Have you ever received dozens of spam emails in a day? Or are you a marketing manager searching for new ideas? Ads, discounts, offers, and “useful” articles are coming daily from all possible businesses. So, can email marketing campaigns serve as a selling tool in 2024? The answer is Yes if you understand how to use this tool. Email campaigns still sell goods and services, but only if planned correctly. But the best idea is to start at the beginning.
Starting from the beginning, what differentiates a campaign from just sending emails? Successful email campaigns are scheduled actions that lead to a certain purpose. Thus, successful email campaigns must be:
email marketing campaigns are organized in time;
planned in advance;
serve one particular purpose;
enhance customer loyalty;
use psychological triggers and influence people.
Unlike a bunch of emails in a user’s box, a marketing campaign will influence readers and motivate them to take action. To sort things out, explore these 30 email marketing campaign examples.
Before starting, let’s discuss another issue – how the examples of email marketing campaigns were chosen. For this, several factors played a role. First, the campaign achieved its main purpose. Secondly, the idea was fresh and didn’t repeat the old approaches. Finally, the story of email marketing campaigns can teach you a lesson. With no further hesitations, let’s start.
With Bitrix24, harness the power of AI to create personalized, engaging email campaigns that resonate with your audience and drive results
Get Started NowBabbel, a language-learning tool for mobile devices, decided to offer discounts on the 29th of February 2024. What is special here? The leap year is not a celebration or holiday, and few companies offer something for it. At the same, such a message attracts users – it looks fresh and new, reminding people about a special year. Almost no rivals is another thing that contributed to success. Finally, email marketing campaigns with a bit of humour are always a nice idea for a promotion.
The world’s most recognizable coffee shop uses email marketing to thank new customers. After a user subscribes to the Starbucks newsletter, they receive welcome emails with a “We’re glad you are here” subject lines. Also, the letter explains how the Starbucks customer loyalty program works. Nothing more – just welcome emails with simple instructions.
The Root Houseplant is a brand of home plants. The company offers plants themselves and different instruments for a home garden. Why did their email marketing campaigns work so well? Instead of sending news and texts, Houseplant sends photos of new arrivals in their email marketing campaigns. Showing the process of growing and storing plants, the brand engages customers and creates a sense of presence and understanding. No more time for reading long names and news – just open the letter and see email marketing campaigns with photos of available plants.
A digital newspaper, the Guardian, did the best possible thing to re-engage users. Instead of offering to read news, they send… news. The idea of their email marketing campaigns is that each Guardian reader or subscriber receives an article based on their preference. Thus, sports fans receive email marketing campaigns about sports, and those who read about politics get all the actual events in the world. In such a way, the newspaper doesn’t ask people to visit a site. They send a direct link to the article, placing the main ideas from it in the letter. A brilliant idea to attract loyal readers via email marketing campaigns!
Asana is a tool for collaborative planning and project management. The tool allows users to place and complete tasks, sharing them with others. They developed a perfect idea for users’ onboarding via email marketing campaigns. The thing is, studying all functions at once may be too difficult since Asana offers many tools. That is why the first messages a user receives tell about Asana’s basics, like task placing. After 4-5 messages are received, the user gets the final message called “You’ve learnt the basics, now become a master”. There, you can individually choose between several guides up to your choice. No confusion – choose what you’d like to learn.
Miro is an online tool for visualizing your plans and schemes. It allows storing and sharing information in comfortable schemes. The main idea of Miro is professionalism and usability – and they use it in email marketing campaigns. To re-engage users, Miro regularly sends email marketing campaigns about updates. And yes, you won’t see large texts about what has changed. The platform just intrigues you by informing you about changes. A perfect approach for digital workers who are already overwhelmed with letters.
Zoom understood perfectly its clients’ fears – looking bad on the camera. Meanwhile, not so many users know about the test call function. That is why all Zoom customers receive an email called “Don’t be Camera Shy”. It offers to enter the test meeting by just pressing a button and to see how it works. For users who didn’t know about the function, it is a brilliant introduction.
Airbnb is actually a marketing genius. The company’s mail campaign supports during all trips, from choosing accommodation to having fun. First, it will allow you to look for accommodations in regions you recently visited or searched for. Then, offer the particular variants. But the best part is here – after you come to the destination, Airbnb will entertain you by offering different activities nearby. It shows the dedication to clients and engages them.
Booking, another service for travelling, does the same thing differently. Its positioning is more prestigious and serious. For example, a lot of companies choose Booking for corporate travelling. That is why the service sends emails with almost no texts and marketing materials. Just a list of accommodations you may like and their prices. Nothing overwhelming – that’s what the service is proud of.
VSCO was primarily an application for photo editing, but then became a hub for sharing photos. And the marketers know that perfectly. That is why promotional messages by VSCO consist of user-generated content. Whether these are discount notifications or news, they will be designed using users’ photos. It is a way to inspire potential readers and create a sense of community.
Once, Grammarly was just a tool to edit texts and solve grammatical mistakes. After the company expanded, there was a problem – no one knew about new functions. Now, the service offers way more features: an AI detector, plagiarism checker, grammar cards for learning, personalized vocabulary, and even education materials. Offer all that news at once? This would be overwhelming. That is why Grammarly chose another marketing strategy.
From time to time, users receive an invitation to use one of the services. No bright announcements – just a marketing strategy with an offer to try cards or another tool.
Bitrix is a CRM system and an email marketing platform that offers additional services like email campaigns and AI tools. No wonder, the team developed an exciting marketing campaign for the service itself. The idea of the campaign is to educate users, gradually offering them services. These are not promotional materials directly – the subscriber only receives useful tools to learn Bitrix. Moreover, these messages are indeed useful because there are several services on the platform. Moreover, right after registering a profile, you receive a message with links to all guides and tools.
With Bitrix24, harness the power of AI to create personalized, engaging email campaigns that resonate with your audience and drive results
Get Started NowDuolingo did an amazing job by turning emails into a meme. Now the Internet discusses how the app “threatens” users when they miss lessons and learning sessions. The program’s mascot – a green owl, appears in all messages. After a user misses some classes, he becomes more and more frustrated. Despite it being rather a meme, users really try not to miss the classes and are “afraid” of a Duolingo owl.
BuzzFeed is a digital media that focuses on fun and entertainment. But here is the issue – users don’t read news on websites as actively as before. While most readers prefer social media, BuzFeed was looking for a way to engage with old customers. For this, the company sends interactive email. There, users receive memes, quizzes, poles, and even mini-games to try. The main perk is that you don’t need to leave a letter to try it – everything is here.
This digital camera was developed for travellers and bloggers who want to film amazing landscapes and action videos. The company used it for the email marketing strategy as well. Instead of receiving texts and invitations, users see the best practices. How? GoPro sends you the best video, created by users. The user-generated content is a perfect way to advertise amateur cameras. Seeing this video, the user thinks – why not film them either?
Glossier is a beauty brand, extremely famous in the 2010-2014s. It sells lip balms and lipsticks, perfumes, skincare products, and other connected items. The idea of the brand is to let people feel luxurious and special, even using products with average prices. The design and TOV of the brand are all about special treatment. The same thing was used for an email campaign. Glossier sends its target audience emails with special discounts, positioning them as individual offers. From pictures to texts, it creates a sense of VIP treatment.
To engage a target audience that hasn’t visited a site for a long time, the famous Netflix developed a special gimmick. In spite of advertising the service itself, Netflix advertises movies. It is a perfect solution for the online movie service.
The marketing emails adapt to the user’s interests and recommend series and movies that might suit preferences. This way, the ads don’t feel too sticky. Netflix says nothing about the service and its advantages – just reminds you to relax and see a new series.
Four times a year, YouTube Music service creates a so-called “Recap”. It is a selection of your favourite tracks, artists, albums, and genres. Crafting it in a bright personalized design, the app sends a recap to the target audience’s email. Such a feature is a perfect example of successful email campaign with personalization. At the end of 2023, the service even crafted thee unique “album cover” for each user, using the AI service. By receiving such an email, the user will most likely go to the app to see the personal recap.
Another one of successful email marketing campaigns is Converse brand. Several years ago, all Converse subscribers received an email, offering them to try new shoes using the AR tool. The company implemented a function where a user can turn on the phone camera and “try on” the new Converse. Such an invitation raised general awareness about the brand. It was a perfect way to increase sales for an old brand that lost a target audience because of changing trends.
Sometimes simplicity is the best idea. Headspace is a meditation app that helps users to live and sleep better. The thing is that its email campaign became extremely successful and showed 50% more new users than in other meditation apps. How? The messages by Headspace are simple, with a clear CTA and testimonial request emails. They didn’t add anything super creative and focused on simplicity and calmness of letters and subject lines.
Instagram uses a trick in its email marketing. If the user doesn't visit the app within one to two days, he or she receives an email with the info that some of the friends/followers posted new stories or a blog post. The thing is that Instagram doesn't show its materials and simply intrigues the reader. Also, if a user has no followers, the same messages will be sent about the official Instagram account.
Patagonia is a sustainable brand that produces clothes for travelling, hiking, and sports. The brand actively supports the eco-movement and uses it in campaigns. For instance, all marketing emails are done in minimalistic colours and designs. The photo usually depicts people engaging in eco movements. All certificates and licensing are also attached. This way, Patagonia creates a picture of a responsible and reliable company. At the same time, the message itself may inform about new collections, discounts, and so on.
Uniqlo, a large clothing shop, crafted an interesting idea for the world audience. It is an international brand, available in many countries. So, how to target hoods for so many people? Uniqlo found a solution to increase sales – each recipient gets a message with clothing suitable for their region and climate. Thus, people from the Nordic countries get promotions for sweaters and coats, while tropical climate residents see summer clothes.
Who doesn’t like pizza? For a food delivery or a cafe, differentiating from the rivals is extremely hard. Moreover, Pizza Hut is a simple fast food place with no particularities. The company used email campaign templates to promote the services at special events. Thus, each subscribed customer receives a Birthday email with special discounts and the offer to get free treats. Now, free Birthday dunkers from Pizza Hut are a special feature, widely recognized among customers.
Venmo is a payment method, bought by PayPal in 2013. The app still works independently and offers services on mobile devices. To re-engage old customers, the company uses one successful email campaign – it sends a small email with the “Explore Venmo” CTA. There is nothing special or outstanding in this promotion. But it is a perfect way to engage with old clients who forget about the service. With no spam, the app just reminds you about new features and offers clients to give it a second chance.
Asos did a perfect thing to remind clients about unfinished shopping – the service sends you letters with the “don’t forget about me” subject lines. The letter contains photos of items from your shopping cart. To collect data about users’ behaviour and favourite items is a must for successful email marketing in the fashion sphere. The emails’ subject lines remind us that adding items to a cart doesn’t equal reserving them. In such a manner, Asos reminds users to make a purchase.
PayPal is a financial ecosystem that allows users to send and receive money with e-wallets. However, marketing efforts in crafting promotional materials were ineffective. Moreover, there are hundreds of payment systems all over the world. Instead, PayPal sends users a blog post on how to manage finances and which budget-managing tools to use, as well as testimonial request emails. It is a way to interact with the audience using relevant yet interesting topics.
Spotify sends regular emails with “Thank you” subject lines. Over time, it became a recognizable element of their email marketing. The app starts to collect data about a customer, and then thanks users, for active listening and offers new songs and playlists. Also, users receive statistics about their most-listened songs.
Warby Parker is a company that produces and sells eyeglasses, contact lenses, and other eyewear. The company chose email marketing as the main way of promotion and crafted an effective strategy. First, they sell letters to new clients offering to take a quiz and select the personalized glasses. For further communication, the company sends emails with relevant content, and the opportunity to see the new items in a 360-degree format. This way, a simple newsletter from a glass company turned into an exciting way to communicate with potential customers. Letters with interactive elements show amazing click through rate parameters thanks to engagement.
The sports brand Nike is famous for its active social position in marketing efforts. The brand supports body positivity and feminism, as well as family traditions and values. The email campaign doesn’t only promote clothes and shoes. Seasonal promotions use relevant content to remind buying gifts for close people, and new collections are supported with motivational quotes. With laconic messages, Nike not only promotes the brand but shows its values and ideas.