As far as technology has progressed, email marketing is still the most effective way to keep in touch with your target customers. It allows you to stay at the forefront of their thoughts so they can respond to what you are offering at the right time. Just as a successful email marketing strategy has many different components, writing a solid promotional email has many moving parts. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know to create promotional emails that get results. We will discuss:
- What promotional email is and when to use it.
- Things to consider before writing your promotional email.
- Tips and best practices for designing your emails.
- Examples of promotional emails to use as inspiration for your own.
P.S. If you are also looking for network email tips and templates, we have a post for that. And if you’re looking for follow-up email templates, we’ve got a post for that too.
Reading: How to create an email advertisement
What are promotional emails?
Promotional emails are just that as they sound: a marketing email written to your target audience – whether customers, leads, or subscribers – with information about a promotion you’re running. You can create promotional emails for almost any offer you offer:
- Time-limited offers.
- Subscriber or customer exclusive offers.
- Seasonal or holiday offers.
- Product launches.
- New arrivals.
- Welcome offers for new subscribers/customers.
- Contests and giveaways.
- Free content such as e-books, white papers, guides, infographics, and more.
- All other special offers, such as buy one, get one, refer a friend, coupons, and promo codes.
I will provide examples of the many types of promotional emails throughout this guide and at the end.
Promotional emails are effective because, firstly, email First of all, mail marketing is very effective:
- 91% of consumers open their emails every day.
- 58% of consumers check their emails before sending anything do other.
- Brands get a 42x return on investment of the amount they invest in email marketing.
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Second d, everyone loves a promotion. So when you add the two together, you see that promotional email is a winning marketing strategy:
- 68% of millennials say promotional email has influenced their purchasing decisions.
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- 76% of email subscribers made a purchase through an email marketing message.
Before you start writing your promotional emails
As effective as email promotions can be, you can’t just throw one together and expect that you get results. There are general email marketing best practices that you should follow, as well as some guidelines specific to promotional email that you should definitely consider. Let’s start with some basic steps you need to take before you even start writing your email.
Decide what you want to promote
Before you even start the Start outlining your email (what you should do). do each time), you need to decide what the subject is. What do you offer the reader? Whether it’s a limited-time discount, webinar, free eBook, or rewards program, whatever you’re promoting will determine how you craft the entire email.
Identify why you promote it
Now that you know what you are promoting, it’s time to ask yourself why. For example, you might offer some free content to drive leads further down your sales/marketing funnel, or host a webinar to launch your new product and generate sales. Identifying your goal will help determine your email wording, position, and audience.
Example goals include:
- Bring back inactive customers.
- Increase sales for a specific product or service.
- Improve audience engagement.
- Generate more traffic to your website.
- Increase brand awareness in a specific industry or niche within your target audience.
- Reduce churn.
Target your target audience
Once you’ve figured out what you’re promoting and why, it’s time to determine your audience. Sending the same promotional email to your entire audience is not recommended, as trying to target all readers will water down your message.
Send them to a select few instead, or segment your list so you can deliver targeted messages for each segment. The way you describe the offer to new customers you’re trying to move through your sales funnel is different than the way you describe it to existing customers you’re trying to get repeat business from. If you know your target audience in advance, you can write a more effective email.
Tips for writing your promotional email
Once you have the framework for your promotional email Once you’ve set up Mail, you’re ready to start making your copy and setting up your delivery. The following tips will help you maximize your open and engagement rates.
Focus on utility/value
Be careful not to over-focus on the promotion and its features at the expense of its benefits. Ideally, the link to your offer will take readers to a landing page that describes the features and terms of the promotion in more detail. The text of the promotional email itself should make it clear why this promotion is of value to the reader and the ultimate benefits.
Send from a person
In addition to the subject line, the “From” field can have a significant impact on whether your promotional emails are opened, ignored, or moved to the trash Container. Use your name (or that of a teammate) instead of your company name to add a more personal touch. People like to read other people’s emails, but be sure to test this out, as preferences vary from audience to audience.
See also: 39 Ways to Increase Traffic to Your Website
If you’re sending the promotional email from someone, make sure attach signature to an attractive and professional e-mail. This should include the company’s name and position, as well as company contact information, if applicable, social media addresses, and a photo. This adds a nice personal touch to your promotional emails and helps your readers feel more connected to your brand.
Introduce your promotion in the subject line
Did you know that 47% of emails are opened based only on the subject line? However, when including your ad in the subject line, try to be memorable, conversational, and persuasive. However, be aware that some words and phrases may trigger spam detectors and send your email to your readers’ spam folder (e.g. marked “free”, “FREE”, or “100% free”). Here’s an example of a compelling subject line for a promotional email from Shutterfly:
Use preheader text
Email users see three layers of information before they send an email Open mail: sender name, subject line and preheader text. Although it’s only a few words (between 40 and 130 characters), the preheader text can have the ultimate impact on whether a reader opens your email. Use this limited space to provide a key detail about the promotion that will clarify the purpose of the email and attract readers. Preheader text appears in different forms depending on the email client and device you’re using. Sometimes it appears below the subject line and sometimes right after it, like the Shutterfly example we just used:
In some cases, preheader text can also appear in the promotional email itself, like in the example below, but not always.
If you don’t have the option to fill out the preheader text field, your email client will normally indent the first 40-50 characters of the email So make sure the first few characters of your email are engaging and give the reader a reason to keep investing their time.
Highlight your header
The header is the first thing a consumer sees when they open your promotional email, so make sure it’s clean, professional and is appealing. You could use a simple, standard header with your logo, company name, and brand colors; or leave space for text to include the name of the promotion.
You may even want to include the CTA directly in the email header, as we sometimes do:
Split e-mail text
Depending on the offer of your promotional e-mail, the text can be of different lengths. Regardless, a wall of text is a surefire way to get the reader to click the “X” and delete the email. Keep your promotional email text short and break up longer blocks of text with images, links, or bullet points to make it easier for your readers to digest.
Add a call-to-action
First and foremost, you must include a loud (but not offensive) and clear call to action in your promotional email. The most effective promotional emails have a nice flow that guides your readers to the desired action.
The CTA at the end of your promotional email isn’t necessary as long as it’s clear and easy to spot:
You can also paste the CTA twice if the email is long enough. This way the option is always visible even after the reader has scrolled.
Add visuals
No email is complete without captivating and engaging images. Instead of using the same stock photos that every company in your industry uses, try using your own photos. Or create graphics with free and easy-to-use platforms like Canva. It doesn’t take much time, it’s an easy way to authenticate your brand and also helps break up the text.
Just don’t overdo it. Your promotional email should be engaging but not overwhelming, and the images should complement, not distract from, the CTA.
Other examples of promotional emails
We have included many examples of promotional emails above with our tips and best practices, but it never hurts to see more examples. Here are a few more to use for inspiration or adapt for your own promotions.
New Offer Promotional Email
This great example of a promotional email from BookBub has a branded header with attractive images, and the Promotion Value ( and not the promotion itself) is prioritized – meaning they state the name of the platform they are promoting (“Tweeters”), but not before first highlighting the ultimate benefit (“Audiobook Deals”).
The text is also clear and concise. In less than 50 words, the email answers all of its readers’ questions:
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Why should I read this email? To receive audiobook offers.
What are you asking me to do? Sign up for free.
What’s this? A new platform called chirp.
Why will I like it? No subscription required, new deals every day, and unbeatable prices.
And then they have a second CTA that reinforces the ultimate benefit (“Get deals now!”).
Flash sale Email
I’ll actually start with an example of a promotional email that doesn’t follow the best practices outlined in this post. First of all, there is no appealing imagery. Even the logo in the brand header is small. Second, it emphasizes features rather than benefits. Third, while the promotion is clear (20% off all plans), the call to action is not. Yes, you are clearly asked to claim your discount, but for what? It’s only on closer inspection that you realize it says “upgrade today”.
On the other hand, WordPress could be directing this email at WordPress power users or engineers who already take advantage of the platform know and more are inclined to look for certain characteristics. In this case, it makes sense to provide feature details without distractions or unnecessary elements, which brings us back to the third tip in this post: engage your audience. It also follows two best practices: the bold blue text makes the call-to-action easy to see between the gray text, and the bullets break up the text for easier readability.
But in general, effective flash sale Promotional emails can be limited in text. After all, you are asking recipients to stop reading and start shopping, and the discount itself automatically implies the benefit of saving money. Here’s an example of a flash sale promotional email that better follows the best practices in this post. It uses simple design elements, including an easy-to-read logo, an emoji, and brand charts; the benefit is prominent (“get paid twice as fast”), and the CTA button stands out, clarifying the offer.
Promotional email for free resources
This Zoom email example does not offer a discount or sale, but a variety of free resources. Promotional offers like this bind customers to both your brand and your products, which helps retain customers.
As for the best practices it demonstrates, right off the bat we see a branded header and a statement of accomplishments (Have meetings like a pro). There’s also short text about each resource and a big orange CTA that clarifies the next step.
Time-Limited Promotional Email
The example below from Doordash can be text-heavy , but because it adheres to best practices, it’s an effective promotional email for a limited-time offer. You have your attractive imagery and an eye-catching CTA button. You can also see the use of bold versus regular font to break up the text.
Also note that the footer of this email contains details about the promotion. This is a good way to include terms and conditions without cluttering up the email content.
New Offer Announcement Email
New products and extended offers are great for promotions -Emails. This sample email covers everything in terms of imagery, benefit focus, brevity, and CTA best practices. The image complements the colored text, the ultimate benefit is highlighted in large font at the top, the message is quick and to the point, and the two options are crystal clear.
Content Promotional Email
You don’t need to have fancy promo codes or create unique landing pages for every promotional email you send. Our weekly performance tip email is a good example of simple content promotion.
We may be honking our own horn here, but then again, you’d better hope we’re sticking to best practices, when we do write about them. We use a branded header with attractive images that let the reader know what type of email it is. The title of the content is at the top in large type so readers know immediately what they are investing their time in. There is a lot of text but it is broken up with bullet points for easy skimming. Finally, there is a clear CTA at the end to direct readers to the full post.
Ensure success with your company’s promotional emails
Use e- Mail to your special offers, offers and promotions is definitely worth it. Just follow the tips and guides above to maximize your results.To recap, here’s how to write a promotional email:
- Specify your promotion, identify your goal, and target your audience.
- Focus Focus on ultimate reader value
- Send from one person (if applicable) and use an engaging signature
- Introduce the promotion in the subject line
- Use a branded headline
- Break up the body of the email
- Include visual elements
- Be concise
For more help with email marketing, use our copy and paste email templates so you don’t have to start from scratch!
See also: How To Build A Website On GoDaddy
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