The Different Types Of Email Marketing Your Brand Needs

Email marketing can be considered as one of the oldest digital marketing tools. And over the years it has evolved quite a bit. But no matter the different types of email marketing that exist today, it remains an incredibly impactful marketing method in 2020! 

• In the US alone 85% of retailers consider email marketing as one of the most effective marketing methods.
• For every $1 you spend on an email you can expect an average return of $42.
• 81% of SMBs rely on emails as their primary customer acquisition channel. 
• The average open rate of a welcome mail is 82%.
• 49% of customers have said they like to receive promotional emails from their favorite brands on a weekly basis.

Email is used by 94% of internet users. Which makes it a very convenient method of reaching a larger audience. In addition to this, email marketing provides you with the benefit of tracking your ROI pretty easily. And this ROI is relatively high since the audience you are targeting has already provided you with permission to send them emails. Their interest in your business often means that they’re actively considering or have purchased from you.  

So, if you haven’t considered using email marketing to strengthen your customer relationships, it’s about time you did.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the different types of email marketing you can use to engage and nurture relationships with your audience.

Welcome Emails

These emails are lucky enough to receive a lot of attention. People actually open these emails. They generate four times more opens and five times more clicks than regular mails. And that is exactly why these emails should be perfectly crafted to give out the best first impression of your brand.

Your welcome emails are the first message or messages your audience will receive once they subscribe to your email list. Use this opportunity to tell your customer a bit about your brand, service, or product.

To this end, a large image can be very effective at the top of your email design. You can use it to show off your product or a lifestyle image that captures your product or service in action. If you need some options for image, but don’t have time for a shoot, check out these stock photo sites.

Your messaging shouldn’t be too wordy, but find a way to incorporate your key value proposition. You can also link to more content via a blog or your about us section to help your audience learn more. And consider including a limited time discount, or another type of promotion, to thank your subscribers for signing up, and incentivize them to convert.

Another recommendation for welcome emails is to include your social profiles and to encourage subscribers to like/follow for more offers or content.

Educational Emails

These emails come in the form of tips and tutorials that can be a combination of text, images, and/or videos. They serve the purpose of educating customers about the brand and its offerings. And they can be especially helpful, when the many potential uses of a product or service are not obvious. 

Providing in-depth instructions on how tos related to your brand helps your subscribers get a better idea of how they can benefit from your product or service. And once you get them picturing themselves using your product or service, you’ll be top of mind when they’re ready to make a purchase. To this end, videos can be really helpful. Especially when considering that they increase click rates by 300%.

Educational emails also offer the added bonus of helping your subscribers make positive changes to their lives, that they’ll associate with your brand. Consider including a promotional offer to help your subscribers access your product or service to try out your tips and tutorials.

Abandoned Cart Emails

Online shopping can be a gleeful experience. That is until your customer gets to the checkout page and sees the total amount they’ve wracked up. Did you know that the average cart abandonment rate is almost 70%?

Abandoned cart reminder emails can be the heroes that save the day. They remind customers about why they should complete their purchase with some persuasive copy and an engaging call-to-action.

Stats show that sending out 3 abandoned cart emails can result in 69% more orders than a single email. This is because there can be a wide range of reasons that a prospective customer isn’t ready to purchase. 

But persistent follow up can help. Especially with messages that uniquely reinforce the value of completing the transaction.

Promotional Emails

If you want your audience engagement to increase, this is the go-to type of email amongst the different types of email marketing. Your subscribers like to feel appreciated. Offering them special discounts, free shipping, or free giveaways can achieve this goal.

These special offers and promotions can keep your customers subscribed to your email list, and make them engage more with your emails. The fact that these offers can only be accessed through emails can increase the number of your subscribers as well.

To make your promotional emails enticing to your subscribers, make sure that your promotions are only available for a limited time. Be sure to mention this in the subject line so that your emails are opened promptly.

Another idea to use in your promotional emails, is to promote bundles of products or services at an exclusive price. This will allow you to promote multiple items at time and help you increase your average order value.

Re-Engagement Emails

Not all your customers are the same. While some will look forward to receiving news from their favourite brand, others may tune out over time. Some of the most common reasons subscribers lose interest in a brand include receiving too many emails, emails with clickbait subject lines, emails that are confusing or not optimized for mobile, or are just plain repetitive or irrelevant. 

Not sure why your subscribers seem to be losing interest? Enter, re-engagement emails. 

Maybe your customer was not interested from the get-go, and just wanted to get your intro offer. Or maybe your communication has been lackluster for a while, and this is your wake up call. Either way, these emails can put your brand back on your subscribers’ radars.

One of the most effective types of re-engagement email is to ask for feedback. You can’t improve on things that are in your blindspot. So ask your customers to help you out. In this way, re-engagement emails can be used as research and improvement tools for your brand.

The worst-case scenario is that you get a few unsubscribes, and insights that help you clean up your email list. And it’s worth it when you consider the best-case scenario of re-engaging customers who were completely inactive.   

Need some more reinforcement? Well, acquiring a new customer can actually be 7 to 13% more costly than retaining an existing customer across different industries. And for ecommerce businesses, retention is actually 5 times cheaper!

Newsletters

Across the different types of email marketing, newsletters are not really sales pieces. They are the regular communication you maintain with your customers. By being sent on a regular basis they keep you top-of-mind.

The main purpose of a newsletter is not to advertise but to engage and educate your audience about your product updates/market updates or provide entertainment for them.

Your newsletter could include a weekly or monthly roundup of content from your blog, product updates, and/or industry updates. You can also sprinkle in updates about your team and passion projects that your company has. Anything that will reinforce your brand’s values, is worth considering. 

The invaluable information your customers receive from your newsletter will eventually build brand loyalty and make your brand name unforgettable. 

To be sure that they’re able to access the content that you’re putting together for them, make sure that your newsletters are well designed and have a consistent look and feel.

A perk of a well-designed, informative newsletter is that your subscribers are likely to share it. Helping your brand reaches more potential customers.

Confirmation & Receipt Emails

hese automated emails can relieve your customers from a lot of stress. Customers live in a constant state of anxiety when they make an online transaction or an online booking. Confirmation emails can put their minds at ease while building their trust in your brand.

When sending out confirmation emails, clarity is key. Keep the subject lines direct. And make sure that you’re highlighting the information you’re confirming, and don’t obscure it with irrelevant ads. There’s times and places for communicating new promotions. And confirmation emails definitely don’t fall into those categories.

What you can consider including are links to download, if your product is digital, so that customers can access their product instantly. And coupon codes for future purchases or referral codes can be great ways to drum up additional business.

When designing your confirmation emails bear in mind that this is an email your customers are going to refer back to. So take the time to make sure the details are laid out well. And that the information being confirmed is most prominent. 

Now over to you. Among the many different types of email marketing out there, we’ve highlighted some of the most effective types. Consider your goals to engage, re-engage, or convert, and give them a try!