An incentive email can help drive more traffic to your site. Besides that, there are many other benefits that you can gain through these emails. In order to receive these benefits, you need to also make sure you create the best opt-in incentives. They should grab your attention in a unique and exciting manner. Besides that, your incentive should be valuable enough that the subscriber wants to take an action. Also, you should stay consistent with your brand.

What is Incentive EmailAn email (or electronic mail) is a method of exchanging communications through the internet. It is one of the most used features on the web and the number one mean...?

An incentive email is a larger term for marketing campaigns done via email. These campaigns contain incentive offers that help to increase your business and drive traffic to your site. They can be a part of a welcoming email campaign. In other words, you can make any email marketing campaign into an incentive email.

The important part of incentive emails is the fact that they have offered. Here, you’re not only sending out an email about your product. You’re also updating them on your company and also bringing new customers to your business. This can be done through customer retention or customer acquisition.

Some of the best and most popular types of incentives that many brands use in their emails are:

• Buy one get one free
• Rewards or bonus points
• Coupons
• Discounts
• Free shipping
• Free subscription for a month
• Referral codes
• Reward with purchase

You will see that many marketers use these incentives to make customers buy their services or products. 

Benefits and Importance

There are various benefits that you as a brand or a company can receive through incentive emails. Here are some of them:

• Incentive emails help you to get new customers. Studies show that a large majority of your consumers are more likely to buy a product or service from a fresh brand if given an offer or discount. Many customers may make a purchase only for a discount even if they don’t need the product. This makes an incentive email among the best forms of email campaigns.

• Incentive emails help you to retain your customer loyalty. It is proven that more than 90% of consumers who have already made a purchase, will make another purchase in the future. This becomes more likely if they receive a discount code. Incentive emails are a great strategy for customer retention purposes.

• Incentive emails increase your customer’s impulsive purchases. If you offer a customer a coupon or discount, they may make a purchase just for the sake of getting that offer. This helps in both customer retention and customer acquisition.

Besides that, incentive emails also help you to connect with your customers.  You can even gain success by using effective email tracking devices. This can help you make important changes to your marketing in the future.

How to Write Incentive Email

An incentive email can be written with a few offers in mind. Here are some rules to follow while writing your incentive email.

• Follow a block format that is used in business letters. For this, you will align all your new paragraphs to the left of the margin. Besides that, you will also separate your sections and paragraphs with blank spaces. Each section or paragraph is considered to be a block. You can stick to a Courier or Arial font with a size of 12. But, if your business has a specific style guide for this, then follow it.

• Congratulate your customer on receiving this incentive. If you make a customer feel like they have won something, they are more likely to make a purchase with that incentive. This is because it feels like they have achieved something and they might want to “treat themselves”. So, you should congratulate and appreciate them. It is important to remember that some people respond to money while some respond to motivation. A combination of both will increase your chances of making a sale.

• Explain what reward they have received and why. It is easy to just congratulate a customer and move on. But, you should make sure they know what it is they have done or why they have received this bonus or reward. This helps motivate them to repeat the action or spread the word about it. In addition, you will find that people will appreciate an incentive more if they understand the reason behind it. 

Pros and Cons

Here are some pros to an incentive email:

• Using emails for incentives is an easy way of marketing.

• An incentive email helps you build a list of people who actively buy and are interested in your brand.

• Incentive emails help drive traffic and business to your websites.

• Incentive emails also increase your sales

Here are some cons to an incentive email:

• It might take some time to come up with new discounts, codes or ideas for incentive emails.

• Many people do not open emails unless they are intrigued.

• Sometimes the email goes to spam and so the customer is unable to activate the incentive.

Tips

Here are some examples of incentives you can use.

• Make an eBook about a trending topic. For this, you need to choose a good topic. This can be done by talking to people, researching some trends and finding a connection to the topic. You can create a landing page for the eBook on your website as well. Besides that, you can also put a button at the bottom of your emails to lead people to your eBook.

• Develop a course on email. A great way to convince people to not only sign up for more emails but also purchase something is an email course. This helps you send out information to your subscribers with many separate emails. This allows them to then digest the information over a period of time. These courses can be through blog posts, tutorial videos, podcasts or presentations. You can also create a link between your emails and a lesson that is related.

• Run webinars on a recurring basis. Since the pandemic, webinars have become popular among many age groups and individuals. You can run weekly, monthly or yearly webinars. These can keep you ahead of your competitors as you are showing your knowledge on many different topics. Make sure you use good software and choose a good topic.

• Hold recurring giveaways and contests. If you can’t afford to just give your samples away to every fresh subscriber, then you can hold contests and giveaways. This helps incentivise your audience into subscribing for longer or purchasing something. You should create a timeframe for this giveaway Also, have various entry points for them to sign up on your website. You can then announce the winners through an email .and encourage those who didn’t win to try their luck in the next round.

Best Practices

There are various things you should keep in mind while creating an incentive email.

• Clubs: You can create exclusive clubs for your subscribers by email. This gives subscribers a reason to join. You can then have special member-only coupons, events, samples and sneak peek. For this, you will need to have a catchy name. Also, choose incentives that your subscribers want and need. 

• Audio presents: Another good idea for an incentive is an audio gift. This can be in the form of a podcast or an audiobook. You can gain a substantial amount of subscribers with an audio form of incentive. You will need to choose topics and create a script for each. Besides that, you should record your audio with proper equipment to ensure a good listening experience. Also, remember to create a landing page so that listeners can easily access and navigate the audio file.

• Discounts on services and products: People are more likely to buy a product or service if they receive a discount. So, you need to choose your discounts carefully. Next create a promo code that can be used only once. You can then add this to your emails or create a link where the discount may apply. A discount can help attract attention and encourage a purchase from a customer.

• Free trials and memberships: If you have a recurring product or service, then you should consider giving your subscribers a free trial or membership. This will attract many people who are interested in the services and products of your business. This is exactly who you want to be on your email list. Besides that, it also allows you to learn more about what your customers want and how prospects react to your business.

Top 4 Incentive Email Examples

Check out these top real-life incentive email examples.

• Lyft: Lyft uses the subject line to showcase its offer. A subject line is the crux of a good email. This way you should mention whatever small incentive you are offering to your customers here. You should not only mention the discount but also create a sense of urgency with a deadline. This can help convince your customers to make a purchase before time runs out.

• HeadSpace: Even when dishing out discounts, sometimes your email can get lost in the sea of offers. The key idea is the creative and sustainable idea of Headspace’s incentive campaign. This company specializes in meditation. So, they give you the gift of a discount or offer. It helps you feel that you are not only receiving a gift but also appreciated by the company. They also use a great subject line: There’s no time like the present.

• Uber Eats: Another great example of a good incentive email is Uber Eats. They made use of a bold CTAA CTA is a phrase or word designed to get an immediate response from the reader. As the name suggests, it's usually something that involves a precise action performed by... to mention their incentive. A CTA is the second most important part of your email. It can be something like “buy now”. But, Uber Eats uses a unique CTA. It talks about taking $5 off. They use a bold green colour to draw readers’ attention.

• The Spectator: This company offers a free trial for a limited time. The Spectator magazine offered a free subscription to anyone in the world. This may just be for a month or more but they execute it well. By assuring your satisfaction and removing doubts about committing, they have now convinced someone to try out their service.

In Conclusion

An incentive email is an email marketing campaign that is designed to give a reader a gift or reward. This encourages them to subscribe longer, make a purchase and stick with the company.

There are various ways you can go about creating incentives for your email. Here are some methods:

• Email courses: You can offer lessons and courses that lead your consumers back to your main products and services. 

• Webinars: Besides that, you should also promote your webinars and create a presentation. Many businesses also choose to send follow-up emails to the audience with offers and invitations.

• Free samples of products: Another great way to entice prospects to sign up for your emails is to give them a taste of the cake. By this, we mean that you should try giving out free product samples. This can help prospects convert into paying customers. 

• Tutorial videos: Videos and tutorials are great ways to reach your audience. You can do this by sharing tricks and tips about the business. It is also a good idea to share stories that your audience can relate to. Besides that, you can record masterclasses for a more exclusive effect.

What are some of your favourite incentive emails? How does your brand come up with new ideas for rewards and offers? Let us know in the comments section below!