There is a belief that email is an old channel. In reality it is still one of the highest-returning channels — because it is nearly free, and because the list is yours rather than any platform's.
Email automation means messages being sent by themselves based on what the customer does, rather than you sending them manually.
1. Welcoming a new customer
The moment someone registers or buys, they are at their highest level of interest. An automatic welcome message at that moment is opened at a far higher rate than any other.
Use it for: confirmation, explaining the next step, and introducing them to something useful. Not for an immediate sales offer.
2. Abandoned cart follow-up
Someone who put a product in the basket and left is your closest customer. A reminder a few hours later brings back a meaningful share of them.
This is the most famous use of automation anywhere, and it has a direct, visible return.
3. Reactivating quiet customers
You have people who bought six months ago and stopped. An automatic message after a set period since the last purchase reminds them of you.
This is the cheapest sale you can make, because they already know and have tried you.
4. Educating before selling
If your product needs understanding — a service, a technical product, or something expensive — a series of messages explaining and answering objections moves the decision closer.
That series is built once and then serves every new customer afterwards. It is the clearest example of work done once that returns for years.
5. After the sale
Automatic messages after purchase: how to use the product, a request for feedback after a week, and a reminder about renewal or maintenance.
These reduce complaints, increase reviews, and open the door to the second sale — all without repeated effort.
Start with one only
Do not build five journeys at once. Pick the case that will return fastest in your business — usually abandoned cart if you sell products, or education before selling if you sell services.
Run it for a month, measure, then add the next.
The list matters more than the message
Automation runs on a list. And if you have no list, start building one: gather your existing customers' emails, and put a clear sign-up route on your site and your accounts in exchange for something useful.
And never buy ready-made lists — they damage your sender reputation and send your messages to spam.
Respect the inbox
Two rules protect you: make every message contain real value, and make unsubscribing easy and obvious.
Companies that send a lot and make unsubscribing difficult end up in spam, and then lose the channel entirely.
And in the Egyptian market?
Email is relatively weaker with ordinary consumers, and much stronger with companies, professional services and education.
And if your audience does not use email, the same logic applies to WhatsApp: automated messages in the same situations, with even more respect for privacy because WhatsApp is closer and more sensitive.
In short
Use automation for: welcome, abandoned cart, reactivating quiet customers, educating before selling, and after the purchase.
Start with one journey, build your list cleanly, and respect people's inboxes. This channel works while you sleep and costs almost nothing.
This is part of a series on automation — which also covers abandoned carts, and building an email journey step by step.