Five email flows to set up before your next campaign

Email platforms like Klaviyo and Mailchimp send two kinds of email. A campaign is a one-time send to a list, like a sale announcement. A flow (Mailchimp calls it a customer journey) is a series of emails that starts automatically when a shopper does something, like signing up or leaving items in their cart.

Campaigns get the attention, but flows do the steady work. They reach each shopper at the moment it matters, and once they're built they run on their own. That's why we set these five up before planning any campaign.

• 1. Welcome seriesStarts when someone joins your list. Three or four emails over about a week: who you are, what you're known for, proof from other customers, then a reason to place a first order. If your sign-up form promised a discount, deliver it in the first email, immediately.
• 2. Abandoned checkoutStarts when a shopper enters their email at checkout but doesn't finish. Send the first email within a few hours, showing exactly what they left, with a link straight back to their checkout. A second email a day later can answer a common doubt, such as shipping or returns.
• 3. Browse abandonmentStarts when a known subscriber views a product but doesn't add it to their cart. Keep it light: one email showing the product they looked at and a few related ones. It shouldn't feel like you were watching.
• 4. Post-purchaseStarts when an order is placed. Thank them, set expectations for shipping, and teach them how to get the most from the product. Later, ask for a review. This is the flow that turns a first order into a second one.
• 5. Win-backStarts when a past customer hasn't ordered in a while. How long depends on how often people usually reorder what you sell. Remind them what's new, and save any offer for the last email of the series.

The same flows can include text messages, and for abandoned checkouts a text is often seen faster than an email. But text messaging has stricter rules. In the U.S., a shopper has to agree to marketing texts separately and explicitly, and every message has to tell them how to opt out. Klaviyo and Mailchimp both have consent tools built in. Use them, and don't add anyone to texts just because they gave you an email address.

Open rates have become unreliable, because some email apps open messages automatically to protect privacy. Judge flows on what happens after the click instead:

• Placed order rateThe share of people who received the flow and then placed an order.
• Revenue per recipientThe sales the flow brought in divided by the number of people it reached. It lets you compare flows of very different sizes.
• UnsubscribesA sudden rise usually means the timing is too aggressive or the content isn't useful.

Check them monthly, change one thing at a time, and leave each change long enough to see a real difference.