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Creating a Lead Nurturing Email Sequence: Top Tips & Templates
13 Lead Nurturing Email Templates To Give You Inspiration
Nicola Vaughan
March 14th, 2025
If you’re trying to improve conversions on your website, you may have heard of lead nurturing emails.
Lead nurturing email templates consist of a sequence of emails that build trust with your audience, ultimately driving users down a conversion/sales funnel.
There are different types of lead nurturing emails such as promotional emails or follow-up templates, but all are designed to build connections with subscribers and encourage them to engage/convert.
In this guide, we’ll discuss different types of lead nurturing emails, best practices for creating email sequences, plus 13 example templates to inspire you.
Table of Contents
Understanding Lead Nurturing and Its Importance
The first step in creating effective lead nurturing email templates is to understand what lead nurturing is and why it’s so important.
Let’s take a deep dive into this topic to give you a better understanding and ensure that you can hit the ground running with your lead nurturing strategy.
What Is Lead Nurturing?
Lead nurturing is the art of building a connection with a subscriber to encourage them towards a sale/conversion goal.
The idea behind lead nurturing is to cultivate a lead that may not be ready to convert and over time give them the information and incentive they may need to result in a conversion (e.g., make a purchase).
This process is key for creating a successful sales funnel and producing a clear, positive customer journey that will improve conversion rate.
The Role of Email Templates in Lead Nurturing
There are many benefits to using email templates for lead nurturing.
Some of these benefits are listed below:
Consistency: Email templates provide you with a consistent format that you can replicate again and again. Important branding elements such as logos, banners, and colors can be kept the same to ensure that every email you send is consistent and professional.
Efficiency: A useful aspect of email templates is efficiency. By using a consistent email template, you can ensure that emails are created quickly without the need to start fresh every time.
Measurability: Measuring your campaigns is made much easier when using an email template. You can make small changes to see how different templates compare and re-create elements that you know perform well.
Personalization: Email templates can simplify personalization by including first name fields as standard, rather than requiring employees to implement personalization techniques time and time again.
Types of Lead Nurturing Emails
There are many different types of lead nurturing emails, each with a different technique for driving subscribers toward a conversion funnel.
Here are the top types of lead nurturing emails to start your campaigns.
Welcome Emails for New Leads
A strong welcome series is the first email sequence you should consider when it comes to lead nurturing. Making a strong first impression with new subscribers is so important, with the average person receiving around 120 emails per day (Email List Verify).
A welcome email should thank your new subscribers for engaging with your brand and tell them a bit more about you and what they should expect to receive from your brand.
You should also include a soft Call to Action (CTA) within a welcome email to give users the option of engaging with your brand further. It’s important to not lay this on too thick initially -- after all, you’ll never get a second chance at a first impression, so go softly-softly. There will be plenty of opportunities to target subscribers with CTAs as you guide them along the sales funnel.
Educational and Informative Emails
Emails that inform your user of your product and service are super effective when it comes to lead nurturing.
Subscribers need relevant, informative content to convert.
Try sending a couple of emails to subscribers that provide tips, tricks, and useful information. This may be just what your audience needs to fully understand your brand and take the next step in the conversion process.
Product or Service Updates
Keep potential leads informed about new features or improvements with regular product or service updates.
This type of email template can remind subscribers of a product that they may be looking at and provide a reason why they should take the plunge.
For example, if your make-up brand has been updated to include cruelty-free products, your subscribers will want to know about this.
Product updates can remove stumbling blocks in the sales funnel and remind users why they should continue using your brand.
Promotional and Discount Offers
A great promotional email template can be gold dust in a lead nurturing campaign.
Subscribers often need an incentive to get them over the line when it comes to conversion, and a strong promo/discount offer can be just the ticket.
Using a time-sensitive, exclusive offer can increase engagement and get your conversions moving in the right direction.
Make sure to use a strong CTA and direct users toward a relevant landing page for best results.
Re-Engagement and Follow-Up Emails
All brands have a collection of inactive subscribers that could be potential leads.
A re-engagement campaign can be a great way of encouraging these leads to result in a conversion. They already know your brand and may just need reminding why they subscribed in the first place.
A personal follow-up email to re-ignite your relationship can be highly successful, or you could try targeting users who have abandoned their shopping cart without making a purchase.
These leads are known as ‘low-hanging fruit’ in the marketing world, as they have already started on the sales journey but may just need a gentle nudge in the right direction to lead to a conversion.
Best Practices for Crafting Lead Nurturing Email Templates
There are a few best practices that you should maintain when crafting successful lead nurturing email templates.
Personalization, engaging subject lines, and valuable content are all integral for lead nurturing. Check out the sections below to get these best practices right when creating your email sequences.
Personalization and Segmentation
It’s super important to tailor your content to specific segments of your audience when creating a lead nurturing sequence. This will allow you to show the most relevant content to subscribers, heightening engagement rates and increasing your chances of conversion.
It’s easy to send a blanket email to your audience with broad information, but creating relevant content that is personal to specific audience segments will show that you know your audience and want to show them content that they want to see.
An example of great personalization and segmentation within a lead nurturing campaign would be taking a small section of subscribers who have shown interest in a specific product and sending them a discount code for said product.
You could include subscribers’ first names within the subject line to make your email sequence more personalized and send a follow-up email to users who engage.
Creating Engaging Subject Lines
A compelling subject line can be the be-all and end-all of a successful lead nurturing campaign. Without strong subject lines, you can forget about high open rates, let alone conversion rates.
Here are some tips for writing subject lines that grab attention and entice opens:
Keep it short and sweet: Statistics from beehiiv data suggest that email subject lines with 0-20 characters provide the highest open rates, and the open rate decreases as the character count increases. If you can create a great subject in just a few words, this will be much more effective than a lengthy subject line that may not even appear on all devices.
Add personalization: Personalizing a subject line can increase open rates by 50% (Marketing Dive), making this a must for lead nurturing email sequences. You can include a subscriber’s first name in a subject line or track user behavior to include a user’s favorite product.
Test, test, test: You can never do enough testing when it comes to subject lines. Some techniques will produce better results than others. Try setting up an A/B Test to determine which subject lines come up top trumps.
Avoid spam words: Certain spam words when used in a subject line can result in a one-way ticket to the spam folder. It’s best to avoid these if possible to maintain and improve open rates. These include words such as ‘free,’ ‘urgent,’ ‘bonus,’ and ‘cash.’ Here’s a full list for more info.
Providing Valuable Content
A key tip for lead nurturing that may sound incredibly obvious is valuable content.
You may be thinking that you’d never provide content that isn’t useful to your subscribers; but remember that users will receive many emails every day, and only the most valuable content will stand out.
Think about pain points that your subscribers may have that are preventing them from taking that last step in the conversion process.
Is there content you can provide that will help or even address a need that a subscriber may have?
This type of content is integral in nurturing a lead, rather than providing broad content that isn’t specific or truly valuable to your audience.
Examples of Effective Lead Nurturing Email Templates
Let’s get to the nitty gritty.
Here are 13 examples of effective lead nurturing templates to give you some inspiration. We’ve included info on the key points we like about each template and a range of templates suitable for various stages in the customer journey, from initial awareness to final decision.
Templates for Different Stages of the Customer Journey
Welcome Email
A strong welcome email can set a great impression of your brand and even lead to a conversion from the start.
This email template from appliances brand AO explicitly thanked me for signing up and provided a discount code from the start.
Not only did I feel valued as a potential customer after receiving this email, but receiving a discount code will make me more likely to engage with this brand moving forward than starting the process from scratch with a different company.
Informative Email
Informative, educational emails may not seem that compelling when it comes to conversion, but they’re integral in a conversion funnel for giving subscribers relevant information upon which to make their decision.
This example template from the running app Strava shows information from the running community, including interviews with an athlete and a case study of an amputee runner.
As a Strava subscriber, this information is interesting to me and builds my connection with the brand because they are providing relevant information.
Product Update
A brand that is great at providing product update emails is Shopify.
The example below shows an email template where Shopify gives links to updates on their Editions.dev, an annual event for their developers, as well as information on updates for pricing and billing.
These updates allow Shopify users to better use their products and services, encouraging them to stick with the brand and continue to buy their product.
Promotional Email
A strong promotional email can be a powerful email template in a lead nurturing sequence. A discount or promotion can give a subscriber a reason to convert and can be integral in leading to the end of the sales funnel.
This example from merch site Redbubble has a strong infographic advertising their 40% off ‘Anti-Valentines’ sale, including some examples of products on sale and a strong ‘Shop Anti-Valentine’s Gifts’ CTA.
Redbubble has considered its audience with this email and has created strong content, giving users a generous discount, appealing imagery, and a direct conversion link.
Abandoned Shopping Cart
With the conversion rate of abandoned shopping cart emails sitting at more than 10% (Campaign Monitor), these re-engagement email templates are a must in your lead nurturing sequence.
I love this one from the sneaker brand Thousand Fell. Not only have they sent a reminder of a product that’s been abandoned in the shopping cart, but they’ve also provided a 20% discount code.
This email gives the user a final push to complete their transaction, as well as a direct link to Thousand Fell’s website with the basket already filled.
The template also includes some soft reminders that their products include free shipping and are 100% recyclable, reinforcing why the user may have chosen their brand in the first place.
Case Study
Using a case study as an email template can show your leads how much you value your customers and their stories. This can be a key element in a sales funnel, giving users a reason to become a customer themselves.
This case study email by Visme shows how the Florida Panthers used their services to make their brand more efficient, saving time and improving their content workflow.
This email clearly shows how Visme has enabled the Florida Panthers to win new clients, displaying how other Visme customers could gain success while showing their pride in their customer base.
Customer Review
I love a good customer review email. It always shows me that a brand is passionate about what its customers think, and I’m more likely to listen to positive feedback from an external source than the information the brand wants to put out there.
Here’s a great example from mortgage provider Better. They’ve used a relatable story about real homebuyers, helping users put themselves in the shoes of these customers and see how Better can help them buy their dream home.
Personalized Email
Personalized email templates have a great track record when it comes to lead nurturing.
I know that when I received the below template from Bandsintown, the phrasing ‘Your Weekly Upcoming Events’ felt personal to me, giving me specific recommendations for bands that are playing in nearby locations. They even included direct links to tickets, so that it’s easy for me to make a purchase.
This type of email template is very useful in ensuring that subscribers feel connected to your brand, making them more likely to convert in the future.
Downloadable Content
If your brand offers downloadable content such as e-books, whitepapers, or resources, make sure to use a template similar to the one below.
This email from Free-Ebooks.net is simple and to the point, giving a direct link to downloadable content via the ‘Show me the books’ CTA.
The email has highlighted words such as ‘instantly’ to demonstrate how quickly you can access content, as well as signing off the email from ‘Your friends at Free-ebooks.net,’ giving a personalized hint at the end of the template.
Comparison Email
A comparison email template can help users distinguish a brand from the competition.
This example from chocolate brand Mode is very clever, as they show how many grams of sugar their product contains in comparison to top brands such as Cadbury, Hershey’s, and Lindt.
This email shows awareness that Mode’s subscribers will recognize these big competitor brands, but may not realize how much sugar their competitors’ products may contain. It easily sets Mode apart from these brands and includes a strong CTA of ‘Get Yours’ underneath the comparison table to increase conversion.
Newsletter Email
An informative newsletter email shouldn’t be disregarded in a lead nurturing campaign. Subscribers may have signed up to your newsletter specifically and want information on your brand before engaging in a sales funnel.
I’m subscribed to the domain provider Namecheap’s newsletter, and I enjoy receiving their reports such as the one included in the template below.
This email has a link to their Domain Trends Report 2024, as well as a sneak peek of the top 8 domains, which encourages me to read the full report via their website/download link.
This type of content reassures me that they are top of their field in the domains industry and aren’t just sending me promotional emails -- they care about the content, too.
Confirmation Email
This confirmation email from skincare brand Skin Rocks by Caroline Hirons is one of the best I’ve received lately in terms of confirmation email templates.
Confirmation emails may come after a purchase, but they’re super important in keeping that customer happy and engaged before they’ve received their product.
Skin Rocks has included an appealing image of their product range, along with a strong title thanking me for my purchase.
I also love that they’ve addressed me by my first name and have congratulated me on my purchase before giving me extra reassurance that my product will soon be shipped.
We Miss You Email
Lastly, we have a re-engagement email template in the ‘We Miss You!’ category.
These emails have a great track record for conversion, reminding users that a brand exists if you’ve been an inactive subscriber.
Gifting company Letterfest has done this well in the example below. They’ve italicized ‘you,’ emphasizing me as a customer and have addressed me by my first name.
By including a discount code, Letterfest has given me an incentive to re-engage with their brand, but I only have 3 days to use it, giving me a little bit of pressure to interact sooner rather than later.
Why Listen to Me? I have been working in the digital marketing space for nearly 10 years, predominantly helping brands with their email marketing and online presence. I now specialize in creating great content for beehiiv to help people nail their email strategies!
Analysis of High-Converting Email Elements
Here are some key elements of high-converting email templates that I’d like to bring to your attention, based on the above examples:
Content: You’ll notice that all of the above examples offer relevant content in the form of high-quality infographics and easy-to-read text. It’s super important to ensure that you use a good balance of text and white space when producing content for email sequences and ensure that copy is clear and easy to read.
Design: Each of the templates used in the section above is well designed with appealing imagery and clear branding. Each was also responsive on different devices, showing correctly on both a laptop and mobile phone.
CTAs: Prominent CTAs are a common factor in high-converting email templates. Without a strong conversion link, an email is unlikely to convert as users won’t have anywhere to go after reading an email. Some of the best CTAs from the examples above include buttons with compelling text such as ‘Get Yours’ and ‘Use Code.’
Tips for Customizing Templates
There are many ways that you can customize email templates to better fit your specific brand voice and goals.
You can focus on customizing branding by including your brand’s colors, fonts, and typefaces to personalize your email template.
Using a consistent header and footer will make your template ooze professionalism, while making your template easy and efficient to edit.
You should also choose an email platform that you’re comfortable using and that provides you with everything you need to build a great, customizable template. The beehiiv system, for example, gives you a range of elements to play with when building out a template, such as:
Columns
Headings
Code blocks
Bullet lists
Images
Polls
CTAs
Referral programs
Recommendations
Measuring the Success of Lead Nurturing Emails
Analyzing results from any email campaign is crucial in understanding what elements are performing well and what could be improved.
In the next few sections, we’ll discuss how to measure the success of your lead nurturing emails, from key metrics to track to A/B testing and leveraging analytics.
Key Metrics To Track
Tracking key metrics will tell you a lot about your campaign, from how users are engaging with it to where you may be losing subscribers.
Here are some key metrics that you should track when measuring your email campaigns:
Open rates: The percentage of users that open one of your emails after receiving it in their inbox
Click-through rates: The percentage of people that click on a link in your emails
Conversion rates: The percentage of users that complete a conversion from an email (e.g., making a purchase on your website)
Unsubscribe rates: The percentage of users that unsubscribe after receiving a specific email
Engagement score: The average amount of time a user spends engaging with your email
For more info on metrics you should track with your email campaigns, check out this beehiiv blog!
A/B Testing for Continuous Improvement
A/B testing is a point I touched on earlier in this guide, but I can’t emphasize enough how helpful this can be for optimizing email performance.
I’ve found A/B testing so useful in determining which elements of my email campaigns perform best. It can be used to test out different subject lines, for example, to see which provides the better open rates or which CTAs provide the best click-through rates.
The process involves setting up very similar tests with small differing factors, allowing you to distinguish which test produces the best results and which elements to prioritize moving forward – a must for continually improving your lead nurturing emails!
Leveraging Analytics for Insights
An advanced Analytics Dashboard is integral for measuring your lead nurturing email sequences.
You’ll want to use a system like beehiiv’s 3D Analytics, which allows you to use data and analytics to refine and improve your lead nurturing strategies.
For example, 3D Analytics allows creators to track data by Posts and Subscribers specifically, informing strategic decisions about content in a visual, easy-to-understand way. You can even track ROI from specific acquisition channels, allowing users to see how well each marketing platform is performing.
Without a strong analytics platform, it’s impossible to analyze data from your campaigns and make strategic decisions moving forward.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you’ve found this piece helpful, and you’re raring to go with your own lead nurturing email campaign!
To summarize:
Understand best practices for lead nurturing such as customization, compelling subject lines, and valuable content.
Use and customize different types of email templates to create a range of sequences specific to your audience.
Measure your campaigns using an advanced analytics dashboard to understand what works and what can be improved.
If you’re keen to get started, set up a free, 30-day trial with beehiiv today! You can make the most of beehiiv’s automations, 3D Analytics, and A/B testing for free to see how they work for your brand.
You won’t need a credit card to get started, and you’ll have live support from the beehiiv team whenever you need it.
Get started today. We can’t wait to hear about your first lead nurturing email sequence!
Google’s People Also Ask Questions
How to write lead nurturing emails?
Lead nurturing emails can be written in numerous ways. Here are some different types of lead nurturing emails:
Welcome Emails: A welcome series is a great way to build a great first impression with your audience and prepare them for what they can expect from your brand.
Informative Emails: Give your subscribers information about your brand to make them feel like a part of your journey and keep them informed about what you’re offering.
Product Update Emails: Keep your audience invested in your products by updating them on your products/services.
Promotional Emails: A strong promotional email can be highly successful in nurturing a lead, giving them a reason to engage and convert.
Re-Engagement Emails: Abandoned shopping cart or ‘We miss you!’ emails are a great way of re-engaging inactive subscribers.
When writing a lead nurturing email of any type, it’s important to personalize it to build a connection with your subscribers.
You should also consider timing and segmentation and include a strong CTA within a lead nurturing email.
What is the nurture email format?
The format of a nurture email will typically include a strong subject line, followed by content that is persuasive and engages with your subscriber on a particular topic such as products or a promotion, for example.
All nurture emails should close with a prominent CTA that drives subscribers down a specific route that you want them to follow. This could be data capture or completing a transaction on your website.
How do I create an email nurture sequence?
An email nurture sequence can either be created manually or via automation.
If you’re creating a sequence manually, you’ll need to create each email you wish to send and schedule these to go out accordingly.
You can set up automation for email nurture sequences in beehiiv, making the process quick and easy.
You’ll find automation in the ‘write’ section of your beehiiv dashboard. Click ‘Create Automation’ to start building your email sequence!
How do you write a lead generation email?
The best way to write a lead generation email is by curating persuasive content that connects your subscribers to your brand, followed by a clear CTA directing them to an area where they can convert.
Your CTA should be compelling, making it as easy as possible for your subscriber to convert within a couple of clicks.
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