• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Ann Donnelly Digital Marketing Consulting

  • Home
  • Tourism Development
    • Digital Marketing for the Tourism Industry
    • Tourism News and Articles
  • Digital Marketing & SEO
    • Digital Marketing Strategy Development
      • Digital Marketing Audit
      • Digital Marketing Plan
    • Digital Marketing for Professional Firms
    • Search Engine Optimization
      • SEO Strategy Development & Implementation
        • SEO Audit
      • SEO Ranking Quick Boost
    • Social Media Marketing
      • Social Media Marketing Quick Boost
  • Work With Me
    • Who I Am

Email Marketing for After Sales Follow-Up — and other important points of interaction

January 5, 2012

Supervalu Getaway BreaksUsually I am tweeting about bad email marketing examples I see in my Inbox, but today I am delighted to share a good example!

I coach my clients to plan interactions with their prospects and customers  (whether by email, phone or social media – depending on the situation) at many points along the way: first interaction, meetings (planned or casual), point of sale, after sale and hopefully return business. Email marketing is a great tool for after sales follow-up.

I booked a hotel stay via SuperValu Getaway Breaks and the day after my return, I received an email “Welcome back – we hope you enjoyed your break”. It was personalised (nearly) perfectly with my name, address and the location of my break. It ended with a nice “We hope to see you again soon”.

The downside is that the body of the message boringly recapped the way the Getaway Breaks programme works, which I know because I just went on one. OK, I said ‘good example’ not ‘perfect example’.

How could this have been a perfect follow up?

  • Invite me to their Facebook Page, which I know they have, and any other social channels they may have, to comment about my trip, maybe even post pictures, etc.
  • Give details about some of the other breaks on offer for Easter, Summer, etc. that I may be starting to plan for now for return sales opportunities. If you are selling a product this is a good chance to sell accessories and other related or similar products, etc.
  • Ask if I had any feedback — link to a survey or feedback form. Your customers want to be heard and want to think that you care about how they feel about your business. Even though they know that, really, your priority is to get more business from them; they are more likely to give business to a company that takes on board their feedback.

Many businesses don’t ask for feedback because they are afraid of what they’ll hear or assume that people will tell them without being asked, but in most cases if you don’t ask you won’t get it.  I stayed in a hotel last week and I filled out 3 different comment cards that were provided to me — with positive and negative, but honest, feedback on the hotel in general, the spa, restaurant, etc. (As a person who works in customer service and who deals with hotel owners and management, I know that they do want to get the feedback directly so was thorough in my comments.)  For the trip related to this email, I provided no feedback to the hotel.  There were no cards supplied and no follow-up email, yet.

The main reason for asking for feedback early on, is so that you can address any bad points early on — before they make it on TripAdvisor, some other review website or all around town – or social media channels – via word of mouth.

Because SuperValu Getaway Breaks has all customers in their database with contact details and dates of breaks, it is easy for them to automate this kind of follow-up. Smaller businesses may have to do this manually, but as it is easier/cheaper/more effective to market to existing customers so very much worth doing manually or setting up an automated system.

Get the wording and tone right.  Don’t appear greedy or that you are sending this just to sell, sell, sell.  By asking to post on Facebook or complete a survey, you have a good excuse for getting in touch.

Get your timing right. In this case I thought it was nice to get the message the day after my return and, if they asked for feedback or had a survey, the information would be fresh in my mind. Their push for me to book more breaks when I still haven’t unpacked from this one is a bit lost at this point.  Another email in a few months — or if they had enticed me specifically for a break in the future, I may have had a look at the site.  If you are selling a product that wears out or offers an upgrade, these are good times to follow-up. The timing will depend on your product/service and your clients.  As I always say, you need to know your target market and what is right for them.

Regular newsletters or newsletters that you publish when you have news or special offers can do very well for you, but an email that is perfectly timed based on customer/prospect interactions will be the best tool for for your business as it will work much better at building community, getting feedback and driving repeat sales.

Do you use email marketing for after sales follow-up? or other events related to specific interactions with your clients?  What system do you use to automate these messages?

Filed Under: Email Marketing

Footer CTA

What My Clients Say…

She will help you maximize your results and help you increase your ranking organically

Trident Holiday Homes Ireland

We found Ann to be very approachable and friendly, she even took time out of her vacation in Ireland to visit our office. Ann was available at the end of a phone to answer any queries we had. All in all, I would recommend Ann to anyone who is looking for a digital marketing consultant and coach, she will help you maximize your results and help you increase your ranking organically.

Eilís McDermott, Senior Marketing Executive
Trident Holiday Homes

It was like a light was turned on for me

The Smart Happy Project

When I joined Sarah Leather and Ann Donnelly’s course, “How to Make Money Online and Become an Entrepreneurial Goddess”, I had a seed of an idea that at some point I thought I might need a website and this course could help with that. I was right about that, but what the course showed me was so much more. It was like a light was turned on for me. Being shown the simple online tools that can assist in researching, setting up, monetising and promoting your site has been invaluable (and all without the boring tech jargon that just numbs any creativity one might have had). I have gone from seed of an idea to completed website in 5 months, and yes I am proud of that! Anyone with an entrepreneurial side and wanting to do something new needs to do this course, without a doubt.

Lisa Lillywhite
The Smart Happy Project

Without a doubt the best course I’ve ever done

glyniss trinder
“How to Make Money Online and Become an Entrepreneurial Goddess” is without doubt the best course I’ve ever done. The sessions had so much content and were made really interesting by Sarah Leather and Ann Donnelly’s well thought out presentation. I was aware how marketing on the internet was so powerful but had no idea how to draw people to my website. Now with all I’ve learnt I’m so amazed by how much my profile has lifted. I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to make more money online.
Glynnis Trinder
GlynissTrinder.com

A great speaker and a knowledgeable advisor

Greg Mulcahy

While filming Ann’s talk at a Business of Social Media Conference, I was distracted by her highly creative manner of explaining social media and internet marketing for business. Her knowledge on the subject is vast, and her skills in re-producing that knowledge are plentiful. A great speaker and a knowledgeable advisor.

Greg Mulcahy
Video Producer and Owner of Vale Media Video Production Services

detailed understanding of the issues that faced a start up company

nic slocum

The website Ann created for us has been the single most important marketing tool we have used these past 14 years of operation. Better than social media and brochures combined I would say! It’s stunning position when whale watching is searched for has been a significant part of that success and, without a doubt, our position on search engines was achieved quickly and efficiently as a result of Ann’s detailed understanding of the issues that faced a start up company wanting to achieve a meaningful and valuable internet presence. Easy to work with, proficient and detailed.

Nic Slocum
Whale Watch West Cork

She gets results

flor mccarthy

Ann has been instrumental in developing our use of social media for our business and our online marketing. I have found Ann great to work with, very knowledgeable and most importantly: she gets results.

Flor McCarthy
McCarthy & Co.

someone who knows what they are talking about

Tony Cantwell, The Baby Greeting Company

Can’t recommend Ann Donnelly highly enough. There are people who talk about web solutions and it is evident they don’t have much hands on experience; but Ann has been trying, testing and expanding her work experience for many years and it is refreshing and reassuring to work with someone who knows what they are talking about.

She is a great web designer, who takes time to listen to what you want and to understand your business. She applies this knowledge then to her work and end product. She is creative and inventive and has offered plenty of suggestions to improve our website in terms of efficiency and customer service. Ann is trustworthy and reliable and I would have no hesitation is recommending her for any web project.

Tony Cantwell
The Baby Greeting Card Company

no jargon attitude

imagination attic

Ann is a very easy person to talk to; and she talks to you with a no jargon attitude which is of great help to someone who doesn’t know that much about web sites. She is a well versed person in her line of work and guides you through everything. She is a very trustworthy person and can be relied on to give you her honest opinion.

Caroline Jennings
Imagination Attic
  • Digital Marketing Articles
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Web Design & Development

      

Digital Marketing Consulting & Coaching

Copyright © 2022 Ann Donnelly - Privacy