Although transactional emails serve a functional purpose and must include specific, key information, don't miss the opportunity to also use them to brand and cross sell.

Ask yourself a few questions: How many online purchases do you complete per month? How many confirmation emails do you receive, and how many are in HTML format? Of these confirmation emails, do you read the email in full or do you scan down the email to see the reference number, the amount deducted from your credit card and the product name?

As a marketer and an avid online purchaser, can you see the missed opportunity of branding, customizing and personalizing these emails?

In most ecommerce platforms, transactional email is often out of reach of the marketing processes that ensure promotional communication is correctly branded. The result is that customers frequently receive unattractive mail that does not properly capitalize on revenue and opt-in opportunities.

Transactional mail typically returns extremely high response rates; however, emails sent in text format -- with inconsistent formatting and sender addresses -- are poorly placed to leverage this. Transactional email should present a consistent brand to your customers.

Transactional email should be included in your email marketing strategy. Personalization and dynamic content can be included by integrating CMS and including a smart business rule manager. If a customer purchases a printer, this should trigger off a transactional-based email that includes a dynamic offer for toner. This will increase open rates, and inevitably, conversion rates.

It is important to maintain the transactional element to your HTML, targeted, personalized email. From experience, at least 80 percent of the content should be transactional and be placed at the top of the message.

Benefits:

• Attain consistency across customer interactions
• Compliance with all email authentication standards
• Measurability
• Real-time delivery

To achieve this, you should start with a needs analysis and strategy development. For example, examine existing processes, defining transactional message streams, formats and content. Based on guiding strategic objectives, personalization, customization, cross-sell, up-sell and permission management options should be developed.

Key success metrics must be defined and should include:

• Increase in upsell revenue
• New cross-sell revenue
• Number of opt-ins to marketing email programs
• Reduction in customer service inquiries

The next question is: How do you format your text-based transactional email to HTML, without replacing your ecommerce platform?

You should make use of your email platform to wrap the HTML. Most ESPs have an API that is able to integrate between two systems, such as your ecommerce system and the email platform. The idea is to transform the text version into the HTML before it is deployed to the client. The transactional email is sent to an in-house inbox in real-time, where the HTML wrapping takes place and the email is then deployed to the customer. This should be an automated process that should take place within minutes, so that the customer receives the email in real time.

You will need your technical team to provide assistance for this set up. With comprehensive tools to analyze performance and monitor deliverability, you'll also be able to maximize revenue opportunities with customized up-sell and cross-sell strategies. The HTML versions should include approximately 80 percent transactional information and 20 percent promotional information. Creating a messaging matrix based on purchase behavior to include targeted content will increase the conversion of your messages, allowing for increased ROI.

Lee-Ann Vermaak is director of email management at Acceleration. Read full bio.