Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to engage your audience, build relationships, and drive conversions. In fact, email generates $42 for every $1 spent, an incredible 4,200% ROI.
But with the average person receiving 121 emails per day, it‘s more important than ever to send targeted, relevant emails that your subscribers actually want to receive. That‘s where understanding the different types of emails comes in.
In this ultimate guide, we‘ll dive deep into the five key types of emails every marketer should have in their toolkit. We‘ll cover why each type is important, best practices for creating them, and plenty of examples and statistics to help you craft high-performing emails that get results.
1. The Welcome Email: Start the Relationship Off Right
The welcome email is arguably the most important email you‘ll send to a new subscriber. It sets the tone for your entire relationship and can significantly impact future engagement and conversions.
Consider these welcome email statistics:
- Welcome emails have an average open rate of 82% and a click-through rate of 27% (GetResponse)
- 74% of subscribers expect a welcome email when they subscribe (Invesp)
- Subscribers who receive a welcome email show 33% more long-term engagement with that brand (chiefmarketer)
Clearly, welcome emails are a huge opportunity to make a strong first impression. But what goes into an effective welcome email?
Key Elements of a High-Performing Welcome Email:
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A warm introduction: Welcome the subscriber to your community and express your excitement to have them on board. Share a bit about your brand story and values to start building a connection.
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Set expectations: Let subscribers know what type of content they can expect from you and how often. If you promised a lead magnet or other incentive, deliver it here.
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Encourage engagement: Prompt subscribers to take a next step, whether it‘s reading your latest blog post, following you on social media, or browsing your product catalog.
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Request whitelisting: Ask subscribers to add your email address to their contact list to ensure your emails land in their inbox rather than spam or promotions.
Here‘s a great example of a welcome email from HubSpot that ticks all these boxes:
[Visual example of HubSpot welcome email]2. The Newsletter: Provide Value and Drive Traffic Consistently
Newsletter emails are a staple in most email marketing programs, and for good reason. They allow you to stay top of mind with your subscribers, provide valuable content, and drive consistent traffic to your website.
Some compelling newsletter statistics:
- 31% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads (Content Marketing Institute)
- 81% of B2B marketers say their most used form of content marketing is email newsletters (Content Marketing Institute)
- 49% of consumers say they would like to receive promotional emails from their favorite brands on a weekly basis (Statista)
But with so many newsletters vying for attention, how can you make yours stand out? Here are some best practices.
Tips for Crafting Newsletter Emails That Get Opened and Clicked:
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Focus on providing value: Pack your newsletter with educational blog posts, insider tips, industry news, or other content that helps your subscribers succeed.
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Craft compelling subject lines: Your subject line is your first (and sometimes only) chance to grab a subscriber‘s attention. Keep it short, punchy, and benefit-driven.
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Stick to a consistent schedule: Whether it‘s weekly, biweekly, or monthly, commit to a regular sending schedule so subscribers know when to expect your emails.
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Keep the design clean and skimmable: Use a simple layout with plenty of white space, strong visuals, and clear calls to action. Optimize for mobile devices, as 81% of emails are now opened on mobile (Campaign Monitor).
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Segment your list: Rather than blasting the same newsletter to your entire list, segment based on subscriber preferences and behaviors to provide more relevant content. Segmented campaigns drive a 760% increase in email revenue (Campaign Monitor).
Trello‘s newsletter is a great example of these best practices in action:
[Visual example of Trello newsletter]3. The Lead Nurturing Series: Guide Subscribers From Prospect to Customer
Not every subscriber who joins your email list is ready to buy from you right away. That‘s where a lead nurturing email series comes in.
Lead nurturing involves sending a sequence of targeted emails to subscribers over time, with the goal of building trust, providing value, and gradually guiding them towards a purchase.
The benefits of lead nurturing are clear:
- Nurtured leads make 47% larger purchases than non-nurtured leads (Annuitas Group)
- Lead nurturing emails get 4-10 times the response rate compared to standalone email blasts (Demand Gen Report)
- Companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more sales-ready leads at a 33% lower cost (Marketo)
So what makes an effective lead nurturing series? Here are the key components:
Essential Elements of a High-Converting Lead Nurturing Email Series:
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Segmentation based on interests and behaviors: Divide your subscribers into different tracks based on the content they‘ve engaged with, the lead magnet they downloaded, or other actions they‘ve taken. This allows you to provide more targeted, relevant messaging.
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Educational content mapped to the buyer‘s journey: Provide a mix of blog posts, guides, checklists, webinars, and other resources that help subscribers understand their problem and evaluate potential solutions.
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Personalized messaging and offers: Use the subscriber‘s name and other details you‘ve collected to create a more personal experience. Present offers and product recommendations based on their specific interests and behaviors.
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Strong calls-to-action: Make it clear what you want the subscriber to do next, whether it‘s downloading a resource, registering for a demo, or making a purchase. Use buttons or prominent text links to draw attention to your CTAs.
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Consistent touchpoints over time: Plan your series to include multiple emails spaced out over days or weeks, depending on your typical sales cycle. This keeps you top of mind and builds trust over time.
Shopify offers an excellent example of a lead nurturing series for new trial users:
[Visual example of Shopify lead nurturing email]4. The Promotional Email: Drive Sales with Targeted Offers and Urgency
While your lead nurturing series will include some promotions, you‘ll also want to send targeted promotional emails to drive sales and conversions during key times, like product launches or seasonal sales.
Some eye-opening promotional email statistics:
- Segmented email campaigns have an open rate that is 14.32% higher than non-segmented campaigns (Mailchimp)
- Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened (Campaign Monitor)
- Adding videos to your email can increase click rates by 300% (Martech Advisor)
With fierce competition in the inbox, here‘s how to make your promotional emails stand out:
Best Practices for High-Performing Promotional Emails:
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Segment your list for relevancy: Not every offer will be relevant to every subscriber. Segment based on past purchases, browsing behavior, or other interests to improve targeting.
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Nail the subject line: Your subject line should create a sense of excitement, curiosity, or urgency. Experiment with personalization, emojis, and action-oriented language.
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Spotlight the benefit: Focus your copy on how your offer will improve the subscriber‘s life. How will it help them save time, make more money, or eliminate a frustration?
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Create urgency: Use deadlines, limited quantities, or exclusive offers to tap into FOMO and encourage immediate action. Phrases like "ends tonight" or "only X remaining" can be powerful motivators.
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Provide social proof: Include customer reviews, testimonials, or user-generated content to build trust and credibility. Social proof can be a deciding factor for on-the-fence buyers.
Here‘s how Airbnb creates urgency in their promotional emails:
[Visual example of Airbnb promotional email]5. The Re-Engagement Email: Win Back Lapsed Subscribers
Over time, even your most engaged subscribers can lose interest or get too busy to keep up with your emails. In fact, the average email list churns by about 30% every year (HubSpot).
Re-engagement emails, also called win-back campaigns, are designed to rekindle that relationship and bring lapsed subscribers back into the fold.
Here‘s why re-engagement matters:
- It costs 5x more to attract a new customer than to retain an existing one (Invesp)
- Increasing customer retention by just 5% boosts profits by 25% to 95% (Bain & Company)
- 45% of recipients who receive win-back emails read subsequent messages (Return Path)
So how can you effectively re-engage inactive subscribers? Follow these steps.
Key Steps for a Successful Re-Engagement Email Campaign:
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Define inactivity: Determine what qualifies a subscriber as inactive, such as not opening your emails in the past 90 days. Use this criteria to segment your list.
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Acknowledge the absence: Craft your subject line and copy to acknowledge the lack of engagement, such as "We miss you!" or "Was it something we said?"
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Provide an incentive: Offer a discount code, free gift, or exclusive content to entice subscribers to re-engage. Make sure it‘s compelling enough to grab their attention.
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Give options: Allow subscribers to adjust their email preferences, such as frequency or content type. Some may want to stay on your list but receive fewer emails.
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Remove non-responders: If subscribers still don‘t engage after your re-engagement series, it‘s usually best to remove them from your list. A smaller but more engaged list is better for deliverability and overall performance.
Grammarly does a great job with their re-engagement emails:
[Visual example of Grammarly re-engagement email]Putting It All Together: Creating Your High-Performing Email Plan
Email marketing success goes beyond just sending the right types of emails. It requires a holistic strategy that nurtures subscribers at every stage of their journey, from initial opt-in to loyal customer.
As you plan out your email content calendar, aim to include a mix of these five key email types:
- Welcome emails to onboard new subscribers
- Newsletters to provide ongoing value and drive website traffic
- Lead nurturing series to guide subscribers towards a purchase
- Promotional emails to drive sales during key times
- Re-engagement emails to win back lapsed subscribers
Of course, the exact mix and frequency will depend on your unique audience and goals. The key is to continually test, measure, and optimize based on your results.
Some key email marketing metrics to track include:
- Open rate: The percentage of subscribers who open a specific email
- Click-through rate: The percentage of subscribers who click on a link within the email
- Conversion rate: The percentage of subscribers who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form
- Bounce rate: The percentage of emails that aren‘t successfully delivered to the subscriber‘s inbox
- Unsubscribe rate: The percentage of subscribers who opt out of your email list
By keeping a close eye on these metrics, you can identify which types of emails resonate best with your audience and adjust your strategy accordingly.
With the right mix of targeted, value-driven emails, you can build a thriving community of engaged subscribers and loyal customers. Happy emailing!
