20 killer email marketing ideas for NEXT-LEVEL campaigns

Email marketing runs through our veins here at KW Marketing. Cut us open, and we’ll bleed Klaviyo! As an email marketing agency, and with our founder Kate being an email marketing specialist at heart, obsession doesn’t even begin to touch the surface of our feelings toward it. Time and time again – we have seen businesses level up their email marketing and reach the results that they have dreamed of, through the power of email. It’s a marketing channel that definitely should not be ignored! Thanks to our good friends at Hubspot – they have crunched the numbers and we know that email marketing ROI is at an incredible £29 for every £1 spent with some eCommerce businesses reporting over £55 for every £1 spend. This is life-changing sums of revenue – and results that we LOVE to deliver for our clients.

But that’s nothing new – we also know that nowadays email inboxes are saturated with tons of brands trying to stand out, get the clicks, and make the sale. So, how do you and your business stand out from the crowd, ramp up your audience, and turn those browsing into paying customers? Luckily for you, we have 20 email marketing ideas that can take your campaigns to the next level and beyond. It’s time for you to take that leap, so LET’S GO!

Back to the basics: Email Campaigns 101

Before we dive into the nitty gritty, let’s go back to the basics. We know that email marketing campaigns effectively reach your target audience, increase brand loyalty, and with the right content, not only boost your open rates but most importantly, your bottom line!

Typically, standard email campaigns involve automating a series of emails and sending them to individual audiences or customer segments. These targeted campaigns can help your customers move down the marketing funnel and may even be triggered when a specific event occurs i.e. a customer might have placed something in their basket but didn’t purchase it.

We could write a list as long as our arm on what kind of email campaigns you NEED to be sending when you first start out (in fact, we did!) but there are so many other nifty tips and tricks that can help your business achieve your goals. Without further ado, these are the BEST email marketing recommendations to take your email marketing to the next level.

20 email marketing ideas to take you to the NEXT-LEVEL!

1. Sales & Promotions

Perhaps the most obvious lever – but not one to be ignored! Black Friday promos, holiday sales, and more – you always need to be making sure that your customers are rewarded with worthwhile promotions. It’s obvious – but lucrative.

On the flip side – be aware that too many discount emails may turn your customers off! An influx of really high promotions may lead to your product being devalued and your brand subject to being known as the ‘discount store’. Not something that we recommend!

2. Product Recommendations

Another simple solution – but one that can be SO powerful when utilised correctly. Product recommendation emails easily entice customers with similar products to the ones that they have looked at, purchased in the past, saved for later, or even added to their carts (more on that to come later!).

It can take a bit of time but with the use of personalised data suggestions, you can drive high engagement and serious sales. You will need specialised tools (which email marketing agency KW Marketing can handle!), like a customer relationship management (CRM) system, to obtain the necessary data for a successful campaign. But once this has been set up? You’re bringing in that sweet revenue whilst you sleep.

3. Abandoned Cart

The little sister to product recommendations – abandoned cart emails are essential to your email marketing campaigns. In essence – it’s all about making it super easy for your customer. All you need to do is to bring your customers back to their carts and finalise their purchases. Easy right?!

With just some excellent copy and the products that they left in their cart, it doesn’t take much to make this automated email. You can do it two ways as well – either just gently remind your customers of what they have left in their cart, or even incentivise them further to really nail that purchase. Exclusive discounts and limited offers work as an absolute treat to encourage customers to shop at your online store.

4. Product Education

Storytelling needs to be a huge part of your brand. How else do you foster brand engagement, loyalty and advocacy? It’s all part of educating your audience. Why is your product filling a need of theirs? What about your product is special? How is your product going to benefit them? Most importantly, give them a reason to put their hand in their pocket.

If that product education happens before purchase – then follow that journey after as well. Product education emails can contain information about how to use your product – best uses, inspiration, user-generated content (UGC). You can repurpose blogs, infographics, social media campaigns, and how-to video campaigns to maximise your efforts. Remember, the goal is to be more educational than salesy. The possibilities are endless!

5. Welcome Emails

Hi, hello & welcome. It’s the first impression that matters – and boy, does it sure matter a lot for your brand! Make sure you greet your new customer (or potential customer) with a bespoke, personalised welcome email. You only make a new connection once!

Welcome emails are useful for twofold: First, you can quickly begin to build a connection with new subscribers and explain the type of content and tone of voice for your brand that they can expect. Second, you encourage them to learn more about your company and product offering. Winner, winner!

6. Surveys & Feedback

It’s rare that we tend to ask people ‘do you like me?’ and ‘how can I be better?’ – but we’re telling you to put aside your bravado for the good of your brand! Surveys and feedback via are EXCELLENT ways to foster brand loyalty, appreciation and engagement.

Surveys and feedback allows you to learn about your customers and ensure that you are providing the kind of content (and products!) that they want. Implementing feedback-driven campaigns can be incredibly invaluable for your business. By actively seeking and incorporating customer feedback, you not only gain deeper insights into their needs and preferences but also demonstrate a commitment to customer satisfaction. This leads to stronger relationships with your audience and improves brand loyalty. Plus, using incentives like special deals or promotions can incentivize more customers to provide feedback, enriching your understanding even further. It’s a no-brainer strategy for enhancing both your marketing efforts and your products/services.

7. Referral Program

Everyone loves to give to their friends. And your referral program is no different. Word-of-mouth is an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to generating qualified leads, growing your audience and increasing sales. A whopping 92% of consumers trust referrals from friends and family over any other form of advertising. So it’s simple, attract more people to your brand and boost loyalty by reminding your customers of your referral program.

8. Contests & Giveaways

If everyone loves to give to their friends, then everyone LOVES to get something for free! Contests, giveaways and competitions are rife playing grounds for data collection, getting new eyes on your business and engagement.

Link up your next social giveaway with your email marketing system – collect data and remarket to those new pots with personalised campaigns to that audience.

This email marketing campaign enables you to inform your subscribers about the contest, outline the entry process and rules, and highlight the eventual winner. You can distribute a sequence of emails to remind contacts about the giveaway deadline, generating excitement.
Ultimately, it’s an excellent opportunity to expand your email list and promote your brand at no cost through user-generated content campaigns.

9. Case Studies & Social Proof

Perhaps one for the more service-based businesses, but case studies are a great way to prove the effectiveness of your services/products and demonstrate how your business has helped customers.

Make your case study emails snappy, engaging and easy to digest. It’s a slow burn – but one that will deliver in spades when you need it the most.

10. Industry News

Flex those experienced muscles! YOU are the master of your business and your craft – and your customers need to know it! You’re keeping up to date on all the important news – so be that go-to source for your customers.

Send your subscribers something different. To craft such emails, gather the most recent news and trends from your industry and feature them prominently in your email content. While incorporating external sources and references is an option, generating original blog posts that delve into pertinent industry updates is preferable. This approach not only directs traffic to your website but also enhances its search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

11. Webinar Invites

You’re the expert, so be sure to show off that knowledge. Webinars, workshops – it’s all excellent to show off your skills – we have! A webinar is especially GREAT for showing off your experience and skill if you’re a service based business. By doing this, you can give subscribers a heads-up about the upcoming online seminar and keep reminding them, which ups the chances of more people signing up and showing up.

We also suggest setting up automated emails for transactions, so folks who register for the webinar get a thank-you message right away.

12. Company Updates

Think about any big news that you might have – and think about how FUN it is to tell your nearest and dearest. Now think about your business and how your customers who have supported it – they’re going to want to know what’s going on! Don’t be afraid to share news with your customer base – at the end of the day, we’re all nosy and LOVE to hear news that gets people talking!

13. Upsell Messages

Another one for a service based business – upselling is KEY! Entice clients to upgrade their current purchase or subscription. Improve the order value for customers and increase company sales through higher-priced items.

14. Seasonal & Holiday Campaigns

Seasonal campaigns are a big win, especially for retail brands dealing directly with consumers. Think about it, certain holidays are all about gift-giving, and your company could be the go-to for those last-minute shoppers.

Here are some important dates to mark on your calendar:

• Valentine’s Day
• Mother’s Day
• Father’s Day
• Back To School
• Bonfire Night
• Christmas

And don’t forget about other occasions that pop up throughout the year. For instance, graduations usually go down in May and June, and the wedding season hits its peak from spring to autumn.

Slip a special promo into your email and social media blitz, and watch as folks jump on those killer deals to find the perfect gift.

15. Re-Engagement

Hello? Is anybody out there?

Re-engagement emails can feel a bit like shouting into the void, but trust us when we say that they are worth their weight in gold. So, here’s the deal with a re-engagement campaign: It’s all about getting those folks who’ve gone MIA to start engaging with your brand again. Loads of reasons could be behind why your regulars aren’t feeling your emails anymore. But they could be looking for that reason to jump back in – maybe a little discount or an incentive could be all it takes, maybe it needs a bit more. Up to you – but make sure that re-engagement campaigns are top of your agenda when it comes to your disinterested customer base.

16. Personalisation!

We’ve spoken about it time and time again – but it really does hit differently. 91% of people say they’re more likely to make a repeat purchase after a positive experience. This is why personalisation is important.

Personalised emails have higher click through rates and engagement – so it’s worth knowing your customers better than they know themselves!

17. UGC

User-generated content (UGC) offers brands a great way to promote their products while building relationships with customers.

Not only that – UGC has been shown to massively boost conversion rates. Research from Yotpo shows that customers who view user-generated content before purchasing have a conversion rate of 5.6%, compared to just 2.1% for customers who did not see user-generated content.

As seen on you definitely hits the mark when it comes to email marketing – there are so many inventive ways that you can include it in your campaigns to put your products a level above the rest.

18. Downloadable Content

One way to increase your email subscriber list is to give your subscriber something in exchange for them giving you their email address. Until a user fills out the form, they can’t access it.

In the end, they get a great piece of data and you get a fab new customer email with which you can market in the future to. Score!

19. Social Media Driving Email Sign Ups

If you’re looking to bolster your email sign up list even more so you can keep on delivering fabulous content to your customers, then make sure that all of your digital channels are linked!

One way to get people to subscribe to your newsletter, sales list, etc., is to add sign-up links to your social media messages.

To do this:

• Step 1: Grab your sign-up form link.
• Step 2: Enter it into Google Analytics URL builder. This will help you track how many people are signing up for your emails from your social posts.
• Step 3: Shorten the link (if you want to!).
• Step 4: Add the links to your social posts.
• Step 5: After publishing your posts, check your Google Analytics dashboard to see how your posts did.

Easy as! A great way to link up your email marketing and social media marketing channels to make a seamless experience for your customers.

20. Segmentation

Phew – we’re finishing on a biggy. To keep your email campaigns winning – make sure that segmentation is a priority when it comes to taking your email marketing campaigns to the next level. Giving your audience content that they want to see lets you cut through the noise and show them what they’re looking for.

Segmentation allows you to:

• Better connect with your audience
• Identify active (and inactive) users
• Increase open and click-through rates
• Lower bounce and unsubscribe rates

Ticks across the board – a clean email marketing database, segmented audiences that get the content that they want, and revenue streams galore!

Email marketing – it’s an absolute no-brainer for your business. This can just be the beginning as well – once you have got the basics nailed, there are so many opportunities that can be explored with email marketing. Email marketing agency KW Marketing is here to help you on your journey – get in touch with our experienced team today to see how we can work together.