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Developing a new product is becoming very challenging for eCommerce businesses worldwide. However, the bigger challenge lies in successfully launching and promoting this new product. There are many ways an eCommerce business can promote a new product; however, this article is going to focus on one specific technique, which is sending out product launch emails.
Product launch emails are an example of email marketing that is becoming very popular today among eCommerce marketers and advertisers. In this article, we are going to explain what are product launch emails, when to use them, and what are the best practices to make them successful, in addition to presenting a couple of examples of eCommerce businesses successfully using product launch emails.
Table of Content:
- What is a product launch email?
- When is the time to use product launch emails?
- Types of product launch emails
- Best practices to send product launch emails.
What is a product launch email?
A product launch email is a type of email that your marketing team sends to your subscribers to announce the launch of a new product or service. In other words, it is a type of email through which you introduce the release of an upcoming product and explain its features and value to your customers or prospects.
The reason product launch emails are very important for eCommerce businesses is that they have so many benefits, such as:
- They increase awareness of your products or services.
- They are an effective and flexible way of advertising at a low cost.
- Sending product launch emails is an advertising strategy that can be measured through a few metrics, such as email open rate and email click rate.
When is the best time to use product launch emails?
You are probably wondering when is the best time to send eCommerce product launch emails. Well, it is up to you and the needs of your eCommerce business. You are the one who gets to decide what is the most convenient time for your eCommerce brand to start sending product launch emails, whether it is after the release of the product, on the release date, or even before the release.
Types of product launch emails
The general purpose of eCommerce product launch emails is clear and straightforward. However, there are different types of product launch emails, and each type has a more distinct purpose and is used at a specific time.
1- Pre-launch emails
Pre-launch emails are emails that you send a few weeks or a few days before the launch or the release of your new product depending on their exact purpose. These emails can also be:
- Teaser Emails: are designed to create buzz around a new product without revealing too much about it, tease your audience, and create excitement. The distinct purpose of these emails is to show your customers or prospects that you are innovating and that they should expect something new from you.
- Announcement Emails where you officially announce the launch of a new product. These are emails where you finally reveal to your customers the new product you’ve been working on and explain how it will solve their problems.
- Pre-Order Emails are a great way to give the sales of your product a kick-start before its launch by offering discounts to early birds who order the product before its release date.
Tips: In these emails, you want to give your audience enough information about the product to make them interested but not too much information so that you can leave them curious and wanting to know more.
Also, in the pre-launch emails, you need to avoid making too many promises or going into too much detail about the product features or release date because you never know what could go wrong. You don’t want to end up making promises to your customers that you can’t keep.
2- Launch emails
These emails are sent when it is finally time to completely feed the curiosity of your audience. They are sent on launch day. In these emails, you include links to your eCommerce website, your landing pages, and every other place your customers can buy the product from.
Tips: In these emails, you want to provide a strong, catchy CTA. You can provide a link to a page that includes step-by-step instructions or a tutorial on how to use the product. You can also include the contact information of your customer service team so that customers can ask whatever they want to know about your product.
3- After launch emails
Product launch emails can also be sent after the release of your eCommerce product. They include several forms:
- Reminder Emails are kind of like follow-up emails that you send a few days after your product launch to remind your customers of how your product can solve their problem by highlighting once more its most attractive features.
- Event Invitation Emails are emails where you invite your customers or potential customers to events dedicated to promoting your products. These events can be physical events or virtual such as webinars and lives on Instagram.
- Product Update Emails are sent whenever there is something new to tell about your eCommerce product. For example, they can be sent when there are some newly added features to the product or when there is a special discount related to it.
Tips: You want these after-launch emails to be creative so that you can keep your audience interested in your product. Also, in your event invitation emails, you want to offer value to your email recipients and show them why they should take the time to attend an event related to your newly launched product.
Best 10 practices to send effective product launch emails
As you can see, product launch emails can be very impactful on your eCommerce business. Here are some best practices you can follow to make the most out of these emails.
1- Plan it in advance and use an email sequence
Planning is always one of the major keys to success. Your eCommerce product launch emails should be planned long before the actual release of the product. Planning for your product launch email campaigns includes a lot of things. You should plan for the timing, the design, the subject lines, the preview texts, the images, the CTAs, the email copy, the personalization techniques…etc.
However, one of the most important things you should plan is an email sequence that creates anticipation and excitement. In other words, your product launch email campaign should not occur in one single email; instead, it should happen through a logically well-planned series of emails. In this series, you will probably have to use most of the product launch email types that were explained in the previous section of this article.
The sequence you plan for your product launch emails can take different forms according to your exact marketing objectives; however, here is an example of how your product launch email sequence can look like:
- One month before the launch: You can start sending Teaser Emails to let your customers know that you are creating something new for them.
- Three weeks before the launch: Officially announce the launch of your new product and tell your customers what it is with Announcement Emails.
- Two weeks before the launch: Send Pre-Order Emails to get your product to start generating pre-launch sales.
- One week before the launch: Send emails telling your customers the exact release date of your eCommerce product and start a countdown to revive the excitement.
- Launch day: Send emails containing CTAs to optimize conversion rates.
- One week after the launch: Send Reminder Emails to those who still haven’t purchased your product.
A very crucial step that is going to shape your whole email sequence is customer segmentation. It is something that has to be reviewed and updated frequently to make sure that you are still sending your product launch emails to the right audience.
2- Choose your timing
For the success of the previously discussed email sequence, timing is everything!
Therefore, you should meticulously plan the timing of each product launch email throughout the sequence and make sure that you stick to it.
Also, regardless of the way you construct your email sequence, try to strike a balance while choosing the timings. To demonstrate, do not plan the timings of emails very close to each other so that customers don’t feel ambushed or pressured, and do not plan them very far apart so that customers don’t forget about your product.
3- Choose a suitable design and template
The design and the templates that you choose for your product launch emails should be relevant to your eCommerce brand and should reflect your style, theme, and message. To achieve this, always stick with your eCommerce brand’s colors, font, and logo. This will make it easier for your customers to recognize your brand from one glance at your email.
However, you have to make sure that your design and template, in addition to reflecting your brand, are relevant to the new product itself.
4- Write attractive subject lines and preview texts
Writing attractive subject lines and preview texts are proven to be very effective in increasing email click-through rates and email open rates.
Your subject lines should be short, clear, relevant, and actionable. They should provoke curiosity without being ambiguous, and they should encourage action without being pushy.
As for the preview text, which is a small line of text that appears near the subject line, it is probably the second thing that catches the readers’ eyes right after the subject line. It should be an elaboration of what you mentioned in the subject line but in a differentiated way.
Make sure your subject line and preview text are matching with the type of product launch email you are sending and with its place in the email sequence.
5- Include appealing images and an eye-catching CTA
People like visuals. They like to see what your product looks like so that they can picture themselves with it. Therefore, you must show attractive and captivating images for your eCommerce product in your product launch emails. These images should be original, of high quality, and matching with the design and template of your email.
As for the Call-To-Action or CTA, it is the tool needed to convert email recipients into actual customers. It is extremely significant for the success of your product launch email campaigns. Therefore, make sure you create a clear, eye-catching CTA. Also, make sure there is only one specific CTA throughout your entire email campaign because research shows that emails that contain only one CTA have increased click rates by 371%, which is exactly what you need (Wordstream, 2021).
6- Take your time in writing your email copy
All the previous practices will go to waste if you do not combine them with a well-written email copy. The content of your email body should be clear, informative, concise, and straight to the point.
There is no need to write long irrelevant introductions or talk about your history. Your upcoming product should be the main focus of your product launch email, which should provide answers to the following questions:
- What is your product?
- Who is it for?
- What are the benefits and the competitive advantage of this product?
- What problem does it solve?
- How does it work?
- Where can customers buy it?
- When will the product be available?
- Are there any discounts on pre-orders?
- How can customers get more information about the product?
Of course, the questions you choose to answer in your email depend on this email's place in the product launch email sequence.
7- Include social sharing buttons
Social sharing buttons are a great way to reach more people. They allow the news about your product launch to circulate without you making any extra effort. Through social sharing buttons, your recipients can refer your product launch emails to their friends who might be interested. The social proof stemming from this will be very beneficial for the promotion of your new product.
It is also a very effective tool that you can use to advance your word-of-mouth marketing efforts.
8- Leverage FOMO marketing
FOMO marketing is one of the smartest marketing techniques that you can employ in your product launch email campaigns. It creates a sense of urgency and scarcity which encourages your audience to take action. It can be used in different phases of your email sequence, for example:
- You can use FOMO marketing in the pre-launch “Pre-order Emails” by telling your customers that only early birds who buy the product before anyone else will get to enjoy a special discount.
- You can use FOMO marketing in post-launch “Reminder Emails” by mentioning the number of items left in stock.
9- Personalize your product launch email
It is almost impossible today for email marketing to function effectively without email personalization. Here is the proof:
- Research shows that 71% of customers expect to receive personalized content, and 76% feel a lot of frustration when this doesn’t happen (McKinsey & Company, 2022).
- Also, statistics show that email personalization increases email click-through rates by around 139% (SuperOffice, 2022).
- Emails that include the recipient’s first name have a 41% click-through rate and a 29% open rate (Zippia, 2022).
To be able to properly implement personalization, work on leveraging all the data and information that you have about your customers. The easiest example for this is using your recipient’s first name in the subject line, and email copy. This will give your customers the impression that you know them well and that this product is created for them in particular.
10- Use A/B tests to evaluate the performance of your product launch emails
A/B testing is one of the ways that can help you test your product launch emails to evaluate and optimize them. Therefore, consider sending different versions of the product launch emails to see which versions work best for the marketing campaign of your new eCommerce product.
Final Thoughts:
Product launch emails are an integral part of the email marketing plans of your eCommerce business. Following the previously discussed practices will help you create successful product launch email campaigns; however, what will make it even easier for you is automation.
Converted.in offers you an automation marketing tool that will:
- Segment your target audience, which is an essential step before you start planning your product launch email sequence.
- Create and automate personalized product launch emails for each target segment.
Request your Demo now to start planning your product launch email campaign.
