There are tons of ways to use our new Email Automation feature. We’ve made it simple and easy to set up an automated email series by using one of our sample email series. The samples are designed to help you connect with your customers and encourage them to take action. You can use automated email reminders to encourage your clients to send you their favorites in a Proofing gallery, rebook you with the Scheduler, and make a payment on an Invoice.
Automated email reminders take extra work out of managing your business so you can stay focused on other tasks. This new feature integrates seamlessly with our Invoicing, Scheduler, and Proofing tools.
The applications are endless! You can send a message to a customer immediately after they add an item to their cart in a Proofing event and to remind them about upcoming events. You can also set up post-event or follow up emails to send 6 months or even a year after an event, appointment, or payment.
There are a number of email types to choose from, each with their own preset messages ready to be customized to fit your brand’s voice. They also automatically include useful auto-generated content. For instance, Proofing emails include a link to the proofing event with the password and expiration date, and Invoicing emails include the invoice number, balance, and a link to make a payment.
If you want to send your own personalized message without the auto-generated content, you’ll can use a General Message. This includes a space to add your own message and an option to include a clickable button. The button is a great way to choose where you want people to go next (e.g., a specific page on your website, a form, or even an event.
In this article, we’ll cover some ways you can get creative with email automation and how you can use automated emails to create your own personalized funnels for your clients.
Proofing Email Automation
Automated emails are a great way to lead people through a sales funnel and encourage them to make a purchase.
You can guide them through the process of creating an account, selecting favorites, and adding items to their cart. Plus, you can remind them to make a purchase before their event expires.
The reminders don’t have to stop when a Proofing event expires. You can continue to follow up with people (and not just for a few days).
Here are a few examples of automated email series for Proofing events for different types of photography:
Wedding photography
A sample email series has the following reminders ready to go:
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Email 1: Welcome email to tell people their images are ready to review (includes a link to the Proofing event and password)
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Email 2: Encourage your client to select favorite images and complete a purchase, if they haven’t yet (excludes people who have purchased already)
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Email 3: After an item is added to the cart, send an email with a promotional code or information about products and pricing (excludes people who have purchased already)
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Email 4: “Don’t miss a chance to order” reminder before the event expires (excludes people who have purchased already)
You can add even more emails to the series to continue the conversation. The general message email type is great for these.
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Request a review on Google or Facebook
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Encourage completion of a survey form for feedback
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6 month follow up to invite people to other photo sessions, include a button to send people to a booking page
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1-year anniversary reminder, “Miss any photos you wanted to purchase?”
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Tell your friends about us, referral incentive
Unique follow-ups to request reviews, referrals, and even celebrate anniversaries helps you stay close to wedding clients after their special day is over.
Senior Photography
You can use an email series to walk your clients through reviewing and purchasing images using our Proofing Event & Cart Reminder Series that includes the following emails:
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Email 1: Your images are ready to review! Welcome your client to their Proofing event with a link and password to their event. Include instructions on how to create a mobile app for their event by adding it to their device’s home screen for quick access.
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Email 2: Provide instructions on how to select favorites and purchase images, if they haven’t yet (excludes people who have purchased already)
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Email 3: When an item is added to the cart, send an email with a promotional code or other information about your products and pricing (excludes people who have purchased already)
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Email 4: “Don’t miss a chance to order” reminder before an event expires (excludes people who have purchased already)
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Email 5: Abandoned cart notice to encourage people to “complete a purchase” (excludes people who have purchased already)
You can add emails to the series to send after their photo gallery has expired to keep them engaged with your business. This is where the general message email type comes in handy.
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Request a review on Google or Facebook
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Encourage completion of a survey form for feedback
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6 month follow up for other photo sessions, include a button to a booking page
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Ask your client to tell their friends about you
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Offer additional digital downloads by sending them their gallery with an option to download an entire event (if you enable this option)
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Share information about graduation photos and include a link to a booking page or form
Portrait photography
After sending a series of emails to walk people through reviewing and purchasing their photos, consider adding your own unique emails to a series using the general message email type. There are a lot of different ways to follow up with your client.
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Ask them if they need more time to review their images, send them to a page to purchase an extension
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Request a review on Google or Facebook
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Encourage completion of a survey form for feedback
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6, 12, and 24 month follow ups for other photo sessions, include a button to a booking page
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Ask your client to tell their friends/family about you
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Share a coupon for their next booking, include a button to a booking form with the discount applied
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Offer digital downloads by sending them their gallery with an option to download an entire event (if you enable this option)
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Just say hello to let them know you’re thinking about them
There are many ways you can keep in touch with your clients after a Proofing event has expired. You can use automated email reminders as a sales funnel. You just have to think about what you would like your clients to do and craft emails accordingly.
Scheduler Email Automation
A scheduler email automation may seem simple on paper — it is to remind people of upcoming appointments. It’s also important to think about unique ways you can connect with a customer after their appointment.
A standard scheduler email series may look like this:
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Email 1: Remind client of their upcoming appointment, include a calendar link and information about what to expect during their appointment
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Email 2: 1-2 days before their appointment, remind them again
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Email 3: After the appointment, request a testimonial or review
You can incentivize your clients to leave a review after their appointment with the help of automated email reminders. You can offer a coupon or a gift card to leave a review (be careful about this on some platforms) or a discount on booking another service. What you offer is up to you and how you want to stay connected with your customers after an appointment. Here are some ways you can use the general message email type:
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Thank you message
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Request a review (with a chance to win option)
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Book a follow-up appointment (great for multiple event sessions or appointments for hair, makeup, and other services)
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Ask them to take a survey about their experience and what else they would like to see from you
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Encourage them to refer their friends and family (consider including a form for them to submit information and earn an incentive)
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1, 3, 6, and 12-month follow-up emails to check-in and ask them if they would like to schedule something
Invoicing Email Automation
The emails for invoices are the most straightforward. You can either remind your clients of an upcoming payment or if one is past due. The reminders can be to collect either partial or full payments. If you offer installment payments on an invoice, an email series could look like this:
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Email 1: Remind the client of the first payment due (automatically includes the invoice number, total amount due, and a link to pay)
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Email 2: Remind the client of the second payment due (automatically includes the invoice number, total amount due, and a link to pay)
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Email 3: If a payment due date is not met, send a follow-up email about the payment being overdue
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Email 4: Once the invoice is fully paid, send information regarding the timeline of the product shipping or service being rendered
You may also wish to use the general message email type to further customize invoicing emails, such as:
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Thank you message
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Request a review (with a chance to win option)
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Ask them to take a survey
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Encourage them to refer friends and family (consider including a form for them to submit information and earn an incentive)
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Promote other services and packages
These are just a handful of creative ideas you can do with our Email Automations. You can keep the conversations and touch points with clients going well after an event, appointment, or invoice. You just have to think about how you’d like to customize each experience.
Want to know how to learn more about how to set up automated emails? Check out these helpful articles from our Knowledge Base and feel free to give us a call at 1.866.463.7620 or log in to chat with us today!
IMPORTANT HOW TO ARTICLES
How to set up an automated email series
Setting up email automation for Proofing
Setting up email automation for the Scheduler
Setting up email automation for Invoices
How to enable an email series to Proofing events
How to enable an email series to Scheduler service
How to enable an email series to an Invoice
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