9 Types of Emails and How to Use Them in Your Marketing Campaigns

Which types of email marketing will work best for your business? If you’re just now diving into the deep end of sending marketing emails, you might find yourself a little perplexed at where to begin. That’s understandable – there are a lot of options available for email marketers and some may work better than others depending on your business. Keep reading for a review of 9 of the most popular types of emails, plus insights for how to use them in your marketing campaigns.

1. eNewsletter Emails

What’s new with your company? Your customers actually do want to know! Monthly or quarterly newsletter emails are a friendly form of consistent communication that should not come with a sales pitch. They should include a friendly, informative tone and valuable content that is relevant to your product, service, industry and their felt needs as a customer.

  • Practical advice
  • New product or service updates
  • Employee spotlight
  • Industry news
  • Q&A
  • Events
  • Projects or special developments
  • Company wins
  • Positive reviews
 
 Keep your newsletter entertaining within the parameters of your brand. Be professional, but don’t bore your audience to tears with essays of content. Keep it easy to read, navigate and absorb.
Newsletter email
welcome email

2. Welcome Emails

When your customer provides their email address to your company, the first email you should send should be a welcome email. The same goes for a new customer making a purchase (although the thank you email below can also work). A welcome email shows appreciation to the customer for entrusting their email with your company. It also helps you set expectations if your email form did not allow customers to curate their experience in advance. 

For example, you can inform customers that they can expect 3-4 emails a month, or just the occasional sales opportunity. You can also provide them with a link to manage the types of communications you send, depending on the capabilities of your email marketing platform. The most important link to include in this email is the opt-out link. This will keep you compliant with email regulatory requirements and give customers who made a mistake to jump ship right away if their opt-in was in error. 

3. Thank You Emails and Purchase Follow-up Emails

Thank you emails make customers feel appreciated. Purchase follow-ups provide them with key data about their purchase: processing, shipping, returns. Both of them serve to provide the connection and follow-through customers typically receive in in-person transactions. They also provide you with an automated opportunity to invite them to shop again.

Purchase follow-up thank you email
Purchase follow-up thank you email

4. Abandoned Cart Emails

An abandoned cart email is a gentle reminder that your potential customer left items in their cart without completing the transaction. These emails can be very beneficial to both company and customer. The average online shopper has access to thousands of digital storefronts. It’s easy for them to get lost if they pause the purchase process to check prices elsewhere or confirm the product specs meet their needs.

An abandoned cart email gives customers the nudge to re-enter the buying process and finish their transaction. It is a powerful email marketing tool for ecommerce businesses. Some companies will even offer a discount to further encourage the completion of the sale. However, businesses should take care not to offer blanket discounts to all abandoned carts. This may train customers to ditch their carts because they know they’ll receive a discount.

 

5. Review Request Emails

Requesting reviews can be a scary endeavor for the average business. Even with excellent customer service, there’s always the risk that a review won’t turn out the way you’d hoped. However, it is a very important part of creating a powerful and trustworthy brand. When your customers find you online, it is highly likely they will turn to Google Reviews, Yelp or other reviewer platform to gain insight into your business practices. 

The biggest tip here has nothing to do with email subscribers at all: In order to ask for a 5-star review, you need to provide 5-star service. If you’re unsure of how customers will review you online, you must take an honest look at your practices to score positive feedback. 

Send your customers an email with an easy-to-access link to the requested feedback platform. Feel free to provide guidance to help them write a meaningful review. And give them an opportunity to contact you if they have negative feedback. Consider something such as: “We would love your 5-star review on your recent service call. If you feel we have not earned that rating, please connect with us so we can make it right for you!”

Types of emails: Review request email
types of emails: survey email

6. Survey Emails

How do your customers really feel about your product or service? Just ask! If you’re reluctant to move immediately to requesting reviews, a customer survey can provide you with insights into how they view their experience with your company. Survey emails make excellent follow-ups after a buying experience. They are incredibly valuable in learning what your customers want from you — and what they may not be getting.

The key to a successful survey email is to make it:

  • Easy to access
  • Short
  • Clear, concise questions

 

You may choose to incentivize your audience with a one-time discount or by entering them into a contest for a prize with other survey participants.

7. Sales and Promotional Emails

These are the easiest and hardest emails to master. They’re easy because you’re sharing a sale or promotion. They’re hard because too many can cause your unsub rate to increase and your sales and email list to decrease. Additionally, too many sales and promotions cause your recipients to tune you out. If everything is always on sale all the time, then your customers will cast your emails into the trash and follow up by unsubscribing.

types of emails: sales email promotional email
new email milestone events and announcements

8. Milestone, News and Announcement Emails

Share positive feedback, new innovations, new products or company milestones to help keep your customers in the loop. These types of emails provide valuable information to your customers that has nothing to do with sales. Instead, they reinforce your credibility as a company and build your brand equity with your customers.

Here are a few examples of milestone emails:

  • New location
  • New employees
  • New products
  • Advancements in tech
  • Financial reports (especially nonprofits)
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Remodels and renovations
  • Changes to the C-suite
  • Board updates
 

You can also highlight important industry news that might be relevant to your customers:

  • New advancements in software or technology
  • Legislation (impactful, not political)
  • Local news stories associated with your product or service
  • Leaders in your industry making changes
  • Milestones in your industry
  • Upcoming special events related to your product or service

9. Event Emails

Event emails inform your customers about upcoming activities associated with your business. For example, your company might decide to operate a booth at a trade show, host a local networking event or support a nonprofit by providing items to a silent auction. These emails offer “soft invites” to visit your business or engage with you without the pressure of transactional emails

Events build relationships and reinforce consumer trust. Event emails give you an opportunity to continue communicating with your customers without annoying them. Some customers take weeks or months to move along their buyer’s journey. Events — and event emails — offer a consistent touchpoint that ensures your brand is top of mind when they decide to make a purchase.

event email

Get More Email Marketing Tips

These email marketing tips can help you stay connected with your customers, reinforce your brand, discover problems and build your public presence through reviews. If you need more help building your email marketing strategy or navigating different types of emails, let’s find a time to chat! We would love to help you grow your business with this valuable marketing tool.

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