How to Craft a Killer Upsell Email for Your Customers

An email is a perfect opportunity to ask for an upsell. Emails can help you to connect with your previous buyers. All you need to do is understand how to craft an upsell email that resonates with them.

You’ll learn how to do that with this article. But first, let’s take a look at the six key elements of an upsell email campaign.

Upsell email campaign: 6 key elements

In simple terms, upselling is a sales technique that focuses on getting a customer to purchase an upgraded version of their recently purchased item. So, if a consumer is interested in buying a mobile phone, you try and get them to consider buying the same phone with advanced features.

That said, here are the key elements to include in an upsell email:

1. Create personalized greetings

The first part of an email you’ll read is the subject. Bespoke greetings in the subject line with the customer’s name are the simplest way to remind the customer that you interacted with them in the past. They differentiate your content from random sales stuff.

Personalized emails can help to draw some more attention to your email and motivate the buyer to read it. You can’t connect with individual subscribers through generic email campaigns. To sustain their interest, the recipient needs to feel like your message is written for them.

2. Display recently purchased items

It’s good to start the message by displaying the customer’s recently purchased items. That helps to build up trust since you’re reminding your buyer that they have a purchase history with you.

Explaining to customers the relevance of the recommendation helps you create a better impression. More relevant recommendations also increase the chance of a sale.

3. Segment your audience

If you want your marketing campaign to reach the right people at exactly the right time, email segmentation is what you’d need.

Your audience groups are made up of different types of customers whose motivations vary based on their profile. It's good to segment your audience based on their profile type to ensure your message is customized and appropriate. You can create various segments of audience within your email software and share relevant messages with relevant groups.

Segmentation, therefore, increases your chances of getting click-throughs and conversions. You can also test which content works for different audience segments and identify your most valuable customers.

4. Include contact information

Contact information should always be part of every email that goes out to the customer. Without the contact information, they can’t reach out in case of any questions or concerns.

You can include the email address, mobile number, live chat functionality and website address in the email. It’s good to have those included in an email template to ensure this critical piece of information is always in the emails you send out.

5. Include share buttons

Social media buttons provide a secondary call to action.

Adding social sharing buttons to your email can help your content, news or special offers to reach wider audiences. People love to share stuff they like with their friends. That translates to more prospects for you and helps you build your brand on social media.

Make it easy for your customers to share your email with their social media friends and followers by integrating branded Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn buttons.

When your contacts click on the button, they’ll be prompted to log in to their social media accounts so they can instantly share your email in a post on their social media feed.

6. Provide opt-out options

Email newsletters and marketing campaigns are considered to be low-cost, effective ways to reach your audience. However, members of your audience should have the option to unsubscribe.

Without an unsubscribe process, your sender reputation might be affected, with your emails marked as spam. Had the unsubscribe process been in place, they would have just opted out on their own and even given you actionable insights as to why they unsubscribed in the first place.

By offering your recipients the opportunity to manage the frequency and cadence of emails they receive, you’re also decreasing the chances they will unsubscribe and report your emails as something they don’t want in their inboxes.

5 types of upsell emails

Now that you’re familiar with the key elements of an upselling email that will help you achieve a high conversion rate, let’s look at five basic types of upselling emails.

1. Emails with product recommendations

Since you already know what products your existing customers are using, you’re in a better position to recommend something they might consider buying as well. You send product recommendation emails to make that recommendation.

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The more personalized your recommendations are, the better. You won’t have to try as hard to upsell. Also, personalized recommendations are a great way to make the email relevant, enticing, and therefore clickable for the users.

Based on your customers’ actions on the website, you can set up your upsell email flows with specific discount codes to encourage action. You can send personalized emails based on a customer's previous order history, cart abandonment or site navigation abandonment insights.

2. Emails with a trial expiry

Suppose the products or services you’re promoting have a lifespan of anything less than a year. In that case, it’s a good idea to set up a reminder email to nudge your customers to place another order, an upgraded version.

For example, if your existing customer is using a certain plan that is due for renewal, you can send an email asking your customer to upgrade so they’d have better features. 

Here’s a nice example from Grammarly.

The idea is to channel your marketing efforts in the right direction, such that they’re motivated by concern and logic. You don’t want your emails to appear like just random promotions that will make your customers think you only want to sell and make money.

3. Upsell a premium subscription

Nobody likes losing customers. That’s where upselling emails can help you the most. They can give your customers a reason to stay with you.

When you offer special discounted deals or offer to upgrade the subscription with more features, you’re making yourself useful to your customers so they have no reason to leave. 

Here’s a great example by Evernote:

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Evernote explains why its new plan is even better than its current version. They then invite existing subscribers to sign up for their Premium or Plus plans with more features.

The best part about all this is that you don’t need to hard-sell the upgrade. Since your customers are already enjoying the product’s benefits, asking them to upgrade their product isn’t a stretch.

4. Announce a new product

Yes, you can use upsell emails to launch and promote your new products. Depending on your audience type (internal and external), there are two different types of product launch emails.

Internal product launch emails cater to your employees and staff. They reiterate the product features and benefits. They educate the audience on the utility of the product.

On the other hand, external product launch emails cater to your potential customers. The email includes product features along with the launch date. It also has a clear CTA (call-to-action) to enable pre-bookings. Here’s a perfect example:

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If you’re launching a new product or service, make sure you inform your existing customers about the new features and additional benefits. Explaining this clearly increases the chance of them going through with a new purchase.

5. Thank you email

Sending a thank-you email right after a customer makes a purchase is the best way to show you have great customer service--and upsell, too.

However, you need to be careful about how you craft your message. You don’t want your customers to feel you’re only after making a sale. Just make sure that your upsell relates to what they just bought and organically blends with your thank you.

Here’s how Abercrombie & Fitch did it:

For repeat customers, make sure you’re not sending the same message after every purchase. Here’s a great opportunity to include a voucher or discount code as a thank you to redeem the next purchase.

In closing

Upsell emails can help you retain your customers with targeted upsell offers. Just make sure you include greetings that are unique to each person. Showcase recently purchased items on display in your email, and don’t forget to segment your audience.

Each email should also include your contact information. To encourage your customers to share your emails, embed social share buttons. Finally, include opt-out options.

Make your customers feel you’re concerned about them and want to help them, that you’re not just after a sale. Then monitor your campaign and optimize. That will also ensure the next time you launch a similar campaign, you’ll do better.