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13 Lead Nurturing Email Examples & Best Practices

Zain Zia
Written by Zain Zia
Published at Apr 12, 2024
13 Lead Nurturing Email Examples & Best Practices

According to a study, the majority (45.7%) of marketers find email to be the most effective lead nurturing channel. It’s personalized, targeted, mobile-friendly and versatile. And it helps that email delivers an incredibly high ROI.

But what kind of lead nurturing emails actually work? If you’re looking for inspiration, you’re at the right place. In this article, we’ve compiled a list of 13 lead nurturing email examples from top brands to help you build your own.

We’ll also cover tips and best practices for creating engaging lead nurturing emails that hit the mark and successfully move leads down the funnel toward conversion.

 

Table of Content

Quick Read

  • Lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with potential buyers at every stage of the sales funnel.
  • Some of the best lead nurturing email examples include abandoned cart emails from Thousand Fell, customer review emails from Better, welcome emails from Shopify, discount emails from Headspace and promotional emails from Onsen.
  • Best practices for effective lead nurturing include personalizing email content,  providing value, segmenting email lists, using clear calls to action (CTAs), maintaining brand consistency and continuously testing and optimizing email campaigns.
  • Visme makes it super easy to create interactive email forms that are proven to drive up to a 207% increase in conversions. Use characters, animations and customizable appearance to grab attention and encourage more form completions.
  • Visme is more than just a form builder. You can also create lead nurturing emails and other content, such as downloadable resources, infographics, videos, social media posts and much more. Access pre-built templates, built-in stock photos and icons, AI design tools, interactivity, analytics, data visualization tools and more.

 

13 Lead Nurturing Email Examples

1. Visme: Case Study

Lead nurturing email examples - Visme case study email

Sharing case studies and customer stories via email is an excellent way to nurture leads in the consideration and decision stages. These stories show prospects how your business solved similar problems for clients like them, which helps build your credibility.

This case study email from Visme showcases how a sports team achieved impressive results by using the platform to create partnership and marketing content.

This personalized email addresses subscribers by their name and piques their interest with cool visuals and a quick summary of the results our customers achieved using Visme.

2. Thousand Fell: Abandoned Cart

Abandoned cart emails are great for bringing back leads who showed an interest in your offerings and added items to their carts but failed to make the purchase.

This abandoned cart email from Thousand Fell is one of the best lead nurturing examples because not only does it offer a 20% discount to cart abandoners, but it also shares additional product offerings that they might have missed.

They also go one step ahead and highlight their 30-day risk-free return policy and commitment to sustainability to reinforce the value of their products.

3. Better Mortgage: Customer Review

Customer review emails are brilliant at building social proof and encouraging leads to take the next step.

This customer review email from Better features authentic, relatable stories from homebuyers who successfully found their dream homes through the platform.

Instead of taking a salesy approach, they tap into the emotional side of buying a house. And the copy, colors and image all fit perfectly with the theme.

The email includes two main CTAs:

  • Watch the series: Leads can watch 60-second videos to see how other customers buy and build their homes. This button is primarily for buyers at the awareness or consideration stage.
  • Lock your rate: Leads can get a guarantee that the offered interest rate will be the rate that they receive. This button is for leads who are more advanced in the buyer's journey, such as in the decision stage.

4. Headspace: Discount

Discount emails are an effective way to re-engage leads, encourage purchases and nurture customer relationships. One way to make these work is by offering limited-time discounts to users and creating a sense of urgency.

Headspace uses a similar strategy in their email. They offer a 20% discount and mention that it “won’t last for long”. But that's not all. Headspace also uses their discount email to showcase how other users have used their services to feel less stressed and happier in just 10 days.

The warm colors, friendly tone and cheerful visuals, such as the smiling cloud illustration—all match their brand style guide.

5. Shopify: Welcome

A welcome email is one of the first points of contact between a new subscriber and a brand. It's used to provide important product or service information, highlight brand values and outline what subscribers can expect in return.

This welcome email from Shopify warmly greets new users, provides an overview of its key features and incorporates a prominent CTA to learn more about the platform. It also features practical resources to help users get started, such as the Shopify help center, video tutorials and blog.

Pro Tip: Create high-converting forms using Visme and trigger welcome emails as soon as a customer fills them out, such as by subscribing to a newsletter or downloading a lead magnet. Make your forms irresistible with custom animated characters and editable design.

6. Onsen: Mother’s Day Sale

Buy One, Get One (BOGO) promotions are a popular way to incentivize purchases and nurture leads, especially during the holiday season or on special occasions.

Onsen’s buy-two-get-one-free offer on Mother’s Day is an excellent example. They share their offer by tapping into the emotional appeal of the holiday. They use copy like “More for Mom” and “Deliver some extra comfort this Mother's Day” to position their products as a perfect way to show appreciation to mothers.

The bold and prominent "Buy 2, Get 1 Free” headline, minimalistic design with a soft color palette and a clear “Shop Now” CTA make this discount email a great way to entice leads and drive sales.

7. Spotify: Personalized Recommendations

Personalized recommendation emails are sent to leads who have previously engaged with your brand or made a purchase. These suggestions are tailored to leads' previous interactions, preferences, or purchase history to drive engagement and conversions.

In this personalized recommendation email, Spotify leverages user information to suggest relevant playlists like "Confidence Boost", "Daily Lift", and "Slumber Party".

The personalized playlists include eye-catching covers with smiling individuals to highlight the mood each playlist evokes. The copy uses personalized words like "for you" and "might earn a permanent spot in your rotation.” And the “Listen Now” call-to-action makes it easy for users to engage with Spotify's offerings.

8. Wix: Time-Sensitive Offer

Time-sensitive offers are great at creating a sense of urgency and compelling leads to take fast action. And if the offer is good, it can significantly boost sales and engagement.

Wix uses a similar strategy in their emails. They offer a substantial 50% discount on premium plans, list the advantages that come with it and add a countdown timer at the top to add urgency. The eye-catching illustrated icons enhance the visual appeal of the email and the strategically placed CTA makes it easy for leads to capitalize on the offer.

9. Vimeo: Onboarding

Onboarding emails help new users get started with your product or service. This could be through step-by-step guides, video tutorials or links to helpful resources.

Vimeo’s onboarding email features a simple 3-step guide for going live and briefly highlights what users can do with their live-streaming tools.

They use mockups to show how content will look on different devices. The email copy matches their brand voice and prominent CTAs like "Try now" and "Upgrade now" encourage users to explore the features.

10. Help Scout: Downloadable Resource

Adding a downloadable resource to your lead nurturing emails is a great way to provide additional value and build credibility with your audience.

Help Scout offers an excellent B2B lead nurturing email example. They’ve added a 40-page handbook on hiring for customer support in their email that not only showcases their expertise on the matter but also helps leads overcome a challenge.

The copy is succinct and highlights the value proposition of the handbook. And the bright blue "Download now" button makes accessing the resource easy.

11. Uber: Mobile App Download

If you have a mobile app, email is a great way to convince leads to start using it. Chances are they’re already opening your email on their phone, which is why it’s the perfect place to add a download or app store link.

Uber does this really well in this lead nurturing email example. Not only do they add links to their Android and iOS apps right at the top, but they also offer an incentive (free ride) for new users to get started.

Better yet, the email also has a quick 3-step tutorial below on how to use the app to show leads how easy it is and how they can get started right away.

12. Mode: Comparison

One way to nurture leads, especially those in the consideration phase, is to show them how you stack up against the competition. This helps you educate prospects on your product’s key features and benefits and show them why they should choose you over others.

This lead nurturing email example from Mode shows subscribers what makes their chocolate better than the competitor brands—less sugar. But they don’t just say it; they show the exact quantities.

Mode also transparently mentions how up-to-date the data is. Another great thing they do? They mention how they keep their chocolate sweet without all the sugar—their “not-so-secret” ingredient, monk fruit.

13. Coinbase: Newsletter

This list would be incomplete without an informative email newsletter example — one of the most widely used types of lead nurturing emails.

Newsletters are an excellent way to share content, news and updates, tips and advice, and other information with leads to educate them. They also help you build authority and showcase your expertise or simply keep you on top of their minds.

This lead nurturing newsletter example from Coinbase puts together the latest industry updates in one email to encourage prospects to invest in cryptocurrency and use their product. The preview thumbnails add visual interest while allowing readers to quickly identify which articles pique their interest.

The layout of the email is clean and to the point, with clear sections for Bitcoin prices and trending coins, making the content easy to digest.

 

6 Best Practices for Lead Nurturing Emails

Creating lead nurturing emails that engage with your audience and drive conversions is an ongoing process that requires consistent effort and dedication.

Follow these lead nurturing email best practices to maximize their impact:

1. Personalize your emails

Personalization is a powerful tool in lead nurturing emails. It can help you connect more deeply with your audience. However, email personalization goes beyond addressing recipients by their names. It involves tailoring your emails to the specific interests, needs and behaviors of your audience.

Use analytics and research data to create messages that speak directly to each recipient. For example, suppose your analytics indicate that a segment of your audience frequently visits pages related to outdoor camping gear.

In that case, you can personalize emails to these recipients by highlighting the benefits of your latest camping equipment, sharing customer testimonials, or offering exclusive discounts on camping products.

Pro Tip: Create engaging forms in Visme to capture subscriber data. Customize form fields easily to collect specific information you can use to personalize your lead nurturing emails, such as industry, role and business size.

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2. Provide value in every email

People subscribe to emails for a reason—they’re looking to get something in return. And that ‘something’ is value. This could be sharing educational content, offering personalized recommendations, insightful advice, updates on trends or exclusive offers.

Offering value shows potential customers you care about their time and attention and positions you as an authority in your niche.

The result? It drives engagement, builds trust and differentiates you from the competition, all of which pushes leads towards conversion.

For instance, if you’re a SaaS company, you can offer updates on the latest features as they roll out. If your clients are businesses, you can also share industry reports and whitepapers with them that help them sell better and grow their revenue.

Pro Tip: You don’t have to wait till this stage to provide value. You can also offer value when building your email list with the help of lead magnets and lead magnet forms. Enterprise Whitepaper Download Lead Magnet
Customize this template and make it your own!Edit and Download

3. Segment your email list

Email marketing works best when you deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. One way to do this is by breaking your email list down into smaller segments based on shared characteristics, interests or behaviors. This allows you to send tailored messages that resonate deeply with each segment.

For example, if you're running an online bookstore, you can segment email lists based on the genres customers have previously purchased or shown interest in. You can send each segment personalized recommendations or handpicked new releases that align with their interests.

4. Use a clear call-to-action (CTA)

A clear and compelling CTA can significantly impact the success of your email campaigns by driving conversions and guiding audiences toward the next step in their journey, whether learning more about a topic, taking advantage of a special offer or making a purchase.

To maximize the impact of your CTAs:

  • Make sure they look apart. Use contrasting colors, bold text and eye-catching buttons to make CTAs immediately noticeable.
  • Use action-oriented language. For example, instead of a generic "Click here" CTA, try something more compelling like "Unlock Your Free Guide to Boosting Sales" or "Start Your 30-Day Free Trial Today."
  • Get placement right. Position your CTAs strategically within your email where it's most likely to attract attention and prompt action. This could be above the fold to ensure recipients see it without scrolling, in the middle to break up long text blocks, at the end of your email after you've delivered value and built interest or as a sticky element that remains visible while scrolling.

5. Maintain brand consistency across emails

Maintaining brand consistency in emails can help build trust, recognition and credibility with your audience. Make sure all your emails incorporate your brand's colors, fonts, logos and voice.

For example, if your brand is known for its friendly and approachable tone, carry this voice into the content of your emails, from the subject line to the body and the call to action.

If you’re using Visme to create your emails, you can easily apply your branding with one click. You can also extensively customize your emails using a range of tools like AI image editing, premium fonts, preset color themes, built-in icons, illustrations and stock photos, and 3D characters to add some personality.

Pro Tip: Use Visme’s AI Brand Design Tool to keep your emails, resources and other lead nurturing content aligned with your brand style.

6. Test and optimize your emails

Testing is an important part of refining your lead nurturing strategies. It involves continuously analyzing your email campaigns, making data-driven decisions and implementing changes to enhance engagement and conversion rates.

A/B test various components of your emails, including subject lines, email content, CTAs and send times to see what works and improve future email campaigns.

 

Lead Nurturing Email FAQs

Follow these steps to write effective lead nurturing emails:

  • Identify the purpose of your email
  • Address recipients by their name
  • Tailor emails to match your audiences’ needs and interest
  • Provide actionable or immediate value
  • Incorporate social proof
  • Add a compelling call-to-action (CTA)
  • Test and optimize your lead nurturing campaign

Lead nurturing is the process of building relationships with potential customers by providing relevant, valuable content at each stage of the buyer’s journey. For example, if a lead downloads an e-book on email marketing best practices, you can send them a series of emails that offer additional tips, resources and case studies related to email marketing.

A nurturing email is an email sent to leads to educate, guide and move from the consideration stage to the decision stage in the buyer’s journey. One of the primary aims of these emails is to build trust and credibility with your audience.

There’s no set length on how long or short a lead nurturing email should be. The goal is to communicate your message without overwhelming them with lengthy content. Keep emails focused on a single main idea, and use formatting techniques like bullet points, short paragraphs and bold text to make your content easy to digest.

Follow these tips to write a warm lead email:

  • Address leads by their name
  • Acknowledge their interests or pain points
  • Provide value by offering relevant resources and solutions that address their challenges
  • Build trust by incorporating social proof
  • Add clear CTAs
  • Test and optimize email content and timings

One example of lead nurturing is to send an email series to leads who have expressed interest in your product or services.

  • Email #1: An informative blog post or video highlighting the benefits of your product.
  • Email #2: Use cases or testimonials from satisfied customers.
  • Email #3: An invitation to test the product for free.
  • Email #4: A time-sensitive discount to incentive and drive purchase.

Follow these steps to create a lead nurturing strategy:

  • Align marketing and sales to transition marketing-qualified leads to sales-qualified leads seamlessly
  • Identify and segment leads based on their interests, behaviors and stage in the buyer’s journey
  • Create a lead nurturing email sequence to address their concerns or interests
  • Monitor, test and optimize your lead nurturing strategy over time to improve results

There are several lead nurturing techniques out there. Here are some of the most popular ones:

  1. Drip campaigns: Send a series of automated emails over a period of time to educate leads, build trust and gradually guide them towards a purchase.
  2. Targeted content: Share content with leads that’s specifically tailored to their needs, interests and pain points.
  3. Multi-channel nurturing: Use a combination of marketing automation, email marketing, social media, retargeting ads and direct mail to deliver consistent experiences across all touchpoints.
  4. Lead scoring: Assign scores to leads based on their behaviors, interactions and demographic information, and focus on nurturing the most promising opportunities.
  5. Personalization: This includes addressing leads by name, referencing their past interactions with your brand and tailoring content to their specific needs and interests.

Follow these steps to implement your lead nurturing strategies:

  • Identify your target audience
  • Outline the goals you want to achieve with your lead nurturing campaigns
  • Create targeted content
  • Engage with leads across multiple channels
  • Track the performance of your lead nurturing efforts

 

Optimize Your Lead Nurturing Process With Visme

Lead nurturing emails are one of the best ways to move leads down the funnel toward conversion. But emails are only one part of the puzzle. To create a successful lead nurturing strategy, you need the right tool. Visme can help you in more than one way.

Not only are you able to collect emails and other key lead information through interactive email forms, you can also create all types of engaging lead nurturing content to keep those prospects hooked to your brand.

Create presentations, documents, infographics, videos and much more with the help of ready-made templates, an easy drag-and-drop editor, built-in assets, branding tools and other features. Best of all, work with your team using our collaboration tools.

You can also leverage AI tools to create beautiful, engaging content faster. For example, Visme’s AI Writer can help you generate compelling copy for your emails and subject lines. Finally, share and publish your emails and lead nurturing content in multiple ways. Download as an image or PDF, share directly with a link or QR code, or embed anywhere online. Use tools like Dynamic Fields to tailor specific content automatically for multiple clients.

Ready to level up your lead nurturing strategy? Explore Visme’s email forms or sign up for a free account and try out all the other features.

Zain Zia
Written by Zain Zia

Meet Zain: freelance writer for B2B SaaS by day and YouTube content creator by night. He specializes in transforming complex, technical ideas into simple, engaging and actionable content. When he’s not working, he’s busy being a dad, playing soccer or planning his next family trip around the world. He’s currently based in Antalya where he lives right next to the beach. Connect with him on LinkedIn or check out his portfolio.

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