Email Marketing Funnel – 5 Key Types & How to Craft One [2024]

You have probably always heard that email marketing is the best marketing strategy to generate the highest revenue.

Why not? It’s a strategy that delivers 420% ROI for most businesses.

However, that number is only possible if you know how to conduct email marketing the right way.

There are several elements involved and several email tactics you need to understand to be able to use email marketing to the fullest and get high results. One of these core email marketing elements is an “Email Marketing Funnel.”

Today, you will learn about some of the best email funnel ideas that you should consider using for your business. These are email funnels that are actively being used by several large brands and they are making a huge profit.

After reading this guide, you will learn

• Some of the most effective email funnels for your business.
• Step-by-step instructions for each funnel.
• Purpose of every email in your email funnels.

So let’s begin.

What is an Email Marketing Funnel?

An email marketing funnel is a curated email journey to convert leads into customers or convince customers to buy even more.

Here, you use a combination of emails to take customers through a step-by-step plan that ends with customers spending more than what they initially intended.

Why are email funnels important in your marketing strategy?

Having email funnels in place can make a big difference for your business.

Since emails are the best way to connect with prospects, planning a series of emails that are aimed to boost conversion can deliver even more ROI than you think.

In fact, if you have a curated journey in place, it is possible to nurture leads and convert them into customers with much less effort than any other marketing strategy.

For example, suppose you have a lead form on your landing page for people to claim a free guide.

Instead of allowing the person to opt-in and download the guide from the same page, you could accept the form submission and then send the free guide via email. However, that’s not the end of it. You can tie it up into an email automation flow where you send a couple of emails afterward with 3-day intervals to nurture the leads with further useful information before sending promotional emails to highlight your main products or services.

You will have a chance to convert a person, who only thought he was just getting a free guide, into buying your core service.

5 Types Of Email Funnels To Drive High Results

Let us look at five proven email funnel examples that can help you drive high results easily.

1. Email Funnel To Convert New Leads Into Customers

When you get new leads, you may set up an email funnel where you nurture the leads and warm them up before making an offer.

Following is a possible email funnel journey you may create:

1. Email 1: Introduction And Welcome
   Sent: Immediately after subscribing.
   Purpose: Welcome the subscriber via email and express how much you appreciate him joining your list. Plus, share what sort of valuable content you may share with them in the future.

2. Email 2: Value-Added Education
   Sent: 3 days after subscription
   Purpose: Share more valuable knowledge with the subscriber that will be useful.

3. Email 3: More Value-Added Education
   Sent: 7 days after subscription
   Purpose: Again, share additional valuable knowledge with the subscriber.

4. Email 4: Address & Problem And Suggest An Upcoming Solution
   Sent: 10 days after subscription
   Purpose: Discuss a possible problem your subscriber may be concerned about and suggest that you have a solution that you will share in the next email. Also, mention other available solutions that you plan to outshine with your solution. This will make them realize that you have done your research and probably have something better.

5. Email 5: Make An Offer With Your Solution
   Sent: 12 days after subscription
   Purpose: Share your exciting solution and make an offer.

As you saw, this is a great way to convert targeted leads with a curated email funnel that people will find more trustworthy.

2. Upselling To Existing Customers Using An Email Funnel

Once a person has purchased a product, you now know what type of products he likes or may be interested in next. So, set up a series of emails to suggest various products via email, which people may consider buying from you.

If you want, you may also include a discount on these suggested products to add an extra push.

Following could be a possible email series:

1. Email 1: Suggest A Few Related Products
   Sent: 3 days after initial purchase
   Purpose: Send an email where you ask the buyer to check out a few products from another category that go well with his initial product. For example, if someone bought a pair of jeans, you may now suggest T-shirts.

2. Email 2: Recommend Similar Products
   Sent: 5 days after initial purchase
   Purpose: Send other products from the same category as the buyer’s initial purchase. For example, you may offer more jeans with different colors or designs to the same customer

3. Email 3: Offer A Discount On Best-Selling Products
   Sent: 7 days after initial purchase
   Purpose: Recommend your best-selling products and offer a discount to get them.

This is a straightforward email marketing funnel where you try to sell more products to your existing customers.

3. Review Collection Funnel

Set up an email funnel to collect reviews from the customers and display how much you care about their opinions.

It could be as simple as a 3-email series:

1. Email 1: Ask About Their Experience With Delivery
   Sent: 2 hours since delivery
   Purpose: Send an email asking if the customer was satisfied with how it was delivered and the delivery man. Plus, include resources to help the customer in any way possible, such as how to report complaints, how to ensure the product is authentic, etc.

2. Email 2: Request A Simple Rating & Review
   Sent: 3 days since delivery
   Purpose: Here, ask about the buyer’s experience with the product and ask to give a rating & review on the product. And ask their experience with shopping from your online shop. Express that you care about their opinions and will use their suggestions to improve.

3. Email 3: Offer A Complimentary Discount
   Sent: 1 day after providing the rating
   Purpose: Once someone submits a rating, you may then send a discount coupon the next day and thank the buyer for sharing his opinions. Then invite him to purchase again.

While this seems like just a review request, you can take advantage of it and make the customer purchase again.

4. New Launch Email Funnel

When you are about to launch a new course or product, you may plan an email funnel that can create hype and deliver the results you want to achieve.

Depending on how big this launch is for you, you may plan 3 stages of an email funnel.

• The Pre-launch emails
• The Main Launch emails
• Post Launch Emails

Let’s take a simple new launch as an example. Suppose you have decided to sell leather items (shoes, belts, jackets, etc.) as part of your men’s fashion store which was only about t-shirts, polos, and shirts till now.

You may follow the email series below:

1. Email 1: Teaser of upcoming new products
   Sent: 2 weeks before launch
   Purpose: Excite prospects with a glimpse of what is coming using good product images and persuasive email copies, but do not mention the price.

2. Email 2: More Teasers
   Sent: 7 days before launch
   Purpose: Give images of some of your best upcoming new products along with their specialties. Then mention the launch date.

3. Email 3: Launch Invitation
   Sent: 24 hours before launch
   Purpose: Ask the prospect to visit your store at a specific time the next day to get access to the new collection. Also, announce a launch discount which will act as a trigger to ensure a visit.

4. Email 4: The Launch
   Sent: Exactly at the promised launch time
   Purpose: A direct CTA to start buying the new collection and claim the discount.

5. Email Series After Launch (5 emails)
   Send: At 3 days intervals
   Purpose: The first 3 emails of this series will be to inform buyers about the popular and the best products you have in the new collection. The other two will be about the last calls to get the discount.

Here, the idea is to promote the new category that you have brought into your online store and get people excited. This will be even more successful if you run other marketing campaigns such as social media marketing and video promotions besides these emails.

Now, if you are not an e-commerce store, and are launching a product such as SaaS software, then the email funnel will be a bit different here.

• Here’s a guide to creating a product launch email funnel for SaaS products.

5. Appointment Booking Email Drip

An appointment booking email drip is a conditional email marketing funnel based on email open actions, ending in landing appointments.

The steps you want to add are totally up to you depending on why you are trying to get appointments.

Let’s say you are due to attend a large international event, let’s say WordCamp EU, and you want to have a meeting with others there to find scopes of business collaboration. And suppose you already scraped the emails of most of the people you see potential for this meeting.

Now, you can prepare the following drip:

1. Stage 1: Initial Contact
   Sent: 1 week before the event
   Purpose: In this email, you simply introduce who you are and that you want to meet with him during or after the event. And then share a calendar link.

2. Stage 2 – Conditional Follow-up
   • Condition 1: If Email Was Opened But No Appointment Made
     Sent: 3 days before the event
     Purpose: Give a quick reminder about your previous email and request an appointment again.
     
   • Condition 2: If Email Was Not Opened
     Sent: 3 days before the event
     Purpose: Tell the person that maybe he missed the last email and re-initiate the meeting offer.
     **Set the drip so that if this email was opened but no appointment was set, then another email will be sent similar to the email in Stage 2 – Condition 1, to be sent 1 day prior to the event.

This is a simple email drip that works quite well. But you may prepare longer drips if needed. But the conditional approach is what makes this a great email funnel and helps with landing more appointments.

How To Create An Effective Email Funnel In WordPress or WooCommerce?

To create an effective email marketing funnel in WordPress or WooCommerce, you will need a tool that has customized email campaigns and email automation capabilities.

In this case, we recommend you use Mail Mint.

Mail Mint is right now one of the easiest email marketing automation tools in WordPress and has every feature you need to prepare almost all the email funnels that you learned about earlier.

Here’s a guide on how you may use Mail Mint to set up post-purchase upsell offers via emails in your WooCommerce store easily.

Likewise, you may set up email drips, welcome email series, customized promotional email series, and many more.

• Check out Mail Mint now!

Best Practices to Make Your Email Funnel Work Like Never Before!

Before wrapping up, let’s ensure you have the tools to craft email marketing funnels that don’t just function but thrive in converting your leads.

Here are some straightforward strategies to elevate your email campaigns:

i. Start with Clear Goals

Know what you want to achieve with each funnel. Whether it’s boosting sales, increasing sign-ups, or gathering customer feedback, your goals should dictate the structure of your funnel. This clarity ensures your emails are targeted and relevant.

ii. Understand Your Audience

You need to know who you’re talking to. This understanding helps tailor your messages so they resonate more deeply with your subscribers. Customize your emails based on the audience’s preferences, behaviors, and needs to increase engagement.

iii. Keep Your Content Relevant and Valuable

Every email should offer value to keep your subscribers interested and motivated to read the next one. Whether it’s insightful tips, exciting updates, or exclusive offers, the content should feel beneficial and timely.

iv. Optimize for Mobile

Most users check their emails on mobile devices, so ensure your email design is responsive. If your emails don’t read well on a small screen, you might lose a significant portion of your audience.

v. Test and Refine

Use A/B testing to see what works best, whether it’s subject lines, email content, or call-to-action buttons. Analyzing the results can provide insights into your audience’s preferences, helping you refine future emails for better performance.

vi. Automate with Personalization

Use automation tools to send the right message at the right time, but add a personal touch. Personalized emails often see higher engagement rates. Mentioning a subscriber’s name or referencing their last purchase can make the communication feel more individual and engaging.

vii. Monitor and Adjust

Regularly review your funnel’s performance. Look at open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to identify what’s working and what isn’t. Don’t be afraid to tweak your approach based on these insights to improve your results over time.

Conclusion

Thats it. Now you know about 5 email marketing funnels that are planned to help you hit your marketing goals the right way, using emails.

Remember, choosing the right email marketing tool is crucial for getting successful results as it all starts with how well you can create those email journeys.

To do so, we suggest you give Mail Mint a try. We are sure you will love it.

So go ahead and start using an email marketing funnel today.

It’s time to level up your business using emails.

Cheers.