This post was originally published on April 26th, 2020. It has been updated with new information and email marketing tips to help you grow your base of happy, loyal, paying customers.

“I never know what to write!”

This is the complaint I hear most often from people who have an email list but have stopped writing to them regularly. Or who have never written to their list, except for the occasional failed sales email.

Trust me, I know the feeling.

Coming up with fresh email marketing ideas can be hard. I used to write 5 emails a week to my own list. I’ve scaled that back to 2 a week so I can spend more time writing blog posts like this one.

I also write email marketing campaigns for my clients every week. That’s a lot of ideas to come up with!

Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it too. And it’s worth it to put this little extra push into your marketing efforts.

The good thing is, it doesn’t have to be hard. All you need is a little inspiration.

Yes, Sending Emails to Your Subscribers Regularly is Important

If you read this blog or you’re subscribed to my email list, you know I go on and on about how important it is to email your subscribers regularly. This should be part of your email marketing strategy.

I apologize to those of you who have heard this a billion times, but it’s always worth reiterating.

When someone joins your email list, they’re interested in something you put out there. It may be a blog post, a lead magnet or something for sale. Yay you, someone is interested in what you do.

However, if the first thing you do is try to sell them stuff (or more stuff, if they’ve just bought from you) then you’re going to come off as slimy and salesy. Not only will people unsubscribe from your list and you’ll lose customer loyalty, they may start marking your emails as spam, which can tank your deliverability rate.

Instead, you need to build a relationship with your new email subscribers. Introduce yourself. Tell them what you and your company stand for. Show them around a bit.

Then, help them learn more about your products or services. Share articles about your products and services, give them the information they’ll need before they decide to buy. If they’ve already bought, send useful tips on using your product or service, so you can ultimately encourage customers to buy again.

Give them value. Build trust. Give them a reason to want to buy from your company.

Guide them on their buyer’s journey.

And yes, one of the ways you do that is through sending content-based. nurture emails.

Remember, these may be marketing emails but they don’t have to feel like it. In fact, they shouldn’t. They should feel like an email from a good friend showing up in their inboxes.

Which is where we get back to the whole, “I never know what to write” part of this blog post.

Figuring out what to write can be the bane of every business owner’s existence.

Don’t worry, I’m here to help.

Here are 10 ideas for what to write about in your email marketing broadcasts.

Email Marketing Idea #1: Start a Conversation

Your subscribers want to get to know you. Humor them.

Introduce yourself. Tell them about you, where the idea for your product or service came from, why you do what you do and more. Is there something you want your target audience to know about you, like your favorite flavor of ice cream? Tell them.

Give your subscribers a peek inside your personal world.

If you poke around these blog posts or receive my emails, you’ll see that my cat makes regular appearances. He’s even been a featured guest in my post about customer retention. This gives you a chance to learn more about me and it gives me an excuse to share cat pictures with you.

Share pieces of your personal wisdom, like things you wish you’d known when you started your business or how people originally reacted to your product or service, and how that has changed over time.

Recommend books, movies, ideas that have affected you in some positive way, and talk about how and why they have affected you.

Encourage subscribers to reply so you can learn more about them, what they want, and how they hope your product or service can help them.

There are lots of ways to start a conversation with your subscribers and engage their interest so you can persuade them to buy.

Email Marketing Idea #2: Give a Sneak Peek Behind the Scenes

Lots of companies offer tours of their facilities because people are curious about how products are made. Personally, I’ve been on tours of candy factories, breweries, instrument-building shops, costume shops and more.

Give your subscribers a sneak peek at how you do things in your business.

If you manufacture a product, write about parts of the process and how they affect your product’s efficacy. Share details on why a certain part works in a specific way so it can help your customers achieve their goals.

If you offer a service, talk about how each stage of the service affects the customer’s desired outcome and what customers can expect.

If you do something less tangible, pull back the curtain on what you do and how it benefits your current and new customers.

For instance, watching me write all day would be really boring. I sit and stare at a computer screen while my fingers dance across the keyboard. But I regularly talk about how I come up with ideas (like I’m doing now) or conversations I’ve had with clients that can help my subscribers and potentially boost sales for them.

Email Marketing Idea #3: Get Your Subscribers to Hit “Reply”

I call these, “Call and Response” emails. The idea is to get your subscribers to email you back with a response to a question or to share a story.

For example, you could share a case study about your product or service, then ask your subscribers to hit “reply” and tell you about their experience with your product or service. If they haven’t used your product or service, get them to tell you about the problem they have and why they are interested in your product or service to solve that problem.

Or, share the best piece of advice you’ve ever received, and ask your subscribers to share theirs in return. (FYI, these pieces of advice can make for great future email marketing campaign ideas)

Email Marketing Idea #4: Promote Your Products and Services with Relevant Content

Yes, you should be promoting your products and services in your nurture emails.

In case I haven’t made this obvious, you should find some way to tie your email ramblings back to your products and services in every one of these situations. That is the point of your email campaigns, after all.

The difference here is instead of sending blatant “buy, buy, buy” emails all the time, you’re mixing it up with valuable content that builds trust and appreciation with your subscribers. Meanwhile, it also highlights and sells your products and services.

Case studies and social proof from existing customers are great ways to do this, as is linking to blog content related to whatever product or service you’re promoting.

These emails can include call-to-action buttons that link to your landing page and even a coupon code, if it’s appropriate.

One of your emails could highlight a product or service that solves a problem your subscribers typically have. Another could share your 5 top tips for getting the most out of your product or service.

You can also make this an aspirational email, sharing how you want to leave your “mark on the world,” while tying this idea to your product or service.

Email Marketing Idea #5: Talk About Work In Progress

This is a fantastic way to pre-promote new products and services.

Everyone wants to know what the next “awesome, must-have thing” will be and when they can get it.

Look at Apple. They start pre-promoting new products months before they come out, so their customers (myself included) are drooling over images and standing in line to buy as soon as they’re released.

Sharing your work in progress (or WIP, as it’s affectionately called in the corporate world) is a great way to get your subscribers excited about your next product launch.

You can also use this as a “behind the scenes” feature, showing how product development works at your company. For example, a musician can share parts of their writing process. An artist could show where they start on a canvas and how many steps they go through to complete a piece.

This idea works for just about everything in your business, including redesigning your website, moving to a larger space or preparing for an upcoming event where your subscribers can meet you in person.

These can all make for great, compelling content that can entice customers to get on a waiting list or buy as soon as your new product or service becomes available.

It also gives you a chance to brag about what you’re doing, which helps you stay excited about it.

Email Marketing Idea #6: Help Your Subscribers Reach Their Goals

The reason someone subscribes to your email list is because your product or service will help them solve a problem or reach a goal. Frequently, these are the same.

Show your current and new subscribers the many ways they can reach their goals, using your product or service.

Challenge your subscribers to complete a specific action that will move them closer to those goals.

Share your own victories and how creating and using your product or service was a part of achieving those victories.

Your goal, as a business owner, should always be to help your customers achieve their goals. This email type is a great way to show that you’re invested in their success.

Email Marketing Idea #7: Highlight a Team Member

People want to know who is behind the products and services they love.

If you have a team of people working for you, interview one of them and share that interview in an email. Depending on how large your team is, you could do one a month for a few years.

If your team is you, get someone else to interview you and share that in a nurture email.

This is one of the easiest emails to write, because it basically writes itself.

Record your interview, then have it transcribed by Rev.com, Otter.ai, or some other transcription service. Next, go through the transcription and smooth out the text so it reads well. (This also gives you the chance to take out the “ahs, umms” and anything that you may not want to share with your subscribers that came up in the interview.)

Give it another once over and voila, you have a fantastic nurture email ready to go.

You can also turn this into a blog post or article and share it on your social media channels. (And you can add some sort of downloadable content or content upgrade to it so you can get new subscribers.)

Email Marketing Idea #8: Share Tools and Tactics

We all have our go-to tools for our businesses and for life in general. Share a few tips with your subscribers, especially if they complement your product or service. (This is another way to tie that product or service into your nurture email.)

If it’s a tool that offers an affiliate program, get signed up and use your affiliate link. Be transparent about this in your emails. But it never hurts to add a little extra to your bottom line. It can also help build customer loyalty if you consistently recommend products or services that complement (but not compete with) yours.

You probably also have certain tactics or techniques that work well with your product or service. Sharing these will help current customers use your product or service regularly. It will also be a great example to potential customers of how to achieve success with your product or service.

Email Marketing Idea #9: Events and Community Involvement

Are you attending an upcoming conference? Does your company march in a local parade? Do you have a booth at your local, county or state fair? Do you sponsor a local Little League team?

Share this information in your nurture emails.

We all want to know that the companies we support, support their communities in turn. Think about all the major corporations who run ads about their “giving back” programs. Or the last time you went to a museum or performance and saw the list of sponsors.

Knowing a portion of the dollars we spend go back to the places we live gives us as customers a good feeling and builds that relationship with the companies we buy from. So, talk about your company’s community involvement in your emails. This is also a good way to cross-promote those groups and events you sponsor.

It’s also fun to meet company members at events. If you or a team member are attending a conference and you know customers and subscribers will be there too, plan a group lunch or coffee date. Announce this in your emails and give your subscribers a link to RSVP. You could even do a “meet and greet” for subscribers and a special “thank you” event for loyal customers. Again, this is about building trust and community.

Plus, scheduling these get-togethers can help you get more customers at the event and in the long run.

Email Marketing Idea #10: Share Your Ups and Downs

We all love stories. Our society is built on them. The average person is more likely to listen to a story than they are to pay attention to any other form of marketing.

Share yours, good and bad, with your subscribers.

This can be everything from how you deal with overwhelm to the little stories that make what you do worth it every day.

Whenever possible, tie this back to your product or service, but know that this is another part of letting your subscribers get to know you. We all have skeletons in our closets. We all have failed in one way or another and we’ve all grown because of it. Share those stories so your subscribers see that you’ve been where they are now.

Stories of overcoming serious challenges are another good way to show who you are to your subscribers, especially if you have advice to share on how to overcome that challenge that can help anyone going through that situation now.

“I Never Know What to Write” is No Longer an Excuse

You now have 10 awesome email marketing ideas that you can use to write to your subscribers on a regular basis. If you write to your subscribers once a week, you can cycle through this list every 2.5 months. Just come up with a different angle or topic for the same idea.

Still not sure you can come up with enough ideas for a regular email cadence?

Don’t worry, I’ve got your back. Click on the button below to get my list of 30 subject lines and email prompts to keep your subscribers opening and reading every email.

Between that list and this blog post, you should have plenty of good ideas to write about.

Go write to your subscribers! They want to hear from you.