Please Your Clients with an Incredible ROI
Email marketing is one of the most effective types of marketing campaigns you can launch for your clients. It’s also incredibly versatile, with lots of different ways to connect with leads and loyal customers alike.
If you’re thinking about expanding the types of marketing services that you offer to your clients, it’s hard to go wrong with email. Here’s a look at some of the most commonly used types of marketing emails.
Selling the Client on the Effectiveness of Marketing Emails
Not every business owner/manager is familiar with the benefits of email marketing. It’s commonly assumed that sales emails are treated much like junk snail mail—trashed without a second glance. Yet, research shows that they offer an incredible return on investment.
If your client is hesitant to approve an email marketing campaign, here’s what you can tell them:
- Marketing emails offer the best ROI of any marketing tool, bringing in an average of $40 for every $1 spent.
- It’s been estimated that in 2023 alone, the revenue generated from sales emails will hit more than $10 billion Yes, that’s billion with a B.
Beyond the statistics, there are plenty of other perks you can discuss when convincing a client to invest in email marketing campaigns. For example, you could explain that email marketing is a great way to reach people who are on their mobile devices.
Plenty of people use their smartphones to check their email throughout the day, even if they are away from the office. Sales emails can reach customers no matter where they are.
In addition, email marketing is:
- Easily personalized for different segments of customers.
- Versatile, providing solutions for reaching leads at the top of the sales funnel right down to loyal, recurrent customers.
- Measurable, as you can track and evaluate each campaign’s open rates, click-through rates, and other metrics.
The Many Types of Email Marketing Campaigns
There are many different types of email marketing campaigns you can plan for your clients. It’s best to evaluate each client’s business individually to determine which types of emails will work best for that business. (Hint: Most businesses benefit from using multiple types, ranging from welcome emails to abandoned cart emails.)
No matter what type of email you send for your clients, you’ll need to ensure that each is carefully crafted to remain aligned with that client’s brand voice, tone, and aesthetic elements (e.g. brand colors). Voice is particularly important, as it must remain consistent across platforms and campaigns.
Here’s an extreme example. If your client runs a funeral home, the brand voice will understandably be solemn, compassionate, and rather formal. You wouldn’t want to put out a sales email advertising “Check out our fun and funky coffins from our summer collection!” In this case, striking a formal, informational tone is far preferable over an informal, salesy tone.
Of course, exceptions can be made. Let’s say your client runs a childcare business. Their tone is usually lighthearted and sometimes playful. However, you might sometimes want to send informational emails that strike a more serious tone when the situation calls for it (e.g. “We apologize for the inconvenience, but due to staffing shortages, we’ll be shortening daycare hours for the summer.”).
Without further ado, let’s explore some of the most common and effective marketing emails.
The “Welcome Aboard!” Email
At first blush, you might think that the welcome email is the easiest type to write and the least important to send. However, it’s important to bear in mind that first impressions really do matter. The welcome email is among the first opportunities that a lead will have to connect with and form an impression of the brand. It’s vital to strike the right tone by:
- Crafting a short but sweet subject line that convinces the lead to open the email.
- Including appealing imagery, such as a picture of smiling employees.
- Letting the lead know how much they mean to the business (everyone likes to feel appreciated).
- Including a clear opt-out at the bottom of the email.
Do you notice what’s not in this list? Aggressive sales language. You don’t want to scare away a lead or convince them to click on that opt-out right from the get-go.
Yes, you can add some gentle product or service recommendations, but it’s important to avoid overly salesy language. For example, let’s say the client owns a bookstore. You could include a short block for the monthly staff picks (e.g., “Here’s what we’re loving this month!”) and link to the product pages on the website, but don’t try to push too hard for the sale.
Think of the welcome email as a first date; it’s a “getting to know you” email, not a “close the deal” email.
A weekly or monthly newsletter won’t work for every single type of business. For instance, customers probably wouldn’t be too interested in a newsletter from a fast food restaurant. However, they might like occasional newsletters from other types of B2C businesses, such as academic institutions and interior designers.
Newsletters also tend to work well for B2B marketing, provided they are predominantly informational. Other business owners usually understand the value of staying on top of the latest trends in the industry.
The first mistake in putting together a newsletter campaign is hitting the “Send” button too frequently. As much as customers might want to stay informed, no one has enough time to read everything in their inbox.
It’s best to send out newsletters no more than once per week and no less than once per month. (If you find that the campaign is getting too many unsubscribes, then you may be sending it out too frequently or perhaps not including content that is sufficiently compelling.)
In some cases, you might want to offer the option to subscribe to different types of newsletters from the same client. For instance, let’s say the client is an autonomous vehicle (AV) company that is working on developing AVs for the off-road mining industry, as well as on-road AVs for consumers. You might develop two different newsletters for these two niches.
Remember that the visual layout and aesthetic elements of a marketing newsletter are crucial. Don’t try to add too much content to the newsletter itself. Instead, link back to blogs that offer additional information (you’ll boost your website traffic).
Lastly, keep the content informational. You can add very light marketing language and link back to relevant product or service pages, but don’t try to be too aggressive with it. Newsletters are supposed to nurture leads, not force them to convert before they’re ready.
Promotions Announcements
An announcement of a special promotion is what most people typically think of when they hear the term “marketing email.” These emails advertise a flash sale, traditional sale, discount code, coupon, or similar promotion.
Clickability is key for these types of marketing emails. That is, you’ll want to make the subject line as compelling as possible to boost the open rate and have an opportunity to create conversions. One of the most effective tactics is to put the special offer directly into the subject line.
There’s no need to keep the lead in suspense; tell them directly and immediately what they’ll be getting when they click on the email.
Here are a few real examples:
Sender – Subject Line
- New York Yankees – Mastercard® Monday: Earn Two Free Tickets
- com – Click It or Miss It: MLB.TV Now $34.99
- New York Times – Your upgrade awaits: $2 a week more
- Family Vision Care Center – Savings start August 1st!
This last subject line could have been stronger if the company had changed it to something like: “Kids see free: Free lenses now!” Nonetheless, the brand was on the right track by stating upfront that there are savings to be had during a special sale.
Similarly, the New York Times subject line could have been stronger had it read something like: “Upgrade to games and sports now!”
Beyond the subject line, you’ll usually want to keep a promotional email short and sweet. Don’t make the lead look too hard to find the full offer details and don’t try to trick the lead into thinking the offer is better than it really is. People are generally savvy about such things and they won’t appreciate being fooled.
For example, let’s say you’re writing for a pet supply store and the offer is a 15% discount on bulk dry food for dogs. If there is a caveat—such as the requirement that the customer sign up for recurring orders—don’t bury that detail in tiny print at the bottom of the email. Instead, emphasize it using positive language (e.g. “Never run out of kibble again!”)
As always with marketing emails, it’s best to include some eye-catching visual imagery, but try not to make the email look too “busy.” Be sure to include some links back to the client site.
Special Event Invitations
These types of marketing emails are exactly what they sound like—an invitation to a special event. You’ll generally want to have more information packed into these emails than you would for a sales email, but it depends on the event.
A professional conference would warrant a rather meaty email, but a Halloween costume party at a pet supply store would not.
In the email, you’ll want a dedicated block of space that spells out all of the pertinent details—date, time, place, etc. If the event is a recurring one and the business has already held past events, you may wish to include some pictures of past attendees, exhibits, or anything that’s relevant.
You should also include some language that communicates the value of attending the event (e.g., professional networking opportunity, for fun, to build skills, etc.).
If the business is planning a major special event, you’ll want to set up a dedicated page on the website that includes all of the details. You should link to it from the email (as well as to social media posts that promote the event).
If the event isn’t quite as significant, it can still warrant a blog post, social media posts, and perhaps a pop-up banner on the website.
Lead Nurturing Emails
Newsletters aren’t the only types of recurring marketing emails you can send on behalf of your clients. Lead nurturing emails are commonly used and can be highly effective. As the name suggests, they are intended to usher a lead through the sales funnel toward a conversion.
They consist of a series of automated, highly targeted emails with a specific purpose, typically aimed at a specific segment of your email list.
Here’s an example. Let’s say your client is a realtor and you’ve set up a lead magnet on their website. The lead magnet is a downloadable PDF featuring tips for evaluating a school district. It’s intended to capture the emails of prospective home buyers. Once the lead enters their email, they are automatically shuffled into the lead nurturing email campaign.
The campaign might begin with a friendly welcome email (“Hi there! Here’s your free downloadable. We’re so happy you’re interested in buying a home in the area. Give us a call if you need anything!”)
From there, it might progress to offer additional resources to potential home buyers. (“How is your school district evaluation going? Once you find the right area to move to, the next step is to determine how much house you can afford. Check out this mortgage calculator here!”) And so on.
The aim of the lead nurturing campaign is to make the lead feel comfortable and familiar with the brand. You’ll usher them further down the sales funnel until they finally pick up the phone and book an appointment (or make a purchase).
If you’re understaffed, but not quite eager to hire more in-house employees, it’s time to explore white label marketing agency solutions. At Pennington Creative, our experienced copywriters and editors specialize in delivering custom-crafted marketing content for all types of businesses in every industry, ranging from law and higher education to dentistry and healthcare to real estate and home improvement—and everything in between.
Get in touch today to request a free discovery call and find out how our agency can support yours.