The importance of email marketing cannot be understated when it comes to your business success. A solid email promotion strategy will work to both generate leads and boost sales. And, while email marketing isn’t a new trend, it remains one of the best ways to communicate and engage your customers. Email marketing is one of the highest ROI-generating channels you can leverage, so don’t ever fall into the trap of thinking email is an old tactic that doesn’t work anymore or that “email marketing is dead.”

In the world of e-commerce, email promotions and discounts are a must when looking to boost sales quickly. But they’re a bit trickier and require you to walk a fine line. You don’t come across as too spammy or shake the brand loyalty of your current customers. Enforce a strategy by ensuring you are appropriately segmenting your customers and choosing the audience that fits the email messaging and offer. Do this by taking a look at how you initially acquired a customer or lead you’re communicating with through email. This information could help you nurture those contacts better.

Offering promotions, sales and discounts that expire by the end of the month will generate a sense of urgency and influence recipients to purchase sooner. So what types of email promotions can you implement to boost your sales this month? Check out a few options I’ve gathered below.

1. Win-Back:

Develop a particular offer email for any one of your customers who haven’t purchased from your company in the last six months. Use messaging such as, “Come back, we miss you!” or “Exciting things are happening!” Mention recent events, or new features and advancements with your product or service. Include a coupon to spend within a week— coupons are a great way to attract customers who have been thinking about purchasing, but haven’t yet purchased from your business.

2. Birthday:

Generate a special birthday offer for clients. If you request it from your clients, birth dates should be stored in your customer relationship management (CRM) system and is a just one of the benefits of using a CRM to manage your customer’s information. Here’s a tip (that may seem obvious), but don’t forget to include the word “birthday” in the subject line. It’s also a great idea to include a coupon or promotion in this email as a “birthday gift.”  

3. Summer/Holiday:

Develop a special offer for summer only or an upcoming holiday like Labor Day. Don’t be afraid to get cheeky with it — if your brand voice allows — play off the summertime weather or your favorite summertime activity.

4. Special Offer:

Be sure to make the offer clear, short and sweet. This is another opportunity to segment your list to avoid sending this special offer to someone who paid full price yesterday. Also, be aware that these types of emails are the type Google likes to flag and push into the “Promotional” tab in Gmail.

5. Sale:

Consider a one-day or weekend-only deal. For example, “Take advantage of 40 percent off this weekend only.” Be sure to include a clear CTA.

6. Shopping Cart Abandonment:

If your products and/or services can be purchased on your eCommerce website, you’ve most likely experienced a loss of sales through shopping cart abandonment. More than 67 percent of online shopping carts are abandoned before the customer completes the sale. This could potentially be a huge portion of your sales. Let’s get those abandoned shoppers back!

Send an email to that customer with a special offer to purchase one, or all, of those items that they left in their cart. For example, “You left this item in your cart. Take 15 percent off your item if you purchase within the next 24 hours.” Or consider retargeting advertising to these customers on other platforms such as Facebook.

7. Upgrade:

Offer an upgrade of your product or service at a discounted price. If your product or service doesn’t have an upgrade, this type of message could be adjusted to pitch complementary products or valuable content.

8. Top Customers:

Reward your top customers with a special offer. According to RewardStream, “81 percent of online shoppers who receive emails based on previous shopping habits were at least somewhat likely to make a purchase as a result of a targeted email.” You could present a tiered offer based on the customer’s sales volume or order frequency. Offers could include discounts, store credit or a free gift with purchase.

9. Invite:

Consider inviting your customers to your brick and mortar location, with messaging such as, “Stop in our store before the end of the month and receive a 10 percent discount on purchases $50 or more.” If you don’t have a physical location, you could invite them to be a part of an exclusive email group, such as a beta group, pre-sale, etc. and offer them a discount once they join that email list.

To maximize your ROI, try testing multiple versions of these emails, or testing a few different formats to see what type of email resonates with your audiences. Promotions and discounts are necessary tools for a marketer’s email strategy, but as stated above, it’s important to use them wisely. You don’t want to damage your brand or hurt your bottom line.

 You also don’t want people to unsubscribe or hit the spam button! So, ensure your email communications are targeted and useful for all of your customers and prospects.