What Can the Best Email Marketing Campaigns Teach Us?

Whether you’re running a local business or an international digital enterprise, owning an email list is crucial. Email marketing is one of the most widely adopted digital strategy that brands use to communicate and build steady relationships with their prospects and customers, and there are very good reasons for that.

Studies show that 73% of millennials prefer using email to conduct their business-related communication. The number of email users worldwide is on a rise, and it is forecasted to reach 2.9 billion people by 2019. And I could go on featuring impressive stats, but I believe that you’re already aware of the efficiency and popularity of email marketing in today’s business environment.

“The effectiveness of email marketing campaigns depends on many factors. The strategy, the content, the frequency, the personalization, the sales copies, the products…these are just a few aspects that will differentiate a successful email marketing campaign from a mediocre one.” – Ben Dawn, Marketing Specialist at EssayOnTime.

In today’s post, we have collected some amazing email marketing examples that some of the most popular international brands leverage to collect leads, improve their brand’s reputation, and skyrocket their revenues. Pay close attention, take notes, and study these examples carefully.

BuzzFeed is one of the most popular international magazines featuring breaking news, journalism, celebrity news, food recipes, life hacks, and basically all the things that people usually tend to share.

This brand is excellent at creating “teaser CTAs”, meaning that it’s truly difficult not to click on their headlines. Here’s a recent newsletter example that showcases their “teasing talents”:

As you can probably notice, they are using incredibly enticing headlines that will trigger lots of clicks. On top of that, the email campaign is personalized accordingly, allowing “Parents” to find only the relevant stories and information. On a third look, you’ll see how Buzzfeed combines informational content with a sales offer (last paragraph) and a follow-up CTA that links to their Facebook page.

What can you learn from this email marketing campaign?

• The better email headlines you craft the higher the performance of your email marketing campaign will get.
• Personalize your email list and send relevant content to specific groups of interested people.
• Take advantage of pictures and high-quality visual assets to improve your CTR.
• Include a strong CTA to other relevant content that your users might appreciate.

JetBlue is a popular airline company that took its email marketing to the next level. They have figured out a way to stop being boring, like the most airplane companies are, and impress their customers with their high-quality email newsletter. Here’s an email example that showcases their mastery:

Their email is emotional, useful, and engaging. Straight from the header, this company manages to hold the reader’s attention and fructify it at the end using a strong call-to-action. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that this email copy is highly personalized. It uses sensitive data that the company has collected in 365 days, and leverages it to personalize the user’s experience.

How would you feel if a company remembered all the actions you took from their recommendations? I would feel surprised and honored!

Lastly, their way of showcasing their service while using an incentive (a gift) cannot be turned down by their frequent customers. Free airplane tickets? Who wouldn’t click on that?

What can you learn from this email marketing campaign?

• An interesting visual header will always prompt readers to keep reading. If the content is also relevant and interesting and the CTA is strong, that’s almost a guaranteed click.
• Email personalization will differentiate your brand from the rest. The more you pay attention to your customer’s moves, the more data you store, and the better you personalize your email campaigns, well, the better the impression you’ll make.
• Reminding your customers about your relationship together every now and then is a good way to improve your reputation and get an extra few sales.
• Offer a discount/coupon and follow up with a strong and visible CTA.

DropBox is one of the leading cloud-service companies in the international market. Their service is widely known and adopted by millions of people, and that’s because they truly know what they’re doing.

Before I show you their email marketing example, I want to ask you something quick. How often do you get annoyed by emails sent by companies that you’ve never bought from? Yet, if a new brand or email marketer sends you an email, you tend to react to it positively.

Every person’s time is precious, and some people value it more than others. For those who hate distractions, unwanted emails can cause a lot of dissatisfaction. Even if you aren’t unsubscribing, you will never open or click any of the irrelevant emails.

Guess what. Dropbox has already committed this mistake, making their soon-to-be customers annoyed by the company’s persuasive email strategy. However, in time, Dropbox has managed to find a solution, a way out from the problems that they’ve caused by their own hand. Here’s how they did it:

When their customers become inactive for a longer period of time, DropBox non-intrusively reminds them of what they’re missing out. They start out with a personalized approach (Hi Jerry,) and continue with a “human” conversation, letting people know that their service is feeling lonely without them. The use of a well-known emote ( ☹ ) humanizes their approach, making people understand how important they are in this equation.

The rest is pretty clear. An easy-to-read bullet points list, an invitation that includes a CTA, and a warm ending are just enough for making a point.

What can you learn from this email marketing campaign?

• When your subscribers become inactive, sending them a non-intrusive reminder can help you reestablish relationships.
• Personalization is one of the best ways to capture your prospects’ attention and interest.
• You can give your email a “personal touch”, meaning that you can stand out from the crowd and use different approaches (“Recently your Dropbox has been feeling kind of lonely ☹”)
• Keeping it simple can often be the best approach, regardless of your intention. Bullet points, short sentences, and a single CTA is a good combination that’ll often lead to more clicks.

If you’re not familiar with Rip Curl, this is a globally recognized surfing brand that’s been running since 1969. The company’s primary aim is to ensure the satisfaction of their prospects and customers, offering truly valuable content, services, and products to all the interested surfers from around the world.

This successful company has already realized that customer satisfaction is one of the first keys to a higher retention and engagement, so they’re always doing their best to put their customers first. Even though their success is not recent, they continue to dominate the surfing industry by consistently providing the most relevant industry news and products.

Since they’ve employed email marketing, the company’s growth has skyrocketed. Right now, they’re using powerful emails to grow and nurture their relationships with their customers, but also to sell new promising products. Here’s one of their email copies:

Their email starts with a clear and straightforward message that asks the subscriber to “Join the revolution”. Considering that they’re appealing to highly passionate surfers who are always looking for the newest products, this headline can’t get more effective.

On top of that, the headline acts like a psychological trigger that prompts curiosity, an emotion that most successful brands try to trigger in order to retain their customers. Even though I’ve never surfed in my life, this email got me captivated and satisfied at the end.

As the text continues, the readers find out what the email is about (“SearchGPS watch exclusive subscriber release”, and luckily, it’s about them.

The next sentences address the reader directly, reminding him of how thankful the company is for their presence and interest. The most important trigger that Rip Curl leverages is the “exclusivity bribe”, which is basically an incentive for customers to get their hands on the watch immediately without thinking too much (as the product is exclusive and limited only to subscribers).

After the features are presented, a big, blue, bolded CTA is featured, encouraging users to take action and shop now.

What can you learn from this email marketing campaign?

• The user’s satisfaction comes first, no matter what.
• A strong headline is crucial for email marketing success.
• Triggering strong feelings of curiosity (and not only) will improve the effectiveness of your email campaign. People are emotional beings, so treat them likewise.
• Exclusivity will make your subscribers feel special and will prompt them to take more actions and make more buying decisions.
• A strong call-to-action should always be present, no matter what email type you’re sending!

Learning from the best is often the simplest and quickest way to mastery. Instead of reinventing the wheel, you can study these successful email marketing examples and take your inspiration from them.

Don’t copy-paste them – it’ll get you nowhere. Instead, find a way to leverage your personal knowledge, skills, and available resources to craft an original email marketing campaign that borrows the “working” elements already-successful brands incorporate into their strategies!