Effective Business Email Templates

Email marketing is a very flexible method of communication. This channel gives you the possibility to send written messages in diverse formats including text, static and dynamic images, tracked URLs, or colorful fonts.

For this reason, most companies use email marketing in their strategies to send out promotions and offer to customers.

If you think all emails are the same, then you are very much mistaken! We can divide the types of email marketing messages into three main formats:

• Transactional emails
• Relational emails
• Promotional emails

It is necessary to keep these distinct formats in mind when crafting your email marketing strategy since each fulfills different goals.

Understand the three types of email marketing campaigns

As we have already mentioned, email marketing is very flexible. If you take a quick look at your inbox right now, you may notice that you receive emails from companies that communicate different messages with different styles.

An email promoting flight tickets, for instance, will not look the same as an online purchase confirmation. Yet both are still considered a part of email marketing! Or, after sending a press release, a follow-up email can be crucial. Using a structured email press release template can make your message clear and professional from the start.

To understand the fundamental elements of each type of message, best practices, and related marketing strategies, we divide email marketing campaigns into three main categories: transactional, relational, and promotional email types.

Transactional emails

As the name suggests, transactional emails are those which relate to a transaction that has taken place between two parties. Analyzing promotional email examples can help you understand what works best when targeting your audience with offers and discounts.

When you make a purchase in an online store, for instance, you may receive a series of transactional emails: one confirming the transaction when you complete the checkout, then one when the company receives your payment, and another when your product has been shipped, etc.

Some examples of transactional emails are:

• Confirmations of transactions
• Receipts
• Delivery notifications
• Return confirmations
• Support tickets
• Password recovery
• Email address confirmations

Relational emails

The main objective of relational emails is the engagement or enticement of your audience.

Relational emails focus on the relationship with your customers and potential customers by sending them content that will educate them and/or bring additional value.

Your relationship emails can contain:

• Welcome messages to new subscribers
• Newsletters
• Emails promoting blog articles
• Confirmation of webinar sign-ups
• Opinion surveys
• Emails about news or trends in a particular industry
• Invitations for courses

Promotional emails

Promotional emails are sent by businesses to their existing and potential customers.

For this reason, it is generally the format that is most strongly associated with email marketing. But as you have seen, there are several types of emails that can be sent and fall under the same category.

In addition to promotions and offers, a promotional email can also contain:

• Info about the launch of new products or services
• Launches of new resources
• Summaries of webinars
• Messages offering free trial periods
• Upgrade offers

But does emailing still work?

Email is still one of the most commonly used communication channels in the world. It is a less invasive and more accurate alternative than many other communication methods. If used properly, emailing creates a solid direct relationship between businesses and their customers.

Its versatility is one key reason for its great reach and efficiency. We could spend literally hours talking about all of the objectives that this tool fulfills. Email continues to be the main way to wrap leads, distribute content, increase sales, and improve customer relationships, just to name a few.

An important fact is that 72% of people prefer to receive promotional content via email rather than through social media (source). 

According to Email Monday, 68.9% of recipients view marketing emails on their smartphones 2-3 days per week (source),  and 81% of mobile device owners regularly use a smartphone for checking emails (source).

It is impossible to ignore the power of email, and you should be aware of all the possibilities offered by this communication channel. However, what is the most convenient way to use emails in your business? How can you leverage the power of email and do so most conveniently and efficiently? The answer is: using business email templates of all kinds.

What is an email template and what are the benefits of using one?

An email template is an HTML or text template that serves as a guide. The contents can be altered to fit your messaging.

An email template allows you to create email campaigns quickly. All you have to do is adjust the template to your needs by replacing images, text, fonts, and other elements. A good email template is suitable for all kinds of organizations operating in different industries, whether it is e-commerce, tourism, and hospitality, business, gastro, health care, education, or anything else.

Benefits of using an email template

You save time and resources

Instead of writing an email or creating an email template from scratch, you can easily upload your images, change the text, and select new content that is relevant for your database. You don’t have to choose which parts of the email to include, where to insert the images or where to write the text. Instead, with a ready-to-use template, you’ll have more time to create unique content.

No need to check the formatting

Every time you create a new email template from scratch, you have to check it for errors, because working with a large amount of data risks leaving out important sections or making formatting mistakes. Using a template ensures that your email looks exactly the same as the preview. Regardless, don’t forget to test the template out just in case.

Business emails templates explained

As mentioned above, there are three types of emails: transactional emails, relation emails, and promotional emails. Each of these categories comprises of different emails. We’ve curated a set of business email templates for each category to make it easier for you to launch your first campaign or improve an existing one.

Business email templates – Product launch

New feature release announcement template

New physical product launch template

Product or service launch email – short template

Find out more about Product Launch Email Templates

Business email templates – Testimonials/reviews

The professional approach testimonial/review email template

Friendly check-in testimonial/review email template

A positive opinion testimonial/review email template

Newsletter email templates

Newsletter related to a holiday or a certain season

Newsletter email template for different business sectors

Email newsletter template for sending informative messages

or:

Find out more about Newsletter Email Templates

Business email templates – Onboarding

Onboarding welcome email

An onboarding  email template that comes from an actual human being

“Thank you for joining us” onboarding  email template 

Find out more about Client Onboarding Email Templates

Business email templates – Feedback request

Rate products you bought feedback request email template

Thank you for a joint project feedback request email template

Share your thoughts via video feedback request email template

Find out more about Feedback Request Email Templates

Business email templates – Call invite

Initial outreach call invite email template

Follow-up to a call invite email

“Schedule a call?” call invite follow-up email template

Find out more about Call Invite Email Templates

Business email templates – Call follow-up

When you want to sum up a meeting

When you want to arrange a meeting

When you want to promote your product or service directly

Find out more about Call Follow-up Email Templates

Business email templates – Discount offer

Formal discount offer email template

Casual discount offer email template

General discount code email template

Find out more about Discount Offer Email Templates

Subject lines for the various business email templates

Sending business emails – best practices

If you want your business emails to drive the expected results, you need to follow certain rules. We won’t even mention obvious things like placing a CTA at the bottom of your email, segmenting your subscriber’s list, measuring and analyzing each campaign, or personalizing every message as much as possible. You already know all that, right? Let’s talk about some less popular but still important aspects of email marketing that you need to take care of if you want to run the best email marketing campaigns possible.

1. Use secure SSL servers for email communication

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is an encryption technology that allows you to communicate with your email server using enhanced security. It uses two separate “keys” to encrypt all of the data in an email: a public key and a private key, which only the recipient has access to. This means that in the unlikely event of an email being intercepted, it will not be readable by the intercepting party without the private key.

When configuring your desktop clients such as Outlook, Thunderbird, or mobile devices, please try to use our secure ports and servers.

2. Avoid SPAM words in your messages

Email providers have anti-spam filters in place to prevent us from receiving junk messages in our inboxes.

This is a very positive thing for all of us (it’s awful to receive SPAM every day, isn’t it?), but it’s also a challenge that all those involved in email marketing must overcome.

Your newsletters will likely end up in SPAM folders if you are not careful enough. And, if this happens, then every time we send an email from our server it will go straight to that user’s SPAM folder.

There are different factors that email providers take into account when placing an email in the SPAM folder. One of them is identifying words that are commonly associated with spammy messages.

If you want your email to land in your customer’s inboxes smoothly, avoid words like: free, gift, best price, special promotion, discount, sale, click here, make money, buy, best price, lowest price, only for, free call, investment, 50% less, why pay more, eliminate your debt, now, do it now, start today, for a limited time, seen on TV, and lose weight, etc.

3. Change passwords and redirect accounts of former employees

This ensures that when employees leave your organization, they no longer have access to your accounts or business operations. Forwarding ensures that if anyone answers a business email sent using the account of a former employee, a current employee can complete or delegate the ongoing communication.

4. Don’t send mass emails with your mail service

When you send bulk emails to your contacts, either for advertising, announcements, or newsletters, don’t do so from your webmail or desktop client. Why? Because such an action puts your domain reputation at serious risk. You can get all of your emails cataloged as spam in the long run, or even cause the closure of your mail service.

To send bulk emails securely, you must ensure that you follow certain rules and procedures. Usually, this is done through specialized providers that will help you comply with anti-spam regulations.

5. Less is more 

In most cases, the simplest emails work much better than those filled with images, different colors, or complicated designs…

Less is more: your email has to be simple. The less it resembles typical newsletters (those that are laid out in different columns, full of huge images or with headers), the better.

We are used to associating SPAM with “well laid out” newsletters. That’s why, interestingly, a plain email that looks like a “normal” message, like one that a friend would send us, usually delivers better results.

The rule is as follows: keep it simple, stupid (KISS).