As an email marketer, you probably believe that each and every one of your customers is the most important one. However, there is a group of people you should really focus on — your VIP customers. Targeting these customers will result in the biggest sales, and neglecting them will significantly hurt your business.
In this article, we’ll explain who your VIP customers might be and how to use different email marketing strategies to address them. We’ll also showcase great VIP email examples, so you can start sending similar campaigns right away!
Who are VIP customers and why do they matter?
VIP (Very Important Person) customers are each brand’s top-tier clients, the cream of the crop.
Depending on your niche and business model, you can define your VIPs differently. Use segmentation to group those who:
- Made the biggest number of purchases.
- Have the highest average order value.
- Spent the most money.
- Make the full-price purchases (rarely use discounts or shops on sale).
- Have the biggest customer lifetime value (CLV).
- Have few returns.
You can use one of these parameters or, better yet, combine them.
If your brand frequently employs influencer marketing, it makes sense to also include these customers in the list of VIPs.
Why do these customers matter?
They bring the most value to your company. According to McKinsey, VIPs make up only 1% of customers yet bring 20-50% of total revenue, or 10-15 times what the average customers do. Retaining these high-spenders is essential for your business success, and it’s also way easier than acquiring new ones.
VIPs are also very loyal, which means they have the highest potential to serve as brand advocates and spread the word about your products. These are also the very customers you can target to get the most positive reviews.
Key principles of VIP email marketing
Let’s break down the strategies and techniques behind VIP email marketing.
If you already have an email marketing program, make sure that your platform of choice has all the necessary features. These features ensure the technical side runs smoothly:
- Segmentation. You need to identify and separate your VIPs from the rest of your customers using the criteria mentioned above. If you use a separate e-commerce platform and CRM, you also need to set up integrations between all of these services, so they can exchange customer information (the number of orders, birthdays, etc.).
- Personalization. Giving your most valuable customers a personalized experience is the very essence of VIP treatment. Although it’s a good idea to use personalization strategies for any campaign, for VIPs, take it a step further. Mention loyalty program milestones, call back to previous orders, create personalized discount codes, etc.
- Automation. Don’t do everything by hand — use your software to set up early access emails for your VIPs, send birthday emails and rewards. Make it worthwhile to be your brand’s royalty!
Good software is only half of what comprises an effective VIP program. On the email marketing content side, apply these principles:
- Create a sense of exclusivity. Use design and language to make your VIP customer feel like they are a part of the select few. Depending on your overall messaging, think secret societies and celebrity treatment or close friends and family.
- Express gratitude and appreciation. Remember that these customers are the foundation of your company’s success and treat them accordingly, especially when celebrating company anniversaries or reaching new sales or popularity heights.
- Gamify your loyalty program. Give your membership tiers interesting names and make it enticing for your customers to reach these milestones. You can also invest in interactive emails for your VIPs to make these campaigns extra exciting.
- Reward your VIPs with gifts and perks. Show that the VIP status actually matters, so that your customers would want to maintain it. Apart from offering free shipping and exclusive deals, you can also send exclusive content like founder interviews, behind-the-scenes photos or phone wallpapers.
Best VIP email examples and strategies to use
We have collected some of the best and most popular examples of VIP emails for your inspiration. Use these creative emails as your VIP loyalty email templates.
Reward and loyalty emails
If you have a loyalty program, you have your VIP segmentation cut out for you! Your top-tier customers are exactly those you want to target here. Send loyalty program emails when they reach a new level, acquire points, and get rewards.
Here’s a great example of how a brand creates anticipation and puts the customers on track for becoming VIPs. There’s an easy explainer of the essence of the loyalty program and a clear visual representation of each of the steps along the way.
Here’s one of the more straightforward examples with free gifts a VIP customer can choose from. Note that the brand also puts the product’s price next to it to drive home the value of these perks.
Exclusive access and early-bird offers
Give your VIPs an opportunity to see a new launch product or access sales earlier. This is an easy (and free!) way to reward their loyalty.
If you want to make your VIP’s email experience more memorable, you can use visuals that complement the theme. For example, a lock to represent early access to a sale, complete with a password:
Other than clever visuals, you can also enhance your early bird email campaign with social proof, like buyers’ comments. Add a sweet thank you message, and you’ve got yourself a perfect VIP offer!
Event invitations and experiences
If your brand has brick-and-mortar stores, invite your VIPs to an exclusive preview of your new collection or use online events and experiences to make them even closer to your brand. If you’re not sure which one to pick, consider your positioning and the geographic location of your target audience.
Offline happenings are more expensive, but they also offer a greater sense of connection and luxury. Online events, on the other hand, are easier to organize and more accessible.
Here’s an invitation to a LIVE shopping event with a discount code that makes the showcase even more enticing. For brands focused on sales, this strategy is one of the best to use.
App-exclusive and personalized promotions
Your VIP customers are those you know most about. Use this data to personalize their experiences even more. Send emails on special occasions and celebrate their milestones.
A great way to personalize an offer is to send it on a customer’s birthday, like in the example below. You can also mention the recipient by name in the subject line to make the message warmer.
Next purchase discount emails
Another sales-inducing strategy is to reward high spenders with a discount for their next purchase. You don’t have to offer it to your entire product catalog, though. A more personalized and cost-effective strategy would be to choose a certain product range that the customer might be interested in or to use a cross-sell or an upsell logic.
Here’s a straightforward email to illustrate this point. Note how the heading explicitly states the deal while the text below offers more context and adds a thank you.
Referral program emails
Your VIP customers are already likely to share their love for your products with their friends and family, so create a referral program or remind them to use it. Remember that word-of-mouth marketing is one of the effective ways to attract new customers — people trust other people.
The referral program itself should reflect your brand and be rewarding and interesting to participate in. To make it more fun, allow for personalization, like in the example below:
Social sharing emails
Similar to a referral program, a social-sharing campaign is aimed at getting more eyes on your brand. This multichannel marketing strategy allows you to reach a new audience and get user-generated content.
To make your VIPs want to participate in the campaign, make it focused and put effort into the messaging.
The campaign below has a memorable name and addresses a common fear of sharing imperfect photos on the internet while at the same time reinforcing the supportive nature of the brand:
How to create your own VIP email campaigns
Ready to get the most out of your best customers? We’ll walk you through the process of creating a campaign!
1. Segment your audience and identify your VIPs
Find out who your top customers are and separate them into a dedicated list.
You can go even further and create smaller lists for different types of VIPs according to marketing personas or for different loyalty program tiers.
For example, separate those with the highest average order value and those who made the biggest number of purchases from those who made full-price purchases. Target the first group with seasonal promos, and send personalized recommendations to the second — even for full-priced items.
You can also use the regular segmentation ideas here, like location, age or past purchase-based grouping.
2. Personalize your emails
From showing your customers what their member status and points are to using their name, make sure you create truly exclusive and personal content.
Think of these clients as stars on the red carpet — they’ll feel like it if you put enough effort into personalization.
Take a page out of Pandora’s marketing book: the brand invites the recipient to try a new feature with a note from the founder and highlights how valuable this person is to the company.
3. Design emails for mobile and desktop
Make sure your emails are on brand and use responsive templates, so that they are consistent across both desktop and mobile.
If you can, add distinct visual elements to your VIP emails, like a personalized header with the customer’s name, loyalty program status and points. You can also make those headers slightly different depending on the customer’s membership level.
4. Write persuasive subject lines
If your subject line isn’t captivating, your email marketing efforts are in vain. Here are some of the strategies you should try out:
- Personalize with the customer’s name or other details.
- Use words like “VIP,” “exclusive,” “for you only,” etc.
- Use urgency indicators and other strategies of FOMO email marketing.
- Deliver the value upfront, for example, mention the discount in dollars or percentages.
5. Set up email automation scenarios
A good VIP email program depends on data, which means that all the software you use to receive and store customer information should be connected to your email service provider.
Platforms like Selzy offer CRM integrations that allow for a smooth and immediate transfer of information, like loyalty program changes, birthdays, order updates, etc.
Set up email automation scenarios for each of these major events. For example, create upsell, cross-sell and retargeting sequences to improve sales and automate re-engagement of those VIPs who haven’t been active for a set period.
6. Measure your results and adjust
As with any strategy, your VIP email marketing should be continuously evolving.
Measure the results of your program with the email KPIs like conversion rate, ROI, email revenue, etc.
If your emails miss the mark, come up with a hypothesis and conduct A/B tests to see whether your assumptions are correct. Iterate and improve to make sure that your email marketing campaigns are as effective as possible.
VIP email FAQs
Your VIP clients are those who sustain your company in the long run, so treat them like royalty. Invest in VIP email marketing, and your efforts are likely to pay off.
Want to explore the topic even more? Here are the answers to some of the popular questions regarding VIP emails.
How do I identify VIP customers for targeted email rewards?
Analyze your sales and customer relationships data and single out those customers who have made the biggest number of purchases, spent the most money or have the highest average order value. You can also choose those who have the biggest customer lifetime value (CLV).
What types of VIP emails should I send?
Focus on formats that reinforce exclusivity and value: loyalty-tier/reward updates, early access or “first look” launches, invitation-only events (online or in-store), birthday or milestone offers, next-purchase discounts, referral prompts and social-sharing campaigns. These map directly to how your VIPs behave (high spend, frequent orders, full-price buyers) and give them reasons to stay engaged.
What perks actually work for VIPs?
Keep benefits tangible and status-led: free shipping, exclusive deals, personalized discount codes, curated gifts, and access to unique content (e.g., founder notes, behind-the-scenes). Layer in experiential perks like early-bird windows and invite-only previews. The goal is to make VIP status feel real, not just a tag in your CRM.
How often should I send VIP emails?
Your email cadence depends on your email marketing strategy and the type of business you are running. Don’t make every email you send to your VIPs exclusive. Instead, use VIP rewards and perks sparingly, for example, one or two times per month. That way, they won’t feel like a commodity and continue to bring excitement (and sales).
How do I measure success and improve over time?
Track conversion rate, ROI and email-attributed revenue for VIP sends, then iterate. Use segmentation and automation to trigger timely messages (loyalty changes, birthdays, order updates) and run A/B tests on subject lines, perks and timing. If results dip, form a hypothesis (e.g., perk fatigue or timing) and test again until performance rebounds.
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