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 marketing campaigns? Education, entertainment, or a mix of both. When executed well, these campaigns help you build stronger relationships with subscribers, leading to a higher number of leads and conversions.
10 Email Marketing Campaign Examples
If you explore different email marketing campaign types, you’ll realize you must diversify your email marketing strategy and include unique and personalized emails.
Here are some of the most successful campaign types people use for promoting their businesses:
- Seasonal Email Campaign
- Transactional Emails
- Educational Emails
- Thank You Emails
- Feedback and Survey Emails
- Re-engagement Triggered Email Series
- Nurturing Email Campaigns
- Abandoned Cart Series
- Birthday & Anniversary Emails
Let’s quickly look at examples of each one of these.
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:
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 it works?
- Relatable and witty copywriting;
- Great and contextual offer, relevant to the reader;
- Warm color tones and photography.
Create email campaigns without spending long hours designing them. Use readymade email templates and drag-and-drop builder, and it’ll be a breeze.
Transactional Emails
Transactional emails share important information regarding the account, orders, or any action taken on the website. They’re usually informational and share critical information like order confirmation, shipping confirmation, etc. But who says they should be plain and boring? Look at this order confirmation email by Ritual:
The email is personalized with the name of the shopper. The subject line, ‘We’re getting your Ritual ready,’ invokes excitement.
There’s an infographic in the email about the tentative delivery date that informs about what to expect next. Plus, the slight nudge below the product block is a smart way to increase the order value without being pushy.
Why it works?
- Personalized header with a positive tone in the email copy;
- Visually appealing design with interactive blocks;
- A solid nudge to existing customers to add more items.
Educational Emails
Educational emails are sent to create awareness about a product, offer, use case, or application. They’re generally sent to subscribers who are likely to buy a product. Dollar Shave Club sends several educational emails about the benefits of its products. Here’s one:
The email is an interesting take on educational emails, which often come with long walls of text. Instead, they’ve used a catchy infographic, followed by a short paragraph that explains why it’s a good idea to put on sunscreen.
There’s a product and reviews placement right after educational section addressing apprehensions and enticing readers to move further towards checkout.
Why it works?
- Crisp and concise communication;
- Eye-catching header infographic;
- Relevant product and review blocks.
Thank You Emails
Showing gratitude is a nice way to nurture a long-term relationship with your audience. So, you should plan thank you emails from time to time. It needn’t be long, but it should be sincere, just like this email by Wonder Valley:
The email features a personal note from the founders, making it really human. The mention of a special playlist for celebrations is a nice add-on to show they’ve actually made an effort. It also comes at the perfect time, when everyone loves receiving a heartfelt gratitude.
Why it works?
- Personal tone with an unexpected gift – a curated playlist;
- Holiday vibes in the header image;
- Perfect timing, right before Thanksgiving.
Feedback and Survey Emails
Listening to the voice of your customers is essential for any business. So, why not send periodic feedback email campaigns to your customers and subscribers? Specialty retailer J.Crew has an interesting strategy, where they follow up after a purchase with a minimal feedback email. Have a look:
The email is minimalist and gives direct CTAs to users to share their opinion about their recent purchases. The writing is direct and impactful. There’s no extra element in the email, which reduces distraction and directs readers to the review page.
Why it works?
- Minimalist design with zero distractions;
- Contextual and relevant ask about past purchases;
- Direct CTA buttons asking to share thoughts.
Re-Engagement 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.
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 it works?
- 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.
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:
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 it works?
- Great offer, addressing the price apprehension to upgrade;
- Countdown timer, adding a sense of urgency to act;
Also read:
- 15 Email Drip Campaign Examples to Drive Engagement
- Getting Email Nurturing Right: Campaign Success Tips
Abandoned Cart Emails
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:
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 it works?
- Witty copywriting in the header;
- Clear reasons to rethink the purchase as a separate block;
- Special ‘buy now pay later offer within the email.
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:
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 it works?
- Free gift and shipping offer on birthdays;
- Contextual shopping recommendations based on buyer’s likes and dislikes;
- Cheerful and celebratory email design.
Tips for Improving Email Marketing Campaign Overtime
Designing successful email marketing campaigns can be fun but challenging, too. Here are some email marketing best practices to help you create and send effective email 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 campaign strategy, always track the campaign metrics: open, clickthrough, bounce, conversion rates, and spam score.
Some other top-notch articles worth your attention:
- 14+ Best Email Marketing Services & Software in 2024
- 11 Affordable Email Marketing Services (Top-Rated Software)
- What is Broadcast Email & How to Use It (Examples Included)
