With email marketing ever-evolving, the humble inbox has become an invaluable tool for generating interest and compelling subscribers to explore a brand or business’s offerings. Traditional email marketing strategies have long dominated this practice. While tried-and-tested approaches certainly have their merits, sometimes breaking the rules can work even more effectively in getting the results you want. Unique and creative email marketing strategies have many benefits, including helping to improve your local SEO rankings through increased web traffic, content promotion, enhanced brand awareness, and effective engagement of local audiences.
Ready to get creative? Here’s when you should break the rules and use unexpected email marketing tactics for your brand.
5 Unconventional Email Marketing Tactics that Drive Results
Sometimes it’s hard to think of a new approach to content. Sometimes we can’t really step outside the box because our communication is so defined by various corporate and brand style rules. Fortunately, the advertising industry, including email marketing, is quite a creative field, and sometimes we can draw outside the lines and use unexpected (and unexpectedly effective) tactics that bring results and create excitement.
Use the following tactics to captivate your target audiences and maximize your conversion rate.
1. Use Reverse Psychology To Create A Sense of FOMO
Urgency or fear of missing out (FOMO) is a traditional tactic for motivating your audience to take the desired action. It creates a sense of immediacy and scarcity, compelling them to act quickly before the opportunity is gone.
But what if you flipped the script?
Instead of directly creating FOMO with wording like “don’t miss out” or “offer ends in 15 minutes!” you can say something like “not for everyone” or “This might not be the right fit for you, but if it is, we’ll be waiting.” This reverse psychology approach piques curiosity, appeals to exclusivity, and intrigues recipients, making them more likely to engage. At the same time, you build trust by avoiding high-pressure tactics while still tapping into the desire for uniqueness, which can have notable effects on your open rates, conversions, and sales.
2. Create Micro-Mails
As humans, we may have better attention spans than goldfish, but recent studies show they are shrinking, with the average being just 47 seconds. This means you have under a minute to get your audience’s attention, persuade them to open your email, read it and take action. That’s a lot to squeeze in, but it is possible with micro-mails.
These ultra-short emails deliver highly focused, impactful content for short, instant value and are designed to respect the reader’s time while grabbing their attention immediately. By focusing on one clear message, using concise copy, and a compelling call to action, you can quickly engage your audience, ensuring your message gets noticed and acted upon.
For example, your email could look like this:
Subject Line: Ready to Save 15 Minutes Today?
Body:
Your time is valuable. Make the most of it with our free productivity checklist!
Reclaim 15 minutes of your day — starting now.
CTA Button: [Download the Checklist Now]
Footer: Less time spent planning means more time doing.
3. Use Email Previews to Your Advantage
Most email service providers offer a handy email preview feature, which can be a boon for your marketing strategies. This feature allows you to add a sub-headline at the start of your email, giving would-be readers a tantalizing peek into what your emails are about before they click on them.
You can also add a hidden sub-subject line to your emails using HTML code to pique desktop and mobile users’ interest and compel them to browse your content. This extra subject line is a highly effective teaser that can notably improve your open rates and keep your target audiences engaged.
These are great examples of how to use email previews effectively:
- Exclusive Offer Teaser: “You’re just one click away from unlocking 50% off your next purchase!”
- Urgency Creator: “Hurry! Your special invitation expires tonight at midnight.”
- Mystery Hook: “We’ve got a surprise waiting just for you—find out inside!”
- Problem Solver: “Struggling with [specific problem]? Here’s your quick solution.”
- Personalized Insight: “[recipient name], your curated picks for the season have landed!”
4. Keep Your Emails Relatable with ‘Accidental’ Mistakes
One of the most popular tactics brands are using today to defy email marketing convention is intentionally including deliberate mistakes and typos in their content. Deliberately including errors or typos in marketing mail immediately grabs readers’ attention. This is especially true when they are humorous, very obvious, or otherwise memorable.
These errors can range from supposed internal emails about upcoming promotions to confused facts, typos in headings, and other fun “errors.” They are eye-catching in their own right, but you can also choose to drive even more attention with a follow-up email containing an apology, a correction, or even a bonus or promotional code to make up for it.
This second mail can help to make your mistake-imbued email vastly more memorable, while at the same time giving you a chance to captivate your audience and compel them to take their first steps into your conversion funnel.
5. Make a Splash with Hype Campaigns
Viral hype campaigns are the perfect medium for compelling your readers to share your content with as many people as possible. They can generate vast amounts of word-of-mouth excitement, especially when your emails are too intriguing to ignore. When you craft hype campaign emails correctly, your readers will naturally mention, share, and post them, exponentially expanding your reach organically.
The most successful hype campaigns are highly adaptable. They can effortlessly be posted on social channels, shared via posts and screenshots, and forwarded to as many people as possible. Expertly designed viral emails also include links to your brand’s social pages and website, rapidly increasing its visibility across key marketing platforms.
These campaigns also present a prime opportunity for link building. By embedding strategically placed links within the email content, you encourage recipients to visit specific pages on your website, boosting traffic and enhancing SEO performance. When these links are shared and reposted, they drive referral traffic and help to establish high-quality backlinks from trusted sources, further elevating your brand’s authority and search engine rankings.
Of course, viral campaigns are a large part of traditional email marketing tactics. What makes them convention-defying is how they are created.
You need to follow these guidelines:
- Think outside the box to create relevant, emotionally engaging content
- Ensure your content is socially compelling enough to get people to share it on a large scale.
- Include humor, hyper-personalization, interactivity, and unexpected content to make sharing your emails irresistible.
Creative Email Marketing Tactics: The Takeaway
Using creative email marketing tactics can boost your engagement by capturing your readers’ attention in ways that standard emails don’t. The right tactics can set your content apart, increase your open and click-through rates, and enhance your emails’ chances of going viral, helping you reach far beyond your existing subscriber lists. Don’t be afraid to approach things in a new way!
The key to success when defying email marketing conventions is to do so strategically and only on occasion. Only use unusual emails every now and again to keep your audience intrigued, as overusing humor, mistakes, or shock value can have the opposite effect. Finding balance is vital for highlighting your brand’s unique personality and creating a bold impression in your audience’s minds.
Original header image from Freepik.