Is there a spring in your step recently? New beginnings, fresh scents and colors, and the first wafts and whiffs of warmth – these elements define spring, don’t they?
They translate to the retail world too. If you are an intrepid shopper or a fashionista, you know the months of spring have new offerings and offers aplenty. There are clearance sales galore and there is announcement after announcement of the new season’s arrivals.
If you are on the other side, as a marketer, you should know there are certain segments that can reap a richer harvest now. Historically, fashion and apparel have registered thriving rebounds in numbers in April and May. You can also see a boost if you are in the business of essentials – cleaning supplies, lawn and other outdoor fittings, household items, etc. You will also have cause to celebrate if you are in the luxury goods segment and know how to spin the holiday and gifting season vibe.
But, above all, you have to know how to reach your customers and stand out among the riot of colorful, fresh starts. Email marketing is a surefire way to reach your base these days. You just can’t afford to skip this first step in reeling in your leads and customers back in this year.
7 Things Your Every Email Should Integrate This Spring
Spring is here, and you want to let your subscribers know what’s new on offer. If you’re hoping to ride in a huge wave of sales on the back of your email marketing campaigns, there are certain elements every piece of communication has to integrate. Of course, these hold good for your campaigns in general.
- Personalize at every stage, in every way you can
- Optimize your content and design; that includes the subject line
- Reflect the seasonal colors, patterns, and vibes
- Know when to offer bargains, and drive a hard bargain with your USPs
- Let your CTA sing, loud and clear
- Don’t be afraid to experiment to stand out
- Drive influencer and review-based marketing
The last point, in particular, assumes all the more importance for your spring campaigns, as research shows customers bank on reviews heavily to choose from all the new offerings.
If you’re still not too sure about how to spin your email marketing campaigns for Spring 2023, we are here to help you with a list of top 5 email inspirations.
1. Misfits Market
Source: Reallygoodemails.com
Subject line: Last chance! Save 30% on your first box with code PREVIEW30 through tomorrow
This email from the organic fruits and vegetable delivery service stands out for its simplicity. It’s uber-effective in driving home the message with a streamlined CTA, amplified in the subject line, to begin with. It smartly iterates the two main USPs: prices-at-a-fraction-of-market-tags and sustainable produce. It also subtly offers an incentive to join the subscriber base with an exclusive and substantial offer. What’s more, it plugs in a content marketing-driven link to the entire brand. This might egg the conscientious customer to want to make a difference and keep coming back. The only drawback – this link could have been integrated into the top scroll. Overall, though, the email more than makes up with its neat design and crisply rendered visuals.
2. Whole Foods Market
Source: Reallygoodemails.com
Subject line: Spring Looks a Little Different This Year
Whole Foods Market has gone all out in the customer-centric business with this very contextual, content-driven email. The entire message is brimming with hope – that central element of the first season (and that commodity which has been a little on the wane this past year). The entire piece of content marketing offers known ideas with a fresh twist. The images are differently edited but are in line with the messaging. The brand is also holding out on more fun ideas with a clear CTA and hasn’t forgotten to add product-relevant links and social media plug-ins. The freshness is, of course, ramped up with a nice shot of green vistas of produce. Fancy a break with a drive out to the Austin farm, Texans?
3. The Iconic
Source: Reallygoodemails.com
Subject line: It’s the first day of spring! What to wear now
Food and clothing – those are two things that are definitely overhauled at the beginning of every season. If you’re in the fashion business, like The Iconic, your first email for spring should be aptly timed. You can send your ‘new stock’ email when your racks have been refreshed, or it can go out in March. Either way, you can’t go wrong if your content is to-the-point, as it is with this email. The Australian online fashion and sports brand has packed in product and price details in quite an optimized way. We, personally, love the use of ‘edit’ in place of the time-tested ‘collection’ or ‘range’ – it’s a tiny but standout detail. The links to incentives (shipping and returns) and for opt-outs are all appropriately placed. The slight drawback for us: the clothing sings of spring, perhaps, but the images aren’t popping out. Some food (or, threads, should we say) for thought: What would you do differently?
4. Bergdorf Goodman
Source: Milled.com
Subject line: Explore new spring collections, get rewarded!
This email from the fashion brand has really answered the ‘what’s in it for me’ from the customer’s PoV. The coupon codes are set off neatly but could have done with a more delineated design. The small, discreetly placed quote takes care of influencer marketing and adds some incentive to click on the ‘Find a style advisor’ CTA. They have appropriately read the pulse and tapped into these times of increasingly-virtual shopping. We love the use of white space in the design as it sets apart all the different bits of content segments – which are actually quite a few. The entire outlay of details on shopping the brand is perhaps a contextual call, but you can deliberate on that one. The colors and overall visuals, of course, are spring-y and springing off the page.
5. Urban Industry
Source: Milled.com
Subject line: Nike ACG – Designed, Tested and Made on Planet Earth
Urban Industry has really met the challenge of marketing season-agnostic lines with this email. You may need to market your new, spring-timed all-conditions apparel range. Or, you could be a food brand with some new offerings, launching just in time for spring, but targeting the summer barbeque times. Not a problem. Just go the way of this email, plug in a specific spring-relevant angle with your content, and the rest should flow. Of course, make sure the images are relevant and fresh. Urban Industry has gone one-up here and tried to spin its customer service angle with a previous-season-returns helpline. It has also smartly plugged in apt reviews—what we were talking about earlier—not to mention the all-too-relevant sustainability angle.
Wrapping up
So, there you have it – some inspiration to get your cogs churning and spring season email marketing going. Content, colors, CTA – if any, or preferably all, of these three are framed in tune with this first season of the year, you should be sorted. Of course, the one additional element you can’t ever fail to address: the customer and what they are looking for.
Want a fresh look for your spring email marketing campaigns? For customized templates, designed and coded for your every need, get in touch with our experts today.
Kevin George
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