Finding email marketing examples to follow takes a lot of work.
But it’s essential to find a way to engage with your readers and promote your products.
You need to know which type of email campaign to compose and when.
So, we curated this list.
We subscribed to email lists, so you don’t have to and narrowed it down to the top 9 best email marketing examples.
Our post explains why each email stands out and offers 8 tips to help you achieve your lucrative email marketing strategy.
Are you ready to stimulate a successful campaign?
Read on!
What is an Email Marketing Campaign — Definition & Purpose
Email marketing campaigns are marketing strategies where emails sent gain leads and turn readers into customers.
The purpose is to build familiarity and trust with your subscribers through marketing automation. Thus creating a marketing funnel that will segment and target your desired customers.
9 Top Email Marketing Examples (& Why They Are So Powerful)
On any given day, your inbox can be full of emails reminding you of an email campaign you might want to unsubscribe from or delete.
Yet every so often, you come across a great example that stands out.
But how do you create these emails?
We picked 9 email campaigns that reflect the best email marketing examples to follow and emulate.
We’ll show you examples of transactional, relational and promotional emails.
All campaigns have a time and place to be used, but first, the examples…
1. LinkedIn
Type of Email:
Relational email — thank you promotion.
Email Intention:
The primary purpose is to gain leads by turning existing subscribers into buyers.
What Makes This Email Standout:
- Everyone likes to feel appreciated, and the top of the email newsletter states, “Thanks for being part of the LinkedIn community – we’re so glad you’re here.”
- We all like free things — the perfect engagement from a company is to offer something free as a thank you for being a “loyal subscriber.”
- CTA (Call to Action) is attractive and uses branded colors to stand out.
2. Paramount
Type of Email:
Promotional email — re-engagement with the customer.
Email Intention:
The primary purpose of the email campaign is to offer a personalized sale to regain a lost customer.
What Makes This Email Standout:
- Being offered a sale of 50% off is enticing, and if they left because of cost, this might be enough incentive to re-join.
- The visual flashing sign at the top is eye-catching and bold.
- There are several embedded CTA buttons, which will direct customers to their website if they click on the email almost anywhere.
3. Eyebuydirect
Type of Email:
Transactional email — seasonal limited time sale.
Email Intention:
The primary purpose of the marketing campaign is to create a sense of urgency. The business wants customers to act upon a time-limited sale (Black Friday) and make a purchase.
What Makes This Email Standout:
- A large countdown clock at the top creates a sense of urgency.
- Rich, colorful photos that rotate under the countdown clock, demonstrating the products worn by various cultures and genders. It’s appealing and offers a “virtual try-on” before purchasing.
- A clever CTA at the bottom, “Still thinking about it,” to entice customers who haven’t clicked yet or might be wavering on price or purchase.
4. Canva
Type of Email:
Relational email — educational marketing campaign.
Email Intention:
The primary purpose is to share tips to help users learn how to use their tool. It adds an element of engagement and gets readers to return to their site, thus creating a loyal customer base.
What Makes This Email Standout:
- The skill level needed varies for each user, and Canva has a brilliant marketing campaign to educate each user and help them succeed using their tool.
- Simplicity that nurtures and attracts subscribers’ attention.
- It uses a CTA to show how to implement the tips.
5. Starbucks
Type of Email:
Promotional email — time limited sale.
Email Intention:
The primary purpose is to create a sense of urgency by nudging email subscribers to complete their purchases.
Also, Starbucks has added another element by giving subscribers rewards for their transactions.
What Makes This Email Standout:
- A single image with light colors on the background draws the reader in and has them thinking about that coffee.
- A large contrasting CTA button is like a beacon to readers — encourages them to click and sign up for the membership.
- The date range is given to create a sense of urgency.
6. McDonald’s
Type of Email:
Promotional email — mobile app engagement.
Email Intention:
The primary purpose of the marketing strategy is to convert subscribers into buyers by downloading the McDonald’s app.
What Makes This Email Standout:
- A simplistic email draws the reader’s attention to the product, using lots of white space and relevant images.
- Offers free food to entice subscribers to sign up for the app.
- Scheduled email to arrive in your inbox at lunchtime to increase sales.
7. Audible
Type of Email:
Transactional email — order confirmation and cross-selling to subscribers.
Email Intention:
The primary purpose is to give email subscribers a visual receipt of their purchase and cross-sell relevant items.
What Makes This Email Standout:
- The CTA button, “start listening,” at the top allows readers to easily click and start their book.
- The simplistic layout draws the reader’s attention to the primary points in the email.
- Strategically places other product suggestions to encourage cross-selling.
8. Sephora
Type of Email:
Relational email — birthday email sent on the subscriber’s birthday, offering a free gift.
Email Intention:
The primary purpose is personalized email marketing to acknowledge the subscribers’ birthday and offer a free birthday gift. It creates a connection between the business and the email subscriber.
What Makes This Email Standout:
- Birthday emails have generated 342% more revenue per email, and have a 179% higher unique click rate — a huge marketing campaign win!
- Personalization with the subscribers’ names creates a bond and sense of connection.
- The image is the primary focus of the email — a bright and colorful visual of gift choices.
9. Medium
Type of Email:
Relational email — welcome campaign.
Email Intention:
The primary purpose is to thank subscribers for signing up for the email list with a recap of what they get.
What Makes This Email Standout:
- It states “1 of 4 welcome emails,” showing readers there is more to come and learn about the membership.
- It eliminates all distractions and draws the readers to the benefits by opting for a simplistic background.
- Contrasting green CTA button at the bottom of the email to draw the readers in and encourage them to click.
8 Top Tips For A Lucrative Email Marketing Campaign
We’ve explored the ten best email marketing examples, so let’s dive deeper and see the 8 steps needed to create your own lucrative email marketing campaign.
1. Pick a Goal To Focus On
Each marketing campaign will have a different goal, depending on what outcome you’re trying to achieve.
Whether you’re welcoming a potential customer, email subscribers, sending abandoned cart emails or cleaning up an inactive subscriber, picking your goal is the first step.
Essentially, you need to determine what outcome you have in mind.
For example, you may be a new company trying to build your email list, nurture leads and build relationships with your customers.
So, sending a new subscriber, birthday, or referral email is just some of the starting emails a new company should include to the target audience they are trying to reach.
Yet, your primary goal should always be to develop a connection with your audience. You’ll need to show the readers you can be a source of trusted information; only then will they become loyal.
2. Talk to Your Subscribers and Advance Them Down the Marketing Funnel
Talking to your subscribers about your business allows you to build rapport and advance subscribers down the email marketing funnel.
Your first email should be the welcome email and is your one shot at making that big first impression.
So, you want to appeal to every subscriber on the email list, but not in a sales pitch way. You are making that first contact to thank them and impress them.
As Aman states, “welcome emails have the highest open rate.”
So it’s imperative to get it right.
After that initial welcome email, subscribers will continue to open your emails and newsletters as they will be informative and beneficial to them.
You are creating the marketing funnel where you cultivate the relationship until the subscriber is ready to buy.
Furthermore, regardless of your subscriber’s stage in the marketing funnel, you should deliver content they find valuable. This indirect approach will build trust with your readership and boost open rates.
Plus, when they are loyal subscribers, they share it with family, friends and social media.
Word of mouth is your golden key!
3. Personalise Emails With Your Subscriber’s Name
Everyone wants to feel special in some form, so having personalized emails in your inbox grabs your attention.
How often have you breezed over an email with a generic Mr./Ms./Mrs.?
It demonstrates a lack of customer knowledge and could be considered spam.
So, use your subscriber’s chosen name, speak directly to them and keep them engaged with your content.
After all, creating a reason for them to open your email will lead to higher click-through rates. Statistic show 84% of users will share their data for a more personal experience.
Given such a high rate — it’s a wonder why more companies don’t personalize their emails.
Their loss is your gain, as you just have to create personalized emails!
4. Enchant Them With Relevant Images
When someone opens an email, they don’t want to stare at white screens filled with black text. They want to be wowed and encouraged to scroll. They need a reason to pause on your email.
But a white screen filled with text would bore most. Email readers are scanning; they will likely delete and unsubscribe without anything to pizzazz or engage them.
So, captivate your readers with color and style through fun images and fonts.
For example, include relevant images to captivate your readers and show a product launch, new features or specials you are having.
Offering a clear, crisp image will charm readers and arouse their interest to know more. They will want to read about the product or marketing campaign.
In simple terms, it’s like the kid in a candy shop. They want the most prominent and brightest candy. Children are captivated by the shiny candy, just as your readers are by your images.
5. Optimize For Mobile
We are in a time when almost everyone has a mobile device of some sort that they use to check their social media and emails, plus communicate with work, friends, and loved ones.
Since nearly everyone has a screen, from kids to seniors, you should optimize emails for computers, tablets, phones, etc.
After all, as Greg Hickman pointed out, 65% of marketing emails get opened first on a mobile device. That’s a high open rate!
So, follow this quick video to learn how to optimize your emails for mobile devices today!
6. Your Subject Line is Crucial
One of the most crucial parts of marketing emails is the subject line, as it could make or break the open rates of your marketing campaign.
So, ensure it’s short, sweet, and clearly beneficial to the reader. You can even add an element of curiosity.
For example, let’s say you offer a productivity class and want to encourage subscribers to sign up. Your subject line could be:
“Stop wasting time on mindless work.”
There is a clear benefit; it intrigues the reader to open the email.
Furthermore, you don’t want it to be truncated and have the reader miss your message.
So, check with your Email Service Provider (ESP) to see your character limit.
With an attention-grabbing subject line and a mobile-optimized email design, you’ve almost constructed perfect marketing emails.
7. End Your Email with an Enticing Offer
The enticing offer or CTA is the last piece to add to the perfect email marketing strategy.
You’re missing a valuable opportunity if you create an email with just knowledge and no follow-up.
So, give subscribers a reason to click through to your website or landing page by creating a clear CTA with contrasting colors to ensure it stands out.
For example, you could use a primary CTA such as signing up for a service, more information on a product hunt, clicking through to your webpage, social media, etc.
Then as shown in the examples above, you could use secondary CTA’s to further prompt subscribers that aren’t quite ready to convert to being a customer yet.
8. Use Email Marketing Templates
An email marketing template is pre-made. It gives you a starting point for any email you want to send, saving you time and energy for other tasks — like running your business.
Furthermore, all email templates consist of reusable code, where you copy and paste your content, links or images, and then an email is created for you.
So, there is no need for hours of creating or hiring it out to others with a technical or graphic design background.
Equally, when you use a ready-made template, email marketing can be less stressful, and you can become more efficient and consistent in customer engagement.
There are several options for an email template that all have the same goal in mind.
To give you the gift of time.
Email Marketing Examples That Inspire Confidence
The essence of email marketing examples is to increase email subscribers and convert leads to sales.
But gaining sales can only happen after your company has established trust with their readers.
By connecting with current and potential customers around the globe, you build that trust and gain followers and email subscribers.
Engage with readers, so they will want to know more about you and your company.
Then you can promote your products seamlessly through the emails you send.
You might initially feel overwhelmed, but your email campaigns will thrive if you follow the steps above.
You just need to take the bull by the horns and start today!
