There’s a reason why 90% of businesses are turning their heads toward email marketing. It has an average Return on investment (ROI) of 3600%. When done right? Over 7000%! While surprising, these numbers are also highly obtainable.
So, what do excellent email marketing campaign examples look like? How do you create your successful email campaigns? You’ll find answers to these questions and more here! Keep reading!
What is an Email Campaign?
Curious about email campaigns? Well, let’s demystify them! In its simplest form, email marketing means sending emails to your audience, both current and potential customers.
An email marketing campaign is a series of emails designed with a specific goal. These can be automated (known as autoresponder sequences) or sent as regular email newsletters.
What are the goals of email campaigns? Education, entertainment, or a mix of both. When executed well, email campaigns help you build stronger relationships with subscribers, leading to increased leads and boosted sales.
Why is Email Marketing Campaign Important?
Email marketing continues to play a pivotal role in the marketing mix in this digital age.
As the most profitable channel for a business, email campaigns help you connect and engage with potential customers. It allows you to build long-lasting relationships and drive sales. And that’s not all:
- Increase brand awareness. A successful email campaign can bring long-term benefits. If you share valuable email content, news, updates, and more with your subscribers, they might share a word about your brand and products with others. That is, increase awareness about your brand;
- Drive customer engagement with the brand. Emails are incredibly versatile, giving you the freedom to create almost anything you can imagine. Harness this power to pique your subscribers’ curiosity about your following offerings and foster deeper engagement with your brand;
- Boost website traffic. Share enticing snippets of your most popular content to encourage interested subscribers to dive into the full articles. Include a clear call-to-action (CTA) that directs your subscribers to dedicated landing and sales pages to learn more about and purchase your products or services;
- Generate more interested leads. Nothing is off the table when you want your recipients to visit and click through your website or landing pages with more information. Personalize your content, create compelling subject lines, and clear CTAs to make them come again and again;
- Nurture leads toward a sale. Your time and effort spent crafting the email sequences can pay back in dozens. Use them to educate, inform, and build trust with potential customers, addressing their pain points and showcasing your products as solutions;
- Sell more products and add more revenue to your business. When strategically crafted, email campaigns promote your products and create a sense of urgency and desire among your subscribers. Combine this with segmentation and targeted content to have much higher chances of conversions and better customer retention.
Create email campaigns without spending long hours designing them. Use premade templates and drag-and-drop builder, and it’ll be a breeze.
11 Types of Email Marketing Campaigns (with Examples)
There are many types of email campaigns, so choosing one that will help you achieve your business goals is essential. Here are some email campaign examples based on the different types:
- Welcome Email
- Monthly Newsletter
- Promotional Email Campaign
- Seasonal Email Campaign
- Re-engagement Triggered Email Series
- Nurturing Email Campaigns
- Abandoned Cart Series
- Post-purchase Drip Campaign
- Upselling Emails
- Cross-selling Emails
- Birthday & Anniversary Emails
Welcome Email
Welcome emails are one of the most important emails you will ever send. It sets the foundation for the future relationship with the subscriber. Here’s an example of a great welcome email by Last Crumb:
Email campaign type: Welcome email
The welcome email is great at creating an instant connection. The personalized letter with an appealing header image makes the reader feel special. The talk about brand values in the welcome email is an excellent idea, as most consumers are attracted to brands with a strong ethos.
Why does this welcome email work?
- Relatable and warm email copy;
- Simple and minimalist design;
- Reassurance and confidence towards brand values;
When are welcome emails used?
- When someone signs up for your email list;
- Just after the first interaction with your brand;
- When a new user makes a purchase.
Monthly Newsletter
Monthly newsletters are personal letters a brand or a business sends to subscribers. Generally, newsletters have a common theme and reach out to users on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. Here’s a great example of a monthly newsletter by Scott’s Cheap Flights:
Email campaign type: Newsletter
The company sends a monthly newsletter touching on a relevant topic and sharing its take on the issue. The newsletter email discusses the issue and shares relevant stuff, articles, blogs, and more for the reader, just like a magazine.
Why does this newsletter email campaign work?
- Reminds users about your brand or business;
- Adds value to subscriber’s life consistently;
- Shares things that they’d love to read on a regular basis.
When to send email newsletters?
- Regularly, at the end or beginning of every month or week.
Promotional Email Campaign
Promotional email campaigns tell subscribers about your latest offers, sales, discounts, or deals on your product range. It’s a great way to remind them about you, generate interest, and increase sales by luring customers to buy. Here’s a great example by Gold Belly:
Email campaign type: Promotional email
The refreshing email has a striking and eye-catchy design. Plus, the reference (and social credential) to Martha Stewart is an ice-breaker, making the subscriber consider buying from the brand. The promotional email has excellent offers, a subject line that stands out (Banana Pudding on Sale — Martha Steward APPROVED! ), and great CTAs to make an impact.
Why does this promotional email work?
- Attention-grabbing subject line;
- Beautiful email design;
- Social proof embedded within the email;
- Great and contextual offers that tempt users to make a purchase.
When to send promotional email campaigns?
- Before you plan a big sale or promotion campaign;
- When you want to generate incremental sales revenue;
- Every time you add a new product or collection to your eCommerce store.
Seasonal Email Campaign
Seasonal email campaigns are great for engaging users during the holidays or summer, especially when you’ve relevant offers or products. Seasonal email campaigns should be contextual and geared towards selling seasonally relevant products or services—for example, warm clothes during the holiday season. Look at the following example by Lululemon:
Email campaign type: Seasonal email campaign
The email is sent during the winter when everyone appreciates cozy joggers and winterwear. The timing of the email, the warm vibe, and the relatable email copy make it a tremendous seasonal email campaign.
Why does this seasonal email work?
- Relatable and witty copywriting;
- Great and contextual offer, relevant to the reader;
- Warm color tones and photography.
When to send a seasonal email campaign?
- During the start of the holiday or winter season;
- At the end of the year, as seasons greetings;
- At the start of the summer season promoting your ‘summer essentials’ range, if any.
Re-Engagement Triggered Email Series
Triggered email campaigns or sequences are sent based on user activity or action. For example, an order confirmation email after a user buys something from the website. Here’s a great example of a triggered email series by Freshly.
Email campaign type: Triggered email
The email is triggered based on the online behavior of the user and is sent to customers who’ve not ordered in a long time. The interesting and rewarding limited-time offer is a sure way to re-engage and win back lost customers. The subject line for this email — ‘Get $6.16 Dinners When You Come Back, Fam!’ is intriguing enough to make someone open the email.
Why does this triggered email series work?
- Contextual offer sent at the right time;
- Engaging hook (subject line) topped with a valuable offer;
- Simple yet powerful CTA button prompting the user to give the brand a second chance.
When to send triggered email campaigns?
- To win back lost customers when they’ve not ordered in a long time;
- To cart abandoners after they’ve left without checking out;
- To engage users after they’ve checked out a particular product or page on your website.
Set up and automate re-engagement campaigns with Sender and let it nurture your leads on autopilot.
Nurturing Email Campaigns
Nurturing emails are sent to nurture prospects, influence them to buy something, or even aim at inactive prospects or customers who have not engaged with your brand for some time now.
The key purpose is to move them further into the buyer’s journey and make them buy something from your store. Here’s an example from Wix:
Email campaign type: Nurturing email
Wix used the special sales offer as a reason to nurture inactive or trial users to convince them to upgrade to a paid plan. Nurturing emails is a great way to break the ice, address apprehensions, or entice them, as Wix did with their email campaign. You can consider sending re-engagement emails as we miss you emails as a reactivation or nurturing attempt before segmenting a subscriber or trial user into your churn list.
Why does this nurturing email work?
- Great offer, addressing the price apprehension to upgrade;
- Countdown timer, adding a sense of urgency to act;
When to send nurturing email campaigns?
- During the awareness and consideration stage of the buyer’s journey;
- When someone has been on your list for some time but hasn’t spent anything on your store.
Also read: 15 Email Drip Campaign Examples to Drive Engagement
Abandoned Cart Series
Cart abandonment is a big problem for the ecommerce industry. According to the most recent estimates, 57-84% of carts are abandoned across different industries. This translates to massive losses for eCommerce businesses.
Automating a cart abandonment email can be profitable to win back your customers and increase your sales revenue. Here’s an interesting cart abandonment email template example by Luxy Hair:
Email campaign type: Abandoned cart recovery email
This interesting email is an excellent attempt to return the shopper’s attention to the Luxy Hair store. The witty one-liners in the header with a bold CTA button to complete checkout is enough to convince them to give their pick a second thought.
Why does this abandoned cart email work?
- Witty copywriting in the header;
- Clear reasons to rethink the purchase as a separate block;
- Special ‘buy now pay later offer within the email.
When to send abandoned cart email campaigns?
- Few hours after the cart is abandoned;
- Second follow-up a day after cart abandonment;
- Third follow-up after two days of abandoning the cart.
Post-Purchase Drip Campaign
A post-purchase drip is an email sequence that’s triggered in the event of a sale. Post-purchase campaigns are designed to thank the user for the purchase, ask for feedback, or even upsell by providing personalized product recommendations.
Such campaigns can come in a series of 2, 3, or more emails and can be spread over weeks after the purchase. Here’s an example of a post-purchase email by the cosmetic brand Tarte Cosmetics:
Email campaign type: Post-purchase email
The email is sent a few days after someone makes a purchase, thanking and appreciating them for buying something from the store. The charming compliment and vibrant color theme will surely create a strong brand recall in favor of the brand.
Why does this post-purchase drip sequence work?
- Appreciation for the shopper right in the beginning;
- Subtle upsell with personalized recommendations for complementing products;
- Peppy and refreshing color and email design.
When to send post-purchase drip email?
- After someone completes a purchase in your store.
Upselling Emails
Upselling email campaigns are designed to offer an upgrade to your existing customers. The core purpose of sending an upsell email is to re-engage the buyer, tempting them to spend more on your products. Good upselling techniques increase the customer lifetime value for a company. Here’s a great example of an upsell email by Bokksu:
Email campaign type: Upsell email
The email has a clear and straightforward proposition — additional savings of $89 when someone upgrades + 15% off. Something hard to miss for an existing customer. Topped with the add-on offer, the urgency angle (10 days only) will tempt many subscribers to upgrade instantly.
Why does this upsell email work?
- Clear and straightforward upsell benefit;
- Additional upgrade offer topped with a copy that invokes a sense of urgency;
- Clever CTA button with a subscript offering additional support for upgrade assistance.
When to send upsell email campaigns?
- Periodically during the buyer’s engagement lifecycle with your brand;
- Every time an existing shopper tries to search for premium offerings (or access locked features).
Cross-Selling Emails
Have you ever visited a local supermarket where sales guys are trying to convince you to buy something or the other? That’s a cross-selling tactic — luring interested peeps by showing products they might like. In the world of eCommerce and email marketing, cross-selling involves sending contextual product recommendations that the customers might end up buying. Look at the following email by Ralph Lauren:
Email campaign type: Cross-sell email
The email is sent to a carefully segmented list of buyers who bought something from the store. The email shares recommendations to complement their purchase and complete their look. How the email is designed + the subject line ‘Complete your Look Now’ will drive engagement and potential sales, too.
Why does this cross-sell email work?
- Scheduled to be sent at the right time — just after someone has completed a purchase;
- Contextual product recommendations without the frills of a complex design or confusing options.
When to send cross-sell email campaigns?
- After someone has completed a purchase in your store;
- Periodically, based on the buyer’s shopping behavior on your website.
Birthday & Anniversary Emails
Who doesn’t like birthday or anniversary wishes? Well, your subscribers sure do. Running a birthday or anniversary email campaign is a great way to tell your subscribers you care. You can share special offers, gifts, or samples as birthday gifts. Here’s a great example by L ‘Occitane:
Email campaign type: Birthday email
The email warmly wishes the subscriber and offers a gift for every birthday purchase. The beautiful design and a valuable offer will show the recipient that the brand has really considered sending this wish. Plus, the contextual recommendations are a cherry on top.
Why does this birthday email work?
- Free gift and shipping offer on birthdays;
- Contextual shopping recommendations based on buyer’s likes and dislikes;
- Cheerful and celebratory email design.
When to send birthday or anniversary email campaigns?
- On birthdays or anniversaries of your subscribers (Segment your list based on birthdays or anniversaries beforehand).
Creating Successful Email Marketing Campaign
Are you inspired to create email marketing campaigns that your target audience loves but need help knowing where to begin? This quick guide is a good headstart:
Add Subject Line & Preheader
Your subject line is the first thing a prospect will notice. Moreover, it’s the only thing that will entice them to click on your email. So, always pay extra attention to creating them. Your subject lines should:
- Consist of action words or reasons to click;
- Be personalized;
- Invoke FOMO, urgency, or curiosity;
- Not contain common spam words.
Your email subject lines should be catchy and informative, while preheaders (the text next to it) should elaborate more on the topic.
Select Email Template
Choose from the library of premade email templates that best fit your email marketing strategy and brand identity goals. Don’t worry if you can’t find one that works ideally. In the next step, you can customize it to your needs and desires.
Add the Content
Use a drag-and-drop email builder. The content should be attractive, colorful, and have a lot of engaging or interactive elements.
However, it’s important to remember that no matter how creative, all your marketing emails should always include the following:
- Company’s name;
- Contact information;
- Unsubscribe link;
- Privacy policy link;
- Brand logo.
Select Recipients
Select a list of recipients you want to reach with your email marketing campaign.
If you’re new to email marketing and have yet to gather any subscribers, don’t worry. Begin gathering email contacts with popup or signup forms.
You can use the signup forms template library to swiftly craft a signup form and link it to a fresh email list. Afterward, you can publish it immediately or schedule it for sending to this newly established email list.
Alternatively, you can import your current subscribers.
Launch the Campaign
Once you’re happy with the results, click to launch the campaign immediately or schedule it to go out later.
Sometime after you launch your campaign, check your key metrics (mainly open rates and click rates) to see if they’re what you’ve expected. If not, optimize your campaign accordingly and use the gathered insights for future campaigns.
Tips for Improving Email Marketing Campaign Overtime
Designing successful email marketing campaigns can be fun but challenging, too. Here are a few tips and best practices to help you create and send effective email marketing campaigns:
- Understand your target audience well. List all of the problems your product or service solves, and then create your buyer persona by seeing what types of people have this problem;
- Create an accurate list of interested prospects. Ensure that your opt-in forms and popups are highly optimized for relevancy based on buyer persona to capture the most interested prospects and leads;
- Segment your list. Categorize your email list into categories based on the audience’s purchase history, common characteristics, or general parameters like demographic, geographical, and psychographic factors;
- Clearly understand the end goal. Answer yourself why you’re running email campaigns, what will be the result, and how it will impact your business’ revenue. Remember this goal throughout your email campaign;
- Chart the prospect’s buying journey. Identify touch points where they need education, information, and help to fit in relevant emails;
- Spend time on content and copywriting. Your content is the fuel that runs your marketing campaign. So, always use language and tone that aligns with your buyer personas;
- Add relevance with email personalization. Use your buyer personas to contextualize and personalize your emails. It will help you stay relevant and drive conversions;
- Follow a standard format and ensure compliance. It’s a good practice to have a standardized format in your email campaigns to stay memorable, maintain a recall, and stay compliant with anti-spam regulations such as GDPR;
- Check your emails for responsiveness. Your campaign should look, feel, and appear the same across all mobile devices and platforms;
- Always measure email campaign success. To optimize your email strategy accordingly, you should always track the campaign metrics: open, clickthrough, bounce, conversion rates, and spam score.
Key Takeaways: Email Campaigns
- Start scheduling email marketing campaigns to get the most out of your marketing efforts;
- Always segment your email lists to personalize your marketing campaigns;
- Align your email marketing campaigns based on your overall business goals;
- Use email marketing software with marketing automation capabilities to trigger and schedule automated campaigns.
Also read:
- 14+ Best Email Marketing Services & Software in 2024
- 11 Affordable Email Marketing Services (Top-Rated Software)
- What is Online Advertising? Definition, Benefits & Examples
- What is Broadcast Email & How to Use It (Examples Included)
Author Bio
Anmol Ratan Sachdeva is a content marketer and small business consultant who has a strong grip on topics like marketing automation, research, email marketing, and content marketing. He loves to write about starting, improving, and growing a business.
