6 of the best email marketing campaign examples we’ve ever seen

Do you ever feel stuck when it comes to your email marketing campaigns?

Maybe you feel uninspired or can’t figure out how grab your audience’s attention. Whatever the case may be, we totally understand how uncomfortable and discouraging it can be to feel stuck.

Every once in a while, you need to take a break, look away from your own work, and get some inspiration from what’s around you.

Perhaps you feel inspired by nature, something you see on TV, or an article you read.

All of these are great ways to clear your head and leave space for inspiration to start working its magic.

Another way to get inspired about your marketing strategy is to check out some email marketing campaign examples.

Seeing the way others design their emails—including both their content and graphics—can get your own creative juices flowing.

Millions of companies send email marketing campaigns every single day. What does that mean for you? It means there’s plenty of inspiration to be found!

Here are just six email marketing campaign examples that have motivated us, and we’re sure they’ll do the same for you. Take what you like from each example and start incorporating it into your campaign strategy. Before you know it, your creativity will be on a roll.

Step one: Immediately let readers know why you’re writing to them.

1. Rapha

email marketing campaign examples 1.jpg

Source: Campaign Monitor

Everyone is incredibly busy. (Or say everyone says, right?) When they open their email inbox, they want to see right away why someone is emailing them. The answer to “why should I care?” should appear immediately for the reader. There’s nothing worse than being on a time crunch and having to scroll and scroll just to figure out the point of an email.

Do this once and your subscribers are likely to be forgiving. Do it repeatedly and your emails will end up unopened, deleted, or worse—you might end up with a higher unsubscribe rate.

Rapha, a cycling sportswear brand, is a great example of this.

Sale: It’s straightforward, simple, and gets to the point fast. The design of the email is simple as well. They have a great image behind the word “sale,” and the rest of the email is simply telling you a little bit about the sale. They don’t tell you about every single item that’s on sale. They simply whet the appetite. Then, if you’re interested, you can click on their bright pink call to action button.

Key takeaway: Keep the design and content simple, and let your readers know right away why you’re writing.

2. Bebe

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Source: Milled

Another good example of keeping things simple and to the point is the clothing brand, Bebe.

They’re writing to inform their audience of a sale. The readers know this immediately, plus they’re made aware of some pretty pertinent information right from the start—the kind of stuff you don’t want to have to go searching for once you’re intrigued by the idea of a sale.

They tell you:

  • How much you get off

  • That the sale is for a limited time only

  • That you get to take 20% off of everything on their site

  • The code you’ll need to get your discount when you go to check out.

Key takeaway: Again, let your audience know right away why you’re writing. Give them as much pertinent information as possible without writing an email the length of the next Great American Novel.

Step two: Personalizing your emails as much as possible.

3. The Greenbank Hotel

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Source: Really Good Emails

The marketing team at The Greenbank Hotel does a great job of making their customers feel welcome. This is an ideal example of a welcome email.

The customer knows right away just how important they are to the employees at the hotel. Basically, they’ll be catered to and pampered. Doesn’t their content make you want to book a stay at their hotel?

Another great feature of this email is that they’re inviting customer feedback. First, they let the customer know just how valuable they are, then they tell the customer that their feedback is just as important.

From time to time, you’ll need to get feedback from your audience. Let them know why you want their feedback (you want to make your emails/products/services even better for their benefit). Do what you can to show them that they matter to you, as does their input.

Key takeaway: Personalization is very important. Find ways to make your email marketing more personable so your audience has a more enjoyable experience. Bonus: doing this makes you way more memorable. It’s a great way to stand out amongst the tens to hundreds of emails your audience receives daily.

4. Converse

email marketing campaign examples 4.jpg

Source: Campaign Monitor

Converse has been around since the early 1900s. They use their emails to share the story of their journey and to celebrate their followers.

Yes, there are times when they use their email campaign to advertise the launch of a new product. However, this isn’t the sole purpose of their emails. If it were, they probably wouldn’t be as successful with their emails.

Having a great product is ideal, but that’s not the only thing that’s going to make the sale for your company. You need to have a great message and make sure it’s one that fully resonates with your audience.

In this particular email, the marketers are:

1. Showing how their followers have been a major part of their brand with a video.

2. Telling their audience that they’re teaming up with a top designer. The news about a new product is exciting, but a new product by a famous designer—that’s even more thrilling for fashionistas.

Key takeaway: Personalization is so important to your email campaign. It shouldn’t just be used as a way to address each subscriber (Dear [subscribers name],). Learn about your readers and use that information to craft emails that truly resonate with their wants, needs, and interests.

Step three: Have a clear call to action.

5. Barneys New York

email marketing campaign examples 5.jpg

Source: Milled

Think of your call to action as just that: something that motivates your reader to take some form of action.

If your email is about your latest blog post, add a snippet of the post to whet their appetite, and then add a call to action that says something like, “read more” or “read the full blog post.”

If you’re selling a product or having a sale, you can finesse your call to action by taking it from a simple yet spammy “click here” to “buy now,” “start shopping,” save 20% now.”

Barneys New York, a luxury department store chain, utilizes a call to action in their email campaign, not once, but twice! Each call to action has a specific purpose and they clearly convey what they want their audience to do: read their article or shop their online store.

Key takeaway: Remember that your call to action (CTA) needs to be more than a simple “click here.” Your CTA is a way for you to motivate your readers to take a certain step, whether it’s shopping for a product, finding out more about your services, or reading your blog.

Step four: Write about something that’s important to you and your readers.

6. Frank Body

email marketing campaign examples 6.jpg

Source: Really Good Emails

Sometimes, you’ll want to send an email to your audience that isn’t just a snippet of information to intrigue them to find out more.

There will be times when you’ll want to share something special with your subscribers. Maybe there’s some news about your company that you want to share or a cause you’d like to invite them to support.

Whatever the case may be, you’ll want to remember that your email needs to resonate with your audience. The topic should be something that they care about.

What if you’re not sure if your audience cares about it or not? First, you can find out by asking, either via email or on social media. Second, you can and should write your email copy in a way that piques their interest and touches their heart.

Frank Body does this by starting their email content off with a compelling header: “Today’s email is saving lives.” This header makes the reader want to find out more.

Key takeaway: Make your content compelling by sharing something that resonates with your readers or that piques their interest in something you’re passionate about.

Wrap up

If you’re in a creative funk lately regarding your email marketing campaign, look no further than the email marketing campaign examples all around you.

Look at what other companies are doing, see what interests you the most or that you think would appeal to your audience, and then take action.

And don’t forget to:

  • Have a clear call to action

  • Personalize your emails as much as possible

  • Ask for your readers’ feedback

  • Write content that resonates with your readers.

Doing this will make your emails stand out amongst the throng of emails your subscribers receive every single day.

Are you still feeling a bit stuck even after reviewing the email marketing campaign examples above? We can help. We have a series of informative blogs, webinars, and tutorials that will make designing your email marketing campaign so much easier.

About the Author

Emma is an email marketing platform that gives you all the tools you need to send campaigns that really connect with your subscribers. With our

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