What Is Email Marketing?
Email marketing leverages email as a tool to promote products, services, and brand initiatives while fostering customer loyalty. One of the most widely used and impactful marketing strategies, email is one of the most powerful owned channels that businesses use to stay top-of-mind with their audience while driving engagement and sales.
At its core, successful email marketing is about sending the right message to the right person at the right time. Whether it’s a welcome series for new subscribers, a product announcement, or a monthly newsletter, email marketing allows brands to build relationships, nurture leads, and drive conversions.
The process typically begins with growing an email list of subscribers, often collected through sign-up forms, landing pages, or gated content on your website, mobile app, or at in-person events. Emails are then segmented, personalized, and scheduled using your chosen Email Service Provider (like Klaviyo, Iterable, or Mailchimp) to meet the needs of specific audience groups, all while being tracked for performance using analytics tools.
Benefits of Email Marketing
Email marketing is a powerhouse of digital marketing for several reasons:
Cost-Effective: Compared to paid advertising or direct mail, email marketing is budget-friendly. Platforms often charge based on subscriber count or email volume, making it accessible for businesses of all sizes.
Targeted Communication: With segmentation and personalization, you can tailor your messaging to specific audience groups, increasing relevance and engagement.
High ROI: According to industry benchmarks, email marketing can deliver an ROI of up to $42 for every $1 spent.
Ownership of Audience: Unlike social media platforms, which can change algorithms or policies, your email list is yours to control.
Versatile: Whether you’re aiming to educate, convert, or retain customers, email marketing offers diverse formats—newsletters, transactional emails, promotional offers, and more.
Measurable: Advanced analytics tools make it easy to track open rates, click-through rates, and conversions, allowing you to fine-tune campaigns using proprietary data.
Disadvantages of Email Marketing
While effective, email marketing isn’t without its challenges:
Spam Concerns: Without proper permissions, your emails could land in spam folders, damaging your sender reputation and leading your program to be less effective.
Overload: Audiences are bombarded with emails daily. Breaking through the noise requires exceptional content and strategy.
Regulations: Compliance with laws like GDPR and CAN-SPAM adds complexity to email marketing campaigns.
Time-Intensive: Creating well-designed, personalized campaigns can be resource-intensive, especially for small teams.
Churn: It’s natural for some subscribers to unsubscribe or stop engaging, requiring constant list maintenance and growth efforts to help maintain engagement and prevent deliverability issues.
Examples of Email Marketing
Email marketing generally encompasses two main categories, campaigns and automations, each serving specific business objectives:
Welcome Emails Automations: A friendly introduction when someone joins your list.
Promotional Campaigns: Discount codes, holiday sales, or special offers to boost sales.
Newsletters: Regular campaign-based updates that provide value, build relationships, and keep your audience informed.
Transactional Email Automations: Receipts, shipping notifications, or account updates.
Re-Engagement Campaigns: Win back inactive subscribers with enticing content or offers.
FAQs About EMAIL MARKETING
1. How often should I email my list?
Consistency is key. Many brands find success with weekly or biweekly emails, but the right cadence depends on your audience’s preferences.
2. Do I need fancy design tools?
No! Many platforms offer easy drag-and-drop templates, but the real value lies in clear, compelling content.
3. What’s the difference between a newsletter and a campaign?
A newsletter is ongoing and recurring, while a campaign is a one-time email or series with a specific goal.
4. How can I grow my email list?
Offer value in exchange for sign-ups—think lead magnets like eBooks, webinars, or exclusive discounts.
Pro Tips for Email Marketing Success
Do Personalize: Use dynamic fields like the recipient’s name or recent activity to create a connection
Don’t Overwhelm: Too many emails can lead to unsubscribes or worse—spam complaints and deliverability issues
Do Test: Experiment with subject lines, send times, and CTAs to optimize performance
Don’t Forget Mobile: Ensure your emails are mobile-friendly, as over half of emails are opened on smartphones
Do Segment: The more you tailor your messaging, the more likely it is to resonate
Alternatives to Email Marketing
While email is a vital channel, there are other ways to connect with your audience:
Social Media Marketing: Platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok allow for real-time interaction with audiences but are often as (if not more) competitive than email marketing. Paid social media also comes with exponentially greater costs than an owned channel like email.
SMS Marketing: Text messages boast high open rates and are effective for urgent communications. Integrating your email and SMS programs is essential to maximizing your reach while also nurturing high-value audiences with a more cost-effective ROI compared to non-owned channels.
Content Marketing: Blogs, videos, and infographics attract and nurture audiences organically. While these tools can be very low-cost, they often require extensive resources to create and maintain, and may take awhile to ramp up compared to channels like email that are more turn-key.
Push Notifications: A quick way to engage app users or website visitors. Similar to email and SMS, push is a great way to quickly and cheaply target and engage owned audiences. The biggest barrier to entry is often convincing a user to download an app, and gaining consent to deliver push notifications.
Direct Mail: A unique and effective way to deliver something more tangible to your existing and prospective audiences. Direct mail has become less saturated than in previous decades, and its biggest downsides include high cost and difficult ROI measurement compared to channels like email marketing.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Email marketing remains one of the most powerful tools in a marketer’s toolkit, offering unmatched versatility, ownership, cost-effectiveness, and ROI. No matter your industry or business objectives, mastering the art and science of email marketing can elevate your communication and engagement strategies above the competition.
If you’re ready to take your email marketing to the next level, Newly Marketing can help. We’ll support you in creating a robust email marketing program, including best-in-class email templates, highly segmented campaigns, complex, multi-faceted flows, and more. Reach out today!
About the Author
Lily Newman is the Founder & Principal of Newly Marketing, a digital marketing consultancy specializing in lifecycle and retention marketing for DTC, E-Commerce, Retail, and CPG brands. From integrated marketing strategy to campaign production, email marketing operations to performance measurement, we offer the expertise and leadership your business needs to build a world-class digital marketing program.
