8 Campaign ideas that are not discounts

Are you tired of seeing emails like these in your inbox? Do any of these stand out? Personally, I feel this is annoying, and from a brand's perspective, they are trying to be as pushy as possible to get a sale rather than helping you out. 

Remember, email marketing is a long-term game and discounts shouldn't be your only strategy. Take efforts to excite, educate, and entertain your subscribers in your email campaigns so that your audience anticipates your emails. 

Here are some email campaigns that are not discounts focused:

1. Hosting Giveaways/Contest 

Who doesn’t like to participate in giveaways and contests? According to research conducted by Outgrow, contest emails have the highest open rates. Contests/Giveaways are exciting and it can be a double-edged sword if not done with a purpose. Ask yourself why you wanna create a contest first. What’s your goal? Is it to improve sales, acquire new customers, or validate if there’s a good reception to a new product launch?

If the objective is sales then you can offer a site-wide lucky draw contest, if you want to get feedback on your new product that’s about to launch, open the contest only to your VIP customers and offer a small sample of your product. Include these finer details in your email campaigns.

2. Sneak-peek campaign 

When was the last time you really got hooked seeing a movie’s sneak-peek? It excites you, makes you anticipate the movie release and gives the flavour of the movie well in advance. Your sneak-peek campaign should be exactly that. 

Sneak-peak campaigns can be on a new product launch, announcing a milestone, getting a prestigious award or recognition, or an interesting influencer collaboration. Choose the right audience, create buzz and intrigue them by asking your customers to guess what’s cooking.

Bonus Tip: Send a sneak-peek campaign to your loyal customers, tell them they are the first ones to know about a new product launch. Promote exclusivity and add customer stickiness to your brand.

3. Behind The Scenes 

Showcase your team, your day to day operations , how things work at your brand, R&D process, how products are dispatched etc. It gives them a feel of being a part of your team and reminding them that it’s not just a transactional relationship. 

Include candid images and help your customers to understand the cause behind your brand. 

Ban.do has done an amazing job in getting their BTS emails right. 

4. User-generated content (UGC) 

I bet you would agree with this. People buy from people and not from a faceless entity. Every purchase has deep rooted emotions, customers go through a lot of steps before hitting that ‘buy button’

A typical customer journey looks like this: They have a need, check products online or offline that solves a problem, compare it with best alternatives (includes checking prices in multiple websites or retail stores,skim through the reviews). Here’s where you have a huge scope to build trust by showcasing your testimonials, UGC giving shoppers the confidence to complete a purchase. 

The best part about UGC is, you can use them in multiple channels (Emails,Ads, Social handles). Including them in your emails is the least expensive option to gain trust. 

Bewakoof - an apparel store is a good example of using UGC. They feature customers in their social handles when they post and picture in their merch with a hashtag #bewakoofofficial. They also send monthly campaigns featuring the fans. 

It’s not necessary that you have to do something similar, but you know what works for your brand. 

5. Birthdays and Anniversary Emails

Connect at a personal level by engaging with your customers on their special days such as birthdays and anniversaries. Genuinely take efforts to appreciate them. You can also give a 10% or 20% discount to make them feel special. 

6. Educational campaign

It’s important to support your customers in every possible way post their purchase. Help them to maximize the benefits of using your product. If you’re a fashion brand, you can send style tips, laundry guides, do’s and don'ts. Similarly skincare brands can send them a guide to make a DIY homemade facepack or even skincare routine. 

Example: 

7. Refer a Friend

Imagine you’re in a confused situation to choose a T-shirt. Who’s your go to person to help you out? More often than not it’s going to be your friends, family or colleagues. 

Your customers have such indecisive moments while shopping. Ask your loyal shoppers to spread good word of mouth about your brand and incentivize them to refer their friends. It’s a great way to acquire new customers without breaking the bank. 

Pro Tip: Highlight the benefits of your referral program, validity, terms and conditions. Incentivize them by offering discounts, or free shipping in their next orders. 

8. Product Launch

Use email campaigns to tease about your new product/category launch.  The campaigns can include:

• A Product launch teaser
• Generating interest or demand by adding them to a waitlist
• Exclusive pre-launch to a specific group where you can regularly take customer interviews, ask them scope of improvements to come up with a proper launch.

Example:

Pro-Tip: Showcase your behind-the-scenes on how you went to build this product from the ground up. Let your customer know the efforts you took to make their life better. 

Use these ideas in your upcoming campaigns and you see your engagement soar.