Emails are one of the most effective marketing channels, with an average 20-25% open rate. In other words, email can transform potential prospects into customers.
Not only that, sending promotional emails or newsletters to customers regularly will also help to gain loyal customers. Customers who purchase marketing products via email spend 138% more than customers who have not received promotional emails.
Let’s learn more about the concept of promotional emails and learn the best practices for writing the most effective marketing emails.
What is a promotional email?
Promotional emails are emails used by companies to promote their products, services, offers, and activities. Unlike transactional emails that notify customers of orders or account information, promotional emails are usually designed to turn subscribers into customers and customers into brand advocates. Promotional emails can take many forms, such as weekly newsletters, promotional announcements, and customer retention emails. In a study by SaleCycle, more than 50% of respondents stated that they purchase products through marketing emails once a month.
Using well-written promotional emails, it doesn’t take much to convince potential customers to buy from you again and again. Writing promotional emails to produce a high conversion rate is the key to improving email conversion rates, and good e-commerce brands know this well.
Let’s see how to get similar results using one type of promotional email at a time. Here are seven types of promotional emails to master!
- Limited-Time Offers:
No one wants to miss a good opportunity. By creating a sense of urgency and triggering the fear of missing out (FOMO), limited-time offers prompt consumers to make quick decisions about potential purchases. It works well for converting potential customers on the spot, and you need to make sure that your campaign attracts as many potential customers as possible within a limited time. Combined with website pop-ups, email marketing is the best method.
Many e-commerce brands will make a limited-time sale, usually for a day or an entire weekend. Although it works for many people, weekend promotions do not always trigger action immediately (after all, the more time we have to complete a task, the more likely we are to delay). A few marketers know that free shipping is an equally powerful incentive, or even more through discounts.
- Sales Promotion Emails:
If you are selling a great product and want to introduce it to the world, email may be the best channel for you. Since your subscribers have already shown interest in your brand by signing up for your email list, promoting your next or current sale is a great way to convert them to customers.
Although you may want to promote your sales all the time, keep in mind that this may annoy your potential customers and increase your unsubscribe rate.
- Subscriber-Special Offers:
Your potential customers are at different stages of their buying journey. Although first-time visitors to your website may need more information before buying from you, special discount codes may be very effective for potential customers already on your email list. Incentives will not only turn them into customers but also turn them into brand ambassadors.
- Product Launch Emails:
Whether you are preparing to release a new book, article, or product line, product launches are exciting. Still, more importantly, product launches will arouse curiosity, attract your email list and maintain your brand. With product launch emails, you can promote your new product from the beginning.
Whatever you are launching, you must get to the point and invite potential customers to return to your website for more information.
- New Arrival Emails:
Although products are not released every day, new items are a good excuse for e-retailers to promote their products while interacting with their email lists. Discounting newly arrived products could risk reducing their perceived value; however, advertising a new and exciting product in the right way will attract people’s attention simply because it’s new and exciting.
- Seasonal Campaigns:
These can be huge! Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, or any holiday you just invented. There is always a holiday right in front of you, waiting for you to take advantage of it. Seasonal marketing campaigns can attract new potential customers to your website and help attract existing subscribers. For example, providing holiday gift guides during the peak holiday season is an excellent strategy to guide potential customers to make better purchasing decisions and an ingenious way to promote products.
If you don’t sell cheerful products or want to maintain the Christmas spirit throughout the year, find a day in your niche to celebrate and make it your own.
- Giveaway Emails:
Giveaways are great for collecting potential customers, increasing engagement and sales, and promoting products, but how you promote your gifts is just as important as the prizes you provide.
Try to add some mystery to your giveaway email and invite subscribers to return to your website. Include any interaction possible, have them play a game, or create a wish list for entries. People want to be entertained, and if they can win a prize while doing it, that’s even better.
Components to Have in Your Promotional Emails:
Let’s look at some of the more essential components that should be considered when putting any of your promotional emails together.
Ensure your promotional emails are sufficient to attract subscribers to open and interact with them. Your main goal is to get your recipient to make a purchase.
Here are a few components to include when designing a great promotional email for your next email marketing campaign.
- Include the sender’s name
Due to the increase in cyber-attacks, people will be suspicious of emails if there is a problem with the sender’s identity. Even if it’s not opened, it will be deleted or moved to the spam folder. According to Convince & Convert, 43% of email recipients place emails in spam folders based on the email address or sender’s name. Including your brand name in the email will help the recipient know that it’s not spam but an important message from you.
You can include your company name (e.g. Old Route 66 Wellness) or make it more personal by adding the word “Team” (e.g Old Route 66 Wellness Team). If you have multiple email marketing campaigns, you can name each campaign, such as Old Route 66 Wellness Marketing Team, Old Route 66 Wellness Sales Team, etc. The best way to attract attention is to add a personal note using the name of the representative, the company’s name, and its reputation. It doesn’t matter what method you take. Ensuring that the recipient thinks your email is trustworthy and doesn’t mark it as spam is the goal.
- Keep the subject line concise
Invesp CRO recently discovered that 47% of email recipients only open emails based on the subject line. That means that if the subject line of your email isn’t worded correctly, your open rate will drop dramatically. Your subject line should be concise and should provide the most information with the fewest words. In addition, the open rate of emails with 6-10 terms in the subject line is close to 21%. However, another Nectafy study found that a topic should have up to four words. In addition, the subject line of your email is the first thing users read. They should be curious about opening emails and reading the content provided in them.
- Personalized subject line
According to research conducted by Campaign Monitor, emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened than emails with general subjects. The best way to personalize your email is to add the recipient’s name.
For example, (Chris), this is your unique discount for Black Friday.
When you add names, it makes them feel special. It shows that you understand your customers and are willing to go one step further and provide them with the best shopping experience. In other words, personalization plays a huge role in the performance of your promotional emails.
- Prevent your promotional emails from becoming spam
Subject lines with certain words, such as Jackpot, Upsell Offer, etc., are often suspected of being spam. Today, many ISPs filter emails as spam and put them directly into the spam folder without showing them in the inbox. In addition, recipients will not think twice about marking these promotional emails as spam. Even after voluntarily subscribing to email lists, people today may send spam. A study shows that 57% of people will mark the sender as spam if they receive too many emails or think it contains irrelevant content. That is why you should also monitor the frequency of promotional emails. When new users subscribe to your list, ask them how often they would like to hear from you. This will help you determine if you should send emails monthly or weekly.
- Use graphic content
It is undeniable that visual effects are more attractive than plain text. In addition, graphics can deliver content quickly and efficiently, so including some images in promotional emails is a good idea to make it more visually appealing.
- Check your email before sending
It seems obvious, but you should check your email before sending it. Grammatical errors or typos will leave the wrong impression on the reader. Poorly written content can reduce your credibility and damage your brand. Multiple tools, such as Grammarly, and the Hemingway app, allow you to check the content for grammar and spelling errors.
These apps also provide readability scores for the content, ensuring that what you have written is conveyed in the best way possible.
Finally, the most important thing to do before you start creating promotional emails is to define your goals-this is the only goal you want to achieve with a particular email. Having a plan will help you focus on the key actions you want your readers to take to convert them to customers.
Not all email promotions need to focus on sales. Sometimes you have to provide something to help cultivate your relationship with your subscribers.
Remember to use powerful emojis and text to create eye-catching subject lines and use persuasive triggers to drive potential customers to take action. Writing promotional emails with high conversion rates can be difficult, but you can create engaging email campaigns and grow your brand with these tips.
Happy writing.