Industry insights

Back to school in 2020 looks more than a little different. At least for now, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we live: Many children are attending school in masks and doing online classes at home, and many parents are doing double duty as homeschool teachers and administrators just at a time when their work lives have gotten more complex than ever. Families everywhere are making difficult decisions this fall, but one thing hasn’t changed: Parents still want the best for their kids. Today we’re looking at some back to school emails that struck the right tone, empathizing with parents and selling products that offer true value during this time.

Many parents are making difficult decisions for their families this fall. These back to school emails struck the right tone for these tense times.

KiwiCo

KiwiCo realized its audience of parents might be getting a little stir-crazy. So the subscription box company delivered an email full of ideas and content to help. This colorful message is the perfect resource for parents who are trying to entertain little ones and give them some time away from screens.Subject line: Looking for a screen time break? Kid-friendly podcasts and audiobooks

Tattly Temporary Tattoos

Right from the subject line, Tattly addresses the fact that school looks different this year. Similarly to KiwiCo’s message, this back to school email provides fun and educational ideas for families to enjoy. And at the end of the email, Tattly uses a creative CTA to remind readers that this is only temporary. The CTA link opens up a video that shows how to remove a Tattly temporary tattoo.Subject line: Your back to (remote) school activity kit

Carter’s

We’re huge fans of this back to school email marketing campaign from children’s apparel company Carter’s. The email has two diagrams showcasing Carter’s products. The first reminds readers to purchase a mask and hand sanitizer. The second promotes cozy leggings and slippers that are great for at-home video calls. By providing two separate product graphics, this email effectively markets to every family, no matter what choice they made for school this fall.Subject line: School house to your house!

Adagio Teas

This back to school sale from Adagio Teas provides some much-needed zen for stressed-out families. Adagio sent out an offer inviting customers to create a custom bundle of its products, helping parents maintain their sanity during a time of year that tends to be stressful even when there isn’t a global pandemic.Subject line: back-to-school survival kit 

Joe’s Jeans

Your back to school email campaigns in 2020 don’t have to be that different from your normal messages. This email from Joe’s Jeans is essentially a normal sales email, but the company added a few simple yet effective lines of copy as a nod toward 2020 conditions.Subject line: Back to school looks for the kiddies

Instacart

This year, masks and hand sanitizer top the school supply list for many students. Instacart recognized that and encouraged parents to keep their kids safe this season.Subject line: Get back-to-school supplies from Staples + $10 off

Oshkosh

This welcome back to school email from Oshkosh is the perfect way to cement customer loyalty, communicating that Oshkosh has had your back for 125 years, no matter how you go back to school. The company used this email to promote “the new virtual learning dress code.”Subject line: Off to 50% off back-to-school styles (however they go back!)

We love this second Oshkosh back to school email, too. Like Carter’s, Oshkosh created a handy infographic and acknowledged that virtual learning is the new norm for many students. Oshkosh also advertised its matching masks. And in its back to school email subject line, this company acknowledged how school in 2020 may have changed.Subject line: Off to school? Learning from home? We’ve got you!

Wrap-up: Create a back to school email campaign

Take your cue from these empathetic brands and create your own back to school emails that strike the right tone. You can get started with our template catalog, where over 400 HTML email templates are waiting for you. We even have templates specifically made for back-to-school, like this colorful email designed by Yuliana Pandelieva.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Use the BEE email editor to design email campaigns reminding customers that you always have their backs!

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How many webinar invitation emails do you find in your inbox each week? You've probably seen dozens, if not hundreds, of webinar invitations over the course of your working life. And you’ve probably seen what has become the de facto webinar email campaign — a two-column email with the date and time of the event, a short description of why you might want to attend and a photo of the presenter, similar to this one from Compete, a software analytics company.

But you don’t have to conform to this standard template for a webinar email marketing campaign.The fact is, most webinar invitation emails don’t have a lot of personality. They give potential attendees the basic information they need (event time, duration, speakers, and a registration CTA button), but they don’t make you feel anything about the brand. They’re all business — they’re starkly minimalist, and they all seem to use that same light blue for the highlight color and call-to-action buttons.In this article, we want to share tips and examples to increase your conversions for your brand's webinar invitation emails. Subject line: Don’t miss Thursday’s webinar with Salesforce

Many businesses use webinars as a way to generate new leads for classes or businesses. Webinars can help you deepen your relationship with existing customers. And email invitations are crucial for getting potential customers to attend your online event. Marketers report that email drives 57% of webinar registrations.If you want people to show up at your webinar, sending the right email is essential.

Email drives 57% of webinar registrations. If you want people to show up at your webinar, sending the right email is essential.

So how can you turn the typical webinar invitation email template on its head and make it its own? Keep reading to find out!

Tip #1: Use good email headers to define your value proposition

A webinar isn’t something customers attend on a whim. It’s an investment of their valuable time. So your email needs to make it clear that your event is worth their while.When creating webinar invitation emails, it’s important to make clear the benefits of the webinar at the top of the email. In this example, a few simple lines of text were made that were compelling to the users and visually appealing.

Additionally, in this example, the background of the email is white, helping the text pop. The word “Webinar” is written in the same dark red that we can see in the color wheel of the brand’s logo. The clear language means that people who receive this email will immediately understand that this webinar is about smart growth — scaling up your email program without sacrificing quality.

Tip #2: Optimize your webinar subject lines 

No pressure, but your subject line is one of the most critical parts of your email because it’s a key factor in whether recipients open the email at all. In fact, 33% of people use only the subject line to decide whether to open an email.So how do you write killer webinar subject lines that make recipients want to open them? Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Use a relatable, engaging tone that isn’t overly stiff.
• Include numbers when possible, such as, “Can this 20-minute webinar change your life?”
• Write your subject line in the form of a question to spark interest.
• Use emojis to add visual interest and grab recipients’ attention (just don’t go overboard with half a dozen emojis, as this could look unprofessional - one or two will make a greater impact).
• Include the recipient’s name if you have this data in your mailing list, because this gets the recipient’s attention and engages them more directly.
• Be concise - most email interfaces can only display six or seven words in the subject, so make sure your subject line (or at least the most valuable part of it) will be visible.

Writing effective webinar subject lines does take skill and practice, but you’ll get the hang of it. To give you a helping hand, here are some examples of subject lines you can tweak:

• How much do you know about ? Brush up with our webinar.
• Join us for our webinar! 😀
• Learn about in 30 minutes!⏱️ Join our webinar.
• Only 20 spots left for our webinar! Claim your spot now.
• New webinar! Join us to learn about .
• Why is everyone talking about ? We’ll tell you in our webinar.
• You busy on ? Hop on our webinar!
• , you’re invited to our latest webinar!
• Free webinar for you! 🤑
• We have secrets waiting for you.

Tip #3: Choose the best time to hold a webinar and highlight it

The most important thing a reader can take away from a webinar invitation email? Knowing when the webinar is!In this next webinar invitation email example, the event day is highlighted right under the value proposition so subscribers can’t miss it. The time of the event noted that the webinar is in Eastern Time and appears right next to the date, so readers will easily know exactly when this webinar is taking place.The first CTA button in this email appears right under the date and time — we’ll discuss the CTAs in a minute.

Tip #4: Offer a description of a webinar's features 

With email webinar invitations, it’s important to get across a comprehensive description of the webinar without being wordy. In this example, we first see photos of the webinar hosts.This is helpful because faces are often easier for people to remember than names or other details. Logos beneath the pictures are also helpful in boosting brand awareness in an easy-to-digest way.The last thing that is important to include is to reiterate with a few simple lines to describe how attendees will benefit from this webinar. The email copy in the example shown lists three main things that the webinar will teach: the tools, processes, and people you need for a scalable email program.

TIP #5: Create a CTA button to get the attention of your audience

Your webinar won’t be a success if people don’t sign up to attend. So your call to action button is one of the most important pieces of your webinar invitation email.Don’t be afraid to try a unique call-to-action button. CTA buttons and copy are a great way to A/B test and see what works for your audience. Trying to be safe in webinar invitation emails can provide the opposite result than intended. For example, the button down below.

This is what we like to call “webinar blue,” and frankly, it’s a bit overused.Brands should consider limiting the use of this shade and using a color relevant to their brand. For example, adding a hover color is one way to add some dynamism to your email and help buttons stand out. Adding elements like an arrow to CTA buttons is also a great way to add some movement.

Examine Your Webinar Email Sequence

Convincing people to sign up for your webinar is an orchestrated dance, not a single move. To optimize both your sign-ups and your attendance, you need a well-crafted and strategic sequence of emails rather than just one. After all, your audience is busy, and they need to see the value in your webinar to deem it worthy of their time.You should be sending out a series of emails, each designed specifically for a different stage in the audience’s journey. There are three essential steps in your campaign: the announcement, the invitations, and the follow-ups.

Webinar Announcement Email

Your webinar announcement email is the first opportunity for recipients to hear about (and get excited about) your webinar. This email should be full of energy and should announce and celebrate your webinar as the fantastic opportunity that it is. This is your chance to start building recognition and enthusiasm for the webinar. If you have a sign-up link ready, include it to capture the attendees who are ready to sign up right away, but you can also leave them on a cliff-hanger with a “stay tuned for more details” if you’re still putting together the essentials.

Webinar Invite Email

Your email recipients are already excited or intrigued about your webinar, so the invitation email is your opportunity to draw them in and convince them to sign up. This invitation should include all the essential details, like when the webinar is and who’s presenting, but it should also focus on presenting the value of the webinar.Explicitly tell readers how the webinar will benefit them. Maybe it will allow them to increase their sales, live a more organized life, deal with difficult clients, create an amazing dating app profile, or whatever the goal may be. Paint a picture of how their life or business will improve from this informational webinar.And, of course, the sign-up button should be front and center in this invitation.

Follow-Up Emails

After your webinar invitation, follow-up emails can take a few different forms. For recipients who haven’t yet signed up, you can send further invitation emails reminding them to sign up. These can further expand on your value proposition from your invitation email or they can add an escalating sense of urgency, like “only 10 spots left” or “sign up in the next 24 hours to get a bonus special offer.”For attendees who have already signed up, follow-up emails should focus on reminding them about the webinar as well as giving them more reasons to get excited about the webinar and encouraging them to share the webinar with others.

Webinar invitation email best practices 

1. Try a unique header that will grab your readers' attention and set your invitation apart. It's important to know your audience and design a header that's right for them.
2. Offer plenty of details about the webinar's contents. If they're going to invest their time, your potential webinar attendees want to know exactly what they're going to get out of it. Give them the details of what you’re going to cover and how that information will impact them.
3. Use short paragraphs and bullets to make the email readable. A detailed description will only entice your readers if they're able to read it easily. Break up long text into shorter paragraphs to make your description scannable. Then give readers bite-sized nuggets in bullet points to highlight key content.
4. Make the date and time of your webinar prominent. The time and date of your event are the most important information in your email. Make sure it's easy to see when the webinar is taking place.
5. Experiment with the colors and size of your CTA button. Litmus succeeds with a bulletproof call-to-action button that renders across all inboxes. Your CTA text should be similarly prominent and enticing.

3 Additional webinar invitation emails

Looking for inspiration to get some ideas flowing as you start building your webinar invitation email? These examples showcase some effective real-world webinar invitation emails to jumpstart your brainstorming.

Monday.com

Subject line: Join one of our daily webinars on remote work 

Fresh Relevance

Subject line: Webinar invitation: Ecommerce marketing in a new era 

HootsuiteSubject line: Digital 2020 | Last chance to register!

Get Started with an email webinar template

One of the best ways to kick off your webinar email campaign is to start with a pre-designed template. With a well-constructed template, you’ll be able to begin with a strong foundation and customize it to suit your brand, your audience, and your needs.Check out the abundance of webinar email templates from Beefree to start. These templates are designed by email marketing pros with all the best practices baked in, so you can take advantage of that expertise wherever possible while bringing your own skills into the mix because these templates are user-friendly and easy to customize.

Wrap-up: Design your own webinar invitation email 

If you're looking for a way to build your own webinar invitation email, try starting with a free email template in BEE. Choose our webinar template designed by Andrea Dall’Ara or browse through template categories like health and wellness, food and beverage, fashion, and more to find the perfect template to promote your next webinar.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

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Editor’s Note: This post was updated on April 2023 to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness. 

Appointment confirmation emails are absolutely essential to send to your customers. These reminders can help decrease no-shows and increase your revenue, whether you need to remind clients of a B2B meeting or notify customers about their B2C appointment. And what’s more, these messages are one of the easiest types of emails to design and send! With little effort and big payoff, there’s no reason to not send an appointment confirmation email. Check out these tips and examples to help create your own.

Appointment confirmation emails require little effort and can have a big payoff for your business.

Appointment confirmation email timing

When you send an appointment confirmation email will depend on the nature of the appointment. Some businesses might send this email as soon as the client books an appointment. For a B2B meeting, it might work better to send the message the day before the meeting to remind the other party of their commitment.In general, 24-48 hours before the appointment is a good rule of thumb. Just keep your cancellation policy in mind. For example, if customers need to give you 24 hours’ notice to cancel an appointment, send the email 48 hours prior to their appointment time so they’ll have ample opportunity to do so.

Use clear subject lines

Your subject line should include the words “appointment confirmation” or “reminder.” Put the date and time of the meeting in the subject line, too. That way, people will get the information they need even if they don’t open the message.Here are a few appointment confirmation email subject lines to give you some inspiration:

• Calendly — Confirmed: 60 Minute Consult with on
• Doctor — , prepare for your appointment with
• Online coaching — Scheduled: Your 1:1 with

Include a map

Your appointment confirmation email should give your customers all the information they need to know in one handy message. If the appointment is in-person, consider embedding a map within the email so they’ll have directions.There are other ways you can include a map in an email, too. Try taking a screenshot of your location in Google Maps and including it as an image just above your footer. Or simply add a link to a map tool. That’s what Article& does here. When you open the “Click for Map” link in the footer, you’re taken to Yelp, where you can see a map and directions.

Keep your text concise

Appointment confirmation emails are an art: You need to keep them short enough that the recipient actually reads the whole message, but long enough to include all the necessary information. Briefly remind your reader why you’re meeting and when and where the meeting is taking place. Your email signature should remind them who you are. What does this look like in practice? A good B2B message might look something like this:Hi ! Looking forward to our meeting this Thursday at 2 P.M. to wrap up details for next week’s event. Here’s a link to the video call. Let me know if you can’t make it or need to reschedule. Speak soon! 

Stay on brand with colors

An appointment confirmation email doesn’t have to look that much different from your normal marketing emails. Use the same colors you normally do to reinforce your branding — just don’t go overboard! Choosing just a few strategically-placed colors can help keep the focus where it belongs: on the appointment confirmation.

Let customers add to their calendar

People are forgetful. That’s why 70% of them rely on a digital calendar to stay organized. Make sure their appointment with you stays top of mind by including an “Add to calendar” CTA button in your appointment confirmation email. This Create & Cultivate email has several options for calendars:

• Apple
• Google
• Microsoft Online
• Outlook
• Yahoo

With all of these choices, every customer is covered, no matter which calendar platform they prefer. Here’s the rest of the email for context:Subject line: Digital beauty & self-care summit keynote speakers announced! ?

Create a visual hierarchy

Remember, these messages don’t need to be flashy or complex; they just need to get the essential information across. Minimal design and a simple layout are key. Structure the email in a visual hierarchy so the most important details (which are most likely the date and time) are easy to read. You can help this information stand out by printing it in bigger text, adding a brighter color or choosing an interesting font.

Include contact information

Make sure your contact information is clearly visible in your email footer or signature. If your recipient has any questions about the appointment, they need to be able to quickly contact you for answers. Lululemon adds a “Contact us” link in its footer in addition to the company’s social media links, email address and physical address.Subject line: A fresh take on the shirt you love. 

Wrap-up: Appointment confirmation email examples

Create your own appointment confirmation emails with our email templates here at BEE. This free booking confirmation email created by the BEE team is a simple, minimalistic way to confirm a client’s travel booking.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

We also love this fun purple Day Spa Reservation template designed by Regina Tagirova:

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Check out our other appointment confirmation email templates by searching the template catalog for the tag “confirmation.” Then go remind your customers that you have an important meeting coming up!

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Fundraising emails can go a long way in raising both financial support and general awareness for a cause. But often, they can be extremely tricky to write. How do you ask people for their money without coming across the wrong way?It’s a delicate balance. So today we’re sharing some tips and fundraising email examples from a handful of brands that did it right. Take a look at these fundraising emails and get some ideas on how you can help people — whether you're looking to help those hurting due the COVID-19 pandemic or whether you want to contribute to Black Lives Matter efforts or other causes.

Fundraising emails can go a long way in raising both financial support and general awareness for a cause.

Rework your mission statement

This is a great time to revisit your “why,” tweaking this statement to make it specific to the pandemic or anti-racist endeavors or any other cause. JDRF, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, did a great job of recasting what it stands for in light of COVID-19. The foundation clearly explained that COVID is impacting fundraising efforts and that T1D patients might be in need during this time. Similarly, if you’re fundraising for something other than the pandemic, communicate to your donors and readers how the pandemic is affecting your efforts.Subject line: Last chance to close this gap (and double your income)

Add a deadline

Creating a deadline for donations can give your fundraising email a sense of urgency, motivating people to give now before it’s too late. Jabari Brisport does this in their subject line, body copy and CTA, telling readers that “we’re down to the wire” and “we can do this!” This is a common strategy in messages about the last minutes of an e-commerce sale, and it works for fundraising emails, too.Subject line: Only 5 hours left

Create a sense of community

If the hurry-up-and-donate fundraising email template doesn’t appeal to you, aim to create a no-pressure environment instead. That’s what Care/of did, sending a calm, pastel email that reminded readers we're all in this together. The email mentioned how Care/of is starting the fundraising internally and then ended with a soft CTA asking readers to donate if they’re able.This isn’t a “better” choice than creating a sense of urgency — both approaches can be effective. Make your decision based on whichever tone is more appropriate for your brand, and on what’s worked for you in the past.Subject line: Help us support NYC health workers 

Explain what the money will be used for

Before donating their hard-earned money, people want to know what that money is going to be used for. Chalait spelled it out: Its cafes were closed, staff members were struggling financially and 100% of funds raised would go straight to those employees and their families. It’s essential to be transparent about where the money is going as you craft the copy of your fundraising email campaign.Subject line: Support our staff and take advantage of free shipping 

Don't forget your fundraising email subject lines

These fundraising email subject lines sourced from our inbox all have a few things in common. For one, they’re specific, explaining what your money will do or what you can win. Second, they use terminology like “we,” making you feel like you’re part of the effort. And finally, they’re short and concise. Take a look:

• Help end brain cancer with your gift
• Help us make an impact for every mother
• Your support got us here — we need you again
• Raise more, save more with our fundraising program
• Earn up to a $750 gift card during the Fashionable Fundraiser

Share stories

Storytelling is a powerful and effective tool to use in your fundraising emails. Our brains are wired to immediately connect with stories. So when you share a true story of the people you’re helping, your readers will be drawn in. Hot Bread Kitchen adopted this approach by telling the story of one of their donors — Masa Gong, who could personally relate to the kitchen’s mission and raised money for the nonprofit.Subject line: Rebecca, be a Hot Bread Kitchen champion and fundraise for breadwinners. 

Provide an incentive

Offer an incentive in your fundraising emails for people who donate. Many organizations will have different “tiers” of prizes or perks available based on how much people raise. Sunday Riley promised a thank-you gift for anyone who fundraised for a benefit 5K, adding that the first 1,000 people would receive something extra, too. Gifts like these not only encourage donations — they strengthen those all-important customer relationships, too.Subject line: Calling all fitness levels (yes, you)

Say thank you

When your fundraising email campaign is over, remember to send a follow-up thank you email. This message should specifically state how the money was used and what impact was seen. After a big fundraising push, the mission manager at Thrive Market sent a simple plain text message thanking donors and sharing the results.Subject line: Thank you! $65,000 raised for COVID-19 relief

Wrap-up: Use these fundraising email templates

Did these fundraising email ideas spur thoughts of your own? Get started with our fundraising email templates. The Support Fundraising email template, created by designer Andrea Dall’Ara, is specifically meant for fundraising during the pandemic. This free email template utilizes a simple interface with lots of room for you to share the information your customers need to give to a good cause.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

You can also use a blank template or an industry-specific email template from our catalog, which has hundreds of email templates ready to edit.Use these tips and templates to create a fundraising email campaign and mobilize your customers to give back.

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Abandoned cart email marketing is a must for any e-commerce business. Not sold? Take a look at these stats: Over 49% of abandoned cart emails are opened. 50% of opened emails get click-throughs. And 50% of those click-throughs ended with a purchase. Don’t just let your customers go — win them back with a strategic abandoned cart email to close the sale.

Abandoned cart email marketing is a must for any e-commerce business. Don’t just let your customers go — win them back with a strategic abandoned cart email to close the sale.

Why do customers abandon carts?

What counts as cart abandonment? Cart abandonment occurs when a customer puts a product in their cart but then leaves the website without actually making the purchase.There are several reasons customers might abandon their cart:

• Higher shipping prices than expected
• Slower delivery than expected
• Checkout process is too time-consuming
• Website crashes or is glitchy
• They are just browsing
• They believe they may find a better product or price elsewhere

Payment issues or deciding to buy in-store might play a part, too. Luckily, with the right abandoned cart email strategy, you can combat nearly every single one of these scenarios. Follow these abandoned cart email marketing best practices to get more conversions.

Consider abandoned cart email timing

When it comes to abandoned cart email timing, it’s best to send the message sooner rather than later. Ideally, your first abandoned cart email should be sent within an hour of the customer leaving your website so they don’t lose the urge to buy. If you decide to create an abandoned cart email series, send the second email a day later and the third a day after that. Marketo suggests the following abandoned cart email sequence:

• Email #1 should be sent within an hour and be helpful to the customer
• Email #2 should be sent 24 hours later and create a sense of urgency
• Email #3 should be sent 48 hours later and offer an incentive

Regardless of whether you create an entire series, however, your primary abandoned cart email should be sent just after the customer leaves your site.

Remind them what’s in their cart

In your abandoned cart email marketing, showcase the products the customer has in their cart. Don’t go overboard — if they have a dozen similar products, choose just one or two to highlight. You can also try upselling them. Here, Columbia included a few “Recommended for you” products under the main item from the cart.Subject line: Don’t leave your gear behind!

Offer a discount

One of the biggest reasons customers abandon their carts is because the final price is higher than they expected (due to taxes, shipping or other costs). That’s why one of the most effective ways to win a customer back is to send them a coupon code or offer free shipping. Zappos reminds customers they can shop without worry because the order includes free shipping and free returns.Subject line: Open Sesame! Your cart is ready for checkout. 

Clearly communicate expectations

Be clear about your packing practices and expected delivery times as you craft your abandoned cart email marketing — especially during unpredictable situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. One reason customers might leave their cart is because of longer shipping times. Reassure them that your company is doing everything in its power to ship orders in a timely manner. A simple line saying “We’re currently experiencing shipping delays, but doing our best to ship orders within 24 business hours” can help strengthen customer relationships.

Include testimonials

Customer reviews and ratings are extremely powerful. 72% of customers won’t take action unless they read reviews! Try including customer testimonials in your abandoned cart email marketing. Even a simple star rating by each product in the customer’s cart can go a long way, especially for new customers who might feel unsure about your brand.Subject line: Your shopping cart is calling 

Strategically craft abandoned cart email subject lines

The right subject line can do a lot for your abandoned cart email conversion rate. Keep it short and simple for best results, and don’t be too aggressive (all caps is a bad idea). Your goal is to give your customer a gentle nudge. Here are a few examples:

• You’re so close to a day of fun
• Forget something in your AMC shopping cart?
• Psst… We’ve got you covered, complete your purchase
• Come back and shop!
• Are you still interested in Big Apple Circus?

Research also shows that mentioning a specific product in the subject line can entice people to open the email. Phrases like “free shipping” or “discount inside” might help with click rates, too.

Personalize your emails

In addition to personalizing your abandoned cart emails by including each customer’s products, add the customer’s first name too. This is especially important for longtime customers because it can help them feel valued. In this abandoned cart email example, Gap included the customer’s first name in both the subject line and in the body of the email.Subject line: Samantha, don’t forget your order!

Carefully place the CTA

Give your customers an easy one-click process to get back to their cart. Your CTA button should be clear and visible; choose a bright color and put it right under the product photo. For example, here Inchbug strategically placed its pink CTA under the item that was left in the cart. Think about the text you put on the button, too. “I want it!” might help encourage impulse buys.Subject line: Baby come back!

Wrap-up: Abandoned cart email template

Ready to start winning customers back? Use BEE’s abandoned cart email templates to help.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

The “Don’t Forget About Me” template by designer Yuliana Pandelieva can help e-commerce brands do abandoned cart email marketing more effectively.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Our “Still Shopping?” email template by designer Navid Nosrati is another great option for an abandoned cart message that can help you win more conversions and bring your customers back.

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Shipping delays are a common issue for ecommerce brands, especially right now. USPS, FedEx and UPS are all experiencing shipping disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can’t always control how quickly your orders reach their destination. But you can control how you address the situation in your email marketing. Best practices for shipping delays? Send your customers late delivery emails explaining what’s going on. Here are a few strategies that can help.

You can’t always control how quickly your orders reach their destination. But you can control how you address the situation in your email marketing.

Admit your mistake

The most important rule of thumb when it comes to sending late delivery emails is to just do it! Honesty is the number one thing consumers want from brands. In your apology email, freely admit your mistake and spell out what you did wrong. Crane Stationery accomplished this by sending an “Our Bad” email that apologized for website glitches. Even if your problem is due to shipping delays outside of your control, it's best to take ownership of the situation and not sound as if you're passing the buck.Subject line: Our sincerest apologies

Explain what happened

Take a few lines in your email to thoughtfully explain what happened. Don’t make excuses — just spell out the facts. This is another way of being honest and transparent with your customers, and that can pay off big-time down the road as consumers remember your commitment to keeping them in the loop. Baublebar sent a genuine apology email to customers that explained why its website crashed (too much traffic) on Cyber Monday.Subject line: We’re sorry: 35% off is extended

Empathize with customers

Recognize how delays will impact your customers’ lives. Empathize with them in your late delivery emails by saying you understand that this is going to disrupt their plans. The Tie Bar, for example, included a simple line saying, “We’re sorry for any inconvenience that this caused.”Subject line: We’re sorry, let’s try that again…

Keep it simple

Your late delivery email to customers doesn’t have to be long or wordy. It just needs to be genuine and real. The point of this message is not your flashy email design. Instead, the focus should be on your sincere apology. In some cases, a plain text email might be a better choice for your late delivery email format. Your message can hit home without the distraction of colors, different fonts or other HTML elements.Subject line: Sorry for the outage 

Provide a solution

How are you going to fix this issue? Let your customers know, outlining the plan of action you’re taking to make things right. It can be nice to also offer an extra gift (like a coupon code) to cement your apology. That’s what Milligram did in this cute late delivery email sample.Subject: We’re sorry!

Ask for forgiveness

After you explain what happened and how you’re going to fix things, ask for your customers’ forgiveness. There’s no need to get on your knees and beg, but just including a simple phrase in your late delivery emails (“Please accept our apology”) can go a long way in customer relationships.

Craft a good late delivery email subject line

The subject lines for your late delivery emails to customers can be simple. In many cases, just “We’re sorry” or “Our apologies” can do the trick. At other times, you may want to explain that the problem is now resolved (“Our website is fixed now!”). And finally, if you’re offering a coupon code or other special perk, mention that in the subject line to entice people to open the message.

Wrap-up: Late delivery emails

Every e-commerce brand should understand how to craft an apologetic late delivery email when necessary — especially during unpredictable times. If you need a little help getting started, use one of our email templates. The Apologize Email or the Apology Fashion email template by designer Martin Nikolchev can easily be customized to meet your needs.

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

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Email marketing is one of the most effective tools for E-commerce. In fact, according to a survey conducted by Constant Contact, more than 90 percent of respondents consider email marketing crucial to their company's overall success. The scale of email communication is staggering, with a whopping319 billion business and consumer emails being sent and received every day. The impact of email marketing on consumer behavior is evident, as 34 percent of consumers express a higher likelihood of making a purchase through email marketing campaigns.As email marketers, it is essential that the right message is sent to the right person. Email segmentation helps with this.In this guide, you’ll learn why e-commerce email segmentation is so powerful, plus six ways to segment your email subscribers and increase sales.

Why E-commerce Email Segmentation Matters 

Email marketing is one of the oldest digital marketing channels, yet it still outperforms video marketing, social media, and content marketing.Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have become the internet’s town square. Everyone is trying to shout the loudest to get the attention of their market. As a result, the average CTR for e-commerce brands on Facebook hovers around 1.5 percent — but the average CTR for retail brands using email is 3.39 percent, over 100% better than Facebook. Email is a more personal and direct method of communication than social media or other marketing methods, and that’s largely why it’s so successful.

These average numbers show how the statistics of top performers are being dragged down by mediocre performers, skewing the results. In reality, personalized emails can deliver up to 760% more revenue than emails that aren’t personalized.Not only are you able to get more people to interact with your emails and land on your website by sending customized emails, but customer satisfaction is also higher because you’re showing subscribers things they care about. When they care about your messages, they’re less likely to stop opening your emails or unsubscribe.Whether you’re a new e-commerce business or you’ve been in the game for a while, email should have a prominent role in your marketing plan. If you need help getting started with advanced segmentation, there are plenty of email marketing agencies that can help out. You might not have an issue producing your emails, but planning and strategizing how to send them out is equally as important. Let’s look at a few actionable ways to segment your email subscribers so you’re able to send better email marketing messages and reap the rewards.

Ways To Segment Email Subscribers 

Before we jump into the different methods of segmentation, it’s important to note that you shouldn’t attempt all of them at once. The ones you choose will depend on your business, stage, and goals.For example, if you’re just starting your e-commerce business, purchase history segmentation may not make much sense; instead, demographic segmentation may be a better option. Choose the methods that will give you the best results in the shortest time.

1. Purchase History Email Segmentation

People can say almost anything if they think it’s what you want to hear. For example, if you send out a customer satisfaction questionnaire about a buyer’s experiences while shopping with you, they may not be as critical as they actually feel. This is often the result of the acquiescence bias: Survey respondents tend to agree with all of the questions even if they’re in doubt.In contrast, people will almost always spend money on what they truly want or need. So if they’ve purchased an item in the past, they have a clear interest and are likely to purchase something similar in the future.

In this example from ASOS, the message focuses on shoes. This was sent to my personal inbox because I regularly buy shoes and outerwear from the store. Roughly 70 percent of the messages I get from ASOS are about shoes or jackets. The remaining 30 percent are other products or sales promotions.Even though a customer may have bought just one specific brand from you in the past, that doesn’t mean they won’t buy other brands. The same goes for product categories. Don’t segment customers so they never get emails about your other products.In fashion e-commerce, send more emails relevant to their purchases and browser behavior, but always sprinkle in messages about other product categories and brands that could be of interest.If you’re using a popular e-commerce platform like Shopify or Bigcommerce, it most likely has deep integrations with most email marketing services. You can pull in past purchase data and design email sequences that feature the right products.

  2. Multiple Page Visits 

Think about how you shop for products: You may come across an item while browsing a site. It catches your attention but you’re not ready to buy it at that moment, because you want more information or you get distracted.After some time, if you’re still interested, you’ll go back to the page and check out the item a bit more. Sometimes you buy it and sometimes you don’t.This is a great opportunity for an e-commerce brand to capitalize on that interest and use email segmentation. If someone visits a page only once, they may or may not be interested. If they visit multiple times without buying, however, there’s probably interest — but there’s also something stopping them from purchasing.Trigger an email sequence to begin after someone visits the same page more than once, giving the visitor more reasons to purchase. If it’s a big-ticket item like furniture, you can use language in your emails that focus on the quality and the different ways they can enjoy it.When it’s something less expensive, you can offer a discount that’s time-sensitive or an incentive like free shipping. This type of behavioral segmentation is a powerful way to deliver the right messages to your customers.

In this example, Uniqlo offers a discount for an item the reader has shown interest in and goes a step further by recommending complementary products.Email marketing services designed for e-commerce will allow you to sync your product catalog and dynamically insert relevant products. All you need to do is set specific conditions that will make the email sequence trigger.

   3. Email Behavior

Email behavior is an often-overlooked way to understand the preferences of your customers and subscribers. As an e-commerce store, it’s common to have multiple product categories, but many of your customers will only be interested in one or two.For example, I shop at Beardbrand occasionally. They’ve expanded their catalog to include clothes, hair products, and body products. Beard oil and beard wash products interest me so I ignore almost every other email.

This doesn’t mean Beardbrand is irrelevant to me as a company. It just means the other categories aren’t meeting my needs. The company would save energy by observing my preferences and sending me more emails related to beard products. Though I’m a happy Beardbrand customer, its email marketing plan can be improved with a few strategic changes.In your email marketing service, set up tags or a scoring system that takes into consideration the kind of content people are opening and clicking on. If they mostly open content related to a single product category, add them to a specific list (or segment) that focuses on those kinds of products.Once they’ve been added to the list, reduce the number of general emails they get (but don’t stop them completely). You may have to do a bit more work maintaining separate lists, but the increased conversions will more than make up for it.

    4. Cart Abandonment

Cart abandonment is a serious problem in e-commerce; though the statistics vary depending on the source, it’s always above 50 percent. In fact, a study by Barilliance pegged the average cart abandonment rate at 78 percent.Almost 80 percent of customers are leaving after initiating the checkout process. One of the major reasons for this is higher than expected shipping costs, which doesn’t happen in traditional retail — when was the last time you spent thirty minutes filling up your cart only to leave it abandoned in the aisle?You can win back people who abandoned their cart by segmenting them into different groups and sending follow up emails. For example, you can communicate with a returning customer differently than you would a new customer. Or, if the cart value is above a certain threshold, you can offer free shipping or a discount on the order. In every case, however, it’s important to address the common objections you know your customers have.

This example from Jack Wills follows many best design practices for cart abandonment emails: It has a catchy subject line, shows the items that were left behind, gives an incentive, and has a clear CTA.Don’t stop with a single cart abandonment email. Every niche is different, but as a general rule, start with a cart abandonment sequence that has at least two emails. Test the messaging, the time intervals between messages, and even experiment with including social proof — such as reviews, star ratings, and testimonials. These can push up the appeal of your productsWhen you’re happy with the performance of your email sequence, add a few more messages. Observe whether you're able to improve your ROI. If people complain or it doesn’t create much additional revenue, go back to the initial two-part sequence then try again with a different angle.

     5. Interactive Quizzes and Opt-In Surveys 

When people think of interactive quizzes, they tend to focus on the personality quizzes Buzzfeed made popular. In reality, though, quizzes are much more versatile.Use quizzes to recommend products based on your customer’s preferences and segment them into the proper lists or tags. You can also use simple opt-in surveys to find out this information.The key with quizzes and opt-in surveys is choosing the right topic and asking relevant questions. There’s a natural tendency to ask tons of questions that will only benefit you. People will answer every question but they also want to enjoy the process. If they feel the questions aren’t relevant, they’ll abandon the quiz, which means you won’t have the information you want and they won’t get a personalized product recommendation.Choose a topic that will have wide appeal for your audience. For example, if you’re selling bikes, you can create a quiz that helps customers find the right bike for them. If you’re selling clothes, you can make a relevant quiz for each category. Aim for around seven questions and use a mix of text and image answers.

The outcomes are where the magic happens. Incorporate a portion of each person’s answers into the outcomes so it feels like the recommendation is just for them.Even if someone doesn’t buy based on the product recommendation, you now have several deep insights about their preferences. Use that knowledge to continue sending personalized messages over time.

    6. Demographic Email Segmentation 

The final e-commerce email segmentation method is based on the demographics of your audience. Not all demographic information is important for every type of e-commerce brand.For example, if you’re selling toothpaste or other essentials, you may not need to know the gender of your subscribers. If you’re selling shirts, however, gender is very important because men and women don’t typically buy the same shirts.That’s why the first step is understanding what demographic information matters to you. Do you need your customer’s age, income, gender, or education level? At first, focus on the single most important factor and segment people based on that. When you get more comfortable, you can layer on other demographic factors.Once you know what criteria you want to use to segment your customers, find the touchpoints you can use to collect that information. You might choose to make your ask when they’re signing up for your mailing list, when they’re about to check out, or even during your welcome sequence.When you get the information you need, add each customer to the relevant lists in your email marketing software. Then initiate an email sequence that shares your most popular products and content based on their demographic segment.For example, if you’ve segmented subscribers based on gender, send popular content and products that appeal to their specific gender. That means you’ll send popular products for men to one group and popular products for women to another group.They’ll interact with the content or buy the products they have the most interest in. Layer purchase or email behavior on top of demographic data and create even more targeted e-commerce email marketing campaigns.Demographic segmentation is powerful, but often, it’s too general. Think of it as a necessary intermediate step that helps you get a deeper understanding of your audience’s preferences.

Segment Your Emails and See A Higher ROI 

E-commerce email segmentation is no longer optional. The largest retailers in the world have been using it for years, and your customers have come to expect it.Pick one or two of these six methods of e-commerce segmentation and focus on them until they’ve yielded a positive ROI. Once you’re happy with those results, move on to the next strategy. Over time, you’ll come to realize that no other channel can compete with the return you get from email marketing.

Over time, your email list tends to fall away: Most email marketing databases degenerate by 22.5 percent each year. That’s a lot of valuable customers who are no longer reading your emails. Inactive subscribers can also mess with your data and give your company a spammy reputation. But there’s good news, too: Turning an inactive subscriber into a customer is five times cheaper than acquiring a brand new customer. All you need is a few well-written re-engagement emails. Let’s talk about the best ways to write emails that re-engage inactive customers.

#1. Who should you send re-engagement emails to?

Re-engagement emails are aimed at inactive subscribers, but what exactly qualifies as “inactive?”Well, the general consensus between email experts is that an inactive subscriber is anyone who has been unengaged for longer than 30-60 days. Identify any customers who fall into that sweet spot and you’re ready to go.

#2. Personalize the email

It should go without saying that emails should be personalized to help them stand out in a crowded inbox. The best re-engagement subject lines will include the subscriber’s first name, like this straightforward missive from the Smithsonian that proclaimed “Tony, we want you back.” You could also send a personalized re-engagement email that shows the customer’s past purchase history and makes some new product recommendations based on those previous purchases.Subject line: Tony, we want you back

#3. Make it easy to leave

If readers choose tounsubscribe, make it easy for that to happen: be transparent by offering an easily spottable unsubscribe link.Don't forget to always offer the option for them to change their email preferences before unsubscribing. This means the option toreceive different types of emails or emails at a lower frequency.This email from Leesa Sleep is a great example of this.The email invites readers to update their email preferences, rather than unsubscribing all together. The change in preference could be anything from changing email frequency (daily, weekly, monthly) to the types of emails (events, newsletters, etc.) they want to receive. It’s a good compromise: The company can keep sending emails, but at a frequency that fits the reader’s wishes.Subject line: We really miss you...

#4. Make an offer

A special discount or coupon code can be a good way to draw someone back in and help them begin engaging with your business again. That’s what softball company Rip-It did here, offering a 10%-off coupon with a time limit of 48 hours. Rip-It also used some space in the email to highlight new products. Instead of a coupon code, you could even offer a small free gift; this doesn’t have to be a physical product, but could be an ebook or PDF (similar to a lead magnet you might have used to initially grow your email list). Make sure to mention your offer in the subject line so the reader is more likely to click and open.Subject line: Come back, Hailey — we miss you

#5. Highlight your value proposition 

Carefully craft your email copy to remind customers what you bring to the table.Whether that’s more affordable products than your competitors, top-notch customer service, or in-store locations like the Clark’s Shoes example below.After all, the goal of a re-engagement email is to get people to re-engage, and a big way to do that is by presenting all of the great things you have to offer.Subject line: We don’t want to see you go

#6. Ask for feedback

Ask your subscribers for their feedback on what they’d like to see in your emails.Maybe they aren’t opening your emails because the content isn’t relevant, but you won't know unless you ask!In the example below, Blind Barber asks what they can do better and what their subscribers want to read. This data and answers can help you determine future email marketing strategy.Take things a step further by asking for feedback in the form of a poll or survey instead of simply using plain text. Interactive content gets more engagement than passive content, so presenting your request in a creative way instead of just saying “Reply and let us know” can help ensure you get some responses.Subject line: Time to say goodbye?

#7. Plan a re-engagement campaign

Instead of sending one re-engagement email, create a full re-engagement campaign to give customers the maximum number of opportunities to opt back in.Send inactive subscribers three to four emails, each one with a different angle. This can be a coupon code or asking for feedback, but in the end all with the same idea of "Come back!"If you still aren’t getting engagement after sending the final email in that campaign, remove those people from your list. This will help boost your overall engagement rate and reduce the likelihood that you'll become known as a spammy brand.

Wrap-up: Re-engage inactive customers

Ready to start sending re-engagement emails to clients? Save yourself some time and effort by using BEE’s ready-to-use templates, with their user-friendly drag-and-drop tools for customizing your logo, colors, fonts and other branding elements. With those tools in hand, it will be a breeze to craft an effective series of emails to re-engage inactive customers!

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in October 2019 and has been updated on November 2022 to provide on going accuracy and comprehensiveness.

One in eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in their life, and October — Breast Cancer Awareness Month — is the perfect time to educate ourselves about this disease and support those affected by it.Any type of brand can join Breast Cancer Awareness Month and make a difference using BEE’s new breast cancer email template. Consumers like brands that care about social issues, and if you’re going to choose a cause on which to focus, breast cancer is a hugely important one.Let’s look at a few ways you can build a personal connection with your audience members and create effective fundraising messages to send to them!

#1. Be creative

Do you think you can’t connect breast cancer awareness to your brand? Think again. It’s not only medical companies that have an angle here — any type of brand can run an effective Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign.If you make fitness apparel, talk about the importance of exercise when it comes to lowering your risk for breast cancer. If you’re in the financial industry, send emails that talk about how patients might struggle to cover costs associated with chemotherapy. No matter what industry you’re in, you can find a way to take what you do and connect it to breast cancer to create a compelling fundraising email.Subject line: It’s time to end breast cancer

#2. Be careful with copywriting

When it comes to cancer fundraising emails, copywriting is everything. This is a topic that’s personal and sensitive for a lot of people, so the way you present your campaign is going to be huge. Through your copy, work to connect with your audience in an authentic way — and if you’re not sure you’re getting things right, reach out to someone who has been personally affected by the disease and run your ideas by them.This Bumble and Bumble email starts out with a strong subject line “Let’s fight breast cancer together” and, inside, reiterates that every little bit helps.Subject line: Let’s fight breast cancer together.

#3. Tell a story

If you’re struggling with what to say, let someone else do the talking: Storytelling is 22 times more memorable than facts, so consider reaching out to a breast cancer survivor and asking them to share their story.If you haven’t experienced breast cancer, you don’t know what it’s like. Someone who has, however, will be able to communicate the emotions surrounding the disease much more effectively. That’s what Gap did with their recent email campaign in partnership with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation — the company sent emails that shared the story of its PR director Mackenzie Dougherty, who is currently fighting breast cancer. Gap’s email is even more effective because they chose to spotlight one of their employees, someone the company personally knows and loves.Subject line: Hear Mackenzie Dougherty's story

#4. Donate a percentage of your sales

It’s a hugely popular tactic among brands to donate a percentage of their sales on certain products. That way, you’re not explicitly asking people to donate; instead, they can simply buy one of your products (which they might have done anyway) and know that part of the money is going to a good cause.You could also create an entirely new product that’s just for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. That’s what Panera Bread did here — the restaurant’s ribbon-shaped bagels are exclusively available in October, and for each bagel purchased $0.10 will go to the American Cancer Society.Subject line: Hailey, this bagel gives back.

#5. Educate

Many people might not know much about breast cancer, so consider using your cancer fundraising email to educate them on the disease. You can either include statistics and stories in the copy of your email or link to external articles on the topic; educating people on breast cancer through your fundraising messages will make them more likely to give.

#6. Use a cancer fundraising email template

By using a cancer fundraising email template, you can create effective fundraising messages to send to your subscribers. BEE recently released a Breast Cancer Awareness template created by Gaia Zuccaro, an external designer with BEE, that’s ideal for emails seeking donations. (We have other designers, too -- find more information in our template catalog.) This free template is easy to use and can be quickly customized with the details of your fundraising campaign. With a cancer fundraising email template, you can make a difference for good during Breast Cancer Awareness month!

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

For nonprofits, newsletters can be a powerful tool: They can funnel traffic to your website, educate subscribers and help launch fundraising campaigns. Subscribers and donors who have interacted with your nonprofit in the past need to stay in the know about what’s going on with your organization, because keeping them updated can encourage them to continue their partnership with you. Many nonprofits tend to overlook email; if you have a newsletter, you’re already a step ahead of the game. Improve even further by following these six best practices for nonprofit email marketing:

#1. Define a strategy

How often should you send a nonprofit email newsletter? Unfortunately, many nonprofits are notorious for not putting as much time and thought into their marketing as they could, which equals fewer emails going out. If you feel as if less is more, override that instinct, making a point to send email newsletters regularly — you want to stay at the top of your subscribers’ minds, because 53% of subscribers leave an organization when that organization doesn’t communicate often and well. Many nonprofits find a sweet spot by sending a newsletter biweekly and running some tests to determine the best time of day to send. Just make sure every email you send is high-quality and relevant, containing something that interests your readers. Which brings us to our next point...

#2. Tell a story

Your newsletter subscribers don’t want to hear stats and figures — at least, not all the time. Instead, use stories to resonate with your readers and tug at their heartstrings. Storytelling is a powerful way to convince someone to do something; our brains are wired for story. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, for instance, sends its subscribers a weekly “patient spotlight” that shares the story of a child receiving cancer treatment at a St. Jude hospital. In your email newsletters, look for ways to share the stories of the people your organization has helped. And don’t overlook your volunteers: Often, volunteers have a powerful story of an event or experience that made them be passionate about a certain cause.Subject line: *|FNAME|*, your weekly update and patient spotlight

#3. Craft powerful subject lines

Keep your nonprofit email subject lines clear and brief; 28-39 characters is best. Allude to what’s inside the email (“Here’s how we’re saving the whales”) but leave enough mystery that the email needs to be opened. If you’re asking for donations, you can also include a time limit (“Last chance for a tax-deductible gift”).And even though your subject line needs to stay short, you can still use it to evoke emotion in your readers, getting them to open the rest of the email. The World Wildlife Fund sent a recent email with a powerful subject line that read, “Together, we are 8 million strong.” Those few simple words are enough to make donors and subscribers feel as if they are a part of something bigger than themselves – a feeling that is extraordinarily compelling.Subject line: Together, we are 8 million strong

#4. Design a specific CTA

Designing a CTA for a nonprofit email newsletter is a little different than designing a CTA for another organization. As a nonprofit, in many cases, your CTA will ask people to open their wallet — and that can be a little awkward. What’s the key to getting people to give? Answer: Spark emotion and remind people of the real need behind your ask.Include only one CTA button in each email so you don’t overwhelm readers with requests. Think carefully about the design of the button; Charity:water added a little doodle to the upper left of the CTA button, helping it stick out. And the button itself is blue, just like the clean water the donations will help provide.As you write your email, don’t overlook the copy that leads into the CTA, too. A CTA will only be effective if it’s backed up by the rest of the email. Here, Charity:water talks about why clean water is so important and uses emotionally evocative language before it even gets to the CTA. Plus, the subject line acts like a CTA in and of itself. And this nonprofit goes a step further by using a cute formula graphic to assure subscribers that 100% of their donation will go directly to providing water for those in need.Finally, you may want to use hyper-specific language on your CTA button such as “Save an elephant” or “Make a cancer patient smile.” This will help the donor envision exactly what their money is going to do.Subject line: Give clean water. Give everything.

#5. Find meaningful imagery

Images are hugely important for your nonprofit; after all, a picture is worth a thousand words, so the right photo can do a lot for your email campaign. Choose high-res photos that give a face to the work you do, helping donors see why your organization is so important. Here, Make-A-Wish included a photo of a little boy with a heart condition who got his wish to become a firefighter — it’s the kind of image that you can’t help but smile at. Make-A-Wish also used photos of smiling volunteers, implying that volunteering with this organization is a fulfilling and rewarding experience.Subject line: How will you change a child’s life?

#6. Carefully choose colors and fonts

Design elements such as colors and fonts play a big role in how your subscribers perceive your newsletter and your nonprofit. The font you use for both headlines and body text should be easily readable, although your headline font needs to attract attention, too. Make sure the two fonts you pick don’t clash with each other.In addition to fonts, pick the right colors, using them to evoke emotion in readers. For instance, orange is a playful color, which fits in with these images of dogs and cats from the ASPCA. If your nonprofit is based around nature, consider choosing a stable, balanced shade of green; a pale yellow could evoke a feeling of summery happiness, while threads of blue make a company seem trustworthy and secure. Once you’ve settled on your colors, stick with them and be consistent.Subject line: Easy ways to continue helping animals 

Wrap-up: Making an impact with nonprofit email newsletters

If you aren’t sure where to start with your nonprofit email newsletter, don’t worry: BEE has a set of templates made especially for nonprofits and even supports nonprofit email marketing efforts with free plans for nonprofit organizations! Use these templates to drag and drop design elements such as meaningful images, blocks of compelling text and a strong CTA. Then send regular newsletters to your subscribers and watch your nonprofit email open rates rise!

Originally published on September 3, 2019. Last updated October 8, 2021.Establishing your ecommerce business in the digital world is overwhelming due to the sheer number of moving parts and channels. The good news is you don’t have to be everywhere at once. Strategically focusing on one communication channel allows you to create genuine connections and stand out from the crowd.Email marketing is the best marketing channel to convert ecommerce website visitors into customers because it’s relatively inexpensive and used by every generation, including internet-savvy Gen Z and millennials.Recent data from Barilliance states that nearly 18% of businesses with email marketing campaigns achieved ROIs over $70 per every $1 invested.How can your business achieve these insane ROIs? Start by creating the best customer experience. A well-planned email sequence builds trust with your customers and encourages repeat buys.Let’s start with some basics to learn how to best connect with your customers.

What is ecommerce email marketing?

Ecommerce email marketing is a marketing strategy that uses emails to guide potential customers through the buying process. This type of marketing is all about building relationships and inspiring customer loyalty to increase repeat purchases.Ecommerce email marketing includes both promotional emails (new products, offers/discounts) and transactional emails (abandoned cart, receipt of payment, shipping confirmation).Creating email campaigns builds brand loyalty by opening an exclusive line of communication to email subscribers. Unlike social media or other public advertising platforms, email adds a personal touch. Be sure to implement these email design best practices when creating your ecommerce email series:

• Personalize
• Offer exclusive discounts to returning customers
• A/B test
• Optimize for mobile
• Create a referral program
• Ask for reviews and feedback
• Notify customers when missing items are back in stock
• Follow up on leads
• Track which emails are most responsive
• Include an unsubscribe option

 These ecommerce email templates take best practices into consideration. Customize them to align with your brand identity.So far so good? Let’s tackle these top tips to gain some serious customer traction with your ecommerce email sequence.

Best tips to leverage your ecommerce email marketing 

The email address has become our de-facto digital passport and a powerful marketing tool. When used correctly, it allows businesses to build long lasting relationships with their most loyal customers.When it comes to designing your own ecommerce email campaign, create a solid sequence with the following best practices in mind.

1. Establish your brand identity

Your ecommerce brand identity is your business personality. It’s how your customers perceive your business and the impression it makes and carries across your customer base.When forming your visual brand identity think about:

• Name and taglines: Define your acronyms and consistent terminology for your brand.
• Images: Optimize your images and make sure to find balance between images and text.
• Email and web domains: Develop and stick to consistent layouts. Will your customers recognize your brand across all types of content?
• Colors: Implement a color scheme for your emails and keep those brand colors consistent across all content. 
• Fonts: Consider the nature of your business and decide on a web-safe font.

Establishing your brand identity with a trusted logo, consistent fonts/colors and an inviting email address will ensure that customers open your emails. The consistency gives a reputable first impression. It builds credibility and trust for a long term relationship with those customers.

2. Use each email as an opportunity to engage

Remember that every email you send is an opportunity to engage with your customer base. But it’s not solely about the campaigns themselves, there are other points of contact that will help you engage and connect further with your customers such as:

• Newsletters
• Appointment confirmations
• Receipts 

Add more emails to your collection—develop a structured marketing calendar and a strong welcome series to get started. Make sure to automate them to make your life easier. When there are so many ways to connect with customers, it’s best to establish a sturdy system so there’s less on your plate day-to-day.Then, be sure to build your email list with opt-in opportunities and free offers to incentivize your customers. This will build loyalty and strengthen your connection with them.

3. Adopt a mobile-first approach

Think mobile first: bigger buttons, bigger text, simple message structure and responsive layout. Plenty of emails in your inbox unfortunately aren't optimized for mobile, so make sure to use a design tool that ensures you’re creating email campaigns that render correctly.Massimo Arrigoni, CEO of BEE explains:

“We need to think of our customers first having a mobile experience of our email messages, and then, maybe, a desktop one. That’s what “mobile-first” means: defaulting to mobile: thinking of a mobile user before any other user. And flipping the User Experience table in favor of a mobile experience has a far-reaching impact on email design, web design, online store checkout design, etc.”

4. Design uncluttered, focused messages

Nowadays, attention spans are super short. Customers browse through their inbox at the speed of light to quickly access the information they need or what’s interesting to them.Because of this, it’s best to keep email messages (optimized for both mobile and desktop) focused, clearcut and uncluttered with minimal topics. Best practice is to have only one call to action. If you need to use multiple call-to-actions, make sure those different sections of the email are visually separated using plenty of white space, different background colors and full-width images.

5. Choose the right design tools

Decide on the design tools that work best for your ecommerce business. For email design, BEE Pro offers an extensive collection of ecommerce templates to build from or use as inspiration for your email sequence.If you need graphics for your business, you can DIY or outsource through a trusted platform like Canva or Adobe Photoshop.

6. Design with the email client in mind

Creating emails that render correctly is essential to a successful email marketing strategy. Develop emails with the email client in mind. What does that mean? Well, take a look at your customer base and find out which email clients they’re coming from. Are the majority from Gmail or Outlook? Maybe they’re coming from Apple. Study up on which email client the majority of your customers use and then design emails following the best practices for that specific email client.

7. Include email elements that intrigue your target audience 

Insert new elements into your emails like GIF animations and even live content like countdown timers and dynamic maps. Make sure the first frame of your email is something that your target audience will get excited about. Try new elements, track results and get creative.

8. Make it modular

Creating a modular design system means making sure each touchpoint is replaceable without requiring other parts of the system to be significantly modified. This goes for both your ecommerce email marketing campaign and the specific functionalities that drive your entire ecommerce business.Modular design principles:

• Each part of a system, be it an email message, a service, a job function, landing page, or anything else must have a clearly defined purpose. 
• Redundant parts should be removed, except where they improve the resilience or scalability of the system. In regards to email, this refers to having too many emails in your sequence or even overusing specific email design elements.
• If any part of the system fails or needs to be updated, it should be easy to alter or replace without affecting the other parts of the system.
• Think mechanics; all cars, computers, machines are modular systems.

Your emails and the other systems that make up your ecommerce business should present a modular design to simplify your processes and drive more sales.

9. Elevate your email marketing strategy with landing pages

Ecommerce business landing pages are great opportunities to drive traffic and conversions. These are where people will opt-in to your mailing list, so be sure to create opt-in forms and make them easily visible to visiting customers.Along with visibility, make sure to include your landing page links in your social media bios. A link in bio needs to stay up to date with your latest deals or products. Know your domain, social media handles, payment portals and be able to easily provide them to your customers when needed. Also, focus on optimizing your landing pages, shopping carts and checkout pages. Everything must acknowledge the mobile-first reality.Your landing pages could include anything that would attract your customers like free downloads, content, ebooks, or coupons. When crafting the landing page itself, draw from some of these ideas:

• Provide a single page that is an easy portal to promotions, payments, shopping, booking, social media, and virtually anything else
• Mobile responsiveness and one-page design
• No-code resources
• Always use the ‘Keep it Simple’ principle. Less is often more. If you aren’t sure you need it, you probably don’t

Pro tip: A content management system (CMS) like Wordpress is often overkill for a simple, small business

10. Scale your ecommerce business

Know when to outsource. Do you need to embed payment portals or use a platform for proposals or invoices? What accounting platforms will make your life easier? Research to see what services are best for your type of business.With email, use a professional ESP like ActiveCampaign or Mailchimp. And again, know what email clients your customers are using.

11. Maintain customer engagement

It’s important to continually nurture your client base through fluid communication. Customer resource management (CRM) is a next-level tool for managing client opportunities. Salesforce and Hubspot are great for these needs. These tools are usually not leveraged until a business reaches a certain level, but they are invaluable in maintaining customer engagement.With email, it’s best to track your email engagement metrics to better nurture your customer relationships. This will allow you to understand what design and content changes that need to better connect with your customers to ultimately boost conversion rates.

12. Integrate tools and automate emails

Your workflow is important. From email to payment platforms, your tools need to work in tandem. As an ecommerce business, if you accept bookings make sure the following work together:

• Website
• Scheduling
• Payments
• Calendar
• Accounting
• Email Service Provider

If you sell products or services as an ecommerce business, make sure these work together:

• Website
• Shopping cart
• Shipping services
• Payments
• Accounting
• Email Service Provider

With email, automation is a big time-saver. Set up trigger emails to automatically send when customers take (or don’t take) certain actions that your emails or website intends them to. If your tools don’t create a seamless process for you, then there are changes to be made.

13. Bonus Tips

While this long laundry list of best practices might seem intimidating, setting things in place now will ultimately help you thrive long term.Along with getting your processes in place, don’t forget about your clients. Nurture those relationships by engaging through interesting “greenfield” content.Develop a long term engagement funnel, through several different channels. With that, remember the more you automate emails, the better:

• Template your invoices, emails and other content
• Have opt-ins in your emails and on your website for:
• Educational/informational resources
• Workshops, events and newsletters
• Special promotions
• Make sure your funnels are modular. Be able to replace an email or business tool without breaking the sequence of your automation.
• Personalize and automate your emails with merge tags

7 email types all ecommerce brands should have (with relevant examples) 

Before you get down to the nitty-gritty of designing each email, you need to have an overall strategy for your ecommerce email marketing. Part of that strategy includes defining the types of emails you want to include and mapping out the order in which you’ll send them. From welcome emails for new customers to sales emails for longtime customers, here are 7 of the best ecommerce email marketing examples you’ll want to use:

Welcome email

As an ecommerce business, it’s crucial to recognize customers that have opted in to receiving your emails — so when a new customer signs up, thank them and provide something of value to begin building a connection.Tip: A good welcome email series should thank the customer for signing up and lay out the next steps, such as setting up an account, finishing an order or giving a $10-off welcome coupon like Bulk Bookstore does here. Relevant template:welcome email template

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Abandoned cart email

Each year, customers abandon approximately $4.6 trillion worth of merchandise. Send an abandoned cart email to help reel customers into a confirmed purchase. Customers often accidentally abandon their carts due to external interruptions or website difficulties. A great abandoned cart email will give them a nudge in the right direction.Tip: Include these elements in your abandoned cart email:

• “Don’t forget me” note
• Discount code/Free shipping
• Specifics on what was left in the cart
• CTA button with link to website 
• “You might also like…” section
• Support team contact information

Relevant template:abandoned cart email template

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Win-back email

Win-back your website visitors with this browsing products template. Similar to abandoned cart emails, browsing product emails are sent after customers browse your website but don’t place any items in their cart. Often overlooked, the browse abandonment emails actually bring in better results than the abandoned cart email. In fact, since visitors don’t need to place items in their cart to fall into this category, the pool of people you can target with these emails will be much larger.Tip: A browsing product email should display:

• Products the customer was looking at 
• Coupons or discount codes that apply to those products
• Thank you note for stopping by
• Invitation to continue shopping 
• A “You might also like…” section  

Relevant template: win-back email template

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Order confirmation email

Once your customer makes an order, you need to send them a confirmation email that says thank you, lists the products they bought and explains any next steps (“You’ll receive an email when your order ships” or “Please leave us a review”). This email provides a lot of valuable information to your customers.Tip: It should include all of the personal information the customer gave you (shipping address, payment method, etc.) so they are able to let you know if any info is incorrect. Also, use this email to add an extra section at the bottom of the email that recommends other products your customer would love based on their recent purchase.Relevant template:order confirmation email template

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Shipping confirmation email

After your customer has ordered their product and it’s set to ship a few days later, you will need to notify them that their package is on the way.Tip: A shipping confirmation email should include:

• The estimated delivery date
• A receipt listing what was included in the purchase 
• A tracking number 

Throw a promo code into this email too. This will play on customer excitement and anticipation of what’s to arrive. In this state, they’re likely to purchase more from you.Relevant template:shipping confirmation email template

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Promo code email

Give out those deals. A promo code email is a valuable ecommerce email because it reels customers in with a discount code. This is an effective move — 68% of consumers say they are more willing to shop somewhere that provides promos and coupons. It generates customer loyalty.Tip: With your promo code email, make sure to:

• Personalize your promotions 
• Include the discount in the subject line 
• Keep the code short and sweet (“50TODAY” instead of “MYT-567-XB-002”). 

Relevant template:promo code email template

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

Survey email

Reaching out to your customers to ask them for feedback on your product or service is the best way to improve your email marketing for ecommerce. Surveys share deeper insights into customer needs and will let you in on goals or pain points. There’s always room for improvement and your survey email is the perfect way to open that door to this type of communication and feedback.Tip: Be sure to keep the survey short and include a discount code to incentivize customers to take your survey.Relevant template: survey email template

Use this template in Beefree!

Use this template in Beefree!

How can ecommerce businesses design great emails? (Expert Advice)

In addition to using these ecommerce templates to increase customer engagement, take note of this advice from these ecommerce email experts.

The experts

Samar OwaisEmail conversion strategist and copywriter for SaaS and ecommerce businessesHillel BergEmail marketing consultant for ecommerce businesses

The pro-tips

Peek at reviews“Look at your competitors’ one and five star reviews.” Analyze where they are succeeding and where they might be falling short. Search for gaps so you can leverage what customers are missing from other brands and use that information in your email marketing. -SOCustomize to the time periodThink about what is going on in your demographic to jump on more situational targeted emails. For example, “A Canadian coat brand made a retargeting email saying ‘this storm is coming’.” This will help keep your brand top of mind since you are being punctual with your email sends to keep up with current events and happenings. -HBStep back and focus on the overall email experienceDon’t send the same cookie cutter emails—focus on creating a story. “Run through your customers’ thought process the moment they land on your website. With your first-time buyer set expectations. Second-time buyers, treat more like a friend.” Hone in on what you want your customers to do and what your next moves are if they don’t do what you want them to do. This will help you craft your story. -SOFocus in on browsing customersSend emails to users that abandon searching on your website rather than your typical abandon cart email. “Abandoned browse emails convert more than abandoned cart ones.” Track customers that click in to look at products further, maybe they are looking at the colors or sizes you have available. Send emails including those products that sparked the customers’ interests but never added to their cart.-HBCreate conversational email copyThink of your subject lines and email copy as a conversation you’re having with your customers. Email is a communication tool, so make it human. “‘50% off, two days only,’ how can you turn that into a conversation? Imagine you’re talking with a good friend when creating your email copy.” -SOPersonalize after the purchaseSend more personalized emails after customers purchase a specific item. Give them a list of items that may work well with what they’ve already purchased. Sending a simple, “Here’s what you can pair your purchase with,” email will drive more sales. -HB

Design your ecommerce email marketing campaign with BEE Pro

You’ve got a great product or service to sell, and the world needs to know about it. Try these email marketing tips and take advantage of BEE’s ecommerce email template collection. Customize your ecommerce email sequence to match your brand personality and design directly in mobile view to ensure your emails render perfectly on all devices. Cultivate ongoing customer engagement that increases conversions with your ecommerce email marketing campaign.

If you have an event coming up, you’re probably thinking up a detailed strategy to make sure as many people as possible hear the news — and email should be an integral part of your plan.Why exactly should you use email to promote your events? For one, email gives you a chance to manage your invitations and RSVP’s so you’ll have a head count of who’s planning to show up. For another, email is the perfect channel to keep in touch with your audience — a way to connect with them before, during, and after the event.Here are the key things you should know about creating an invitation email, plus the four-email sequence you should use for event email marketing that works.

Features of an invitation email

There are two types of events you can promote by email — online events and physical events.

Online events

Online events might include webinars, live streaming events or Twitter chats. An invitation email for an online event will include language explaining what’s happening, when it’s taking place and why the reader needs to come. For instance, software development company Workfront promoted their webinar with a simple block of text — a couple of sentences giving an overview of the event, three bullet points listing the main takeaways you’d get from the webinar, and the date and time.Subject line: Webinar: 3 ways to streamline product development

Physical events

You can promote nearly any physical event via email — a conference, performance, trade show, or just about anything else you can think of.Event email marketing for a physical event will include the same details, talking about what value attendees will receive. In addition to that, provide the location of the event and any special instructions (for example, “only use upper parking lot”). Here, an email promoting an evening of fine jewelry included a paragraph of detail, provided an address and asked for RSVP’s.Subject line: Join us at 19 Bleecker this Thursday

How to create an event promotion email series

Your event email sequence should have four emails: invitation, confirmation, reminder and follow up. Here’s a little more detail on what each email should include, plus some email marketing design inspiration you can draw from as you plan your own emails:

#1. Invitation

The first email in your sequence for event email marketing should be sent about two weeks prior to the event (unless you need to get a certain head count in order to book a venue, or participants have to pay). Really good emails will include the basics of the event — what it is, what value attendees will take home, as well as logistical information such as place, time and cost. Start the invitation email with a clear subject line such as “You’re Invited” and end with a strong, highly visible call to action (CTA) asking your readers to register for the event. Don’t overwhelm your readers with information in this initial email, though; specifics can come later.Subject: You’re invited: A webinar for event marketers

#2. Confirmation

Once your readers have opted in to the invitation and signed up for your event, immediately send them an email confirming they have a spot. This email can be a little beefier, including more details on what’s going to happen (if relevant, send the event schedule) and where people should go. The idea is that, if needed, people can save the confirmation email and refer back for details. In some cases — such as this email from Atom Tickets in partnership with Fathom Events — the email might even serve as a ticket into the event.Subject line: Atom order confirmation

#3. Reminder

People are busy, and upcoming events can easily slip their minds. So it’s up to you to send them reminders. Be clear from the very beginning what the reminder email is, including the event name and date in the subject line. In the body of the email, reiterate what’s happening, when and where it’s taking place, and why the reader should come (but keep this part concise, because you’ve already covered these details in previous emails). For newsletter design bonus points, consider including unique imagery like a map of the venue or a photo from last year’s event.When should you send a reminder email? Depending on the type of event, one to four days in advance is ideal. You can send it closer to the time for an online event (“Don’t forget, webinar in 24 hours”), or a few days ahead of time if people are preparing to travel (“We’ll see you in Chicago this weekend”). If you aren’t sure when to send a reminder email, the sweet spot is two days in advance. You could also do a series of countdown emails during the week leading up to the event, sending one email each day with a fun fact about the event or something else relevant; countdown emails are a great way to create hype around your event.Subject line: Reminder: Crit Group 2019 Opening Reception this Saturday

#4. Follow-up

After the event is over, your job isn’t done: Don’t let your attendees slip away! A couple of days after the event, send a follow-up email. For online events, you could send a recording of the webinar or conference in case people want to listen back through and take more detailed notes. If your event was in-person, include a round-up of photos that people posted on social media during the event.If nothing else, say a simple thank you to people for attending — and if this is an annual or recurring event, tell them to keep an eye out for next year. Here, we have some email marketing design inspiration from Counter Culture, a coffee company that sent a follow-up email full of beautiful pastel colors and coffee pots (they even included an exclusive promo code for readers).Subject line: Thanks for coming by! ⚡

Wrap-up: email marketing design inspiration

With this four-email sequence, you’ll be ready to set your event email marketing plans in motion and draw attendees. Ready to build your own event marketing emails? Check out BEE’s free email templates! The templates are beautiful and painless to use, and BEE's email editor makes it simple to drag-and-drop images, text, and other design elements to create some really good emails. It's the quickest, most effective way to promote your next event.