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Browse Abandonment Email Best Practices 2022

November 8, 2022
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We all recognize the value of cart-abandonment emails. But what about those shoppers who don’t actually drop something in the cart? They’re probably just as interested, and may only need another touch or two to activate and become a customer. This is where browse abandonment best practices can help.

A browse abandonment email can remind them of all of the amazing products on your site that they have already viewed and how they’re missing out if they don’t click through to go back.

In this article we will discuss some browse abandonment email best practices. If you need a more thorough primer, check out our Ultimate Guide to Browse Abandonment. And don’t forget to check out our best browse abandonment email templates and be inspired to set up your own flows!

So, you already know the why and the when of sending browse abandonment emails as part of your complete remarketing strategy, but just want to tighten up your email game? Let’s get going!

Browse Abandonment Best Practices

The goal of your browse abandonment email templates is to catch the shopper’s attention and make them want to go back to your site and purchase the items they viewed. 

In addition to the normal email marketing best practices, here are a few techniques specific to browse abandonment that you’ll want to follow.

Browse Abandonment Subject Lines 

The subject line is the first thing the reader is going to see, so don’t let it disappoint. It’s either going to get them to open the email or send it to their Trash. The purpose of the subject line is to tell them why you’re emailing them and encourage them to check out whatever they were viewing.

Here are some examples of browse abandonment subject lines that work:

  • Take a second look
  • We saw you checking us out
  • Recommended just for you
  • Did you see something you liked?
  • [NAME], your [PRODUCT] is waiting!
  • We noticed you noticing something pretty great
  • We saw you peeping…
  • Caught you lurking…

These can be similar to cart abandonment email subject lines, but of course, you wouldn’t say they left something in their cart or anything like that. You would use words more like “viewed,” “saw,” or “looked.”

Stick with something that’s short, sweet, and to the point. You can add in a touch of personalization or an emoji to help the email stand out, as well.

Browse Abandonment Content

Once they open your email, you want to make it worth their while. And luckily for you, browse abandonment emails don’t have to be in-depth or flashy when it comes to the content. Actually, it’s better when they aren’t.

Here are the basic elements you’ll want in the body of the email:

  • Tell them why they are getting the email (i.e. they browsed and left)
  • Prominent call to action (CTA) to get back to the product(s)
  • Photo, description, and price of the item(s)

All of these components make it easier for the user to recollect what they abandoned.

Here are some more in depth content tips to ensure the best possible engagement:

Create urgency

Just like you want to send the browse abandonment email shortly after they leave your site, you also want them to head back to your website ASAP. You can do that by creating a sense of urgency and fear of missing out (FOMO).

For example: 

  • Tell them there are only a few left — giving them a specific number of items left. Or, give them a coupon for the product category that expires in a few days. That way, they can use it on another item if the one they initially browsed wasn’t exactly what they were looking for.

Reminders

You want the shopper to know you’re emailing them because they browsed your site, like this email from Public Rec. If you don’t tell them why you’re emailing them, you’re simply sending a promotional email. Or, they could think it’s spam if it doesn’t specifically apply to them.

Remind them by keeping the focus on the product they viewed, and give them a clear CTA that will take them back to it.

Get Personal (not creepy)

Consumers are becoming more comfortable with email retargeting, to a certain extent. And as more brands are focusing on browse abandonment, shoppers will come to expect this type of message.
To help yours stand out from the pack, add personal touches, like putting their names in the subject line or email. That will show them:

  • They aren’t just a number to your company
  • That you care about them as a customer
  • The email is for them
  • That you know what they’re interested in

While this email marketing practice isn’t new, you still want to be careful with how personal you get. People know their online behaviors are being tracked, but there’s a fine line between personalized and stalker.

For example:
You can thank them for checking out your products and include a link if they want to view it again. But, you wouldn’t want to say something like, “We see you visited our site on Monday at 1:33 p.m. and viewed these 10 pages.”

You get the point.

Recommended Products

Showing the shopper recommended products is another good tactic for luring them back to your site. The customer browsed your site but didn’t want the specific item they viewed. Maybe they just didn’t find the right one?

Offer products that are similar or related to the browsed item in case they would prefer a different look, style, feature, or price point. It still provides value, even though it isn’t the exact item they originally looked at.

To pull off this method, you’ll need to make sure all of your products are correctly categorized and tagged so your automated emails are able to pull from the correct batch of items when addressing customers. Yes, this does take more work on the back end, but it can be really successful when done right.

The “recommended” approach only works if the items are actually something they would be interested in and closely related to the original item. You wouldn’t send them information on a men’s jacket if they originally viewed dog treats. (Unless it’s some really large dog that’s into wearing human clothes or something. We won’t judge.)

Email Design

Simplicity is the name of the game when it comes to browse-abandonment templates. The above email from Adidas nails it. If your design is too cluttered, your audience will probably hit delete and move on to one of the dozens of other messages in their inbox. You have a limited amount of time (and space) to make an impression, so make it a good one.

A good technique is to make the product they viewed the main attraction, placing the image, description, and CTA to get back to it near the top of the email below your logo or related header image. If there’s more than one product they viewed, use the one they spent the most time on — or pick one as the main image and include the others at the bottom.

The idea behind showcasing the product is that if they were once interested in it, they are more likely to return to see it again, compared to a random promotional product. 

Check Before Sending

Did the online shopper spend a minute on the product page, or did they view it for two seconds? The answer will determine whether or not you email them. 

Sometimes visitors accidentally click a link when they intended to view another product. So, if they only spend a second or two on the page, there’s no reason to email them about it. Chances are, they won’t even recognize the product anyway.

Don’t Over-Send

If they received a browse abandonment email last week for a different product, it’s probably too soon to send them another one for the latest item they viewed. 

Sending too often can make your email marketing campaigns look like sales materials (not a good thing), and they could start ignoring your messages. Or worse, they could send them to the dreaded spam folder.

What’s next? 

So that’s it - make sure you consider the above best practices when designing your bowse abandonment email remarketing campaign, and you’ll see that engagement rate (and ROI) go through the roof!  

Looking for some great examples of browse abandonment email templates? Still confused about the how, why, and when? Check out our Ultimate Gude to Browse Abandonment.

Oh, and wondering how you even get access to these browse abandoners?

How do you identify site browsers?

You’ve designed the perfect browse abandonment template, so now you need to know who to send it to. Using cookies to identify and track your current subscribers is a great option. But, what about the anonymous traffic that visits your site but never converts? That’s where Retention.com can help.

You place our snippet script on the pages you want to collect contacts, and we can identify up to 35 percent of your anonymous traffic you would otherwise lose out on. And yes, Retention.com is compliant with the U.S.’s CAN-SPAM Act.

Want to learn more?


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