15 Email Marketing Campaign Ideas to Boost Open Rates

15 email campaign ideas that will engage your customers

If you’re unsure of the type of campaigns you should create, here are 15 marketing ideas to help you get started.

Product recommendations

Product recommendation emails allow you to entice contacts with products that are similar to items they’ve looked at, purchased in the past, saved for later, or added to their carts.

With personalized data suggestions, you can drive engagement and sales. You’ll need specialized tools, like a customer relationship management (CRM) system, to obtain the necessary data for a successful campaign.

Abandoned cart

Abandoned cart campaigns make it easy to bring shoppers back to their carts and finalize their purchases. This email marketing campaign aims to remind customers of the products they left behind and incentivize them to complete the transaction. You can include exclusive discounts or limited offers to encourage new customers to shop at your online store.

However, you can also use fear of missing out (FOMO) to your advantage with phrases like “Shop while supplies last” or “Limited time only.”

Product education

Product education emails contain content that teaches shoppers how to use your product.

For example, a hair care company may provide instructions on how to repair color-treated hair and subtly weave their products in the contents of the email.

You can repurpose blogs, infographics, social media campaigns, and how-to video campaigns to maximize your efforts. Remember, the goal is to be more educational than salesy.

Welcome emails

When someone signs up for your email list, make sure to welcome them with an introductory email. After all, you only make a first impression once. Doing so helps you accomplish 2 things. First, you can quickly begin to build a connection with new subscribers and explain the type of content they can expect. Second, you encourage them to learn more about your company and product offering.

Surveys and feedback

Online surveys allow you to learn about your customers and ensure you provide the type of content they want.

This kind of campaign can provide additional insight into the needs of your customers, allow you to create campaigns tailored to them, and build more effective audience segments.

Feedback can also improve your products and services. You can encourage subscribers to provide their opinions with special deals or promotions.

Referral program

Word-of-mouth is a powerful tool in marketing that allows you to generate qualified leads, grow your audience, and increase sales.

In fact, 90% of consumers are more likely to trust a brand that’s been recommended to them. You can attract more people to your brand and even boost loyalty by reminding subscribers of the benefits of your referral program.

Plus, it’s cost-effective since subscribers will do the heavy lifting for you.

Contests or giveaways

People love getting things for free, and you can encourage customers to engage with your brand by running a contest or giveaway.

This email marketing campaign lets you announce the contest to your subscribers, explain how they can win and the rules, and showcase the winner. You can send a series of emails reminding contacts of the giveaway deadline and create buzz.

Ultimately, it’s a great way to grow your email list and market your brand for free with user-generated content campaigns.

Case studies or social proof

A case study allows you to showcase social proof of the effectiveness of your products or services and demonstrate how they have helped customers.

For example, a marketing company may create a case study highlighting how their expertise and strategy increased website engagement by 60%.

Case studies are often several pages long, so you can break down the study into multiple summarized sections rather than limiting yourself to one email.

Industry news

If you want to send your subscribers something different–and that’s not sales-focused–try sharing industry news.

Sharing news about your industry ensures contacts receive valuable content they can learn from and engage with. To create these types of emails, compile the latest news and trends within your market and highlight them in the body of your email.

While you can source other materials and provide references within the email, creating your own blog posts covering relevant news in your niche is even better. Doing so can drive traffic back to your site and boost your website’s search engine optimization (SEO).

Sales and promotions

Sales and promotional emails are one of the best types of email marketing campaigns.

These emails often contain limited deals to encourage consumers to act fast and participate in the sale. The sense of urgency the message creates, plus the opportunity to save, can incentivize your subscribers to shop.

Keep in mind that approximately 333 billion emails are sent and received daily around the world, so it’s important to create email campaigns that stand out. Consider using competitive intelligence to see what your competition is doing effectively.

Webinar invites

A webinar is great for showing off your expertise and connecting with your target audience. If you’re hosting a webinar, it’s a good idea to inform your audience through emails.

Doing so can let subscribers know about the upcoming web-based seminar and provide regular reminders, increasing the likelihood of a high registration and attendance rate.

We also recommend automating transactional emails so those who register for the webinar receive a message thanking them for signing up.

Company updates

Did your business recently open a brick-and-mortar location? Are you ready to prepare a product launch campaign? Is your application getting a big software update?

Don’t be afraid to share the news with your subscribers and get people talking!

Not only can these types of emails allow you to stay in touch with your broader audience, but they also are a great way to boost engagement. Plus, providing contacts with company updates can help establish trust.

Upsell messages

Upsell emails can encourage customers to upgrade their product package or service plan. For example, if a customer is currently using the free version of your application, allow them to try one of the paid plans for free for a limited time.

This way, they can explore the paid version of the application and determine if it’s worth the investment.

Seasonal or holiday campaigns

Seasonal campaigns can be extremely beneficial, especially for retail companies in the B2C (business-to-consumer) sphere. There are some holidays where gift-giving is common practice, and consumers may look to your company to finalize their holiday shopping.

Key holidays to remember include:

• Valentine’s Day
• Mother’s Day
• Memorial Day
• Father’s Day
• Fourth of July
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas

You also want to keep in mind when certain events take place. For example, graduations typically happen during May and June, while peak wedding season often runs from spring to fall.

By incorporating a special promotion into your email and social media campaigns, you can encourage contacts to take advantage of your stellar deals and find the perfect gift.

Re-engagement

The goal of a re-engagement campaign is to get inactive contacts to interact with your brand. There are many reasons why existing customers may no longer be interested in your emails.

For instance, your compelling messages may reach them at inconvenient times, or the content may not be relevant. If your subject line isn’t interesting or it appears like spam, subscribers may also be more reluctant to open your correspondence.

Tips for effective email marketing campaigns

If you want to run a successful email marketing campaign, here are a few tips that can help:

• Perform A/B testing
• Write captivating subject lines and pre-headers
• Ensure it’s skimmable
• Segment your audience
• Find the best time to send emails
• Use personalization
• Make it mobile friendly
• End messages with a CTA

By ensuring your next marketing campaign is effective, your business can enjoy the following benefits:

• Increased brand awareness
• Lead generation
• Stronger customer relationships
• Sales growth
• More website traffic

Optimize your email campaigns with Mailchimp

Email campaigns can enhance your marketing efforts, allowing you to regularly connect with potential customers and build solid relationships.

As a result, you can increase sales, boost loyalty, and more. There are many types of campaigns you can run, so take a look at the creative ideas mentioned above to kickstart your email marketing strategy.

If you want to optimize your next marketing or social media campaign, don’t forget to use data-driven tools.

Mailchimp’s email marketing software removes the guesswork from your campaigns, making it easier to create personalized messages that reach subscribers at the best time. Our intuitive email builder can also help you make professional, on-brand, and captivating emails.