Email Marketing Examples

Email marketing includes everything from thank you emails and business updates to discount and sale announcements. Emails are generally meant to raise awareness for something you offer, drive traffic to your website, or build connections with customers and potential customers. 

Email subscribers have to opt in to hear from you, so they’re often your most engaged audience. But what messages you send and when are crucial to supporting your goals. Read on for examples you can use as email templates to inspire your own marketing. 

Welcome email example

Purpose: Relationship building, driving website traffic

Types of emails: Email subscriber welcome, Purchase thank you

When someone signs up for your email list or buys something from you, that’s your first opportunity to connect with them and make them feel like a valued customer. You may even be able to use the email to attract them back to your website. Use this example email as inspiration for your own.

Subject line: Welcome to the family!

Message: Hi [NAME],

Thank you for buying from my shop! We’re a small one-person business, and every order makes it possible for me to keep sharing what I love with people like you. Stay tuned for exciting store updates and enjoy this special 15% discount on your next order. 

[BUTTON: Visit The Shop]

See more welcome email examples and tips

Promotional email example

Purpose: Raise awareness, drive website traffic and sales

Types of emails: Discount or sale announcements, new product launch or promotion, product recommendations 

Promotional emails are probably what you’re most familiar with as a consumer. Here’s an example of one written for an anniversary sale.

Subject line: 20% off for our anniversary!

Message: [Promo image of popular products]

Celebrate our first anniversary with 20% off everything in the shop! 

We couldn’t have made it here without you.

[BUTTON: Shop Now]

CTA: See Our Email Templates

Abandoned cart email example

Purpose: Drive sales

Types of emails: Cart reminders, product recommendations, discount emails

We’re all guilty of browsing a store and getting distracted during the checkout process. An abandoned cart email is a smart way to recapture potential customers who’ve done the same. Here’s an example that incentivizes the shopper to return with a discount.

Subject line: Still shopping?

Message: We see you left something in your shopping cart! Our stock is limited, so don’t miss out. Buy in the next 72 hours and get a 15% discount with this code: [CODE]

[BUTTON: Buy Now]

Learn more about abandoned cart emails

Drip campaign email example

Purpose: Build trust in your expertise, drive website traffic and sales

Types of emails: Educational series, free online course series, blog content series

A drip campaign is an email series designed to be sent out over a set period, where each email builds on the last toward a final goal. Take this three-part email series designed to drive people to an online course as an example.

Email 1

Subject line: The one floral styling tip you need

Message: Hi [NAME],

If you found my website, you’re probably in the same spot I was four years ago—in love with having and gifting beautiful bouquets, but overwhelmed by how to do it on a budget. I’m here to help. 

Check out this free guide on my #1 floral tip: Know what’s in season.

[BUTTON: Download The Guide]

More soon,

[YOUR NAME]

Email 2

Subject line: How to buy florals

Message: One of the most overwhelming things about making your first bouquet is figuring out what goes well together. I created a free, 5-minute video to help you choose quality flowers and make a visually stunning bouquet.

[BUTTON: Watch Now]

Email 3

Subject line: Want more floral design ideas?

Message: Thank you for spending a little time learning a little bit about floral styling with me! If you’re excited to get in-depth advice on flower shopping, styling, and care techniques, I’d love to have you join my online course.

Once you sign up, you’ll also get invited to a students-only group where you can share tips and progress with a community of folks exploring their creativity through floral design.

[BUTTON: Sign Up]

See tips for increasing conversion with email marketing

Newsletter email example

Purpose: Relationship building, drive website traffic and engagement

Types of emails: Business updates, content roundups, event recaps

Newsletters are a great way to keep customers and clients up to date on your latest work or releases. With a good email template tool, you can share a short update and highlight links back to your site in the same message.

Subject line: Don’t miss out! Event and new product roundup

Message: Hi [NAME]!

We have a few more exciting moments up our sleeve before we say goodbye to summer. Join us in person to sip and shop at one of our last pop-ups of the season or grab these summer favorites before we bring in the autumn inventory (we think you’re going to love it).

[Image promoting events]

[Image promoting summer product line]

Best practices for marketing emails

No matter what type of email you’re sending, there are common best practices that will help you create effective emails every time. 

• Go in with a clear goal. Use the purpose of your email to guide your messaging. An email focused on selling will highlight products and discounts, whereas one designed to drive website traffic might highlight your content.

• Have a clear call to action (CTA). Base your CTA on the goal of your email and make it clear and easy to find. Keep it simple: “Shop Now” or “Sign Up” are effective CTAs.

• Write an attention-grabbing subject line. You can’t reach your subscribers if they don’t open your emails. A great subject line helps your message stand out in an inbox and gives an incentive to read it.

• Make it mobile-friendly. Many people browse their inboxes on their phones, so make sure to preview your test emails on a computer and a mobile device.

• Know your audience. Be thoughtful about who makes up your mailing list—including what they’re interested in and what they already know about you—so you can speak to their point of view.

• Personalize when you can. The closer you can get to someone’s interests and priorities, the more likely they are to act. Contact lists can help with this—for example, one list for repeat customers and one for subscribers who’ve never bought from you.

• Test and adapt. Over time, you’ll be able to look at how different emails performed and form theories about why some performed better than others. Then use that to run tests on emails and figure out what works.

• Automate when possible. Setting up automated emails that get sent whenever a customer takes a specific action (like abandoning their cart or signing up for your mailing list) can help you stay connected while saving you time.

Get more tips to kick off your email marketing 

Note: Examples in this article are meant to be used as inspiration, not universally applicable email templates. What you choose to include in your email marketing is up to you as the business owner.