7 Different Types of Email + Templates for Your Business

There are many different types of emails involved in marketing your business. This article is about my top 7. They’re the ones I use the most, and in general, they’re all I need for my flourishing business.

Your email marketing system is one of many business systems that make your business run. This article covers 7 types of emails and the email marketing templates you’ll need for each. 

Templates are a lifesaver, sparing you the need to start from scratch every time you compose an email. They provide a consistent structure, keep your brand identity intact, and help you maintain a regular schedule.  

We’ll talk about what each email is, its use, and how it works. I’ll also outline core elements to include in each template.

Below are the 7 types of marketing emails we’re covering:

• Welcome
• Thank You For Purchasing
• New Blog Content
• Newsletter
• Cart Status - Open
• Cart Status - Closed
• Value Content

1. Welcome Emails

Welcome emails play a significant role in establishing first impressions and brand identity.

They welcome a new subscriber, confirm subscriptions, and showcase the benefits of interacting with you and your brand. They often deliver value like freebies, exclusive offers, or discounts. Perhaps their most important function is encouraging further engagement using socials and replies. 

I also like to include content pillars in my templates.

Welcome emails are not just about welcoming new subscribers. They are an invitation to start a conversation. By encouraging questions, replies, and feedback, you foster a sense of community and show that you value their input. 

Core Elements for Welcome Template

• Welcoming message
• Thank you for opt-in
• Brand story
• Value offerings/freebies
• CTAs that establish relationships and engagement > socials, business email, etc.

2. Thanks for Purchase

Someone bought something, which makes this one of the best types of email marketing. Am I right :)

Acknowledging and appreciating purchases strengthens relationships, encourages repeat buying, and fosters loyalty. 

It can confirm invoice details like items bought, order total, or shipping information like tracking numbers. 

However, I like to use it as an opportunity for more engagement and trust. I use my sales platform for invoices. 

Since I specialize in digital services and products, I also use it to deliver digital products. I also weave in CTAs for socials, content pillars, and product benefits :)

Core Elements for Thank You Template

• A sincere expression of gratitude
• Product/service delivery (if applicable)
• Benefits of product
• CTAs (I like CTAs for related products, social media, and content pillars)
• Info about excellent customer support

3. New Blog Announcement

"New blog" emails are promos that showcase your content marketing.

They drive traffic to your blog, increase engagement, and promote content pillars. The pillars work to establish authority, which can improve SEO ranking over time.

The emails can include a blog post summary or teaser. They can also feature fun or compelling headlines and images that inspire click-throughs. They may also include additional CTAs.

New blog emails invite subscribers to share your latest content on social, follow you, or reply to you. Essentially, you want to get people talking to you and about you. And you want traffic to your blog.

Core Elements for New Blog Template

• Blog post summary, teaser, or highlights (CTA to read post)
• Why they should read and what it will do for them (benefits)
• CTAs to reply and share thoughts

4. Newsletters

Love 'em or hate 'em, newsletters are marketing workhorses. 

These creative emails nurture loyalty, drive traffic and engagement, and can increase sales. Newsletter content is often publication-style and takes a fun “mix-and-match” approach. This mix-and-match showcases a curated mix of recent content, news, and promos.

They communicate anything you want your subscribers to know or be excited about. 

They keep subscribers engaged and current with your work. They express who you are, what you’ve been up to, and offerings that can help them.

Core Elements for Newsletter Template

• A curated collection of content (this can be pillar content)
• Announcements 
• Polls
• Storytelling
• Promotions
• Anything you want your subscribers to look forward to
• CTAs 
• Weekly or monthly roundups

5. Cart Open Email

This exciting sales email tells your subscribers that a shiny, new product or service is ready to buy!

Cart Open is the first launch email, not including pre-launch messages. It’s written and formatted to maximize open rates, click-throughs, and purchases. For example, this email benefits from having a few “buy now” buttons -  not just one. At least, that’s how I do it.

Because it’s a sales email, it introduces, sells, and describes the product or service's benefits. It persuades readers to take the plunge!

Core Elements for Cart Open Template 

• Introduction to product/service
• Relevancy and problem it solves
• Benefits and outcomes
• CTAs to buy
• CTA for feedback and questions

6. Cart Closed Email

This is the "now-or-never” email. It follows Cart Open emails and the subsequent promo emails. They’re persuasive sales emails that notify people that the buy window is closing. Simultaneously, they encourage people to purchase before it closes. 

They can include incentives to purchase, like bonuses.

Finally, you can even encourage disinterested readers to make adjacent purchases. Basically, This is a “related products you may like” element. And if it works for Amazon, it works for us!

Core Elements for Cart Closed Template

• Doors closing notification/deadline to buy
• The transformation they’ll experience
• Outcomes and results

7. Value Content Emails

"Value-added" emails provide value beyond other types of marketing emails. They do this by delivering practical, relevant, and educational content that helps people solve problems, learn new skills, or stay informed about interesting topics. They can also be more personal than other emails through storytelling. 

Like newsletters, they foster trust and provide actionable insights, tips, and resources that address pain points or interests.

Value Content Template Core Elements

• Storytelling that shows how this problem or topic has been impacting you
• Additional value-added content on the topic
• How they can use the value content
• CTA for replies, feedback, and discussion

Get Email Marketing Templates

Marketing emails are one part science and three parts art and nuance. I had to figure out these 7 types of emails on my own. But you don’t have to. 

My Ultimate Template Bundle includes 7 templates for email marketing and everything else you might need for streamlined business systems. Each one recreates my proven email formats. They’re also brandable. You can tweak or customize them as needed. 

But if you just need email marketing templates, I got you. Check out the Email Template Bundle here!

I hope this roundup of different types of emails helps you build an email catalog that works for you.