1. Welcome Email: The First Impression that Counts

A welcome email is a message you send to subscribers as soon as they join your list. Use this first email to introduce your brand, thank the lead for signing up, and explain the next steps they can take to connect. If the person signed up via a lead magnet, include a link to the download. 

This welcome email from MarketingProfs provides the recipient with more information about the company, directs them to helpful links, explains the frequency of the newsletter, and includes a subtle call to action for those ready to upgrade to a paid plan. 

2. Educational Content: Show Off Your Expertise

Educational emails provide information about a problem the lead is struggling with related to your product or service. By solving the problem, you’ll position yourself as a trusted source of information and increase the chances that they keep opening your emails. 

Zapier shares guides subscribers can follow to create automations that solve their business problems. If people like the idea, they may sign up to make the automation for themselves. This type of email is especially effective if you create groups based on the problems your subscribers are interested in solving. Once you have the groups, you can send highly relevant help guides. 

Educational nurture email example from Zapier Source: Zapier 

3. Product Explainers: Introduce Your Product

Nurturing emails are an excellent opportunity to introduce your product and highlight its capabilities. When sending these emails, don’t just list the features; highlight how they benefit the leads.

This lead-nurturing email example from Ezoic links to a blog post that shows how people can use the tool to host and display videos. The email is effective because it explains how adding videos to a website benefits the email recipient. Product explainer email example from Ezoic Source: Ezoic 

4. Product Updates: Keep Your Customers in the Loop

Feature updates and new product emails keep subscribers informed about your brand. These latest additions may convince the subscriber to go from an interested lead to a loyal customer. 

This nurture email example from Adalo introduces the app builder’s new features. It explains the benefits and links to landing pages with more information. Product update nurture email example from Adalo Source: Adalo 

5. Exploratory Emails: Find Out What Your Customers Want

Use your nurture email to find out more about the customer’s specific problems. There are three ways you can do this: 

• Link to your preferences center so customers can select which types of emails they would like to receive. 

• Group customers based on the links they click on in your emails. 

• Use survey blocks to ask customers questions and then categorize them into groups based on their answers. 

This lead nurturing example from Brightly allows families to choose between browsing books for tweens or those intended for readers aged 13 and above. If Brightly tracks which link recipients click on, it could group people based on clicks and send them relevant content. 

6. Social Proof: Build Trust with Testimonials

Social proof is a powerful motivator for sales. Take advantage of this by sending an email highlighting how other people use your product. Some ways you can do this include: 

• Add testimonials to your email 

• Link to reviews on third-party sites 

• Create and share in-depth case studies 

• Embed social posts where people talk about your product 

• Try to use social proof that praises your brand while mentioning specific ways your product helps people similar to your lead. 

This nurturing campaign example from Feedly showcases how the platform’s power users maximize the tool's potential. It combines social proof with tailored benefits for various types of individuals. 

7. Webinar Invites: Position Your Brand as an Industry Authority

Webinars are an excellent way to educate leads about an industry problem, positioning your brand as a trusted thought leader. And when people sign up for a webinar, you learn two super valuable pieces of information: 

• A specific problem they are struggling with and want to overcome 

• That they are invested in the process of learning about your brand 

• Use this information to send more content related to the problem and experiment with sending more promotional emails. 

This email from Rock Content invites recipients to a webinar about a timely problem many marketing leaders are likely struggling with. The email and webinar position the company as an industry authority. 

8. Discounts: Send Leads to the Checkout

Discounts are an effective way to nurture leads at the later stages of the buyer's journey. If the person is almost ready to buy, sending an email coupon can encourage them to make a purchase. 

This is an example of nurture from Uber Eats, featuring a tempting £10 discount. The offer is made even more tantalizing by the inclusion of images from four local restaurants. 

9. Cart Abandonment: Bring Customers Back to Complete Their Purchase

Cart abandonment emails are automated messages sent when someone starts the checkout process but abandons it before completing the purchase. These emails are a highly effective way for e-commerce stores to bring buyers back to the checkout and complete their purchase. 

This cart abandonment email from cosmetics firm Rudy’s stands out because it explains that the recipient must make a purchase soon to take advantage of free shipping. It also highlights products the customer was interested in and includes a call-to-action button that takes buyers back to the checkout page. 

10. Celebrate with Your Customers on Their Anniversary

Make a note of your customers’ special anniversaries and email them a congratulations. Anniversary emails include the anniversary of the year they joined your company, their birthday, their actual wedding anniversary, and other significant dates. 

Stats show that open rates for birthday messages are 3X higher than promotional emails. Open rates for anniversary emails were also 3X as high. 

11. Engaging Surveys: Ask for Feedback and Get Leads to Further Engage with Your Brand

Interaction with your users is an excellent way to engage and deliver a great customer experience. Whether or not they’ve bought from the site already, a survey can be tailored to whatever information you need for your business. 

With data being a powerful influence on businesses, feedback of any kind, in the form of a survey, can be helpful. To help nurture those leads who have not yet made a purchase, understanding what they like and what they would be interested in purchasing can be beneficial for business decisions. 

12. Send Confirmation Emails After Opt-In

Requiring a double opt-in has two benefits. You ensure that you’re only paying for subscribers who are real and genuinely excited to hear from you. 

You have the opportunity to start nurturing new leads from our initial interaction. A solid email marketing best practice is to trigger an automated “confirmation/thank you” message to let your readers know they have been added to your list and will be hearing from you. 

Here’s a good example of a great confirmation email from Penguin Classics. 

This thank-you email from Penguin Classics is awesome. The copy thanks subscribers for joining the email newsletter, but doesn’t stop there. This thank you email also invites new subscribers to take action and “discover more.”

The invitation to browse books immediately targets avid readers in the “awareness” part of the sales funnel and moves them directly to the “interest” part of the sales funnel. This is lead nurturing at its finest. As you create your double opt-in confirmation email, think of an invitation you can include to get my new subscribers to visit my eCommerce store. 

13. Related Recommendation Emails: Nurture Customers After the First Purchase

Once the lead has made a purchase, they may be more willing to spend more on similar items or recommendations made by the brand. You can’t expect any customer to know the ins and outs of your product catalogue. Chances are, they’ve missed out on something that could be perfect for their wants and needs. 

A related recommendation email can be sent during the initial period after a purchase has been made. It might also be an email you send out a week or so later, along with other recent product launches that fit what this customer desires. This promotional email from Crate & Barrel is an excellent example of recommendations. 

14. Reward Your Customers to Increase Loyalty

E-commerce brands can make excellent use of rewards programs and email marketing to guide customers through the sales funnel and increase the average amount customers spend. 

Here’s an example from the Gap. 

When you navigate to the Gap’s website for the first time, a lead magnet box appears on the landing page. You have the option to enter your contact information, including your email address, in exchange for membership to the Gap’s rewards program, where you earn 2 points for every $1 you spend. 

Here’s where the lead nurturing comes into play. 

Once you’ve entered your email address, the Gap adds you to its rewards program email sequence, and you’ll start getting emails like the following email. Rewards emails are an excellent way to nurture leads. 

Why? 

Customers are motivated to spend more to get more points. And, you can continually send email follow-ups with point balances, extra discounts, and more opportunities for customers to buy. 

Boosting Sales with Reward Program Nurture Sequences

Research supports the benefits of reward programs in marketing campaigns: 75% of consumers say they favor companies that offer rewards. Over 58% of internet users say earning rewards and loyalty points is one of the most valued aspects of the shopping experience. 

87% of consumers are open to brands monitoring their activity details if it leads to more personalized rewards. If you’re ready to generate more sales, consider a nurture email sequence with your rewards program. 

15. Product Feedback Request Emails: Improve Your Products and Customer Satisfaction

Feedback is essential for any business seeking to enhance its product quality and customer satisfaction. Customer retention is a lot harder than lead acquisition. According to SemRush, 44% of companies prioritize customer acquisition, while only 18% focus on customer retention. 

Sending out requests for feedback on products purchased is a helpful way to understand the impact of your products. It’s also hard to get product feedback so if they’re willing to do so, it’s either going to be positive or the opposite. Data collected on your products and how well they’ve been received is useful for any future product creations and launches.

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