18 E-mail advertising and marketing concepts to spice up opens, clicks and gross sales

By Phil Norris November 28, 2023

You realize electronic mail advertising and marketing is a brilliant efficient strategy to nurture leads, flip them into paying prospects, and retain current prospects.

However reaching your objectives requires sending emails persistently and ceaselessly — doubtless at the very least as soon as per week. And developing with that many electronic mail advertising and marketing marketing campaign concepts is powerful.

Perhaps you’ve hit a artistic dead-end. Perhaps your earlier exercise hasn’t delivered the specified outcomes. Perhaps you’re new to electronic mail and simply don’t know the place to start out.

Both means, you’re experiencing a significant case of author’s (or emailer’s) block.

Don’t fear, as a result of we’ve rounded up 18 electronic mail advertising and marketing concepts to encourage your subsequent marketing campaign, backed up with real-world examples and segmented throughout the next frequent objectives:

• Producing extra gross sales
• Growing electronic mail open charges
• Getting extra clicks
• Nurturing leads
• Growing sign-ups
• Boosting buyer retention

Calm down, take a deep breath, and let’s get into it…

Objective: Generate extra gross sales

Promote a sale

Earlier than we begin discussing find out how to promote your newest sale by electronic mail advertising and marketing, let’s make one factor clear:

Gross sales aren’t a silver bullet. 

Run too many and also you danger devaluing your model. Additionally, customers base their shopping for selections on a spread of things, not simply worth. The largest motivators are:

• Buyer scores and opinions (cited by 94% of respondents) 
• Worth of product (91%)
• Free transport (78%)
• Model desire (65%)
• Good friend/household suggestions (60%)

So there are not any ensures a sale will even transfer the needle.

Nonetheless, used successfully, gross sales can nonetheless be extraordinarily impactful, with a excessive proportion of customers throughout age teams saying they look forward to reductions earlier than shopping for on-line.

Now, let’s have a look at an actual gross sales promotion electronic mail from inside decor model Bougié, which successfully mixed two of the highest 5 shopping for components we talked about above by: 

• Providing a reduction on the product worth
• Offering free transport

In fact, plenty of gross sales span a number of product classes (and even complete web sites), quite than specializing in a single product like in Bougié’s instance. If you happen to’re planning such a particular promotion, your greatest guess is to focus on prospects who’ve proven curiosity in a related product class.

In Bougié’s case, this may very well be individuals who:

• Browsed different espresso tables
• Browsed different Pitch Drop merchandise
• Browsed or lately bought different lounge furnishings

Ship cart abandonment emails

An astonishing 70.19% of on-line buying carts find yourself being deserted. It’s a tragedy for ecommerce shops; simply consider all that misplaced income.

But it surely’s not all dangerous information, as a result of cart abandonment emails persistently see open charges of 43% or extra.

Not solely that, however these emails convert at a price of 18.64% — means increased than the common electronic mail conversion price of round 8%.

The perfect deserted cart emails include the next components:

• Order abstract
• Product pricing
• Product imagery
• At the least one CTA to finish the transaction

Let’s have a look at an instance from menswear model Huckberry:

In addition to getting the fundamentals proper, Huckberry goes a step additional by selling “extra good things”, simply in case the recipient isn’t fascinated with shopping for the merchandise they deserted:

Use this tactic to advocate different merchandise or classes the shopper has beforehand browsed, or simply to level them towards your high sellers.

Share social proof

Social proof is a large supply of shopping for inspiration. For example, three-quarters of customers “all the time” or “frequently” learn opinions when looking for companies of their space.

However social proof isn’t simply about buyer opinions. Different sorts embody:

• Testimonials
• Business awards
• Suggestions from influencers, thought leaders, or business publications
• Buyer success tales
• Accreditations

In our subsequent instance, furnishings model Retains Dwelling rounded up a few of its most glowing press protection from inside design and client evaluation websites:

As you’ll be able to see, this electronic mail additionally featured a distinguished CTA. So if the e-mail recipient is received over by all these spectacular business opinions, they’ll simply click on by and store the Retains vary.

Use shortage and urgency

Wish to encourage your viewers to purchase proper now? Attempt including shortage or urgency (or each) to your messaging.

Shortage and urgency are comparable, however they’re not the identical:

• Urgency is about restricted time. For example, you may inform prospects they solely have 24 hours to reap the benefits of a reduction.
• Shortage is about restricted amount. For instance, you may say there are solely 50 areas accessible in your subsequent course.

In our subsequent instance, Wix created a way of urgency by making it clear the low cost was a limited-time supply, as visualized by the countdown timer beneath the introductory copy:

Wix might have made this electronic mail much more impactful by combining urgency and shortage, reminiscent of limiting the 50% low cost to the primary 100 prospects who signed up. That will have created an actual rush to the checkout.

Objective: Enhance electronic mail opens

Cut up-test electronic mail topic traces

E-mail topic traces are your #1 instrument for enhancing open charges, with virtually half of electronic mail recipients opening emails based mostly on the topic line alone.

So if you happen to’re attempting to extend electronic mail opens, the topic line must be your first port of name. However whereas we will give you dozens of inspirational electronic mail topic line examples, the one dependable means to determine what works for you is to run a split-test.

That’s exactly what the oldsters at on-line advertising and marketing training firm Authority Hacker did. Throughout 78 electronic mail outreach campaigns, they trialed three barely completely different topic traces:

• Query?
• Fast query?
• Query for you?

Related as these choices sound, the three top-performing campaigns when it comes to electronic mail open charges all had the identical topic line:

That’s proper: between Marketing campaign A and Marketing campaign E, they managed to extend their open price by 12.5%, simply by eradicating the phrase “fast” for the topic line!

Earlier than you begin your individual topic line split-test, bear in mind to not change the opposite components that have an effect on electronic mail open charges (particularly the e-mail preheader and sender title — extra on them later). That means, you will be certain any adjustments you see to the open price are right down to the topic line alone.

The electronic mail preheader is a snippet of textual content that seems subsequent to or beneath an electronic mail topic line, relying in your machine and inbox supplier. Confusingly, it’s often known as the Johnson Field or preview textual content. However no matter you name it, you should utilize it to extend your open price by reinforcing or increasing in your topic line messaging.

For instance, Sensi Graves Swim used the topic line to advertise limited-availability merchandise, then elevated the sensation of shortage with a preheader explaining there have been “just one or two” left in inventory:

Take a look at completely different sender names

We’ve coated topic traces and preheaders, however there’s one other — often-overlooked — component that may have a huge impact on electronic mail open charges: the e-mail sender title.

Must you use your model title, like on this instance…

…or select a private title plus your model title to create a extra human really feel?

There’s loads of proof to counsel small adjustments to your sender title can yield large impacts, with one group reporting 50% increased open charges after including an actual particular person to its sender names.

However the easy reply is: you received’t know the fitting method on your model and viewers till you take a look at it your self.

Professional tip: For greatest outcomes, take a look at topic traces, preheaders, and sender names to seek out the mixture that delivers the very best open charges.

Objective: Get extra clicks

Construct emails round one CTA

When brainstorming electronic mail advertising and marketing concepts, it’s best to establish one clear “objective” for every electronic mail you ship. Use that objective to create a single CTA that prompts readers to take the specified motion.

Add conflicting calls-to-action to an electronic mail and also you danger leaving folks confused — which implies fewer clicks and conversions.

Adobe acquired it proper on this electronic mail, which was solely geared towards driving downloads of a particular piece of content material:

The shortage of “noise” will increase the probabilities of folks clicking and downloading.

Use unfavourable area in electronic mail design

Some emails make you are feeling such as you’ve acquired a migraine.

I’m not speaking about that out-of-the-blue message out of your boss asking if you happen to’ve acquired time for a “fast chat”.

As a substitute, I imply these advertising and marketing emails which can be full of completely different GIFs, colours, fonts, pictures, emojis, and different visible bells and whistles.

In the case of electronic mail design, much less is extra. Create extra impactful emails by utilizing unfavourable area (often known as “white area”): empty areas in an electronic mail that assist different design components to face out.

This instance from Codecademy is an train in electronic mail design restraint, with the wealth of unfavourable area naturally drawing your eye towards the supply and the CTA button:

Professional tip: Undecided the place to start out with electronic mail design? Don’t fear, as a result of AWeber has a library of 600+ customizable electronic mail templates to encourage your subsequent marketing campaign.

Describe how your product will change the reader’s life

In a world that’s obsessive about audio and visible content material, it’s simple to miss the significance of electronic mail copywriting.

However the phrases in your emails play a key function in serving to would-be prospects image what their lives could be like after shopping for your services or products. Which, in flip, makes them extra prone to click on by to study extra.

SectionSchool makes use of this tactic in our subsequent instance:

The e-mail copy encourages readers to think about themselves after three months of studying with Part and spells out the advantages they’ll anticipate. It’s precisely the kind of messaging that may resonate with somebody fascinated with self-improvement.

Professional tip: As a basic rule, your electronic mail copy ought to include a number of “you” and “your”, and never a lot “we” or “our”. Keep in mind, it’s all in regards to the buyer, not you.

Objective: Nurture leads

Present customized product suggestions

Client expectations round personalization are rising, with 73% of respondents to a 2022 survey anticipating manufacturers to grasp their distinctive wants and expectations, up from 66% in 2020.

Which suggests some of the efficient electronic mail advertising and marketing concepts for nurturing leads is to offer customized product suggestions.

Baggage and equipment model Bellroy evidently understands this. On this electronic mail, it rounded up a bunch of related merchandise based mostly on the recipient’s looking and shopping for conduct:

Importantly, Bellroy made it clear that these weren’t generic suggestions by utilizing phrases like:

• Only for you
• Customized to your tastes
• Your picks
• Hand-picked

As a result of why go to all the difficulty of offering dynamic product suggestions if you happen to’re not going to inform folks about it?

Share related content material

E-mail personalization isn’t nearly introducing your viewers to merchandise they could love. It’s additionally about pointing them within the course of content material they’ll discover attention-grabbing or helpful (or, ideally, each).

For instance, think about you’re an HR supervisor trying to get extra worth out of your group’s studying and improvement spend.

Throughout your analysis, you join Filtered’s electronic mail listing, however you’re not fairly able to request a product demo.

Then you definately obtain this electronic mail:

There’s an excellent likelihood you’d be part of the webinar to study extra. Which, in flip, makes it extra doubtless that Filtered will likely be entrance of thoughts if you’re prepared to purchase.

Have fun milestones

Milestones are a tailored alternative to nurture leads (and perhaps persuade them to buy one thing). There are numerous varieties of milestones, together with:

• Buyer / lead birthdays
• Firm birthdays
• Anniversaries since a particular person motion (reminiscent of subscribing to your publication)

Our subsequent instance, from language studying platform Busuu, demonstrates how milestone emails can be utilized to encourage a result in improve from a freemium product to a paid account:

Busuu primarily makes use of the three-month “anniversary” as an excuse to supply an enormous low cost off its premium plans.

Objective: Enhance sign-ups

Ship referral emails

If I inform you to purchase one thing, you’ll in all probability assume: “Why ought to I hearken to this man? I don’t even know him. And the way did he get my cellphone quantity?”

But when your mother or your accomplice or your greatest buddy recommends a services or products, there’s a good likelihood you’ll pay attention. In reality, customers belief referrals greater than some other channel: 

• Referrals (trusted by 40% of respondents)
• TV adverts (31%)
• Influencer suggestions (1%)

For that cause, referral emails are some of the efficient methods to extend sign-ups for a web based course, occasion, or webinar. But when they’re going to ship the specified outcomes, that you must provide you with incentives for each the referrer and the particular person they’re referring, similar to on-line coaching firm GeeksforGeeks.

The model constructed a easy however efficient referral scheme that rewarded each events:

• The referred buyer acquired a ten% low cost on any GeeksforGeeks course
• The referrer earned a 5% fee on the sale

That’s an actual win-win.

Tease new course content material

Simply as an ecommerce firm may launch a brand new product to spice up gross sales, on-line course sellers can drive sign-ups by introducing and selling new course content material.

In our subsequent instance, the Content material Advertising Institute teased its new content material advertising and marketing certification, created in partnership with the American Advertising Affiliation:

Don’t fear if you happen to don’t fancy studying all that duplicate, as a result of it principally says: this new course is launching quickly, signal as much as get notified when it drops.

Objective: Enhance buyer retention

Run win-back campaigns

Between 2013 and 2022, the common ecommerce buyer acquisition price rose by a staggering 222%, so retaining prospects has by no means been extra vital.

Which brings us neatly to win-back campaigns. Also referred to as re-engagement or reactivation campaigns, they may help you retain maintain of leads or prospects who’ve stopped partaking along with your emails or shopping for your merchandise.

There are numerous varieties of win-back campaigns, however some of the impactful is the last-chance electronic mail, which principally forces prospects to choose again into your advertising and marketing listing. In the event that they don’t, they’ll be unsubscribed, in order that they’ll cease spoiling your electronic mail engagement metrics.

Let’s have a look at a last-chance electronic mail instance from short-term tattoo model Tattly:

Certain, this feels form of counterintuitive: why would you encourage subscribers to go away your advertising and marketing listing?

However when somebody chooses to remain subscribed, that’s a transparent signal they’re fascinated with what you must say. And bear in mind: it’s higher to have a smaller pool of engaged prospects than a large listing full of people that barely bear in mind your title.

Reiterate your worth proposition

The shoppers you’re attempting to retain appreciated you sufficient to purchase from one as soon as upon a time. With a delicate reminder of why you’re so wonderful, they is likely to be persuaded to do it once more.

Magnificence model AILLEA reveals us what that reminder may seem like:

First up, this electronic mail reiterates the model’s worth proposition, which is all about serving to prospects develop a extra sustainable, eco-friendly magnificence routine.

AILLEA goes on to ask the recipient two questions which can be instantly associated to its worth proposition:

By doing this, it subtly encourages the recipient to think about why they could wish to store with AILLEA. This messaging is supported by CTAs that immediate prospects to browse the model’s collections.

It’s all about persuading folks to take one other have a look at the AILLEA retailer, the place they’ll hopefully discover one thing they love.

Ask for suggestions

There are two methods to determine why a buyer has stopped partaking along with your emails, utilizing your product, or shopping for from you:

1. Seek the advice of a soothsayer
2. Ask them

Personally, I want choice #2.

Asking for buyer suggestions has a pair large advantages for manufacturers:

• Clients like being requested for suggestions (offered you act on it). 4 in 5 customers say they really feel extra loyal to manufacturers that reply to and resolve their complaints.
• Even when a buyer leaves, you’ll be able to study from their expertise. Discover out what put them off about your product or advertising and marketing — and repair it.

Right here’s a textbook buyer survey electronic mail instance from dairy model Tillamook:

Tillamook will get three issues proper on this electronic mail:

• It tells the recipient what’s anticipated of them (i.e. answering three questions)
• It clearly states the aim of the survey (discovering out if recipients discover the model’s emails helpful and attention-grabbing)
• It guarantees some kind of profit (utilizing the suggestions to ship higher content material)

Keep on with this system to get extra responses out of your suggestions emails.

Profitable electronic mail advertising and marketing requires the non-public contact

Whether or not you’re encouraging a brand new electronic mail subscriber to make their first buy, asking current prospects to advocate you to their family and friends, or attempting to cease a beforehand loyal buyer from leaving, one factor applies:

You stand a much better likelihood of success if you happen to communicate to folks as people.

What are their ache factors? What do they like about your product? What would persuade them to carry out the specified motion proper now?

That kind of customized messaging is unimaginable to ship with out the fitting electronic mail advertising and marketing platform.

With AWeber, you should utilize tags and customized fields to create dynamic segments that replace mechanically based mostly on particular person buyer actions like: 

• Shopping a product web page
• Making a purchase order
• Opening a particular electronic mail

That means, you’ll be able to ship the fitting electronic mail content material to the fitting particular person precisely once they want it, which might improve your profitability and gross sales.

See for your self by signing up for a free AWeber account.
Get began right here!