You’re ready to dive into digital marketing, and you’ve heard how important it is to build your list, get people to open the email, and actually respond to your Call to Action (CTA).
Maybe you’re ready to take a hack at it yourself, or run off to a local digital marketing agency. But first, let’s guide you on the basics so you know exactly what you’re getting — and doing. Here’s a quick story to get you started on the right foot.
Email Marketing Still Rocks
“Email marketing in 2025? Isn’t that so…2005?” I hear that a lot. But email is thriving more than ever before. Don’t want to take my word for it?
According to a report by Litmus, email marketing brings in $36 for every $1 spent. That gives you a 4,200% return on investment. No other marketing channel can even come close to competing.
Even better, you gain direct access to your target market’s inbox. No fighting the algorithms, no pay-to-play — just an intimate one-on-one.
Email is also incredibly versatile. You can leverage it for:
- Welcoming new customers
- Nurturing leads
- Announcing new products or services
- Sharing valuable content
- Re-engaging inactive customers
- And so much more!
But if it’s so amazing, why is everyone not just focusing on email marketing? That’s because everyone tried to make it work, but didn’t quite get it right. Do you want to get it right? Then let’s dive in.
Build Your Email List
We start with list building. Buying email lists? A big NO. If you made friends by paying people to hang out, how would that go? It won’t work. Honestly, that’s just sad.
Instead, focus on organic list growth. Here’s what works:
- Create a killer lead magnet that your market would want to get their hands on: An attention-grabbing and informative ebook, a webinar, a quiz, or something you think would deliver value to your target audience. For one of our clients who owns a bookstore, we created an ebook titled: “Ultimate Reading List for 2024.” Book lovers wanted their hands on it ASAP!
- Utilize pop-ups — but don’t be a nuisance: Exit-intent pop-ups are effective, and if done right, are not intrusive. The one on our bookstore site offered a 10% discount on the first purchase in exchange for an email address. It worked like a charm.
- Leverage your social media: Your followers already like you. Give them a reason to join your email list.
- Make it easy to subscribe: Put sign-up forms in multiple places on your website. Footer, sidebar, about page — make it easily accessible.
Remember, it’s not about getting as many email addresses as possible. It’s about getting the right email addresses. In email marketing, quality always trumps quantity.
The Right Email Service Provider
You have an organic, growing list of subscribers. Now you need a reliable Email Service Provider (ESP) to manage your list and send your emails. You start looking and are bombarded with big names like Mailchimp and Constant Contact, to more niche providers like ConvertKit and Drip.
Here are some factors to consider when choosing an ESP:
- Ease of use
- Automation capabilities
- Deliverability rates
- Pricing
- Integration with your other tools — your CRM, e-commerce platform, etc.
For our bookstore client, we went with Mailchimp. It was user-friendly enough for her to use on her own, had great automation features, and integrated seamlessly with her Shopify store.
Segmentation
You want to bring your A-game to your subscribers’ inbox. If you want to send relevant emails to the correct audience, so they get opened, clicked, and converted, you need segmentation. Segmentation is what takes your email marketing from “meh” to “oh yeah!”
Segmentation is about dividing your email list into smaller groups based on specific criteria such as:
- Demographics (age, location, gender, etc.)
- Purchase history
- Email engagement
- Website behavior
- And much more!
We segmented our bookstore client’s list based on genre preferences. Mystery lovers got emails about the latest thrillers. Romance readers got the love stories. Non-fiction buffs got biographies and essays.
Did that work? You mean DID THAT WORK!
Open rates went from a mediocre 15% to 35%. Click-through rates doubled.
NOTE: According to a study by Mailchimp, segmented campaigns get 14.31% more opens and 100.95% more clicks than non-segmented campaigns. If that doesn’t convince you to start segmenting, I don’t know what will!
Crafting Irresistible Subject Lines
You’ve got an organic list, it’s well-segmented now it’s time for those emails to be sent. But first — subject lines.
What a great book cover does for a book, a subject line does for your email. That’s what they see to make the decision between ‘Open it’ or ‘Trash it.’ I bet you want them to open it. So here’s how to make sure you have subject lines that get opened:
- Short and sweet: aim for 40 characters or less
- Use power words: “exclusive,” “limited time,” or “breaking” can create urgency.
- Ask a question: Make your subscribers curious.
- Use numbers: “5 Must-Read Books for Summer” is more compelling than “Summer Reading List.”
- No spammy words: “Free,” “Buy now,” “Cash” can trigger spam filters.
For the bookstore client, we saw great results with subject lines like:
- “The book that’s keeping me up at night”
- “Are you reading the wrong books?”
- “5 books to make you sound smart at dinner parties”
Creating Compelling Email Content
The best subject line in the world might get those emails opened, but if the content of your email doesn’t deliver, those emails won’t convert. Your subscribers have opened your email, and now you make sure you don’t let them down.
Your email content should be:
- Valuable: Every email should provide something of value to your subscribers.
- Scannable: Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and plenty of white space.
- Personal: Use the subscriber’s name and write as if you’re talking to one person.
- On-brand: Your emails should reflect your brand’s personality.
- Clear: Have a single, clear call-to-action (CTA) in each email.
And don’t forget about mobile optimization for those emails! According to Litmus, 42% of emails are opened on mobile devices. Make sure your emails look good on small screens.
Automation Sensation
This one gets me excited. One of my favorite aspects of email marketing: automation.
Who doesn’t want a super-efficient assistant who works 24/7 without needing a break, sending the right emails to the right people at the right time? Not me.
Some key email sequences to automate:
- Welcome series: A welcome series introduces new subscribers to your brand’s personality, and sets expectations for future emails.
- Abandoned cart: Remind shoppers about items they left in their cart. These emails recover lost sales like magic.
- Post-purchase: Thank customers for their purchase, and request feedback. This also works well for cross-selling or upselling.
- Re-engagement: Win back subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in a while.
Testing and Optimization
Your email marketing is up and running, and now it’s time to make sure you improve your emails with testing. Here’s what you should be testing:
- Subject lines: Try different lengths, tones, and styles.
- Send times: When are your subscribers most likely to open and engage with your emails?
- Email design: Test different layouts, colors, and images.
- CTAs: Experiment with button colors, placement, and copy.
A/B testing could hit gold. Send two versions of an email to small segments of your list, see which performs better, then send the winner to the rest of your list.
Key Success Metrics
You can’t improve what you’re not measuring. Here are the key metrics you should be tracking:
- Open rate: Percentage of subscribers who open your email.
- Click-through rate (CTR): Percentage of subscribers who click on a link in your email.
- Conversion rate: The percentage of subscribers who take the desired action (like making a purchase).
- Unsubscribe rate: The percentage of subscribers who opt out of your emails.
- Bounce rate: The percentage of emails that couldn’t be delivered.
Track these numbers over time to spot trends and improvements. Moreover, don’t look at these numbers in isolation.
Staying Compliant — Follow the Rules
Let’s talk about compliance — not fun, but highly important.
Email marketing laws like CAN-SPAM in the US, and GDPR in the EU, have strict rules about how you can collect and use email addresses. Some key points to remember:
- Gain explicit consent before adding someone to your list.
- Include your physical address in every email.
- Make it easy for people to unsubscribe.
- Honor unsubscribe requests promptly.
Breaking these rules can result in hefty fines and damage to your reputation. Play by the rules!
What Now?
From building an organic list to crafting valuable content, from leveraging automation to measuring success, email marketing has the power to drive real results for your business.
But here’s the thing: email marketing requires work — ongoing effort, testing, and optimization. The results? Totally worth it.