How to Personalize Follow-up Emails by Purchase Intent
Use why customers bought (not just what they bought) to determine what you send next.
Take a menswear brand.
Two customers buy the same dress shirt.
Customer #1 got it for work.
He wears dress shirts every week and could use more in his rotation.
Customer #2 bought one for a wedding.
He may not need another dress shirt for months (or years).
Now the obvious question: how do you know why they bought it?
Start with what your customers are already telling you.
Use a post-purchase survey to ask customers why they bought.
For example:
What did you buy this shirt for?
- Work
- Wedding or event
- Everyday wear
- Something else
Save their answer as a customer property. Now you can segment customers by purchase intent and tailor what you send next.
A couple ideas:
Bought for work?
Subject: Your Monday-Friday rotation
Recommend another color, a second style, or pants that work with what they already bought.
Bought for an event?
Subject: One less thing to figure out before the wedding
Follow up with a tie, belt, or other pieces they may still need.
Same first purchase.
Now, a much more relevant second message.
Action Item
Pick one of your top-selling products.
Identify two or three main reasons people buy it through a post-purchase survey.
Use that answer to determine what product and message they receive next.
Then test a follow-up campaign based on those use cases against your standard product-based campaign.
