Email Marketing Automation Guide – Definitions, Strategies & Tactics

After all these years, email remains an effective method for businesses to reach their target audiences. There are approximately 4.03 billion people that use email today, and that number is expected to grow as high as 4.6 billion users in 2025. For that reason alone, businesses should begin developing quality email marketing strategies and investing in email automation technology to amplify results.

Email marketing automation is not a new trend, but it is a growing one. With email automation, marketers can send highly personalized emails to customers – ensuring the brand is catering to consumer needs, behaviors, and preferences by sending the right message at the right time – without the need for manual intervention. In this post, we will discuss what email marketing automation is, the benefits of automating emails, best practices, and more.

Email marketing automation is the process of sending time- or action-triggered emails to customers using automation technology. These campaigns are designed to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time, without requiring manual intervention.

Examples of email automation campaigns include:

• Welcome campaigns: Automatically send a series of onboarding emails to new subscribers to introduce your brand and guide them toward their first purchase.
• Post-purchase campaigns: Keep customers engaged after a purchase by sending thank-you emails, product care tips, or requests for reviews.
• Cart abandonment campaigns: Remind visitors to complete their purchase after leaving items in their cart.
• Re-engagement campaigns: Win back inactive subscribers by offering special promotions or exclusive content.
• Product recommendation emails: Use customer data to suggest related or complementary products after a purchase.

Essentially, email automation takes the tedious tasks off your email marketing to-do list, freeing up your time for higher-value strategic initiatives.

In addition, combining email automation and customer analytics can empower you to refine your targeting strategy – enabling you to target users based on behaviors, preferences, and previous purchases. In doing so, you can personalize each customer’s experience and amplify the relevancy of your email campaigns.

Email marketing automation offers numerous benefits that can help businesses streamline their processes and deliver better results. Here are some key advantages, along with examples of automations that can help achieve these outcomes.

Boost revenue with transactional emails

Transactional emails are automated emails sent to website visitors after performing specific actions such as purchasing an item or resetting their password. Email automation enables marketers to leverage transactional emails to help reach broader sales goals.

For example, marketers can include product recommendations when sending order confirmation emails to customers. It’s important to show a selection of product recommendations that are unique to each individual customer based on their user activities and profiles. Personalized product recommendations can offer relevant cross-sell and up-sell opportunities that catch the customer’s attention, resulting in them purchasing more items from your brand and ultimately driving revenue.

Example automations:

• Post-purchase emails featuring cross-sell or up-sell recommendations.
• Abandoned cart emails prompting customers to complete their purchase.

Personalize the customer experience

80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that provides personalized customer experiences. For that reason, it’s important to leverage email personalization to move toward 1:1 customer experiences that exceed customer demands. Email marketing automation allows marketers to include personalized fields (name, location, company name, etc.) within their messages. Through personalized marketing messages, brands can continue to nurture their relationships with customers.

Example automations:

• Welcome campaigns tailored to customer preferences.
• Abandoned browse emails recommending products based on browsing behavior.
• Win-back campaigns with personalized offers for lapsed customers.

Scale your marketing strategy

Let’s face it, a myriad of factors including staff size and capacity limit the number of emails that can be sent manually, which in turn limits the number of customers that receive promotional content. Fortunately, email marketing automation can help scale efforts and ensure messages reach your customers without an additional strain on employee resources. Scaling your marketing efforts enables you to convert more leads, improve your sales revenue, and further grow your business.

Example automations:

• Sunset campaigns automatically targeting disengaged customers to re-confirm subscription interest.
• Seasonal post-purchase upsell automations triggered by specific purchases.

Segment customers effectively

Email marketing automation enables marketers to create highly segmented mailing lists based on subscriber activities, purchase history, lead stage, and more. As a result, marketers can send relevant and personalized emails to their subscribers – ensuring they receive promotional offers that appeal to them. By meeting your segment’s needs and delivering better quality propositions, your customers will continue to derive greater benefits from your offerings. In doing so, you can increase the lifetime value of your customers through repeat business and referrals.

Example automations:

• Abandoned cart automations targeting shoppers who didn’t complete their checkout.
• Win-back campaigns aimed at re-engaging dormant customers.
• Cross-sell automations triggered by recent purchases.

The right tools can make all the difference in your email marketing strategy, helping you save time, engage customers, and drive results. Let’s explore some key tools that can take your campaigns to the next level.

Visual Content Editors

Designing beautiful, on-brand emails shouldn’t be a chore. With drag-and-drop editors, you can quickly create eye-catching emails without needing a graphic designer. Imagine setting up a sleek, professional-looking email for a flash sale in just minutes, complete with your logo, product images, and a personalized greeting like, “Hi [First Name], check out these deals we picked just for you!”

Use case: A retail brand uses a visual editor to create a dynamic email featuring customizable blocks that highlight top-selling products during a holiday sale.

Predictive segmentation tools

Not all customers are the same, so why send everyone the same email? Predictive segmentation tools help you group customers based on their behaviors, preferences, or past purchases. For example, you can create a segment of customers who browsed but didn’t buy and send them a gentle nudge with an “Abandoned Browse” email featuring the exact items they viewed.

• Use case: An online clothing store segments shoppers who frequently browse dresses and sends them a personalized campaign highlighting new arrivals in that category.

Marketing automation platforms

Life’s too short for manual email sends! Automation platforms let you set up workflows that trigger emails based on customer actions. For instance, when someone signs up for your newsletter, you can automatically send a warm welcome email introducing them to your brand and offering a discount on their first purchase.

Use case: A coffee subscription service automates a “Welcome Series” that includes tips on brewing techniques, product recommendations, and a special coupon.

Deliverability optimization tools

What’s the point of a great email if it never reaches your customer’s inbox? Deliverability tools analyze your campaigns for potential issues, like broken links or spammy content, and provide actionable tips to improve your sender reputation. Before hitting “send,” you can run a pre-send test to ensure your email gets delivered smoothly.

Use case: A travel agency uses a deliverability tool to test an email promoting vacation packages, ensuring its subject line and content don’t trigger spam filters.

Personalization engines

Customers love it when you “get” them. Personalization engines use data like purchase history or browsing behavior to tailor emails for each recipient. Imagine sending an email with a subject line that says, “John, your favorite sneakers are back in stock!” paired with a dynamic block showcasing similar items he might love.

Use case: A fitness brand sends a post-purchase email recommending complementary gear, like a yoga mat for someone who just bought workout clothes.

Analytics and reporting tools

How do you know if your emails are hitting the mark? Analytics tools give you insights into what’s working and what’s not. Track open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, then use those insights to tweak your strategy. For example, if your data shows that customers respond better to emails sent on Wednesdays, you can schedule future campaigns accordingly.

Use case: A SaaS company analyzes a quarterly campaign and discovers that emails with video content have the highest click-through rate, prompting them to add more videos to future campaigns.

AI-driven personalization

Ever received an email from a brand that felt like it was written just for you? That’s the power of personalization. When your customers feel understood, they’re more likely to engage with your brand and take action. By using personalization in your email automation strategy, you can transform generic brand messaging into tailored experiences that capture attention, drive conversion and build long-lasting loyalty. 

How SAP Emarsys helps: SAP Emarsys’ Predict engine uses AI to analyze customer behavior and preferences, generating dynamic, personalized product recommendations. Whether a customer is browsing your website, opening an email, or using a mobile app, SAP Emarsys delivers consistent, individualized experiences. It also unifies data from both anonymous and known visitors to create a comprehensive customer profile.

AI personalization in action: An online fashion retailer uses Predict to suggest accessories that complement a customer’s recent in-store purchases. These personalized recommendations are displayed in widgets both in emails and across key locations on the retailer’s website. 

Advanced segmentation

Not all customers are created equal – so why treat them that way? Segmentation allows you to divide your audience into meaningful groups, so you can speak directly to their individual needs and interests. This helps to make your automations more targeted, and the more targeted they are, the more they’ll convert.

How SAP Emarsys helps: SAP Emarsys’ AI-driven segmentation uses machine learning to analyze customer interactions and predict behaviors such as purchase likelihood or churn risk. These insights help marketers proactively engage customers with relevant offers, enhancing retention and conversion rates.

Advanced segmentation in action: A clothing retailer segments customers based on geolocation data from their mobile app. They identify customers who frequently pass their physical stores but rarely visit. These customers receive push notifications and emails with exclusive in-store promotions tailored to their location, such as, “Swing by our [City Name] store today and enjoy 20% off all jeans!”

Predictive analytics

Knowing what your customers want before they do – it’s something that’s on every marketer’s dream list, and predictive analytics makes it a reality. With predictive analytics, you have the tools you need to anticipate customer behaviors and deliver the right message at the right time.

How SAP Emarsys helps: SAP Emarsys’ Predictive Analytics tool provides real-time insights into customer preferences, enabling accurate product recommendations and personalized content deliver across channels. By identifying purchase patterns and trends, you can optimize campaigns to meet customer expectations.

Predictive analytics in action: An electronics retailer uses predictive analytics to track when customers are likely to need a replacement or upgrade for purchased items. For instance, a customer who bought a laptop two years ago might receive an email promoting the latest models, bundled with an extended warranty offer.

Omnichannel integration

Web, email, SMS, app  – your customers interact with your brand across all of these channels. Creating a seamless experience between them is no longer a nice to have – it’s expected. With omnichannel integration, you can create consistent, personalized and impactful engagements, regardless of where your customers connect with your brand. 

How SAP Emarsys helps: SAP Emarsys simplifies omnichannel marketing with reusable personalization tokens. These placeholders for contact-specific data ensure consistency in messaging across channels. Marketers can seamlessly integrate campaigns, creating cohesive experiences for their audience.

Omnichannel in action: A luxury retailer combines email, SMS, and in-app notifications to create an omnichannel loyalty campaign. Customers receive an email highlighting their rewards points balance, followed by an SMS with an exclusive event invitation at their nearest store, and an in-app notification with additional details.

Email marketing enables you to connect with your audience, promote your brand, and boost sales revenue. However, not all email marketing campaigns are created equal, so it’s vital to know how to make the most of your campaigns. Implementing the right email automation technology can amplify the results of your campaigns by delivering relevant emails in real-time based on your customer’s activity.

Compared to typical bulk emails, triggered emails result in 8 times more opens and greater earnings. Without a doubt, email marketing automation drives customer success, increases retention, and accelerates business outcomes. By leveraging the power of email marketing automation that is built into the SAP Emarsys Customer Engagement platform, you can deliver personalized and relevant emails on a mass scale – and accelerate your business innovations without sacrificing that personal touch.