The Different Types of Email Strategy – Part 3: Promotional Emails

Welcome to part three of our email marketing blog series. As you can read in the above-linked blog posts, there are multiple types of email marketing strategies that cannot easily be covered by one single blog post. So, we’ll be going through the key different types, blog by blog to give you the best understanding of the different types of email strategies.

Previously, we’ve covered Automated Emails and Newsletter Emails and the benefits each can have for your business. This week, we’ll be moving on to Promotional emails. We’ll discuss what they are, when to send them, how to make them look appealing to your customer and what to include within them.

You’ll be able to find the links to our other Email blog posts as they’re published at the top of this blog.

Promotional Emails

Promotions have long since been a way to encourage customers old and new into your store. From paper flyers advertising the latest deals to bright bold %-off stickers in shop windows, people always want to know about a promotion going on in a store. Online stores are no different, except you can specifically target your customers through emails when you have something going on in-store that you feel your customers need to know about. Most often, promotional emails will include limited-time offers, that encourage your customers to take action then and there.

Time to Send

It’s not an exact science when to send out your promotional emails, and usually, as a business, you would send them out as and when your promotion starts and ends. However, studies have shown that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 am-12 pm gain the most interaction, so keep that in mind when sending out your promotions.

Subject Matter

The average open rate for a marketing email is 21.33%. This means that to gain the maximum open rate for your promotional emails, your subject line needs to be short and straight to the point.

Many company’s these days use subject lines like “We’ve got a surprise for you…” or “Come look at this..” as a way of piquing their customer’s curiosity as to what it is they have to offer. This is quite a double-edged sword, as yes, it does get people looking at your email, but if the “surprise” is relatively sub-par and opening the email felt like a waste of time to the customer, there’s a risk that instead of ignoring the emails, they’ll unsubscribe completely.

You know your customer best and know what you have to offer that will peak their interests. So, whether it’s sneaky, enticing subjects, or straight to the point “20% off summer sale”. Think about what it is that will best appeal to your customers to get them to click on that email as it pops up on their email notifications.

Visual Appeal

After your customer has decided to open your email, the tricky part is then to keep them there. As we’ve mentioned in our previous blogs, it’s a good idea to make your emails “on-brand2 for your business. This helps them look legitimate (not spam) and encourages brand familiarity with your customers.

Here are some top tips on creating visual appeal with your promotional emails:

Use compelling visuals

Incorporate high-quality images, graphics, or even videos that align with your brand and evoke an emotional response. Visuals can captivate your audience and entice them to explore further.

Maintain a clean and organized layout

Opt for a well-structured email design that is easy to navigate. Utilize white space effectively, prioritize key information, and ensure a consistent visual hierarchy.

Mobile responsiveness

The majority of your customers will open your promotional email on their Mobile. Responsive design ensures a seamless experience across desktop, mobile, and tablet screens.

Engaging Content

When sending out promotional emails, it’s important to not let the promotion itself get lost within a bunch of unrelated information. Keep these emails short and to the point. Winter reductions? Don’t lose the big promotion amongst a big load of waffle about the time of year and what you want for Christmas. Keep it big, bold and to the point.

Here are some of our tips on how to make your promotional emails engaging and eye-catching:

Engaging subject lines

Craft attention-grabbing subject lines that pique curiosity or offer value. A compelling subject line increases the likelihood of recipients opening your email.

Personalisation

Address customers by their names and tailor content to their preferences. Personalisation creates a sense of individual attention and increases the chances of engagement.

Clear and concise copy

Keep the email copy concise, focused, and scannable. Use engaging language, highlight key benefits, and create a sense of urgency to encourage action.

Call-to-action (CTA)

Include clear and prominent CTAs that drive customers to take the desired action. Use action-oriented and persuasive language to motivate recipients to click through and explore further.

Limited-time offers and exclusivity

Incorporate time-sensitive promotions or exclusive deals to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity. Limited-time offers can spur immediate action from your customers.

Promotional emails are an effective marketing strategy and help you get messages across to your customers that encourage their return to your store, in turn boosting your business in times when you might need it. By ensuring that your promotions have a clear customer-oriented subject matter, visuals and content you can ensure that customers will both open and click through your emails to find your current promotions. Promotional emailing can take time to get right and know what exactly it is your customers are looking for, experiment with what works and gradually begin building successful campaigns that appeal to your customers.

To get help with setting up email databases, sending out newsletters or putting together appealing promotional emails, get in touch with DigiBubble today!