6 Types Of Emails Every Inbound Marketing Agency & Marketer Should Use

Whether you’ve been in the game for quite some time or you’re just starting with email marketing practice, you’re probably constantly wondering about the various types of marketing emails available to you. 

As email has changed with technology, so too have the old methods taught. In his new eBook, “An Introduction To Email Marketing”, Inbound Marketing Agency President Mark Parent outlines 6 Types of Marketing Emails, how they work and why (or why not) they should be chosen for an email marketing campaign. Here are some highlights: 

1. Email Newsletter
Many business and organizations send email newsletters in order to stay top of mind for their recipients. This format has three main advantages: they create better brand awareness, they allow for the repurposing of content, and they give you the freedom to include a diverse array of content. Disadvantages to email newsletters are mainly their diluted call-to-action and their complex and often time-consuming design requirements. 

2. The Digest
Similar to newsletters, email digests provide summaries of existing information and offer a snapshot of a specific time frame, e.g. a week or a month. Advantages are similar to that of the email newsletter, plus, they typically offer an easier design. These can also be sent to different target audiences. And, like newsletters, their drawback tends to be harder to find calls-to-action for readers. 

3. Dedicated Email 
Dedicated emails, or also known as stand-alone emails, contain information about only one offer. For instance, you can be inviting your target audience to attend an event that you are hosting. These come with a very clear call-to-action and are easy to build and measure, however, they are typically used to reach out to an entire database and are therefore homogenous in their content – something that makes them potentially inefficient in optimizing conversions and minimizing unsubscribes. 

4. Lead Nurturing
As an inbound marketing tactic, lead nurturing is all about understanding the nuances of your leads’ timing and needs. Lead nurturing introduces a tightly connected, timely and targeted series of emails with a coherent purpose and full of useful content. In this context, lead nurturing offers more advantages than just an individual email blast. That said, tracking of these emails tends to be passive and they generate less concurrent buzz. 

5. Sponsorship Emails 
Highly targeted with an exact ROI behind them, if you want to reach a different audience and gain new leads, sponsorship emails let you pay to include your copy in another vendor’s newsletter or dedicated send. Sponsorship emails are only as good as their vendors, so credibility is key. Other potential disadvantages include sending emails to targets you haven’t earned and the challenge of managing a vendor relationship.  

6. Transactional Emails 
Transactional emails are the messages that get triggered by a specific action contacts have taken and enable them to complete that action. These emails are highly anticipated and therefore have a high CTR (click-through rate). The biggest downside is that it can create an extra step. So, be careful not to overuse this email – especially if it makes the user jump through too many hoops. 

The more you know…

…about the various email formats available to you – including their respective advantages and disadvantages – the more able you’ll be to choose the right format that meets your email marketing goals. 

To learn more about these email modalities, plus how to overcome the Top 5 Email Challenges Faced By Every Inbound Marketing Agency, download “An Introduction To Email Marketing” now.