Daily news might sound like an odd place to turn to for email marketing ideas, but it can be a gold mine of topics. For instance, a spring snowstorm that makes headlines could inspire a “snowmageddon” email promotion. From Opening Day of Major League Baseball to an upcoming election, you have a lot of options.

Alan Guinn, who helps small businesses with email marketing at The Guinn Consultancy Group, says emails that focus on current and/or unique events are a great way to boost interest.

“If you can identify unique events and tie them to your business, you’ll find that your emails command more interest and are opened more frequently,” he says.

To infuse your emails with a current event, take a look at an example. The email below uses Opening Day to invite fans to a local bar and restaurant.

To:   (Name from Email List)
From:  Jack’s Restaurant
Date:   March 31, 2014
Subject line: Hey Baseball Fan. We Bet You’re Watching Opening Day.  
Body:   It’s been a long, cold winter, baby, but today is Opening Day for baseball! And we’re betting that you’re going to be sitting there, watching the game. What more perfect time could there be for a tall, cold Moon Ray Ale? Join us at Jack’s and pop open a tall, cold, Moon Ray Ale right now. It’s a guaranteed Home Run!
We’re looking for you! C’mon down!

Subject line
The subject line is attention grabbing, right? Baseball fans gear up for Opening Day. It’s a big deal. If an email lands in your inbox that focuses on something you like, you’ll open it. Whatever event you’re trying to capitalize on, you should mention it in the subject line.

Body
The first line of the email message instantly taps a nerve for anyone dealing with the never-ending winter. It mentions Opening Day quickly and invites customers to the restaurant to watch all the action. Notice that it also mentions a specific product that’s exclusive to Joe’s Restaurant: Moon Ray Ale. So, in just a few sentences the email makes a connection to the customer and the current event, encourages customers to come to restaurant and promotes a product. Not bad, huh?

When it comes to the email message, you want to write something short and succinct like the example above. Get to the point quickly; otherwise you risk losing the customer.

Call to action
In this case, the call to action is an invitation, but you can up the ante by adding a promotion. For instance, offer customers a discount on their first round of drinks or 25% off appetizers. Who could turn down baseball and a half-priced beer?

Finding “emailable” current events might take a little practice, but once you create one or two, you’ll get the hang of it. Look for events that the majority of your customers know about, and then get your creative juices flowing. You’ll have a catchy current event email created in no time.

Need more email inspiration? No worries. We’ve got you covered. Check out this guide: 50 Unique Ideas for Your Next Email.

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© 2014, Contributing Author. All rights reserved.