Every brand that does email marketing wants its subscribers to open its emails and read them from the greeting to the signature. However, creating emails that achieve this can sometimes be a real challenge.
Email marketing can be a very powerful tool, but without the right strategy, or if your emails are boring, too salesy or full of clichés, it will hardly do its job.
The good news is that writing creative emails is a skill you can learn. And with the tips I’m sharing here, it will be much easier 🙂
In other words, my goal with this post is to help you improve the metrics of every email you send. I recommend tracking your metrics so you can see the difference.
Email marketing is a strategy that, when done well, delivers a much higher ROI than other channels. Several studies put it at around $42 for every $1 spent, and it can reach up to $50.
Besides the content of each email, it’s essential to take care of your language, expressions, format, wording and the multimedia resources you use.
With that said, let’s look at some tips for creating original emails.
Inspiring email ideas
As we said earlier, if you want to get the most out of your email marketing investment, you need to learn how to create creative and original emails.
To make it clearer… let me give you an example!
Imagine you’re looking for a house, but none of them fits what you want. Maybe they don’t have enough rooms, they’re too small or the price is too high. Then one day you visit one that has everything you were looking for and, on top of that, it fits your budget.
What’s more, the person showing it to you gives you a super clear and appealing explanation. After the visit, you’re sure… you want it!
In email marketing, that’s exactly what we should aim for: emails that are like that house. Always focused on the audience’s needs and wishes, adapted to their language and with a clean, clear and tidy format.
It all starts with a solid strategy.
To build an effective email marketing strategy, you need to set your goals, know your audience, decide what type of emails you’ll send, choose a sending frequency and have the right tools.
On top of that, you need a good dose of creativity and originality so that subscribers open and read your emails.
Let’s see how you can achieve all this with email marketing!
Clean design
Believe it or not, the most-read emails are the ones with a very simple (almost minimalist) design. It makes them much easier to read and helps subscribers feel comfortable with the email.
To design clean emails, keep in mind things such as:
- Writing short sentences and paragraphs.
- Leaving enough space between paragraphs.
- Not making the email too long.
- Making sure it reads well on any device.
- Not overusing symbols or red in your offers.
- And, in general, not overusing emojis.
Add a sense of urgency
Although I don’t recommend making every email about sales, you do need sales emails too, especially during promotions. When you send them, the goal is to create desire and a sense of urgency.
Keep these points in mind:
- Your campaigns and promotions should offer something your subscribers can’t get the rest of the time. Otherwise, you won’t spark that desire to buy and they may not take action.
- The offer should only be available for a very limited time. This also increases the chances of conversion.
When you want to create creative emails, this is the direction to aim for. A boring, monotonous email that doesn’t trigger either of these emotions is unlikely to get good results.
Valuable content
If you really want to create original emails, don’t lose sight of this tip: create content that is genuinely valuable and interesting for your audience. Otherwise, your subscribers will get tired of receiving your emails and will probably unsubscribe from your list.
There are different ways to share content in an engaging way, for example:
- Telling a story.
- Through tutorials or guides.
- As a news item.
- Using video or audio.
- Sharing photos of your product.
Simple vocabulary
To explain this point, let’s look at a practical example. What do you think of these two sentences?
- 1. “If you want to walk more comfortably, our active gel insoles are for you. Thanks to materials such as latex foam and rubber sponge, you will walk without any discomfort.”
- 2. “You’re one click away from long walks without worrying about sore feet. With these cloud-effect insoles, it’ll feel like walking on air.”
As you can see, the first one focuses on the product’s features and uses terms the reader may not know. It also sounds distant and impersonal, which takes away the appeal we’re looking for.
The second sentence focuses entirely on the reader’s benefits. It uses comparisons with everyday things and speaks directly to the reader.
If you want to create creative and original emails, I recommend following these guidelines: focus fully on benefits, use resources such as comparisons and keep a very friendly tone (without being vulgar).
Original calls to action
Every email we send has a goal. Sometimes it’s making a purchase; other times it’s reading an article, sending a reply, watching a video… There are plenty of options.
For an email to come across as creative, it needs clear and direct calls to action: ones that invite the reader to complete the desired action, while avoiding clichés such as:
- “More information”.
- “Enter now”.
- “Buy now”.
- “Contact us”.
Instead, I recommend replacing those boring calls to action with ones that match the conversation and keep the tone of voice and vocabulary you’re using.
For example, you could use more original calls to action such as:
- “I want to know everything”.
- “Count me in”.
- “I want it now”.
- “Let’s talk”.
Your own brand language
Some brands have a very strong personality and have created their own language. A language that all their subscribers identify with and have even adopted as their own.
It’s usually a fun language that breaks down barriers between the community and the brand, strengthening the sense of belonging. This makes the relationship closer and increases email conversions.
When this happens, both open and click rates go up, because the bond is so strong that subscribers actually look forward to those emails.
Play with GIFs
Another tip to help you create original emails is to use GIFs. You can use the ones you’ll find on websites like Giphy or create your own.
For example, you can use GIFs of your team showing how they work, how they write these emails or how they help a customer.
You can also use them to show funny situations, making it clear that behind the brand there’s a team of real people ready to help if needed.
Just don’t overdo it. One GIF per email is enough, and of course it should be related to the main topic. Otherwise, your emails may feel heavy and unfriendly.
By the way, you can also create your own animated images on Giphy. Give it a try!
Use storytelling
As I mentioned earlier, stories let us share content in a more engaging way. That’s what we call storytelling. Many brands use this technique today, although I’ll warn you: it isn’t easy.
Want to give it a try? Here are some tips:
- Research your market and get to know your buyer persona.
- Identify your main message (what you want to convey and why).
- Add emotion and make the story believable.
The main goal is for the story to resonate with your subscribers, and even for them to identify with it, so that they take the action you suggest. This is one of the most effective ways to create original emails today. The results may surprise you.
Remember that good stories are entertaining, educational, universal, well-organized and memorable.
Creative email ideas: examples
If you take a look at your inbox, you’ll probably spot some of the tips I’ve just shared. In fact, I recommend doing it as an exercise. But to make it easier, I’d like to share some examples with you.
Let’s look at some examples of creative and original emails! (They come from Spanish brands, but the ideas work in any language.)
Lucía Be
This is one of the emails from their Christmas campaign. It’s fully focused on sales, and its goal is to get people to join a live stream where they’ll show their products.
What I like most about this email:
- Its simplicity. They clearly know how to keep their designs tidy and clean. No clashing colors and no overload of graphic elements.
- It gets to the point. Rather than beating around the bush, the message is direct. The invitation to the event leaves no room for doubt. Although they could have gone one step further and specified that the live stream would be on their Instagram account.
- It uses its own language. This is the most notable tip of all. As you can see, they use words like “darling” or “shine”. Both are part of their vocabulary, and all their subscribers identify with them.
SocialGest
This email is informative. It aims to announce a new feature of the app: in this case, a new link shortener.
What I’d highlight about this email:
- The message is clear from the start. The email header sums up what they want to tell you at a glance. They also use an attractive image that fits the brand.
- It includes product images. To help the reader understand the content, it includes an image showing one of its main advantages.
- A benefit-focused message. The message is short, but it clearly emphasizes the benefits. What I perhaps don’t like as much is the excessive use of bold text.
Adobe Stock
This email is set in the Christmas campaign. Its goal is to invite subscribers to try their products.
What I like most about this email:
- The way it connects with the reader from the start. Instead of opening with the promotion, it takes the reader to an idyllic scene at that time of year. It’s a very interesting technique that usually grabs attention from the very first moment.
- It links its products to seasonal needs. In other words, the content is themed and never loses the essence it started with.
- Simple design. Despite including several images and calls to action, the design is clean and attractive. It’s pleasant to read.
Genially
Genially is definitely a brand with a lot of character and personality. When it comes to creative and original emails, it has to be mentioned. What stands out most to me in this email:
- Its own simple language. Their newsletter even has a name: “woow”. With it, they want to convey that it’s a fun and surprising email you always learn something from.
- Great content. It starts with their news, then shares easy-to-use templates themed for the time of year, offers tips to get more out of their platform and ends with a customer testimonial. Every part is worth reading.
- Original calls to action. At the end of the email, instead of calls to action like “More information”, there’s a button with an unusual copy: “Let’s gooo!”.
Charuca
Finally, I want to show you an email from Charuca, a brand known in the stationery sector that has also built a presence around mindset topics, especially for a female audience.
In fact, in this email they sell one of their courses on the subject. Here’s what I’d highlight:
● Use of storytelling. If you look at the email, you’ll see they use this technique to connect with the reader and guide them toward the call to action.
● Easy-to-read design. This email has no graphic elements, but it’s a clear example of short sentences and paragraphs. They also leave plenty of space between paragraphs so it reads smoothly.
● Calls to action within the text. This email weaves the calls to action into the body copy, which feels more natural.
Finally, it’s worth noting that they also use a creative and original email signature. Their handwritten signature reinforces their brand image even more.
What do you think of these ideas and examples for creating creative and original emails? As you can see, each brand does it differently, but they all clearly avoid monotonous, corporate and distant emails.
I encourage you to apply these tips in your next emails and analyze the results. Little by little, you’ll see your metrics improve. Ready to get started? Let your creativity run free!
Playing with GIFs is one of the easiest ways to give your emails an original touch.
