Do you want to learn how to write promotional emails that convert more subscribers into customers?
Promotional emails are powerful marketing tools for eCommerce businesses. They let you communicate your offerings, increase sales, and build customer relationships.
This blog explains promotional emails’ importance and provides best practices for creating impactful campaigns.
Furthermore, we’ll provide real-life promotional email examples and templates to inspire your marketing efforts.
- What Are Promotional Emails?
- Why Are Promotional Emails Important?
- How to Write Promotional Emails
- Promotional Email Examples
- Promotional Email Templates
Promotional emails and email promotions essentially refer to the same concept. They are emails sent to potential or current customers to promote a company’s products, services, or events. Here’s a bit more about them:
What Are Promotional Emails?
Promotional emails are marketing messages sent to customers or potential customers to highlight special offers, discounts, new products, or upcoming events. They usually aim to encourage the recipient to take action, like making a purchase, registering for an event, or visiting a website.
There are many different types of promotional emails, and they can have a wide variety of goals. Popular uses include:
- Emails that promote a flash sale
- Product launch emails
- Special holiday emails for Christmas or other special occasions
- Emails that promote a webinar or demo
- Birthday emails with coupon codes or special deals
- Email offers for a free ebook or PDF guide
The best promotional emails use persuasive content, eye-catching visual design, and strategic calls to action (CTAs) to engage their audience, boost brand awareness, and drive conversions.
Why Are Promotional Emails Important?
There are many reasons why you should send promotional emails. Here are the top 3 benefits:
1. Promotional Emails Build Trust & Engage Customers
Email promotions build trust with your customers by providing them with real value. That value can be a coupon, free information, or a limited-time offer. When you send helpful and valuable emails, you’ll convert more of your subscribers into loyal customers, who are excited to purchase from you again and again.
Promotional emails also build engagement by giving people an incentive to engage with your content. In fact, promotional emails that contain both content and incentives (like lead magnets) can increase your click-through rates (CTR), conversions, and customer loyalty.
2. Email Promotions Save Money
Promo emails are cost-effective because they target an existing audience that has chosen to learn more about your company. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be quite expensive, as you’re paying a premium to reach interested users.
To send promotional emails, you need only 2 types of software:
- Lead generation software to build your subscriber lists
- An email service provider to schedule and send your email offers
These types of services generally have reasonable fees. This lower cost means that even small businesses, nonprofits, and startups can afford to send promotional emails.
3. Email Offers Boost Your ROI
Since promotional emails are targeted toward audiences that have already shown interest in your business or products, promotional emails have the highest return on investment (ROI) of all promotional tools.
This is because promotional emails provide real value to the recipient, giving them a greater sense of trust and appreciation for your business.
How to Write Promotional Emails
Writing effective promotional emails requires a blend of creativity, strategy, and an understanding of your audience. Below are the steps and best practices for crafting compelling promotional emails:
1. Craft an Engaging Subject Line
- Keep it short and to the point: Aim for 6-10 words.
- Create urgency: Use time-sensitive phrases like “Limited-time offer” or “Last chance.”
- Personalize when possible: Include the recipient’s name or relevant details.
- Spark curiosity: Pique interest without giving everything away.
Examples:
- “Don’t Miss Out on 30% Off – Today Only!”
- “Hey [Name], Your Exclusive Deal Awaits!”
2. Personalize the Message
- Use the recipient’s first name to build a personal connection.
- Reference past purchases or preferences, if possible.
- Segment your audience to send targeted offers that match their interests.
Example:
- “Hi [Name], we noticed you loved [product]! Here’s 20% off your next purchase.”
3. Start with a Compelling Opening
- Hook the reader in the first sentence.
- Keep it short, snappy, and aligned with the subject line.
- Focus on benefits rather than features from the start.
Example:
- “Ready for an exclusive offer? You deserve something special!”
4. Highlight the Offer Clearly
- Make the offer the focal point of the email.
- Use bullet points or bold text to emphasize key details, like discounts, promotions, or new product launches.
- Add visuals like product images to enhance appeal.
Example:
- “Get 25% off all new arrivals until midnight! Here’s how it works:
- Use code: SAVE25 at checkout
- Offer ends tonight
- Shop now and enjoy free shipping!”
5. Use Action-Oriented Language
- Create a clear call-to-action (CTA) using phrases that inspire urgency or excitement.
- Keep the CTA visible and repeat it throughout the email, but don’t overwhelm the reader with too many options.
Examples of CTA:
- “Shop Now”
- “Claim Your Discount”
- “Get Started Today”
6. Incorporate a Sense of Urgency
- Mention deadlines or limited availability to encourage immediate action.
- Use countdown timers if relevant (especially for flash sales).
Example:
- “Hurry – offer ends in 24 hours!”
7. Focus on Benefits, Not Just Features
- Rather than listing product features, highlight how your product or service will solve a problem or make the customer’s life easier.
Example:
- “With our new ergonomic chair, you’ll enjoy all-day comfort and increase productivity.”
8. Include Social Proof
- Testimonials, reviews, or user-generated content help build trust.
- Include stats or data points if they make your offer more credible.
Example:
- “Join over 10,000 happy customers who saved big with our annual sale!”
9. Optimize for Mobile Devices
- Ensure your email design is responsive and looks good on both desktop and mobile.
- Keep paragraphs short and use large, tappable buttons for CTAs.
10. Create a Simple, Eye-Catching Design
- Keep your design clean and aligned with your brand identity.
- Use plenty of white space and limit text blocks to make the email scannable.
- Stick to one or two colors that highlight key parts of the email.
11. Add a Postscript (P.S.)
- Reinforce the main point or CTA with a quick reminder in the P.S. section.
- This is a great place to add a last-minute nudge or additional value.
Example:
- “P.S. Don’t forget – your 20% discount expires at midnight! Shop now and save!”
12. Test and Optimize
- A/B test subject lines, CTA placements, and even design elements to determine what works best.
- Analyze open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to refine future emails.
Promotional Email Examples (That Any Business Can Learn From)
The following promotional email examples were taken from some of the biggest names on the web.
However, the strategies they use are available to any business, no matter how small. You don’t need a huge marketing team or budget to apply the same concepts to your own marketing.
Click on any of the example images to see a scrolling GIF of the full promotional email.
Let’s dive into our list:
1. Text Promotional Email from OptinMonster
At OptinMonster, we send different types of email campaigns. But often, we’ll use plain text promotional emails rather than HTML-based emails with images.
Text emails can boost deliverability, meaning your emails are less likely to end up in spam folders. Also, one A/B testing study compared how many conversions came from HTML vs. text emails. The test showed that 63% of converting existing customers and 49% of converting non-customers clicked from the text-based campaign.
What can you learn from these numbers? That you can succeed with text-only emails and that it’s a good idea to experiment with them.
For OptinMonster, these emails let us connect with our audience through storytelling. Plus, we can embed CTA links throughout the message to improve our click-through rates.
Bonus tip: You can send successful promo campaigns even if you don’t have a designer on your team! If you enjoy writing but aren’t great with graphics and layout, try using plain text for your sales emails.
2. A Focused and Attractive Email From Bose
The audio brand Bose has a great promotional email with lots of appealing visuals. It features various products with multiple CTA buttons throughout.
Notice that the email is easy to read and features plenty of negative space. The background is color-blocked, alternating between black and white. This visual style improves scannability and makes the photos pop.
Bonus tip: Send promotional emails with a specific focus or theme. Bose’s email is designed to appeal to athletes and people who listen to music while working out. All of the photos depict athletes, and the CTAs are for Bluetooth speakers and earbuds. The email’s heading, “Bose sound keeps you moving,” tells athletic readers exactly how they’ll benefit from using Bose products.
3. A Single-Goal Email From Netflix
Netflix has a simple but effective email campaign.
Netflix sends emails asking for ratings for their most popular shows. You may even receive an email for a show you haven’t watched yet. When you rate the show, you’re taken to your Netflix account, where you can continue watching or start the series.
This is a great way to expose people to popular shows on the streaming platform. Plus, Netflix gets valuable data on your likes and dislikes, helping them improve the user experience.
Bonus tip: Offer a strong, simple, and obvious CTA. In this email, Netflix only asks 1 thing: whether you liked a specific show. Users won’t get distracted or bogged down in other information. They just click the thumbs up or thumbs down.
4. An Informative Email From Formidable Forms
Formidable Forms has a very informative promotional email.
They provide multiple links to various pages on their site, giving users a lot of ways to interact with the brand. The email is mostly text-based, but they use emojis to spice up the promotional message. The email includes a lot of information, but it’s broken up with headings, white space, and divider lines for scannability.
Bonus tip: Try this format if you have a lot of updates and features to showcase. For instance, Software as a Service (SaaS) companies can use this combination of headings, paragraphs, CTAs, and emojis to keep users updated without overwhelming them.
5. A Strong Incentive From PayPal
PayPal leads their promotional email with a strong incentive: get $30 off a future purchase when you’re approved for a PayPal credit card.
It’s a straightforward email that’s well-designed and easy to read. The incentive and the “Apply Now” CTA are prominent at the top of the email. As the user scrolls, they learn more of the benefits of having a PayPal credit card. Then, the incentive and CTA are repeated at the bottom of the email.
Bonus tip: When you need to provide more details about your offer, repeat your CTA at the end of your email. This way, your action button is immediately available after the reader has learned more about your offer.
6. A Heavily-Branded Email From Amazon
Amazon gives us another promotional email example that leads with an incentive: you can save $5 by using a pickup location, rather than having your packages delivered.
While there are prettier email templates out there, Amazon has done an incredible job of consistently branding these emails. You can usually tell the message is from Amazon before ever reading the company name.
Bonus tip: If your company has a recognizable logo, take advantage of it! And if it’s not recognizable just yet, your email designs can help your subscribers become more familiar with it.
7. Promotional Newsletter Example From Medium
Medium Daily Digest is a promotional newsletter for the blogging site Medium. Each email provides subscribers with links to multiple blog posts, based on their interests.
This is a great promotional email example because the content is personalized to the user. Each reader chooses categories of interest when they subscribe. Because of this relevant content, these emails will have higher open rates and click-through rates.
Bonus tip: As you become more advanced in your promotional email marketing, try out list segmentation and email automation. Both of these tools will help you provide your subscribers with more relevant content and offers.
8. A Seasonal Email From Best Buy
Electronics retailer Best Buy has a stylish and professional promotional email campaign that’s perfect for summer.
It shows products that go well with the season, such as a stand-up paddleboard. The background’s blue sky and streaming sunlight add to the email’s summer vibes.
Their CTA buttons also stand out with a bright yellow color, making them incredibly easy to find and click.
Bonus tip: Take advantage of the excitement of changing seasons. Whether it’s for summer, fall, or the holiday season, get your emails out early. During seasonal transitions, consumers are ready for change and are looking to buy products to prepare for shifting weather.
9. Bold Letters and Message From Constant Contact
Constant Contact has a great promotional email with big, bold letters to grab your attention.
As you scroll down, there are various links and CTAs that the target audience would find valuable. Then, there’s a section specifically designed to provide users with a link to call for support.
This is an excellent strategy for connecting with your audience and getting more people to engage with your support and sales team
Bonus tip: Check your open rate statistics to determine how many of your subscribers read your emails on mobile. That information will help you decide if a “click to call” button makes sense for you.
Free Promotional Email Templates
If you’re new to sending promotional emails to customers, a template is the easiest way to get started. Here are 2 proven promotional email template samples that you can use to increase sales at your business:
Template 1: New Product Launch Announcement
Subject Line: Introducing Our Exciting New Product – Discover [Product Name] Today!
[Recipient’s Name],
We’re thrilled to announce the arrival of our latest innovation: [Product Name]! Designed to revolutionize [industry or specific need], this cutting-edge solution is set to transform the way you [benefit or solve a problem].
Key Features:
- Feature 1: Describe the first standout feature of the product.
- Feature 2: Highlight the second key feature that sets it apart.
- Feature 3: Explain another important feature that adds value.
Why Choose [Product Name]?
- Benefit 1: Explain how this product addresses a pain point or enhances their experience.
- Benefit 2: Highlight another key benefit that makes it irresistible.
- Benefit 3: Describe a unique advantage or value proposition.
[Optional: Include customer testimonials or social proof]
For a limited time, we’re offering an exclusive introductory discount of [percentage or dollar amount] off the regular price. Take advantage of this opportunity to be among the first to experience [Product Name].
Click the button below to explore [Product Name] in more detail and place your order today!
[CTA Button: Shop Now]
Thank you for being a valued member of our community. We can’t wait for you to experience the game-changing potential of [Product Name].
Best regards,
[Your Name] [Your Company]Template 2: Limited-Time Offer
Subject Line: Final Hours! Grab [Percentage/Dollar Amount] Off – Shop Now!
Dear [Recipient’s Name],
Time is running out to take advantage of our exclusive limited-time offer! For the next [number of hours/days], we’re thrilled to extend a special [percentage/dollar amount] discount on our wide range of [product or category].
Whether you’re looking to upgrade your [product], enhance your [activity], or simply treat yourself, now is the perfect time to make it happen.
Why choose us?
- Reason 1: Highlight a key reason that makes your products or services stand out.
- Reason 2: Emphasize another unique selling point or benefit.
- Reason 3: Explain why customers love shopping with you or any special guarantees.
To take advantage of this offer, follow these steps:
- Visit our website: [Website URL]
- Browse our extensive collection.
- Add your favorite items to the cart.
- At checkout, enter the promo code: [Promo Code]
- Enjoy your exclusive discount!
Hurry, this offer ends [date and time]. Take advantage of the chance to save big on [product or category]. Start shopping now!
[CTA Button: Shop Now]
Our friendly customer support team is here to help if you have any questions or need assistance.
Happy shopping!
Sincerely,
[Your Name] [Your Company]
Feel free to customize these templates to match your brand’s voice and specific promotional offers. Remember to keep the content concise, focused, and compelling, with a clear call-to-action (CTA) that encourages recipients to take the desired action.
Get Started With OptinMonster Today!
Increase Sales By Perfecting Your Promo Emails
With these tips, examples, and templates, you’re ready to start sending promotional emails to customers and subscribers. You’ll see growth in your engagement, conversions, and sales when you use the strategies we explained above.
In other words, effective promo emails help your business succeed.
We hope you found this post helpful for your own promotional email ideas. If you did, you definitely want to check out the following resources:
- 17 Tips for Writing Email Marketing Copy That Converts
- Email Marketing Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide
- How to Create an Effective Autoresponder Series
- How to Grow Your Email List: 23 Proven and Simple Ways
- 29 Best Email Automation Tools to Transform Your Business
Those resources will have even more helpful information on how you can improve your email marketing strategy to boost conversions and sales.
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