Last updated on May 15th, 2026 at 02:59 pm
Every day your email boxes are overflowing with emails you likely leave unread. It may make you wonder why marketers still use emails to reach out. Even though you may think that emails are a thing of the past but data suggests otherwise. In 2020, global email users numbered a staggering 4 billion people. By 2025, this number is projected to be 4.6 billion, with the number of emails sent and received expected to reach 376 billion worldwide.
The numbers suggest that even though social media and other digital marketing avenues are steadily growing, email marketing reigns as an essential marketing channel. Is it any surprise that the return on investment for email marketing is USD 42 for every USD 1 spent?
If you want to build a career in digital marketing, you can’t ignore email marketing in your marketing strategy anymore. But how do you get people to open your emails and not leave them unread? We’re here to help.
What is an Email Marketing?
A successful marketing strategy leverages the power of email marketing. Email marketing is a digital marketing strategy that involves sending emails to your target audience, often as part of a campaign, as a call-to-action, generating brand awareness, driving traffic, engaging with the audience, and building long-term relationships.
Here’s why email marketing has continued to dominate:
- It is cost-effective for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
- It allows you to automate the campaign.
- It has a higher return on investment than social media.
- It lets you personalise the content.
- It generates traffic with easily accessible call-to-actions.
- It allows you to measure the success of the campaign.
- It builds brand awareness.
Need we say more? While the benefits of email marketing are manifold, you need to know how to optimally leverage the strategy to reach (and exceed) your business goals.
With this curated list of 5 leading email marketing campaigns of all time, we show you how the masters of the trade work their magic.
5 Leading Email Marketing Campaigns:
If you are a little lost on how to use email marketing to elevate your business objectives, you only have to look at the GOATs. Take a look at some great email marketing campaigns by the masters.
Zomato’s Call-to-Action
No one can beat Zomato, the food delivery app, in achieving marketing brilliance. With a multi-pronged approach, the brand deftly revolutionises email marketing by combining humour, engagement, novelty, and call-to-action. Zomato’s ‘Curryculum Vitae of Biryani’ and its collaboration with the cult-status series ‘Mirzapur’ before the release of Season 2 are a testament to its email marketing genius.
Netflix’s Engagement
As the King of all OTTs, Netflix brings the best to the marketing strategy table. With a galore of streaming options available, you are spoilt for choice. But too much choice can also be overwhelming. Netflix’s email marketing campaign gets you to your destination with minimal hassle.
Netflix doesn’t simply abandon you with a welcome email. A data-driven company like Netflix is just that friend you need to recommend a good binge-watch to “Netflix and Chill.”
Uber’s Nurturing
If you want to learn how to cut through the nonsense and get to the heart of the matter, Uber is your email marketing Yoda. The brand’s core email marketing policy is to nurture a relationship with the customer from the get-go with a welcome email to a “thank you’ email on the completion of a trip.
The key to Uber’s email marketing is simple: simplicity. They de-clutter to make the email viewing experience to the point for an audience on the go. Their promotional, transactional, informational, and referral emails are minimalistic and sectioned for the least effort.
Airbnb’s Personalisation
People want to feel seen and heard, and Airbnb makes it a point to let you know that you matter. From the moment you open the email, you are transported into an experiential world with aesthetically pleasing pictures that also offer social proof.
Airbnb’s emails are triggered by your actions on the platform. You get what you seek. They will draw up unmissable experiences for you, insider guides and hidden gems, itineraries, and emotionally-driven content that makes you plan the trip of a lifetime.
Nykaa’s Promotionals
Everybody loves a good sale, and Nykaa knows it! The Indian e-commerce platform brings its A-game to the marketing table with its email marketing strategy that aims to draw customers. With interactive emails informing you about the ‘Flamin’ Deals” during their Hot Pink Sale to calling you back to your abandoned cart, Nykaa does it all.
Curated lists and product promotions are part of what makes the platform’s strategy a winner. The bold fonts and eye-catching colours make it hard to miss their call-to-action campaigns.
Conclusion:
You may think email marketing campaigns are for technological dinosaurs but think again. The best marketers have used email marketing to build brand awareness and engage audiences for decades. It’s a tried and tested strategy and one you should hone your skills in.
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