Find the Right Option to Get Your Message Out
There are several different types of email marketing messages you can send. Looking to reengage past customers or those who abandoned their shopping carts? Want to send customers a link to your newest video tutorial? Or keep them up to date on product upgrades?
An email can do all that, and then some. You first need to consider your strategy and goals before deciding on the type of email and its content.
You have several choices regarding the various types of email marketing:
Welcome / Thank You
- Welcome – after someone subscribes to your list, send them a dazzling, thoughtful welcome email that also thanks them for signing up. They might be new to your brand so let them know about your core values and that you’re excited to be starting a relationship with them. You can also offer them a coupon or free trial to thank them for subscribing.
Welcome emails also get excellent open and click-through rates according to the creative skills experts at Envato Tuts+:
Tutorial / Informational / Newsletter
- Tutorial / Educational – did you just release a new product and want to let people know how it works and can help them? Make an educational video, put it on your website, then send an email with a link to the video.
- Informational – these are great for letting customers know about upgrades, webinars, upcoming sales and events, website redesigns and new features, etc.
- Newsletter – if you write a lot of blog articles for your site, send a weekly or monthly newsletter email with links to your latest posts. Use some space on the email to highlight a sale, new product, upgrade or service.
Here’s a great newsletter I get every day:
While it’s heavy on the copy it has a stark, eye-catching logo and the writer, Dave Pell, comes up with some hysterical headlines and observations.
Get Content and Ideas from Customers
- User Generated Content – outdoor sports e-tailer Austin Canoe & Kayak (ACK) lets customers submit their photos for consideration to be published on the ACK website. This serves several purposes, provides content for the brand’s story and builds brand loyalty. It’s also a great way to collect email addresses during the photo submission / opt-in process. You can try this on your site, then send a monthly email with the best photo and story behind it.
Products, Upgrades and More
- New product announcement – let everyone know about your latest and greatest. Showcase it with an interesting graphic and concise copy. Design a clear, user-friendly CTA that links to the new product’s landing page.
- Product upgrade – again, use a compelling image to showcase the new feature. If you’re constantly releasing upgrades maybe send an upgrade roundup say every two weeks or once a month so you’re not inundating customers with too many emails.
- Services highlight – for companies with several services you can highlight one service (with smaller mentions of the others) in a weekly or monthly email, then choose another service to highlight for the next send.
Bring Customers Back
- Reengagement – if a customer hasn’t purchased from you in a while an email campaign is a great way to remind them about your products and services.
Here’s a funny reengagement email sent by Dropbox:
- Shopping Cart Abandonment – if someone has browsed your site, put items in their cart but never completed the purchase you can send them a friendly reminder and offer them an incentive, maybe free shipping or a discount, to go back to your website.
Here’s how Birchbox follows up on visitors who abandoned their shopping carts:
Order Progress, Anniversary and More
- Thank you – thank customers for their business whenever they buy something from you. Use these emails as an opportunity to show them other products or services, similar to what they bought, that they might also be interested in.
- Order progress – keep customers notified about the progress of their order. Let them know when it shipped and, if possible, expected delivery date.
- Anniversary – you could do two things with these: customer-focused or company-focused. For customers, send them an anniversary email thanking them for being with you for however long it’s been. It’s a thoughtful way of letting them know you appreciate their business. Or, if your company just hit a milestone you can let customers know you’re celebrating x amount of years in business.
Here’s a great anniversary email from Uber that also uses personalized information many clients would find interesting:
This is by no means a definitive list. You can send emails for a variety of reasons but make sure you stick to deadlines and your strategy. You also need to take into account the volume of sends and make sure you’re not inundating customers with too many emails.
Bombarding people could lead to a negative brand experience and people unsubscribing from your list in droves.
Quick Links – Here’s What We’re Covering:
What is Email Marketing and How Does It Work?
How to Create an Email Marketing Strategy Plan
How a Retargeting Strategy Works with Email
What is an Email Service Provider?
TAKE 5 MEDIA GROUP – DIGITAL MARKETING EXPERTS
Since our founding in 2003, email marketing has been a cornerstone of Take 5 Media Group. We’re also a leading compiler of consumer information and experts at building audiences based on demographics, lifestyle changes, intent to buy and more.
We then use our innovative marketing channels, that include email, content and influencer marketing, geo-fencing, social media and display ad retargeting, to get your message to these highly-targeted audiences.
To find out more about us, call Take 5 Media Group, Boca Raton, Florida, 561-819-5555, in New York at 917-201-7451 or visit our website at Take5mg.com.