Optimizing communication with customers: creating better relational emails
Miguel Nicolás
20/05/2025
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Relational emails are in the nature of email marketing as a channel. That is why they are necessary to optimize communication.
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After thoroughly unraveling other types of emails we have analyzed in detail like promotional emails, newsletters, reactivation, feedback, and informational emails, we dive fully into an interesting typology, but one that tends to be less addressed.We are referring to relational emails, which are a basic interaction between the company and customers, and therefore should never be left out of our strategic analysis.I hope that when you have read this post, with its corresponding examples, you will be able to fine-tune their use even more.Shall we begin?
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What are relational emails?
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The truth is that, if we talk about promotions or newsletters, we all immediately know what we are referring to. However, the term “relational” is broad enough to cause a bit more doubt.Basically, it is very simple: it is all communications we send via email, far from direct conversion, that offer usefulness to users.Within this category we can group different subcategories:
- Welcome emails: it may seem like a formality, but a good welcome email is crucial to start the relationship on the right foot. It also allows you to attach relevant information from minute one.
- Informational emails: we have already dedicated a full post to communications that inform and educate about our market niche, brand values, or real product benefits. Just imagine how interesting we find them!
- Thank-you emails: you cannot imagine how much your store’s perception changes when there is such an organic interaction like thanking them for buying or simply for being there.
- Personal milestones: relational emails are all about personalization. That is why it is very common for some brands to congratulate us on our birthday, client anniversary, or any other aspect related to our segmentation as an audience.
- Brand stories: who can resist good storytelling in eCommerce? Almost no one, and receiving (from time to time) some good stories about a brand we like in our inbox is a plus.
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Advantages and goals
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If you think for a moment about the previous paragraph, there is something all those subcategories have in common: interaction and engagement.This is the main goal: boost user interaction. This way, we are getting customers to stop perceiving us as sellers for a moment, and instead, this approach is more like a friendly relationship.So we could say that relational emails, from the customer communication point of view:
- Strengthen the relationship emotionally, making the customer less sensitive to price or aggressive promotions.
- Boost the brand’s trust and authority. They make us more credible.
- Are an extra touchpoint: and also, it is a non-transactional point of contact, so we strengthen brand recall without the pressure of selling.
- Help segment audiences: by testing how they react and interact with our emails, we learn a lot about them.
- Extend the customer life cycle, as they feel closer to the brand.
- Improve the effectiveness of our email marketing campaigns, by making users continue to open our emails and not unsubscribe from the list (the famous and hated Churn Rate).
Not bad, right? -
Examples of relational emails in eCommerce
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If you read us regularly, you know we love examples. In this case, they are especially illustrative, because there are different possible cases.As we usually do, we have chosen a few, which we are going to go over to highlight what we find most relevant and how you could adopt that strategy for your own.
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#1 – A warm welcome
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When you buy in any store, you already feel like a customer. Yes, I know I am stating the obvious, but it’s something we should somewhat avoid.Imagine you have an online natural cosmetics store, like in the case of Fat and the Moon. Maybe you’re more interested in users feeling aligned with your vision and project. Now I am going to show you how they have done it.
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We like this relational email because:
- Its closeness: being welcomed with a “welcome friend” is already a statement of intent. It achieves exactly what it is aiming for; making you feel included in the community from minute 1.
- First-person communication: the entire text is very close, interacting very directly with strong phrases like “you’re entering the universe of herbs” or “we’re positively thrilled that you’ve decided to be part of our community.”
- Content: here there is a small paradox, and it is that, even though I do not really like the design itself, I think it has good things. They chose images well by combining product, message, and a bit of who we are. These are interesting resources that, combined with good structure, could have been better resolved in design terms to have a perfect relational email.
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#2 – Happy birthday
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Another relational classic is the birthday greeting. It has its supporters and detractors, but if you ask me, I would tell you it is an email I would always include in my email marketing flows.We all feel special on our birthday, so if you play your cards right, you can make a good impact at the right timing.As an example, I am going to show you this one from Curology, also cosmetics, but in this case they work with a subscription business model. You will see how something that seems simple has more science than you would think at first glance.
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We like this relational email because:
- Well-understood minimalism: on your customer’s birthday, they are going to receive a lot of messages from different channels, so it is better to apply “less is more” and make sure to present something that delivers the message quickly and directly.
- Well-chosen words: “Your dermatology provider and the Curology team wish you a happy birthday,” in this first paragraph they mix authority, belonging (your team), brand, and the main birthday greeting message. In the second, they focus on the more casual and positive side, closing with a thank-you for being part of the Curology family (again, belonging and brand).
- The ideal context: a person who cares about their skin is sensitive to getting older. That is why this email will gently impact the base of their motivation, but in a respectful and positive way.
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#3 – How it all started
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Let’s switch industries, and for that we go into the kitchen. We do it with Gir and their cooking utensils (spatulas, skimmers, scrapers, ladles...).Their products are made using the highest quality food-grade silicone, which is not something most people care about, but what people do care about is knowing that these products are sanitary-safe (BPA-free) and made in a single piece, to avoid crevices where bacteria could hide. All of this is told to you in a single email.
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We like this relational email because:
- It delivers a clear message, with a headline that tells us exactly what they are going to talk about and also sparks some curiosity. Where did it all start? Here is your answer.
- About us, that section that is not always used as much as it should be. With this email, we are putting a face to the person behind the project and revealing in a very casual way the motivation behind the entrepreneurship. Samantha is an ordinary person, a woman who could be the archetype buyer of her own product, which adds credibility. Also, she says in her own words: “Why are all spatulas so ‘meh’?”, she does not talk about silicone or bacteria, she talks about feelings.
- It’s a bit more commercial than I would like, in fact, it has two buy buttons and one “about GIR.” From my point of view, it should be the other way around and, above all, place the informational call to action first.
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#4 – A shared story
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The relationship with customers is very much like a journey. We go through different stages together, and that can serve as a narrative thread for our communication with them through different channels.Inspired by the famous recaps from companies like Spotify, people at David’s Tea have created a very interesting twist, based on personalization.
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We like this relational email because:
- The tone is pure positivity. Opening an email and being told you are the best, that you are awesome and they are happy you exist... that is no small thing. Especially because they are not telling you that so you will buy, but because you have already bought before. It is gratitude.
- It quantifies and compares our purchases. They know when you made your first purchase, and even how much the tea you bought weighs compared to the weight of a squirrel. Here there is gamification, belonging, and at the core, it encourages you to outdo yourself in the future as a customer.
- It does not sell directly, it is quite a canonical example of what an email of this kind should be.
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Ready to optimize your customer communication using relational emails? Which of all these do you prefer?