E-mail marketing has become an essential form of marketing at the beginning of the 21st century. But there are different kinds of e-mail content. You don’t want to use the same type of e-mail for every promotion or encounter with your audiences. In fact, different audiences might require different approaches. Here are eight different types of e-mail content you should add to your arsenal so you can use the appropriate one for the right audience at the right time.

1. Newsletter – Newsletters have become a staple of online marketing. You can send a text newsletter, which isn’t all that attractive but delivers the message you want in an easy-to-read format, or you can send an HTML newsletter that is graphically designed and made to appeal to a crowd that appreciates visual content. Both types of newsletters are effective, but you have to determine how often you’ll send your newsletter. For most businesses, weekly is apropos; however, you might get by with a monthly newsletter if your audience doesn’t expect to be contacted as often. Set your schedule according to your audience’s needs.
2. Autoresponder series – An autoresponder series is a series of e-mails scheduled to deliver automatically in a particular sequence and distance apart. For instance, you might opt to schedule your series to land in your audience’s inbox every three days, or it might be weekly. Autoresponder series are great teaching tools, but they can also be used for marketing purposes. The idea is to provide a large volume of free content for your audience but to limit your own workload so that you aren’t constantly managing e-mail delivery systems. You can write the series, program it to send at specific predetermined intervals, and then track and monitor results with your analytics program.
3. Welcome e-mail – A welcome e-mail is usually a short introduction and welcome to an opt-in series such as an autoresponder or newsletter subscription. It can also be an e-mail you send to a new client during the onboarding stage.
4. E-mail promotional blast – You can promote virtually anything by e-mail. If you have a new book you’ve written and published, you can let your audience know by e-mail. Each time you publish a new blog post, notify subscribers by e-mail. If you post a new YouTube video, send an e-mail. You can even promote other people’s products and earn a commission through affiliate programs. The one danger to promotional e-mails is that you can send too many. If you bombard your subscribers with too many, they’ll unsubscribe, so be judicious in sending these and don’t send too many.
5. Poll or survey – If you want to know what your audience thinks about something related to your business, send a survey. People love to give their opinions, and you can use the information you gather to improve your business. Polls can also be used by journalists for reporting.
6. Internal communications – If you have employees and you want to communicate something to everyone in your company at once, e-mail is the perfect medium.
7. Confirmation e-mail – Confirmation e-mails serve to give your opt-in subscribers a second chance to tell you “no thanks.” It could keep you out of hot water if you have a problem with your content. To ensure you aren’t sending content to people who don’t want it, use confirmation e-mails that request the receiver click a link to confirm their opt-in or subscription.
8. Letter of introduction – Letters of introduction are e-mail letters you send to potential clients, or prospects, that introduce you and your company to let them know the types of services you provide. If your organization is non-profit, you can use letters of introduction to make initial contact with potential volunteers or donors. A well-written letter of introduction will let your audience know who you are and what you have to offer in a friendly, conversational tone without being too forward or pushy.

Now it’s your turn. What types of e-mail content do you use and how often do you send it?

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