Recommendations emails to keep customers coming back

Email marketing should always be intentional. From a bird’s-eye view, it should move readers through your sales funnel. Recommendations emails use content related to an action that the reader previously took to encourage them to do something else. Here are ten examples of recommendations emails companies have used to successfully pivot their readers from one action to another.

Recommendations email examples

1. Share content based on what you know your reader likes.

Simple upsells are the driving force of increased customer lifetime value. Pinterest shares new pins to readers based on their existing boards. This email includes pins with images of houses to add to the reader’s board, “Inspired homes.”

2. Deliver recommendations based on browsing history.

A paying customer loves something they got from you. So, what else do you have? Netflix recommends new shows based on finished series. Notice that they include quite a few options, just in case they missed the mark.

3. Use browsing history to your advantage.

A well-segmented list is a very powerful tool. Powell’s Books collects shoppers’ browsing history to curate book lists that each reader might be interested in, based on the amount of time they’ve spent on certain pages of their online store.

4. Present a new offer based on purchase history.

Engage shoppers with an offer in a category based on a purchase they’ve made. After a sale, Crate and Barrel sends automated emails that introduce complementary items from their catalog. Note that they also include a way to find the nearest in-store location near the reader.

5. Use incentives to boost conversion.

What if you have an offer that your shopper would love? Pulp & Press uses the tried and tested “you might also like” email to showcase new offers based on shopping history. The highlight here is that they also introduce their rewards program as an incentive.

6. Introduce customers to new products.

Happy customers are often interested in learning about new products. Harley-Davidson slayed it with their email introducing the new Sportster® S to existing Harley owners. They stepped it up, sharing information about motorcycle lessons and branded gear.

7. Follow up with advice to keep people engaged.

Once someone has engaged with your product or service, it’s the perfect time to build the relationship. Glassdoor shot this branded message out to job hunters on the lookout for a career update. It included tons of hyper-relevant and helpful advice.

8. Recommend the next steps to take.

After a customer uses your product or service, you should guide them what to do next. In Buffer’s case, after a user publishes their first post, they pull them back to their website by sharing links to interesting blog posts.

9. Push a complementary offer.

When a customer loves something that they buy, chances are they’ll want to add to the collection. Migrant Journal used email marketing to recommend a slipcase to their existing customers, people who have already bought their journals.

10. Announce new product collections.

When you have something new to offer, those who will be most excited (and likely to share) are your happy customers. YETI rocked their email marketing when they introduced their new Aquifer Blue product line to people who had previously purchased a related product.

More examples in our personalized email campaign series:

• Article: 5 popular email drip campaign examples
• Article: Abandoned cart email examples
• Article: Best practices for email welcome series in retail
• Article: Browse abandonment email examples
• Article: Holiday email campaign examples
• Article: Post-purchase email examples
• Article: Retention and win-back email examples
• Article: Welcome email examples from leading brands

Make more personalized recommendations emails

What has your prospect or customer recently done? What do you want them to do next? Whether it’s to buy something else or establish trust, you can use recommendations emails to guide them to the next step. Use these examples to spark new ideas for your next campaign.

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