It’s often stated that an email list is one of the most valuable marketing tools that a company can possess. When someone joins an email list, they’re confirming their interest in the brand and granting permission to be sent offers, information, and promotional materials. This creates a highly engaged audience with a greater likelihood to engage with content and make a purchase.
In order to remain interesting and relevant, brands aim to create an email content mix that includes compelling subject lines, company information, promotions, and interesting articles or links. The best email newsletters spend a lot of time providing value and less time asking for clicks or purchases. In this post, we’ve rounded up 50 of the best email examples we could find. You’ll see a nice mix of industries and several excellent examples of brand messaging, call-to-action (CTA) buttons, and email layouts.
The email examples featured below are organized by the following categories but are not rated or ranked in any particular order:
Engagement Emails
1. Seth’s Blog
Seth Godin is a well-known influencer in the marketing space, and his blog has become known for its practical advice and simple layout. He also shares the same insights through his email newsletter and certainly doesn’t add a lot of fluff. The messages focus on his writing and the kind of information his audience is looking for.
Why It Works: A simple and well-delivered email message is much more likely to get read.
2. Spotify
Spotify is a leading music and podcast streaming service that maintains an active subscriber base of millions of followers. This informational email shares information about hands-free listening along with clear instructions for how to set up this feature in the software. Emails of this nature help share useful information that can improve a user’s experience.
Why It Works: Informational emails help customers get more familiar with your product or service.
3. Hinged
Hinged is an online publication platform that seeks to connect readers and writers through engaging stories. They have an active email newsletter that shares new content, offers, and information about their company. This email informs subscribers of a major change to their website design and name for the company.
Why It Works: An email subscriber list is one of the first places you should share major company updates.
4. Fooducate
Fooducate offers advice and information for making healthy recipes and living an active lifestyle. This email is highly engaging and starts off with a direct question about including nuts in a weight-loss diet. Using frequently asked questions like this is a great way to quickly connect with your readers.
Why It Works: Subscribers are likely to click on and read about a frequently asked question.
5. Inside XR
Inside is a media company that features several newsletters following the latest technology trends. The email shown here is from their Inside XR newsletter, which covers immersive technology, and this message shares a new product release for smart wearable Ray-Ban sunglasses. Readers can access and sign up for product release and pre-order information through this email.
Why It Works: Share time-sensitive product offers at the top of an email to get noticed.
6. MeetEdgar
MeetEdgar is a social media scheduling tool with excellent automation tools. The company’s email newsletter, The Dash, has over 110,000 subscribers. This example from their weekly email displays an excellent design, and because it features content from other contributors, subscribers aren’t likely to see it as self-promotional.
Why It Works: Sharing content from other sources helps reduce the chance of being overly self-promotional.
Convince and Convert is a marketing and social media consultancy firm that was founded by Jay Baer. This email is an excellent example of a message intended to re-engage with a subscriber who has not opened an email newsletter in a while. He shares a personal message that is casual, yet direct and gives them an opportunity to reconfirm their subscription.
Why It Works: Re-engagement emails can help prevent your content from being ignored over time.
The vision care company 1-800 Contacts sells contact lenses and related supplies to customers through a mail-order service. This email informs a subscriber that their style of contacts is back in stock. As a highly targeted message, this email is highly relevant and likely to get engagement.
Why It Works: Email targeting is an effective technique for increasing engagement.
9. Content Marketing Institute
The Content Marketing Institute shares advice about how to create excellent content and conduct quality market research. This daily email is very well designed with a clean and focused presentation of a recent article and industry report. Readers can also click to quickly download the report for offline reading and reference.
Why It Works: Keep your email newsletter design simple and easy to read.
10. Vonage
Vonage develops and sells business communication services including phone systems and VoIP connectivity. This email example highlights an article from the business review site G2 that features Vonage. Featuring an article from a trusted resource that features your business helps to establish credibility and trust with your audience. They also include a special offer for readers at the bottom of the email.
Why It Works: Highlighting accolades and recognition from other sources adds credibility.
11. Process Street
Process Street is a workflow management program that can be used to create streamlined checklists and procedures. A major focus of their product is collaboration, and their email content often includes articles and insights into team dynamics. This email example features a roundup of recent articles hosted on the site.
Why It Works: An email newsletter is a great place to share recent articles from your company blog.
12. Yummly
Yummly is a personalized meal planning website with thousands of recipes. Most of their email newsletter subscribers are interested in quick recipes that are healthy and take minimal planning. By addressing this common pain point, Yummly makes a compelling case for viewing this Hail Mary Pasta recipe.
Why It Works: Common audience pain points are a great source of topics for email content.
13. Honey
Honey is a browser extension that works in Chrome and shares coupon codes for thousands of websites automatically. A large amount of their email newsletter content shares deals and offers from their partner websites. With many people working from home these days, this email is likely to receive many clicks.
Why It Works: Share timely information and products that can impact your readers’ everyday lives.
14. Open eLMS
Open eLMS is a learning platform that styles itself after Netflix and has an excellent browsing interface and high-quality videos. This engagement email shares a recent case study for how to move face-to-face training online. The report is informative and directly related to the mission of the Open eLMS platform.
Why It Works: Keep your audience informed with case studies and major industry news related to your business.
15. Robinhood
Robinhood is a popular stock market and cryptocurrency investing platform with an easy-to-use interface. Their Robinhood Snacks daily email newsletter is designed to reach a broad audience, sharing stock market quotes and major news. These emails include some humor with the goal of entertaining while also sharing important information with readers.
Why It Works: Choose content and a writing style that really represents your company’s brand.
16. Backcountry
Backcountry sells outdoor apparel and gear including jackets, fishing poles, and snowboards. This recent email from their newsletter has colors that are perfect for the upcoming fall season. They also have a nice photo that is engaging for families, which make up a major part of their target market. The email appeals to the changing seasons and parents’ desire to keep their kids active.
Why It Works: Seasonally appropriate messaging and visual elements makes emails highly relevant.
17. Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha is a stock market platform that features user-contributed articles, portfolio management tools, and financial data. One of their daily newsletters is called the Wall Street Breakfast, which features a rundown of recent articles from the day before. This content is primarily written to inform, but they also do a nice job of including unobtrusive product promotions within.
Why It Works: Consistently sharing relevant and helpful information will keep readers coming back for more.
18. Austin Kleon
Austin Kleon is a writer and bestselling author who explores the topics of creativity, art, and business. His email newsletter has drawn a consistent following with an artistic design and interesting topics. He really embraces art and writing and combines the two to create emails that are a pleasure to read.
Why It Works: Demonstrating your skills through your writing style and media choices is a powerful way to connect with readers.
19. CNN
The global news organization CNN has several media platforms that are running consistently throughout the day and night. They understand that keeping up with the latest news can be challenging, and their “5 things” daily newsletter curates the top 5 stories of the past day to cater to their audience’s desire to stay on top of the news. It’s a go-to source for readers to learn about the biggest news stories in a convenient format.
Why It Works: Creating a consistent email publishing schedule leads to dedicated readers.
20. Futurism
The science and technology publication Futurism does an excellent job of exploring the trends that will define tomorrow’s world. Their daily email digest always features a top story at the beginning of the message. This helps promote their most important content while also giving readers additional articles and news snippets as they scroll.
Why It Works: Feature your most important information at the top of emails to ensure subscribers don’t miss it.
The Barnes Foundation was created to share the art collection of founder Albert. C. Barnes and create a center for art education and appreciation. This monthly newsletter showcases major events happening at the foundation. It also mentions special exhibits and information regarding public hours and class schedules.
Why It Works: Newsletters are an excellent platform for informing customers about special events and timely service advisories.
Promotional Emails
22. Gymwrap
Gymwrap is a unique sweatband product created by founder Nicole Ari Parker for active women. This email reminds readers of a referral program that the company offers to its existing customers. By simply sharing an invite link directly from the email, readers can earn $5 per referred customer.
Why It Works: Referral programs are one of the best ways to engage existing customers and finding new business.
23. Sherwin Williams
Sherwin Williams is a popular provider of paints and supplies with an active following on social media and an email newsletter. This example email showcases a new set of colors that is available as part of their 2021 fall and winter palette. It’s likely to appeal to subscribers who desire seasonal and trendy colors.
Why It Works: The change of seasons is a great time to introduce new products.
24. The Farmer’s Dog
The Farmer’s Dog sells high-quality pet food that is made of natural ingredients. This email’s subject line was personalized with a pet’s name to make it more noticeable. In addition, the offer of 60% off is extremely generous and hard to refuse if you’re in the market for dog food.
Why It Works: Personalization and discount offerings both help your brand get noticed.
25. Hungryroot
Hungryroot is a grocery delivery service that personalizes your items based upon your dietary needs and recipe interests. This email introduces a common pain point in the email heading and immediately shares an offer for 40% off. A reader can read this message in seconds and interact without having to scroll at all.
Why It Works: Introducing an offer immediately can capture the attention of highly motivated readers.
26. Charity Water
Charity Water is a global non-profit that seeks to overcome the water crisis by providing underserved communities with access to clean water. Their email newsletter has a beautiful design, and they include enough text to really describe the mission and charitable needs.
Why It Works: Using a clear call-to-action with a reasonable ask is a high-probability way to get clicks.
27. Petsmart
Petsmart is a national retailer of pet food and supplies. This email example from their holiday marketing campaign introduces a sweepstakes promotion that readers can enter to win prizes. Interactive games such as this help build engagement and generate buzz about your brand.
Why It Works: Promotions and giveaways are a proven way to keep your audience engaged.
28. Best Buy
Best Buy uses its email newsletter to promote new products from its computer, TV, and home appliance departments. Customers who subscribe to their emails are typically looking for new deals and product introductions, so Best Buy makes it easy for readers to find the products they need with accessible category links at the top of the email, plus highly visible “Shop Now” CTA buttons for readers interested in purchasing the featured products.
Why It Works: Make it easy for customers to click within the email and make a purchase.
Dick’s Sporting Goods is a popular retailer that has clothing, sports supplies, and outdoor gear for customers of all ages. The back-to-school collection featured in this email is clearly targeted at parents. The picture includes influencer Jean-Victor Mackie, and the email layout is very easy to read in only a few seconds.
Why It Works: Collaborating with social media influencers can help extend your brand’s appeal and reach.
30. Etsy
Etsy is an online marketplace that features products created by the thousands of artists, crafters, and providers. This email simply reminds customers that the Labor Day sale is ending. Timely messages like this can be extremely effective in creating a sense of urgency to make a purchase.
Why It Works: Creating a sense of urgency for promotions can increase the number of sales.
31. Domino’s
The pizza chain Domino’s constantly runs promotions as a way to generate more sales. This email promotes an interesting offer that includes $50 million of surprise gifts for customers who order online. The large number of freebies and surprise nature of the promotion is sure to entice more readers to place an order.
Why It Works: Offering surprise gifts and raffles can increase sales and boost engagement.
32. Scholastic
Scholastic is an educational book club that provides reading materials for schools, teachers, and parents. This email has a noticeable and appealing design, introducing fall reading just in time for the change in seasons. The offer within the email promotes gift card purchases instead of focusing only on book products.
Why It Works: Promote gift card offers to increase your sources of revenue.
33. SwimOutlet
SwimOutlet is a popular online swimwear store that also sells clothing and wetsuits. This Labor Day sales email offers 25% off by simply using a coupon code. It’s a common strategy for many retailers because it’s easy for readers to understand and effective. With the “Sale Ends Tonight!” banner at the top of the email, readers instantly know they’re running out of time to take advantage of the offer.
Why It Works: Create a sense of urgency by using bold graphics and headlines.
Receptra Naturals sells CBD dummies, topicals, and extracts derived from hemp products. The email content is designed with green colored accents and earthy images that are perfectly in tune with their branding. This message is connected to Healthy Aging Month in September and includes a 25% discount offer on subscription orders.
Why It Works: Banners and buttons for your offer should be easy to find but not disruptive to the flow of the email when sharing informational content.
35. Brain.fm
Brain.fm offers music programming that is scientifically proven to increase focus or help listeners sleep. This bold email promotion has a clear offer for 30% off and a large white button for making a purchase. Including such a bold image makes it easy for readers to respond.
Why It Works: Use bold, appealing images or infographic designs to make your offer.
36. Crayola
Crayola sells crayons and coloring products with a focus on education and learning. This email cross-promotes their text list and offers a generous $10 discount for signing up. Customers who are very interested in your brand are more likely to connect in multiple ways.
Why It Works: Routinely share your social media feeds and other communication channels through your email content.
37. Home Chef
The meal delivery service Home Chef provides simple recipes that are affordable and designed to appeal to the whole family. This promo email was released during National Chicken Month and highlights — what else? — their chicken meal kits and a la carte options. It’s another simple and effective design that is well presented.
Why It Works: Promote your best selling products most frequently to appeal to a wide audience.
Legendary Whitetails sells apparel and gear for hunters. The company displays an image of an actual gift card in this promotion for the Labor Day holiday weekend. Offering a gift card can be a nice benefit that brings customers back for additional purchases instead of simply receiving a discount.
Why It Works: Use gift card offers to generate more purchasing activity and future sales.
39. Harry & David
Harry & David sells gifts for the entire family including chocolate assortments, gift baskets, and access to a wine club. This promotional email shows how their products can be used during a holiday or social gathering. They also share links to several gift collections, offering customers a number of options to explore.
Why It Works: Offer your readers links to several product options that appeal to different tastes.
40. AppSumo
AppSumo is a popular online marketplace for software applications in categories such as marketing, productivity, and design. The promotion presented in this email is for the AppSumo deal of the week, KonnectzIT. With a creative subject line and engaging content, this is an excellent example of an effective email layout.
Why It Works: Use a creative subject line to stand out within an email inbox.
The People’s Printshop offers fine art prints featuring upcoming and established artists from around the world. They do an excellent job of really showcasing their talent by featuring pictures of the artists with their work. You’ll also find that many of their prints are limited editions, creating a sense of urgency.
Why It Works: Don’t forget to highlight some of the people behind your brand to build a greater connection.
42. FujiFilm
FujiFilm offers imaging products for consumers, healthcare, and business customers across the globe. This email features a new product they have just launched, the LTO-9, that is now available for purchase. It’s a simple message that gets right to the point to let subscribers know about a product launch.
Why It Works: Make product launch promotions simple and to the point.
43. Whole Foods
Whole Foods has become a household name by offering home delivery of quality grocery products through Amazon. Their email advertisements present their best offers up front and always include high-quality images of the products. This email also includes a quick message referring to school lunches that’s relevant for parents or students.
Why It Works: If featuring several products in an email promotion, always list the best offers first.
Welcome Emails
44. IFTTT
If This Then That (IFTTT) is a marketplace for connecting devices and apps such as Twitter, Evernote, and Dropbox to create automated workflows. This welcome email presents several choices for readers to opt-in to additional email content. A simple message with clear CTA buttons is all that is needed here.
Why It Works: Giving a reader choices is a great way to make an email more engaging.
45. Blue Spatula
Blue Spatula offers a wide variety of custom-branded kitchen utensils and appliances. The welcome email they share with new subscribers presents a 10% off discount code for making a first purchase. With a minimalist design, this email format does a great job of conveying their message.
Why It Works: Offering a special discount for email signups can improve conversions.
46. Backlinko
Backlinko was founded by SEO expert Brian Dean as a platform for sharing his best ideas about website optimization. His newsletter is packed with useful tips, and this introduction email welcomes readers to his community and shares three of his best articles. If your site is content-rich, it’s always helpful to direct new readers to your best work.
Why It Works: Share your best articles with new readers to demonstrate your competence and authority.
47. Healthline
Healthline is a leading digital media company that share health information and the latest research about a variety of conditions. They include a simple message in this welcome email that directs readers to the most popular wellness articles on the site. Also included is a reminder to add their email address to your address book to prevent emails from being marked as spam.
Why It Works: Remind readers to add your email to their address book to prevent being marked as spam.
48. Birchbox
Birchbox is a subscription service that send a customized box of beauty products to customers each month. Their welcome email introduces the company and lists several features and benefits. They also explain how the loyalty program works and how readers can easily adjust their account settings.
Why It Works: Provide clear features and benefits when describing your company.
49. ModCloth
Fashion retailer ModCloth has a wide selection of clothing including dresses, outerwear, and plus size options. They don’t waste any time in their introductory email and simply present the 15% off coupon code they promised with the signup. The button at the bottom of the message sends visitors directly to the site to shop and make a purchase.
Why It Works: When promoting a product or discount offer, always include a button that directs customers to your e-commerce website.
50. KFC
KFC is one of the most popular fast food chains in the world, with a menu that features fried chicken and a variety of sides. This welcome email is about as simple as it gets and uses very little text. The CTA button directs the reader to their account page to get started with customizing their settings or to make an online order.
Why It Works: Using a simple “get started” button allows you to direct readers to any page you choose.
Want to build your email marketing list fast? With the ShareThis Popup Builder, you can create powerful website popups that grab attention and generate signups. Plus, with easy-to-use templates, you can create an engaging popup in minutes — no design experience necessary.
