Automations are some of the most contextual messages that you can send because they are subscriber triggered. Creating hyper-targeted automations or using your automations during BFCM to collect zero-party data can help set your brand up for success throughout the holiday season.
In this article, we discuss top automations to activate during the holiday season.
Cart Recovery Automations
Cart Recovery automations are excellent ways to recapture the attention of high-intent site visitors. Tailoring your automations to the types of shoppers as well as to the stage in the customer journey can prove to be highly effective in converting those visitors into purchasers. Below, we walk through two types of cart recovery automations - Abandoned Cart and Browse Abandonment automations.
High-Value Abandoned Cart
Lotus & Luna experienced a 90%+ conversion rate on their abandoned cart automation targeting orders over $75. High-Value Abandoned Cart Automations are crucial automations to implement during Cyber Weekend and beyond. Below, we cover how to create your own high-value abandoned cart automation.
Get Started Set Automation Properties Build Your Flow
Select Messaging in the side menu of your Postscript dashboard, then select Automations.
Select Create Automation in the top-right corner of the page, then choose Create Automation Flow.
Select Use a template or select Create a new automation.
Name the automation. Choose a name that will allow you to easily identify and track your Abandoned Cart flow in the future.
Define the automation trigger. A trigger is an action that will begin the automation flow. In the example above, the flow will send to a subscriber who began checkout, but did not complete their order.
Add trigger filters. Trigger filters can help you fine-tune when an automation is triggered. The example above will only send to a subscriber whose cart totals more than $100 worth of products.
Add a subscriber frequency filter. The subscriber frequency filter allows you to choose how often a subscriber can enter a given automation flow for a certain period of time. While we have guardrails in place that will only allow a subscriber to enter an abandoned cart flow once every 72 hours, you can increase that timeframe. The example above will only allow subscribers to enter this flow every 30 days.
Add a cancellation trigger. The cancellation trigger tells Postscript when to remove a subscriber from an automation flow. In the example above, a subscriber will be removed from receiving this automation when they complete their purchase.
Save. Select Save in the bottom right corner of the properties editor.
Want to keep it simple? No worries! Adding trigger filters, subscriber filters, a subscriber frequency filter, or a cancellation trigger are all optional ways to customize your automation flow.
Add actions to your flow. You can begin building your flow by dragging and dropping a Send message action, a Delay (remember: this delay needs to be within 48 hours of the browse abandonment), an A/B split, trigger event split, subscriber event split, or update a subscriber. You can learn more about flow actions here.
When adding a Send Message action to your automation flow, you may consider using some of our message enhancements located in the bottom right corner of the Message Editor to spruce things up.
Add emojis by clicking the square smiley face icon.
Add merge tags like subscriber first name, your shop link, or your shop name by clicking the overlapping tags icon.
Add a Postscript-generated coupon by clicking the percentage icon.
Add a Shopify-generated coupon and discount link by clicking the hyperlink icon. Note: Links and tags are trigger-specific. Not all link or tag options will be visible for all trigger types. For example, an abandoned cart link can only be added if the automation flow trigger is Checkout Started.
If you're ready to send your flow, select Schedule or Activate in the top-right corner of the page. You have two options when sending a flow:
Activate immediately: This option will immediately begin the flow allowing subscribers to enter the automation based on the selected properties.
Activate at a scheduled time and date: Choose when you'd like the flow to begin allowing subscribers to enter.
Browse Abandonment
Browse Abandonment automations re-engage potential customers remind them of their initial interest and link them back to your shop.
You can use your Browse Abandonment automation to deliver important information about a particular product to help nudge them closer to that sale (some example copy of this include, "This product is almost out of stock", "We're offering free shipping on this product today only", or "This product has x,y,z benefits", etc.).
Alternatively, you can create a virtual personalized shopping experience by inviting subscribers to interact with your shop and offering to answer any questions they may have about the browsed product. Below, we walk through how to create a Browse Abandonment automation.
Get Started Set Automation Properties Build Your Flow
Select Messaging in the side menu of your Postscript dashboard, then select Automations.
Select Create Automation in the top-right corner of the page, then choose Create Automation Flow.
Select Use a template or select Create a new automation.
Name the automation. Choose a name that will allow you to easily identify and track your Browse Abandonment flow in the future.
Define the automation trigger. A trigger is an action that will begin the automation flow. In the example above, the flow will send to a subscriber who viewed a product.
Add trigger filters. Trigger filters can help you fine-tune when an automation is triggered. The example above will only send to a subscriber who viewed a product that costs over $20.
Add a subscriber frequency filter. The subscriber frequency filter allows you to choose how often a subscriber can enter a given automation flow for a certain period of time. While we have guardrails in place that will only allow a subscriber to enter a Browse Abandonment flow once every 72 hours, you can increase that timeframe. The example above will only allow subscribers to enter this flow every 30 days.
Add a cancellation trigger. The cancellation trigger tells Postscript when to remove a subscriber from an automation flow. In the example above, a subscriber will be removed from receiving this automation if they begin checkout after viewing a product.
Save. Select Save in the bottom right corner of the properties editor.
Want to keep it simple? No worries! Adding trigger filters, subscriber filters, a subscriber frequency filter, or a cancellation trigger are all optional ways to customize your automation flow.
Add actions to your flow. You can begin building your flow by dragging and dropping a Send message action, a Delay (remember: this delay needs to be within 48 hours of the browse abandonment), an A/B split, trigger event split, subscriber event split, or update a subscriber. You can learn more about flow actions here.
When adding a Send Message action to your automation flow, you may consider using some of our message enhancements located in the bottom right corner of the Message Editor to spruce things up.
Add emojis by clicking the square smiley face icon.
Add merge tags like subscriber first name, your shop link, or your shop name by clicking the overlapping tags icon.
Add a Postscript-generated coupon by clicking the percentage icon.
Add a Shopify-generated coupon and discount link by clicking the hyperlink icon. Note: Links and tags are trigger-specific. Not all link or tag options will be visible for all trigger types. For example, an abandoned cart link can only be added if the automation flow trigger is Checkout Started.
If you're ready to send your flow, select Schedule or Activate in the top-right corner of the page. You have two options when sending a flow:
Activate immediately: This option will immediately begin the flow allowing subscribers to enter the automation based on the selected properties.
Activate at a scheduled time and date: Choose when you'd like the flow to begin allowing subscribers to enter.
Compliance Note: All cart recovery automations text messages can only be sent to individuals who have compliantly opted in to your store's SMS program before abandoning their cart. Learn more about growing your subscriber list here.
Post Purchase Automations
During the holidays, shipping delays can be commonplace so over-communicate with your subscribers after they place an order. By clearly communicating when a product will leave a warehouse and when it will arrive at the customer's doorstep, you can ensure to keep your customers happy post-purchase.
Shipping Notifications
We recommend sending shipping notifications once the order is created, the order leaves the warehouse, and when the order is delivered.
By overcommunicating with subscribers, you can be proactive in managing your customer response inbox and reducing the number of shipping inquiries your team receives.
Select the hyperlinks below to automatically add these shipping notification templates to your automation flows.
Order Created. This automation flow fires 30 minutes after someone purchases and thanks them for their order and offers 10% off their next order if placed within 24 hours.
Order Shipped. Send customers a notification when their order has shipped.
Order Delivered. Send customers a notification when their shipment has been delivered.
Other Post Purchase Automations
Aside from updating subscribers on their shipments, post purchase automations can also be used to collect user-generated content, request reviews, and remind subscribers about their loyalty points. Below, we look at examples of each.
UGC Review Request Loyalty Point Reminder
User-generated content (UGC) is similar to reviews in that they serve as testimonials from customers and, in turn, can build trust with potential customers who haven't purchased from your brand yet.
In the example above, Braxley Bands subscribers are incentivized to share a social media story of their band for a repost to the rest of their brand followers. This content can be repurposed for paid ads, social media posts, or organic content.
Postscript integrates with several review platforms including Junip, Okendo, Yotpo, and Growave. These integrations allow you to easily request reviews from your subscribers following a purchase.
You may also consider incentivizing subscribers to leave reviews by offering loyalty points, a discount code in exchange, an entry into a giveaway, etc.
Post purchase is an optimal time to notify subscribers that they've acquired additional loyalty points and/or remind them of existing points.
If your brand does not have an official loyalty points program, you can also use your post purchase automation to nudge customers toward taking the action necessary, completing an additional order, to access VIP status.
Welcome Series
Collect Zero-Party Data
You can use your welcome series automation to collect subscriber information by adding subscriber tags to subscriber profiles when they enter your Welcome Series flow. When you initially introduce your subscriber to your brand, you may consider offering a personalized holiday gift guide based on what product and/or price. Collecting zero-party data and tagging subscribers that enter your Welcome Series can allow you to continue to send more personalized and targeted campaigns throughout the holiday season.
Share Your Contact Card
Sending your subscribers a contact card as a part of your welcome series message can reduce the potential of filtering. With iOS 26 updates, consumers can easily report messages from unknown senders as spam. Encouraging your subscribers to save your brand's contact card decreases the chances you're considered an unknown sender which improves your overall deliverability.
To learn more about the importance of contact cards, how to build your own, and insert it in your welcome series message, see here.
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