Our Email tool consists of two unique ways to boost your email marketing, through embeddable Email Recommendations and automated Email Campaigns.
This guide shows you the best ways to get started with both.
Email Recommendations #
You can easily integrate Clerks AI-based recommendations through embeddable snippets into your existing email templates.
With these, your own email client sends the emails, but Clerk decides which products to show to each recipient.
With 20+ smart logics you can automate and personalise products in any email you send.
We recommend getting started by including Email Recommendations in the below types of emails.
Themed Newsletters #
You likely already send newsletters with specific themes, like your current Nike selection or Star Wars themed Lego sets.
For these, use Recommendations Based on Keywords, to show the best items for any theme, by simply writing a few keywords before copying this logic to your email.
This can be re-used for any themed newsletters, and it will always show up-to-date items at the moment each recipient opens your emails.
Category Newsletters #
These work very much like themed newsletters, except they revolve around specific categories from your site. E.g. showcasing all your American Football helmets or your latest inventory of funny sweatshirts.
For these, use Best Sellers in Category to show the top products from the category, by simply selecting it by name before copying this logic into your email.
It can be used for all emails where you want to show products from any category on your webshop.
Welcome Email #
These are meant to give new recipients a smooth overview of your webshop and email marketing, when they first sign up.
Use Visitor Recommendations to show them a personalised selection of items that each recipient will be likely to buy.
Most recipients who sign up for your newsletter have already browsed 1-2 products or categories, which is enough for Clerk to understand what they will be interested in.
This requires you to track email addresses when visitors sign up, allowing Clerk to see the products they have browsed.
Triggers #
Trigger emails are completely automated and will be sent out by Clerks AI based on a given event by visitors.
Triggers are an essential part of a successful email marketing strategy and they can generate up to 75% of the total email revenue.
This is likely because they are immediate reactions to something visitors have just done on your site, making them highly relevant.
We recommend using all of the below triggers together, as they react to the many different ways that visitors approach your site.
Abandoned Session #
Triggers when a visitor browses the webshop without placing an order.
As they will most likely have browsed a few products before leaving, the best logic to use is Visitor Recommendations. This will show a unique personalised selection of items that are likely to bring them back to the site.
Abandoned Search #
Triggers when a visitor has made at least 1 search before leaving the session without buying.
The email shows the matches for the latest search made by a visitor, before they left the session.
There can be any number of reasons why visitors did not buy, so reminding them of the items they were looking for, is a great way to get them back.
It requires you to also use Search on your site.
Abandoned Cart #
Triggers when a visitor adds at least 1 product to the cart but leaves the session without buying.
This is one of the most-used triggers for a reason. Customers tend to leave a webshop because life gets in the way, but they are likely to complete their purchase when they are reminded of items in their cart.
The email automatically shows the items that a visitor added to the cart, but it can also be configured to show other related items.
This is a great way to get them back, by clearly showing other items they might be interested in.
This trigger requires cart tracking to be set up in Clerk.js
Made an Order #
Triggers when a customer places an order.
This is a simple order-followup email that shows other items that might be interesting to the customer, based on their purchase.
The best logic to use is Recommendations Based on Orders as this will be uniquely personalised based on what the recipient has bought most recently.
This works especially well if you have the functionality to add extra products to their existing order, without having to place a new one, as customers can then add aditional items without paying for extra shipping.
Welcome Email #
Triggers when a user becomes a subscriber.
As they will most likely have browsed a few products before leaving, the best logic to use is Visitor Recommendations. This will show a unique personalised selection of items that are likely to bring them back to the site.
Scheduled Emails #
These let you decide exactly when to send emails either as one-off campaigns, or recurringly at specific intervals throughout the month.
Recurring emails is the best way to get started as you will be completely in control over the email timing and who they are sent to, without having to manually configure emails every month.
Recurring emails are great for keeping your recipients updated on current trends, discounts and personalised selections, without any maintenance from your side.
The below 4 emails give you a great monthly flow that will keep visitors coming back. They should be sent to all your subscribers.
Personal Newsletter #
This email should use Recommendations Based on Orders to show a unique selection to every single recipient each month.
Send this in the beginning of each month, where most people just got their salaries, and are more inclined to buy new things.
Latest Trends #
This email should use Hot Products to show what is currently trending in your catalogue, based on what customers are buying right now.
This is especially useful for webshops that update their catalogue regularly, like fashion and sports stores.
Send this email in the second week of the month to avoid clashing with the personal newsletter.
New Items #
This email should use Newest Products to show that your catalogue is evolving. If you regularly get new products in stock, its a great way to get customers back to browse the new selection.
Send this email in the third week of the month.
Personal Offers #
This email should use Recommendations Based on Orders with a filter for only showing products on sale. It’s meant to show a personal selection of items that are also discounted, so each recipient gets a unique incentive to come back.
Send this email during the last week of the month, where most consumers are looking for bargains due to low balances.
Streamline Designs #
Email Recommendations and Campaigns should fit snuggly into your existing webshop design, and it should be easy for visitors to notice and interact with them.
Branding #
Email Recommendations and Campaigns should follow your brand style to become an integrated part of your site. Default designs can be tailored using either our Design Editor, or with code designs.
The most important elements to streamline are:
- Font family
- Font size
- Font color
- Button color
In addition, Campaign designs should also include these:
- The 4 most relevant categories in your header.
- Links to various social platforms.
- The global unsubscribe link in the bottom of emails.
Analytics #
This dashboard helps you identify emails you can actively improve if they are not providing you with a enough return on investment.
As an example, maybe your recurring email for New Items is not generating enough revenue. When looking into it, you discover that you have not had any new items in your catalogue for the last month, making this email too static.
You then replace it with an email showing the latest trends instead, to keep customers engaged.
Reviewing this dashboard regularly allows you to find the best places to spend your time, when you want to improve your Clerk performance.
Merchandising #
When you have specific marketing goals, like promoting your own whitelabel products or clearing your inventory of low-stock items, use Merchandising to quickly influence all Clerk-enhanced emails.
It takes less than 5 minutes to set up rules that tell Clerk to focus on the products that matter most to you right now.