With email marketing driving ~20% of sales, it’s a powerful tool to use when launching a new product. And yet, when it’s time to introduce a new product or collection, most brands send a standard “Announcing {product_name}” product launch email with a coupon and call it a day.
While this may get you some sales, there are better ways to make your new product email campaigns convert. Let’s have a look at them below before we dive into a case study for clothing brand Everlane’s smart, multi-step product launch email campaign.
How to Introduce a New Product through Email: 9 Strategies and Examples
1. Focus on visuals
Take audio to the next level with AirPods Max.
Apple is known for its sleek product marketing and with this product launch announcing the AirPods Max, the brand stays true to its reputation. It doesn’t just list the Airpods Max’ features but also showcases them through clear and detailed images. Notice how, on top of that, every image also displays one of the five colors the Airpods Max are available in.
The copy is straight to the point and shared using an equally simple font, keeping the focus on the beautiful product.
Takeaway: using high-quality images to introduce your new product to customers is a great way to showcase features while at the same time focusing the attention of the reader on how beautifully crafted the product is.
2. Showcase your personality
The midlayer mullet
In this email, Patagonia announced their newest jacket with the subject line “The midlayer mullet”. This incites curiosity among fans of the outdoor brand because what can a hairstyle have to do with being active outside?
They open the product launch email and learn that Patagonia is releasing a brand new jacket that is warm in the front and airy in the back – just like a midlayer mullet. The rotating image of a mullet-wearing man in the new jacket adds to the lightheartedness of the product announcement.
Aside from the funny copy, Patagonia’s product launch announcement email is strong because it focuses on a recognizable problem: when you get active outside, you can get warm and sweaty, and then when you stop for a break, that sweat cools you off and you get cold. The new jacket is made to fix this issue.
Takeaway: Announcing a new (technical) product doesn’t need to be a dull business. Patagonia created an approachable product launch email campaign with its tongue-in-cheek copy and creative.
3. Turn Your Email Into a Magazine Spread
Introducing: CHINO by Anthropologie.
Anthropologie’s product introduction email of the Chino has magazine-like qualities to it. The brand leverages beautiful email design with artsy image filters to showcase its new line. The product descriptions are formatted like image captions and personality is added to each piece through the copy in brackets.
Finally, the photos used could be taken straight out of real life. They show the new Chino line the way it would look on you when you’re out and about, making it easy for subscribers to imagine they’re already wearing the collection.
Takeaway: Turn your email into a magazine-style feature with images that allow subscribers to envision themselves using your products.
4. Make them dream
“Our dogs deserve the best, and this is it.”
Peloton is great at showcasing their products right where their customers use them: at home. Instead of using photos that could just as well go on a billboard, the fitness brand creates images that could come straight from your living room. Each of the images represents a feature of the new Peloton Tread, making it easy for the recipient of this product launch announcement email to imagine using the Peloton themselves.
Takeaway: Sometimes, the most effective photos aren’t the sleekest or stylized, but the ones that your customers can most see themselves in.
5. Offer exclusive early access
Early Access To Coach Reserve, Just For Insiders
If you have a loyalty program, offering your members early access to new products is a great way to not only make them feel special but also to incentivize them to shop. Coach Outlet has an “Insider” loyalty program and their email subject line instantly makes it clear that Insiders get early access to a special new collection.
They enhance this sentiment of exclusivity in the copy, which asks the recipient to “be the first to shop”. On top of that, Coach adds an element of scarcity by mentioning there are only limited quantities available of this new product line.
Note that this product launch announcement email wasn’t just sent to Insiders. It also went to “regular” subscribers, showing them what they’re missing out on by not being a member. Luckily, membership is only a click of a button away and thus this email announcement serves a double purpose: it promotes the new collection as well as the Coach loyalty program.
Takeaway: Offer subscribers or loyalty program members early access to new products and collections to strengthen your bond with them while encouraging them to “be the first”.
6. Show, don’t tell
Back for a limited-time only...
When dental care brand Quip brought back their pink toothbrush for a limited time only, their subject line copy mentioned that urgency aspect, but their email copy only showed it with a simple animation of a dripping ice popsicle. In combination with the email subject line, the image is clear: if the recipient wants a flamingo pink toothbrush, they better order it fast.
Takeaway: You don’t always need many words to get a message across. A simple, well-chosen animation can do the trick just as well, if not better.
7. Highlight collaboration
Celebrities sell, which means that producing a product in collaboration with someone who’s loved among your customers is a great way to give that product a boost. It’s definitely the hardest product launch email tactic on this list as it involves including another party in the production and marketing process. However, if you have the resources to do so, a collaboration can skyrocket sales and open the doors to a continued partnership.
Available now: Pharrell Premium Basics
A good example of a collaboration like that is the one between singer-songwriter and producer Pharrell Williams and Adidas. The two launched a first sneaker collection together in 2014 and have been creating Adidas collections ever since.
The product launch email above stands out because of its simplicity. Two images, the name of the collection, a single sentence, and a call-to-action. That’s all there is to this, but for Adidas, it works because it knows they have fans that’ll buy anything they create together with Pharrell.
Takeaway: Collaborate with another brand or an influencer you know your audience loves (this part is important) to give your upcoming product or collection an extra boost.
8. Convince with research
“Our dogs deserve the best, and this is it.”
Mentioning that your products are based on actual user testing and scientific research can help build trust. Mattress brand Casper uses that technique in this product announcement email and gives it a funny spin to promote its dog mattress. The brand conducted “extensive dog-centered research” to create a mattress that is “dog tested & approved”.
On top of that, Casper features photos and testimonials of dog customers, adding social proof to their claims. Plus, photos of cute animals rarely hurt a marketing campaign.
Takeaway: Pure scientific facts and research results can be a little boring, but present them in a creative way and they’ll help build trust in your product.
9. Create anticipation
There is pleasure in anticipation, literally. When we positively anticipate something, the chemical dopamine is released, making us feel excited and oftentimes more motivated. That’s not a bad state for a subscriber to be in the moment you launch a new product.
Fashion brand Everlane knows that as well. Below, we’ll break down how they launched a new jacket by building up anticipation over the course of a longer product introduction email campaign.
Product Launch Email Campaign: Everlane Case Study
Everlane introduced their Renew puffer jacket with five launch announcement emails over the course of one week. But, before diving into the specific announcement emails, let’s take a look at their product launch calendar:
Let’s now analyze the formula they followed for this product release.
Step 1: Build anticipation
In 7 Days: ReNew
This teaser email’s subject line incites curiosity, making the recipient open it to find out what it’s all about. Next, the animated GIF does a phenomenal job at building anticipation while making a pointed statement that elevates the brand. In this case, the “learn more” call-to-action is a great fit as it lets the recipient take action to satisfy their curiosity.
Step 2: Letter from the CEO
It's Time To ReNew
Continuing on the mission-first momentum we saw in the previous email, Everlane sent a well-crafted second email as coming from the CEO. Notice how this email does not come across as salesly.
The team did an amazing job of giving readers a clear next step with the “See the story” button at the bottom of the email. The button is prominent yet out of the way.
Also, have you noticed something odd? We have yet to see how this new product looks — something very unusual in the world of fashion emails. (But don’t worry, this is all part of the plan!)
Step 3: Reveal the product
In 2 Days: ReNew
Here’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: We get to see the product, at last. Powerful yet not overly commercial, notice how Everlane keeps reiterating the brand’s value proposition. This is more than a puffer jacket, this is a statement piece!
Extra points for the “Preview the collection” CTA. Notice that we are three announcement emails in and they still haven’t asked us to buy anything yet.
Double extra points for the “In New York?” section at the bottom. This product release was combined with a pop-up store experience in New York. More about this in the next email.
Step 4: Take the conversation offline
Experience ReNew IRL
In the previous email, we received a sneak peek of Everlane’s concept space in Soho, New York. This email is all about driving foot traffic to the venue. It’s a fantastic way to engage readers in a personal, non-digital way.
Step 5: Close the sale
The Wait Is Over: ReNew
This is it, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: The Renew jacket is now available for sale. Notice how this product announcement email remains simple, to the point, and totally on-brand.
The Wait Is Over: ReNew
What’s more, Everlane even took the trouble of segmenting their list between males and females to ensure the product launch image is as relevant as possible.
Takeaway: Build anticipation to get your subscribers invested, then take them through a captivating brand narrative introducing the new product.
Spend the Same Effort Marketing as Making Your Products
A lot goes into producing and launching a product. It would be a shame to then have it met by silence. Use the tactics outlined in this post to build anticipation, engage your subscribers, and make them take action.
Need more inspiration? Sign up for a free MailCharts account today and get access to 100s of product introduction email examples from top eCommerce brands.
