How to Create Promotional Emails That Drive Results

Promotional emails are one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience, increase sales, and build brand awareness. When used right, they can bring in high ROI, drive website traffic, and keep your brand top-of-mind. In fact, email marketing delivers an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent making it one of the most cost-effective marketing tools available.

Yet, many businesses still struggle to send emails that don’t end up in the spam folder or go unopened. Creating a great promotional email is not just about writing a good message. It’s about knowing your audience, delivering value, and using the right marketing strategy.

With mobile devices now the primary way people check their inboxes, your email campaign must also be optimized for smaller screens. And let’s not forget about email deliverability, open rates, and click-through rates all key metrics in any successful campaign.

What Are Promotional Emails?

Promotional emails are a type of email marketing used to promote offers, events, updates, or products to a specific audience. Unlike transactional emails that confirm actions like purchases or account changes, promotional emails are designed to generate interest and encourage action. They are a proactive part of a brand’s marketing strategy, often sent as part of a planned email campaign.

The goal is simple: drive engagement and boost conversions. Whether you're highlighting a special offer, encouraging users to download a guide, or announcing a limited time discount, these emails aim to prompt the reader to take action. That action could be clicking a CTA button, visiting a product page, or signing up for a webinar.

Promotional emails come in many forms. Some introduce a new product or service, while others push time-sensitive deals that create urgency. Others share helpful content to build trust and keep the brand top-of-mind. All of these can play a role in nurturing leads or re-engaging existing customers.

To be effective, promotional emails must be clear, direct, and visually appealing. They should also use compelling language and be optimized for mobile devices, since most users now read email on their phones. A strong email subject line, engaging visuals, and a persuasive call to action are essential to success. And of course, your message needs to land in the inbox so following best practices for email deliverability is key.

Checklist for Promotional Email

Before you start writing your promotional email, it’s important to plan. A strong strategy makes the difference between an email that gets ignored and one that drives clicks, conversions, and engagement. This checklist will help ensure that your promotional email campaign is focused, relevant, and effective.

Decide What You’re Promoting

The first step is knowing exactly what you want to promote. Is it a special offer, a flash sale, a new product, or a free resource? Be specific. Vague promotions lead to unclear messaging, which results in low engagement.

Think about what value your offer brings to your audience. It could be a discount, an exclusive early access, or useful content that solves a problem. Once you define the offer, you can shape the rest of the email around it.

Identify Why You’re Promoting It

Next, ask yourself why this promotion matters both to your brand and to your audience. Are you trying to move old inventory? Drive traffic to a new website? Re-engage existing customers who haven’t interacted in a while? Align your reason with your overall marketing strategy.

This helps you create an email that not only promotes something, but does it with purpose. It also helps with measuring success later. For example, if your goal is to increase downloads, your call to action (CTA) will be different than if your goal is to make a sale.

Target Your Audience

A promotional email should never be sent to everyone on your list. Segment your audience based on interests, behavior, or past purchases. Personalized content increases engagement and improves open rates. Use data from your CRM or marketing tools to target the right segment.

Also, be mindful of timing. Sending your message at the right time can boost performance significantly, especially if you're promoting a limited time deal. And always make sure you’re sending to verified email addresses to avoid issues with email deliverability.

Tips for Writing Promotional Email

Once your promotional strategy is clear, it’s time to write the email. Crafting an email that grabs attention and drives clicks isn’t about flashy language or hard selling it’s about clarity, value, and relevance. Below are essential tips to make your promotional email not just effective, but engaging enough to stand out in crowded inboxes.

Focus on the Benefit/Value

Readers don’t care about features they care about outcomes. What’s in it for them? Highlight the benefit early and clearly. Instead of saying, “We’re offering a 20% discount on our skincare line,” say, “Enjoy healthier, glowing skin with 20% off our best-selling skincare.” Make it about how the promotion improves their life or solves a problem.

This approach builds trust and encourages action, especially when the benefit is relevant and urgent. According to a report by Campaign Monitor, emails that focus on value have higher click-through rates and lower unsubscribe rates.

Send From a Person

Promotional emails feel more personal and less like spam when they come from a real person. Instead of using a generic sender like “info@yourcompany.com,” send emails from a name your audience recognizes.

This could be your founder, marketing lead, or customer success manager. A recognizable name in the sender field helps boost open rates and builds a relationship with your audience. People are more likely to engage with emails that look like they’re from a real human, not a faceless brand.

Introduce Promotion in the Subject Line

Your email subject line is the first impression and often the deciding factor in whether the email gets opened. Be clear about what the email offers. If there’s a limited time discount or a new launch, say it upfront. For example, “48-Hour Flash Sale – 30% Off All Orders” works better than something vague like “You Don’t Want to Miss This.”

Also, keep it short under 60 characters if possible to ensure it displays fully on mobile devices. Using urgency or curiosity can also increase open rates, as long as it’s not misleading.

Use Preheater Text

Often overlooked, the preheader text (or preview text) appears next to or below the subject line in most inboxes. It’s a second chance to grab attention and tell readers why they should open the email. A good preheader supports the subject line and offers a bit more detail or incentive.

For instance, if your subject line is “Just Dropped: New Summer Styles,” your preheader could be “Get 20% off all new arrivals this week only.” Don’t leave this field empty or let it default to something irrelevant like “View this email in your browser.” Optimizing this small space can have a big impact on your email marketing success.

Brand Your Header

Your email header is one of the first visual elements your readers will see, so it needs to clearly reflect your brand. Use your logo, consistent colors, and fonts that align with your marketing strategy and website. A strong header builds trust immediately and lets the reader know the email is from a legitimate source not spam.

Keep the design clean and uncluttered so it loads fast, especially on mobile devices, which now account for more than 60% of email opens. If your brand has a recognizable tone or personality, let it shine through in the visuals and tagline within the header.

Reel Up the Body of the Mail

Once your email is opened, the body needs to deliver on the promise of your subject and preheader. Write in a tone that matches your brand, but keep it simple and direct. Get to the point quickly don’t bury your message in fluff. Start with the benefit, not the background. Readers scan emails, so break up the text with short paragraphs and clear headings if needed.

Avoid jargon or overloading with details; instead, link to a landing page or resource where they can learn more. Also, structure your message to move toward a single goal whether that’s to shop, register, or download something. Every line should guide the reader toward that next step.

Include CTA

Your call to action (CTA) is the most important part of your promotional email. It tells the reader what to do next. Whether you’re aiming for sales, signups, or content downloads, the CTA should be specific and action-driven. Phrases like “Shop the Sale,” “Get Your Free Copy,” or “Claim Your Discount” perform much better than vague ones like “Click Here.”

Use CTA buttons rather than text links to make it easier for readers to tap on mobile devices. Buttons should stand out visually with a strong color and be placed strategically ideally once above the fold and again near the end of the email. Make sure the CTA links directly to a relevant page to avoid losing momentum.

Add Visuals

Visuals play a key role in creating an effective email. Use high-quality images that support your message product shots, lifestyle photos, or branded illustrations all work well. Visuals break up text, capture attention, and help convey emotion or context quickly. But don’t overload your email with too many graphics, as this can slow down load times or distract from your special offer.

Include alt text for every image in case they don’t load, and make sure your design still makes sense without visuals. Many users disable image loading by default, so your message needs to work with or without them. According to reports, a balanced visual layout increases engagement and reduces bounce rates.

Types of Promotional Email Examples

Choosing the right kind of promotional email depends on what you're offering and what action you want your audience to take. Each type serves a unique purpose within your broader email marketing and marketing strategy, and knowing when to use each can significantly improve your open rates, click-throughs, and conversions. Below are some of the most common and effective formats, with insights into when and how to use them.

New Offer Promotion

This type of email introduces a new discount, bundle, or incentive that hasn’t been available before. It’s perfect for exciting your audience and driving immediate interest. A new offer promotion should be centered around a clear CTA like “Get 25% Off Today Only” and highlight the value of the offer upfront.

For example, if you're launching a discount on a new service plan, briefly outline what’s included and how it helps the reader. Keep the messaging clear, and use CTA buttons that drive readers to a purchase or sign-up page. Pairing this type with social media promotion can increase reach.

Flash Sale Promotion

Flash sales create urgency by offering limited-time deals, often for just a few hours or a single day. This format works well to trigger impulse purchases, especially with existing customers who already trust your brand. Subject lines like “4 Hours Only – 40% Off Everything!” grab attention and perform best when paired with countdown timers and bold CTA buttons.

According to Omnisend, emails that create urgency with deadlines often see a 14% increase in conversion rates. Make sure to emphasize the timeframe both in the copy and the design.

Free Resource Promotion

Offering something of value at no cost like an ebook, checklist, or webinar is a great way to build relationships and grow your list. A free resource promotional email should focus on how the resource helps the recipient. Instead of saying “Download our ebook,” say “Learn how to triple your traffic in 30 days free ebook inside.”

This not only improves email deliverability by avoiding spammy phrasing, but also boosts clicks. Use visuals, such as a cover image or preview screenshot, and include a clear CTA like “Get My Copy.” This is especially effective for lead generation and nurturing campaigns.

Time-Limited Promotion

Similar to flash sales, time-limited promotions offer a special deal that expires soon, but usually run for a few days. This format gives readers a bit more breathing room while still encouraging quick action. Highlight the deadline in the subject line and body e.g., “Ends Friday: Buy One, Get One Free.”

Reinforce urgency with reminders, and consider sending a follow-up email as the deadline approaches. These types of promotions work best when used sparingly, so your audience doesn’t become numb to them. Tools that track behavior can help time these emails strategically.

New Offering Announcement

When launching a new product, service, or feature, a new offering announcement email helps generate buzz and educate your audience. Focus on the problem your offering solves, and make it relatable. Include visuals like product photos, demo GIFs, or teaser videos, and link to a landing page where they can learn more.

A compelling subject line like “Introducing Our Smartest Planner Yet” paired with a CTA like “See What’s New” keeps the tone exciting and informative. Personalizing this type of email to user behavior can also increase engagement.

Content Promotion

If you’re investing in blogs, guides, or other content, use email to get more eyes on it. Content promotional emails are less sales-driven but play a big role in nurturing leads and keeping your brand top of mind. For example, send out your latest blog post with a subject like “New: 7 Sales Techniques That Actually Work.”

Focus on how the content will help the reader, and keep it short with a clear CTA like “Read the Full Guide.” This type of email is ideal for positioning your brand as a helpful resource rather than just another seller.

Conclusion

A well-crafted promotional email can drive engagement, boost sales, and build lasting relationships with your audience. By understanding your goals, targeting the right audience, and delivering clear value, you increase the chances of landing in inboxes not the spam folder. Focus on strong subject lines, clear calls to action, and relevant content that resonates.

Use the right type of email for each campaign and test your results to refine your strategy. When done right, promotional emails remain one of the most effective email marketing tools for reaching both new and existing customers with powerful, timely offers.