You’ve got a new product or service to announce. It’s time to make a big announcement. There are few ways to get the message out more quickly and effectively than email. Even in a world dominated by social media and instant messaging.
The reason is simple; email has a defined endpoint (the recipient’s inbox). And, despite the prevalence of spam and personal email, it is capable of grabbing the attention of the recipient in an instant. Obviously, providing you know what to do as an email marketer.
I’ve received a few emails recently that have forced me to sit up and take notice. They’ve dropped into my inbox, and have shouted ‘open me!’. I had no choice but to do just that.
Let’s break them down (I’ve picked out three of the best).
1. The Hollywood approach
The following email from Frame.io was clearly put together by people who are rather fond of the cinema. It’s evocative, mysterious and features graphics design that wouldn’t look out of place on a movie poster:
It’s also clearly linking to a video, and those ‘play’ buttons really are very clickable indeed. What a brilliant way to make a big announcement.
Despite the design flare, this is a remarkably simple email. The opening text couldn’t be more straightforward, nor could the call-to-action be any clearer in describing what’s in it for me if I decide to click-through:
I like the subject line, too, which is simply: ‘Psst. Something new is coming soon’. Crucially, the email delivers on that promise and relies successfully on the curious nature of human beings to elicit plenty of engagement.
2. The gentle approach to the big announcement
Throwing a new product into someone’s face probably isn’t going to win you many fans. But, announcing it gently by way of a proper introduction almost certainly will; as this example from Sonos demonstrates:
By asking recipients to ‘meet’ a new product, the senders of this particular email have employed a very clever sales technique. They’ve personalised the product and the communication itself. By setting up a virtual meeting between potential customer and device. As bonkers as that sounds – it works! Another intelligent way to make that big announcement.
A short descriptive sentence neatly describes why the new product will benefit the email subscriber. The ’Shop Now’ button confirms there would be a purchase involved on the following landing page (believe it or not, you do need to point that fact out sometimes).
An effortless piece of email marketing that is also dripping in brand recognition.
3. The existing customer approach
Both examples above are geared towards selling new products. It therefore only seemed fair to feature an email that has been sent to existing customers of a product, tempting them to try something new.
This example from iStock touts a new feature, which they’re clearly very keen on me taking for a spin:
The email features a relevant image of the product itself, along with two sentences explaining what the new feature does and a nice, big call-to-action that encourages me to try it out. Simple, effective, and not a wasted pixel in sight.
Wrapping up
There’s one crucial element shared by all of the examples above: simplicity. There isn’t a confusing sentence, indulgent image or too-smart-for-its-own-good subject line in sight – just email design which relies on blank space, punchy words and eye-catching, relevant imagery to draw in an audience.
If you’ve got something big to announce, you could do a lot worse than follow some of the email marketing cues above.
