What You Can Learn from Uber

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Key takeaways

• Emulate Uber’s consistency: use the same bright colours, geometric patterns and visual symmetry across emails, website, social and app so messages are instantly recognizable.
• Keep emails simple: use a clean format, one clear call to action and very short explanatory text. Uber’s welcome email explains the service in three short sentences and under 150 words.
• Leverage emotion and creativity: out‑of‑the‑box campaigns (Ice Cream, Chopper, kitten deliveries) shape a caring brand image and deepen loyalty.
• Use transactional emails as marketing real estate: receipts are opened, so include feedback prompts, referral bonuses and useful content.
• Start with three steps: consistency and simplicity first, then layer in creative stunts and transactional marketing to reinforce the brand.

Introduction

To be successful in this industry, you always need to be watching out for the next trend and way of doing email. One relatively easy way to learn about what works and what doesn’t, is to watch the biggest brands in action and take notes. Get your pen and paper ready, because we are going to hack a big brand’s email strategy. Completely innovative, Uber they took their ideas and progressively changed how we travel using paid transportation and seriously rocked the transportation industry. Out-of-the-box marketing ideas like their Uber Ice Cream program, Uber Chopper and the delivery of kittens, NFL players and Christmas trees completely sealed the deal that this company was unique. Let’s dive into their strategies.

Consistency

While their marketing campaigns are varied and one-of-a-kind, their emails are not. They are very consistent with their visual brand, always employing bright colors and geometric patterns. There is symmetry with their emails, website, social media photos and their app. This makes their emails instantly recognizable by their readers. Brand consistency is definitely Uber’s strong suit and this helps to improve brand loyalty, as readers know immediately who the emails are from.

Simplicity

Simplicity is one of Uber’s brand pillars, so of course their emails follow suit. Incredibly easy to read, with a simple format and straightforward call to action, this is what you want to emulate. When a new subscriber signs up for their emails, they send out an automated welcome email. It explains their services in three steps, which total three short sentences. This simple introduction email already has the reader realizing how easy it is to use Uber and along with that, they get tips to get started and how to keep in contact. This all happens in less than 150 words. Keeping your emails simple and streamlined like Uber’s gives your customers no excuse to respond.

Gives you that “feeling”

Uber’s creative marketing geniuses know exactly how to write engaging content. They are so good at it that not only do you want to order an Uber (even if you don’t really need one), you get all warm and mushy inside because you feel like they care about how you get places. Their Uber Ice Cream emails really show off this fact, letting you know they care that you are hot and stuck in the office working, so how about some ice cream? If that doesn’t melt your heart, you don’t need the ice cream anyway. While these might just be publicity stunts, they actually work to solidify the brand’s image as an altruistic company, only making their loyal fan base love them that much more.

Uses receipts as another marketing tool

Ingeniously, when Uber sends you a digital receipt to your email inbox, it gives them another chance to market to you and to your friends. Because it is your receipt, you will undoubtedly open this email and from there you will get:

• An opportunity to give feedback on your experience
• A referral bonus just for sharing this with your friends
• Valuable content that you will want to read

While many of the emails sent by other marketers include these great perks, they may get missed by an unopened email. Because this is a receipt, chances are you’ll open this email and then find all of these goodies inside, and if your experience was good, you’ll definitely want to share your feedback with the company and with your friends.

Learning from cool brands like Uber, who know exactly how to do email, is a step in the right direction. Consistency and simplicity are the first steps, out-of-the-box approaches are the next ones.

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