Top Email Campaign Examples You Must See and Learn From

What email campaigns are and why you need them

In simple words, an email campaign is a series of emails used for communication with your clients and prospects.

Email marketing is an important part of inbound marketing, i.e. a process of building solid relationships with your prospects at any stage of the sales funnel. It is obvious that not every prospect is ready to buy your products or services immediately, so it takes time to make them loyal customers. That’s when email marketing gets in the game.

According to Litmus, every $1 spent on email marketing returns as $36. Moreover, it allows you to accomplish the following goals:

• Brand awareness. Use mass email to provide your customers with relevant informative content. Show them your expertise in the field and the ways your brand can solve their problems.
• Traffic generation. Promote your blog posts via email and get additional traffic.
• Nurturing leads. Create conversion-focused content that gently “pushes” your leads towards purchasing (or, at least, getting ready for that).
• Increasing revenue. Capture leads who are close to purchasing and work directly with them –– abandoned cart email reminders are great examples of recovering lost sales conversions:

To make your email campaigns work properly, we recommend following several simple steps we’ll define in the upcoming sections.

A good email campaign example: step-by-step guide

Our general recommendations for those who want to create an outstanding email campaign are the following:

Create an enticing subject line

To attract attention in busy inboxes, your subject line should be relevant to your prospects’ needs. No matter how well-written and useful your email is, if its subject line is boring and unattractive, it won’t be open and read. So, when writing your email subject, it is better to keep in mind the following rules:

Pique your readers’ interest. It is great to add some sense of mystery which evokes human natural interest. The readers will open the email to get more information, which results in higher open rates. But make sure the subject line is not too obscure –– otherwise, it could end up in a spam folder. Good examples:

• We’ve got something to tell you…
• This is not another COVID email! It’s good news!
• So many secrets…
• Welcome to your next escape
• I have a feeling YOU will love this!

Promise some value. Make the prospect think that your message contains some benefits. People love new things and experiences — and discounts, for sure. Include this information in your subject lines and enjoy the open rates boost. See the examples below:

• A Special Coupon Just For You!
• Not a newsletter but FLASH SALE!
• Sold out in 30 min but wait, there is hope!
• The Christmas sale is 35% off and ends tonight!
• It’s a Bonus Sale day!
• Sales and freebies everywhere!

Personalize. Learn as much as possible about your subscribers’ occupations. Monitor their likes or dislikes. Try to make the subject line as individual as possible, so that your readers understood it was meant for them only. Use segmentation to divide your list according to subscribers’ preferences, age, geography, or other criteria. It will help you make every customer the most relevant and effective offer.

You can also use special phrasing to enhance the feeling of uniqueness –– sometimes, the effect is magical. Here are some ideas:

• For our beloved customers only
• An exclusive offer for you
• My gift to you
• You’re invited!
• Private invite

It is recommended that you check email analytics after every change in subject lines to see what works most with your audience. A/B testing will also be helpful: use two different variants on one segment of the subscribers and compare the results.

Offer real value to subscribers

Make your email campaign useful for your customers. You’ll need to strategize how to provide maximum value for the subscribers so that they could convert to your loyal customers. To do that, ask yourself several questions:

• How did my prospects subscribe? What channels did they use?
• What matters to them?
• What benefits can I offer to engage and delight them?

Conduct a little poll to clear things up and monitor what matters to your target audience. The best way to learn more about people’s habits and interests is to ask them.

Add personalization

Don’t neglect the user’s previous experience with your brand. Every person wants to feel unique, so make it look as if you are talking directly to them. Avoid faceless “Dear Sir/Madam” –– use prospects’ names in bodies or subject lines of your emails. All modern ESPs allow you to send unique personalized emails to your prospects. Don’t neglect this opportunity: show the customers they mean a lot to you (and boost your open rates at the same time).

Automation saves a huge amount of time, but it should never be at the cost of a good experience. So, it is recommended to personalize your email marketing campaigns as much as possible and to add targeted information that is relevant to your customers.

Keep your message short and on point

A good email can’t resemble “War and Peace” –– no one wants to wade through all those convoluted sentences to figure out what you’re trying to say. Clear and concise messages are your key to success: they are more likely to get positive feedback from the readers.

To make your email body short and sweet, we recommend you to have one goal per email. Do not overload the message with numerous tables and article previews (even if it is a weekly digest). Focus on having one clearly stated goal for each email. This will increase the likelihood that your recipients will read the email and make the desired action –– click, call, read the full article, etc.

Best email campaigns you should pay attention to

We’ve collected a list of the latest most outstanding email campaigns. You can use it as an inspiration for your following marketing activities. Enjoy!

Airbnb

Why is it good?

This is a perfect illustration of the previous abstract: the message is straightforward, without any extra. It’s polite and concise. The design looks pleasant to the eye and has no distracting elements. Also, this email campaign example has a clear CTA.

Starbucks

Why is it good?

That’s a nice example of a perfect notification email. It guides a reader through the new payment options, and bonus programs available. All clear, nothing extra. One more half-off frappuccino, please!

Netflix

Why is it good?

This campaign is remarkable for its personalized targeted offer. The algorithm analyzes users’ preferences and creates a unique set of TV series for every subscriber. The email has a prominent CTA button and divides the shows into categories, which makes it easier to choose the proper one.

MVMT

Why is it good?

That’s a great example of UGC –– user-generated content, proving that people trust and love this brand. An email contains a GIF consisting of hundreds of clips made by the team of MVMT’s followers, where they show how they live life on their terms. Those stunning pictures give goosebumps!

Tory Burch

Why is it good?

Sometimes emails look too static and boring. This one’s looking as if it invites you to a kind of a private club, making everyone feel unique and special. It encourages the subscribers to take advantage of the special opportunity they’ve been presented with.

Sweetgreen

Why is it good?

A picture’s worth a thousand words –– this rule especially works when it comes to email campaigns. Juicy food photos look so mouth-watering, and the dominating green color adds some fresh highlights to the design. You can’t help but go and make an order!

RunKeeper

Why is it good?

In this message, RunKeeper gently highlights its app’s latest changes and benefits, enticing the subscribers to give it a second chance. “You rock” in the signature makes a general tone more friendly and casual.

Assemble

Why is it good?

If you are making any changes to your program of communication with customers, don’t forget to tell them about it. Assemble is aware of that –– this is why they’ve created this email. It explains what’s new in the company’s policy so that those who don’t agree could change their subscription preferences.

Litmus

Why is it good?

Interactive emails are always more catchy and engaging. Litmus used a creative way to show how the code transforms to the design of the email –– feels like you look “under the hood” of your email tool. It encourages you to read the rest of the content.

Aesop

Why is it good?

A big, bright, and vivid image combined with a brief and catchy description – that sounds like a success formula for an engaging campaign! The CTA button is quite obvious and entices you to click on it.

BuzzFeed

Why is it good?

Buzzfeed’s emails are examples to follow. The brand understands a central truth of how their audience sees the world and the company: they’re young, they love life and they are interested in lots of different things. That’s why in this email Buzzfeed uses high-quality visual content and a bright color scheme, which corresponds to their subscribers’ vision of life. Buzzfeed’s campaigns always meet the needs of the audience and enable them to better identify with a brand and its story.

Rip Curl

Why is it good?

A powerful slogan “Join the revolution” immediately attracts attention, killing both birds with one stone. On one hand, it satisfies the human need of being a part of something bigger, joining a community of same-minded people. On the other hand, it inspires, making people believe that there’s a “revolution” somewhere and it’s their turn to get in on the action.

Uber

Why is it good?

The key thing common to all Uber campaigns is beauty in simplicity. In their newsletters, Uber goes straight to the point, without wasting your time on unnecessary details. For those who want to learn more, there is always a link you can follow.

Magic Spoon Cereal

Why is it good?

Such a bright design can’t go unnoticed. It is associated with a carefree and happy childhood and looks so yummy! You’d better not open this email when you’re hungry!

The bottom line

Let’s sum up all the secrets of successful email marketing examples we’ve mentioned in this article.

1. Create an enticing subject line, relevant to your prospects’ needs. It should pique the interest and contain the value proposition. Don’t forget about personalization either.
2. Offer something valuable to the prospects –– something that’ll make them want to read your email till the end and make the desired action.
3. Don’t neglect previous user experience: use it to personalize your campaign and make your offers more relevant.
4. Keep your message short and to the point –– no one wants to wade through all those convoluted sentences to figure out what you’re trying to say.
5. Pay attention to email design. It reflects your unique vision and helps to clearly communicate with your audience. The best email campaigns have an attention-grabbing yet simple design, with some peculiar branded features. It is also user-friendly, with prominent CTAs you don’t have to look for.

To find more inspiration for your future campaigns, you can study the examples we’ve collected above. Each of them has something to learn from.