get it right the first time because nobody wants to be left unread - which could have a damaging impact on your business.

But what are we talking about here? The concept is simple: reminder emails do what they say on the tin. They help a subscriber remember something specific, and they can be sent to make sure your loyal members don’t forget about events, their renewals, or anything else that’s important enough to send an email for.

They can be a really important way to earn some extra revenue, too. Reminding members about giveaways, products and events can really help to add those little extra bits that equal a whole lot more when you consider them over a 12-month window.

Don’t let members forget about you

Back in the old days, marketing professionals might have had to write and send these individually - but thankfully those times are no more! A combination of smart marketing automation tools, flows and design platforms have simplified life.

Let’s say Human A is on your free plan but hasn’t logged into the site for a few months, while Human B is a gold-star member but hasn’t logged in for a few weeks. Human B would then be sent a different reminder email, maybe after a shorter time period has elapsed, than Human A.

Keep your subject lines engaging

You’ve also got to get those emails opened. Doing so will boost open rates, which every digital marketer craves, and it will also keep your members engaged.

Here are a few quick tips, for a more in-depth look head to our blog post on how to write the perfect subject lines.

  • Keep things simple - use nine words at a maximum or less than 60 characters.
  • Use language that creates a sense of immediacy and action.
  • And be humble.

Equip yourself with marketing automation tools

This is all done automatically via marketing automation tools. Here, things called segments are used to organise different types of members. How a user interacts with your website will determine which segment they fall in to, as will the type of membership option they have. For example, someone on a free plan would be treated differently to someone on the highest-paid option - who would get better perks.

And because you’re a membership site, you may run events and whatnot - and this is where a real basic reminder email will come into play. If a user signs up to one of your events and subscribes to the event newsletter, you can segment them into a category that sends updates about the event, as well as a reminder, periodically.

Before we get down to the nitty-gritty, we should cover the basics first. It’s important to know how to write a reminder email before things get technical.

How to write a reminder email

Reminder emails can take the form of a whole lot of different things, and the beauty with them really is in the variety of options you’ve got at your fingertips.

First, you’ll need to decide on what type of email you’ll be looking to send, and of course, it doesn’t have to be limited to just the one.

As we mentioned before, as a membership organisation, you’ll probably be running events or have special promotions on the go fairly regularly - and these will have an expiration date. Therefore, it’s always a really good idea to have your countdown emails nailed on.

A countdown email is sent to make sure members don’t miss out on the latest great offer you’ve got on the go! A timer always makes this type of email a little more exciting and really helps to focus attention on the impending deadline.

Keep members engaged

Membership organisations may also run competitions or giveaways throughout the year. Has someone won a prize but hasn’t yet claimed it? Send them a reminder email and make sure they get their hands on their goodies!

You want the extra goodwill this generates and they surely want free stuff! We all love free stuff!

Including a call-to-action is probably a good idea here, too. After all, these communications are being sent with the goal of getting your customer to do something, whether it’s to buy something new and shiny from you, register their account or claim a prize. So make it easy for your people to do that!

React to Audience behaviour and customise your comms

To do this, you’ll need access to a marketing automation platform. APSIS One will cover all your bases. Within the platform, you’ll be able to set up automated flows that react to your Audience’s action or inaction. 

You also need to design beautiful emails that make your customers eyeballs happy. The APSIS One email tool has a really functional drag-and-drop feature that makes it super easy to create attention-grabbing emails.

Audiences within your platform need to be added to Segments, which tell your marketing platform how to communicate with them. You can create different flows based on how customers have interacted with you.

Segmentation can be used more broadly to create personalised messages that are sent at scale. They’re so amazing because you get to define your own segments, or you can get off to a quick start by using the APSIS One pre-defined segments. 

Stay on top of your data

As customers interact with you, they may move through different Segments. For example, customers may be reminded to make the most of their new user discount, but once they’ve done that they’ll no longer be sent those emails.

Another way to use these flows could be the following: you could add one-time customers to a Segment that sends them a little reminder to renew their membership after a set amount of time, let’s say after six months.

Or you could add a flow that automatically sends emails to those who have browsed a specific part of your website and could benefit from some knowledge you have on your blog or in a member’s only part of the website.

Let’s say Carl is a member of your union, and you provide specialist knowledge and advice in a special section of the website. If he browses through that part of your site but doesn’t click through to your blogs, you could email him a link to them.

Data will be crucial to making this happen, and the APSIS One tool allows the user to gather member interaction behaviour and website interaction behaviour simply and easily. This will help to remove pain points such as disconnected data points, lack of customer loyalty and manual inefficiency. 

Send that perfect reminder email today!

There really isn’t too much to creating and sending the perfect reminder email. The key is on the data and having a good marketing platform, because without one it’ll be impossible to stay on top of which members need to be sent what reminders.

Proper drip campaigns that draw from intelligent segments will be able to engage with your audience in a way that you never thought possible, and in a way that could boost acquisition, reach and all of the good stuff.

 

Does that sound good? If it’s struck a chord, why not give the friendly experts at APSIS a buzz and see what we can do for you!