A teaser email is a marketing strategy that builds interest via curiosity. It’s the equivalent of a “coming soon” page on a website, designed to intrigue and tantalize, leaving your readers eager to learn more.
Teasers can be vague and mysterious, or they might tell you exactly what’s coming and when.
Tom Raffield takes a completely different approach, crafting their teaser in a way that encourages interactivity. This works well because humans are hardwired for curiosity. It also helps the secrecy seem fun instead of frustrating.
Source: Really Good Emails
Marketers use teasers as a sort of soft announcement. With a teaser email, you can get the word out about a potential new release without divulging too many details. You might want to do this when:
- You don’t have all the details just yet
- It’s beneficial to withhold details because your competitors are watching closely
- You want to build social media buzz
- You need to carve out a niche for your product or brand
Teasers help get the word out, but not so much word out that it makes the actual reveal old news.
How to measure the effects of teaser email campaigns
Are you releasing teasers about a potential new product or release? There are a few ways you can tell if you’re efforts are gaining interest:
1. Follow social media hype
Sign up for Google Alerts to monitor mentions of your brand and your teaser. The more hits you’re getting, the more people are talking about your teaser campaign.
2. Track your new subscribers
Use data analytics to track new subscribers who come to you through a teaser channel. If you’ve noticed an uptick in your new followers or subscribers, your campaign is working. If not, consider some A/B testing to tweak your message.
3. Pay attention to feedback about the reveal
Teaser emails and campaigns raise consumer expectations, which means your followers need a return on investment for their time and energy.
Pay close attention to public commentary once you’ve released your product. This makes teaser campaigns somewhat risky because, if you don’t live up to these expectations, you may damage your reputation by leaving your customers feeling played or duped.
Therefore, one of the strongest indicators of your campaign’s success is the final reaction. Are your fans as stoked as they were in the lead-up?
Does it really matter?
We love teasers because they provoke our natural curiosity and they work. Teasers are a fantastic way to drive traffic and interest in your upcoming product.
Some of them have even been met with wild success, such as IHOP’s burger teaser campaign. Their campaign resulted in 3,000 unique articles and 8 million impressions in a week.
What now?
We’ve shown that a clever teaser campaign can drive your brand into the social media spotlight. People love mysteries, and curiosity is one of the strongest psychological tricks to employ in marketing.
Are you thinking about launching a teaser campaign for your product or brand? Planning a teaser campaign starts in much the same way as other marketing campaigns. Through planning carefully, you can keep your audience on the edge of their seats, eager for more. Check out our guide on email campaign planning to get started with the process.