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What is Email Marketing? Maximizing the Effectiveness of Your Email Marketing Strategy

Updated: Feb 20, 2023

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is using email to promote products or services to a group of people. This can include sending newsletters, special promotions, or targeted messages to specific mailing list segments. Email marketing typically aims to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales. It is an effective and cost-efficient way to reach and engage customers and prospects.

What are the benefits of email?

Email is a fast, efficient, and cost-effective way to reach potential customers and retain existing customers by encouraging repeat visits to your site. It provides the means to effectively nurture leads and convert them into paying customers. It is also easy to set up and track an email marketing campaign, making it accessible to small businesses.

Additionally, emails can be targeted to particular groups or individuals, allowing for personalization and the opportunity to build customer relationships. One of the major benefits of email is its scalability, meaning that emails can be sent to many recipients for a relatively low cost. Furthermore, email is an ever-present part of people’s lives and an accepted form of marketing and communication, so you have a better chance of having your emails seen and read.

How does email marketing work?

Email marketing is an effective digital marketing strategy to reach potential customers and promote products or services. It is based on the idea of sending emails to build relationships with the recipients and is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to quickly and efficiently reach a large audience. A few key steps should be followed when developing an email marketing strategy to ensure success.

First, it is important to segment your audience and send relevant content. Segmenting your audience allows you to create highly targeted campaigns that cater to the needs of each group. For example, if a company sells air conditioning units to both homes and offices, it should create separate campaigns for the two groups. Additionally, the company should consider where the customer is in the buyer’s journey and create customized messages based on the customer’s needs.

The second step is to automate processes. Automating email marketing processes allows you to send emails at the optimal time for converting customers while reducing the amount of manual work needed. By setting up triggers, you can ensure that the process is efficient and effective.

The third step is to track and change what isn’t working. Many email marketing solutions provide analytics you can use to optimize your campaigns. If you notice that one email has a lower-than-average open rate, you can change the subject line or the time you send the email. Similarly, if an email has a poor click-through rate, you can move the offer further up the email or alter the call-to-action. A/B testing is a useful tool to improve the efficiency of your email.

Finally, it is important to avoid spamming your list. Sending frequent emails about your product can be perceived as spammy and can cause your subscribers to unsubscribe. It is best to send valuable and relevant material to your customers and their needs.

Email marketing can be used with other marketing efforts, such as social media marketing. You can cross-promote your social media profiles on emails with buttons that request that your email subscribers follow you. You can also use your social media profiles to collect an email list for your campaigns. Additionally, email marketing can be used in conjunction with remarketing campaigns.

Following these steps, you can effectively use email marketing to reach and engage potential customers.

The best time to send email marketing messages

1. The morning

The morning is a great time to send marketing emails because it is when many people first check their inboxes. Research shows that people check their inboxes more frequently in the morning than at any other time. If you send your email marketing messages in the morning, they will be at the top of your subscribers’ inboxes and more likely to be opened and read.

Additionally, research suggests that Tuesdays and Thursdays in the mornings around 10:00 AM or afternoons around 2:00 PM are the best days for email marketing, as many people are checking their emails at these times. Furthermore, Send Time Optimization technology offered by some email marketing services can help to identify the best time for each contact based on previous engagement data. Therefore, sending emails in the morning can be a great way to ensure that your messages are seen and read by the highest number of people.

2. At lunchtime

Lunchtime is an ideal time to send marketing messages, as it is when most people check their emails. During the morning, when people get to work, and after lunch, when they return from their break, many people check their emails. Therefore, sending an email marketing message at around 10 AM or 2 PM on Tuesday or Thursday, when people are likely to be checking their emails, can lead to higher open rates. Additionally, Sendinblue Premium users have access to Send Time Optimization, which allows them to select the best time for each contact based on their engagement data. This helps further ensure that email marketing messages reach the right people at the right time, leading to better performance and improved marketing results.

3. In the evening

The evening is a great time to send email marketing messages because many people check their emails one last time before bed. This gives your email a chance to be seen at the top of the inbox, increasing the chances of it being read and acted upon. Additionally, many people are more likely to have more leisure time in the evenings, meaning they may have more time to respond to your email.

Finally, evening emails can also be beneficial for businesses that have customers all over the world. By emailing in the evening, businesses can ensure that customers receive their messages conveniently in various time zones.

Overall, sending out email marketing messages in the evening can be a great way to maximize the reach of your message and increase the chances of your email being seen and acted upon.

4. On weekends

Sending email marketing messages on weekends can benefit businesses if their target audience is active over the weekends. According to research, emails sent on Saturday, and Sunday get higher open rates than those sent throughout the week. This is because there is less competition in the inbox, and subscribers are more likely to open an email when they have more free time on the weekends. Additionally, with Send Time Optimization, Premium users of Sendinblue can select the best time for each contact based on previous engagement data. This way, businesses can ensure their messages are sent at the right time to maximize the chances of engagement with their target audience.

5. Just after a big announcement

Just after a big announcement, when should you send email marketing messages? Spatial information can help marketers create urgency – such as when sending a Mother's Day gift reminder before Preferred Shipping ends. A well-timed email message can help boost the chances of customers taking action since it provides a sense of urgency that encourages them to act now. Additionally, marketers can tailor their messages to specific areas using spatial information. This can help personalize their emails and make leads more likely to click on their call-to-action.

6. Just before a big announcement

When it comes to email marketing, timing is key. Just before a big announcement is the perfect time to strategically send emails, as it creates a sense of urgency. For example, UncommonGoods sent an email before Mother's Day, reminding shoppers that they should buy their gifts before the deadline for Preferred Shipping. This created an urgency, as people didn't want to miss out on the faster delivery of their gifts.

We can learn from this example that sending emails just before big announcements is an effective way to increase conversions and encourage customers to act quickly. To ensure that your emails are sent at the most effective time, you should keep an eye on upcoming sales and deals and plan to send your emails a few days in advance. Additionally, make sure to craft emails focusing on the value of acting now, as this can help create a sense of urgency and encourage people to take action.

7. When you have something valuable to give away

The best time to send email marketing messages with something valuable to give away is when you have something to offer your subscribers that they can’t pass up. This could be a discount code, a free ebook, or a giveaway for a chance to win a prize. By offering a lead magnet, you can encourage people to sign up for your emails and entice them to take action.

When crafting your call-to-action, make it clear and enticing by sharing the benefits they will gain from providing their email address. You can also create a sense of urgency by limiting the duration of your offer or highlighting the fear of missing out.

If you want to maximize your email list, consider hosting a contest or giveaway. This is a great way to gather email addresses and offer exclusive deals. You can also give subscribers a free download or email course to keep them up-to-date on the latest product updates and releases.

Whichever route you take, remember that your subscribers have trusted you with their information and should be treated with respect. You can convert customers to fans and even evangelists of your brand by providing them with something of value.

8. When you want to thank your customers

The best time to send thank-you email messages to customers is when they reach a milestone with your business. For example, you can email customers when they make their first purchase, subscribe to your store, or when it's their birthday. This will help build a strong relationship with your customers and make them feel appreciated for their loyalty. You can also set up automated milestone emails to customize the messages and make them more personal.

9. When you want to encourage a specific action

When sending out email marketing messages, timing is key. You want to ensure that your emails hit your audience at the right time when they are most likely to take action. Generally, the best time to send email messages is during the work day, when people check their email accounts frequently. Studies have found that the best time to send emails is between 10 am and 2 pm, but you should also consider the time zone of your recipients. Additionally, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are the most popular days for sending marketing emails, as people are generally more open to responding to messages on those days.

Creating a sense of urgency is also a great way to encourage your leads to take action. With an email, you can focus on the value of acting now for maximum impact. For example, instead of saying, “Order your Mother's Day gift NOW before Preferred Shipping ends!” you could ask, “Don't you think Mom would've liked a faster delivery?” This allows you to tap into psychological triggers, such as fear of missing out (FOMO) and social proof, to influence your readers.

When you have your email ready to send, you should always include a call-to-action and set expectations for what will happen when they take that action. For each email, there should be a single action that you want the reader to take, and you should strive to create a sense of urgency with your message. Additionally, consider offering incentives to your readers, such as discounts or free items, to motivate them to take the desired action. Following these tips will help you craft effective email campaigns and maximize the success of your efforts.

10. When you want to promote a new product

Email marketing can be a very effective tool when promoting a new product. Timing is key in email marketing campaigns; sending too early can result in a lack of interest, and sending too late can mean missing the mark entirely. So, when is the best time to send email marketing messages to promote a new product?

First of all, it’s important to create a sense of urgency. This can be done by focusing on the value of acting now, as UncommonGoods does with their email campaigns. Encouraging customers to purchase before a Preferred Shipping deadline can be a great way to incentivize them to buy quickly.

You can also use cross-selling and upselling techniques to encourage customer purchases. Cross-selling is when you offer a complementary product to go with the one they’ve already chosen, while upselling is when you suggest an upgraded or more expensive product. Amazon does a great job of this with its emails.

Finally, you can use lead magnets to entice customers to buy. A lead magnet is an incentive you offer site visitors, such as free shipping on their first order or a coupon to get a discount. The idea is to create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) and limit your offer's duration. The gap is an example of a brand that does this well.

With these techniques in mind, the best time to send email marketing messages for a new product is right after a customer makes a purchase when they’re in the mood to buy. To build excitement and anticipation, you can also try sending emails a few days before a launch. Ultimately, it comes down to testing different timing strategies to see which works best for your audience.

Types of strategies for email marketing

1. Content Marketing

Content marketing is creating, publishing, and distributing content to attract and engage an audience. It can be used for various purposes, but it is most commonly used in email marketing. Content marketing focuses on creating highly engaging content relevant to the target audience, increasing engagement and conversion rates. Through content creation, companies can build relationships with their customers and create a sense of loyalty and trust. Content marketing can also introduce new products and services and educate customers about the company.

Content marketing is becoming increasingly important for email marketing as it helps create a more personalized and engaging customer experience. Content marketing can also increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, and increase conversions. Content marketing, when used properly, can be one of the most effective tools for email marketing.

2. List Building

List building is gathering email addresses from a target audience to send them marketing communications. It can be done through conventional means, such as offering a coupon or prize in exchange for an email address or adding a banner or form to your website asking people to subscribe. Organizing an email list is preferred over buying lists, as it can put your business at serious risk due to legalities such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM, as well as the potential to be marked as spam, damaging your email sender's reputation, and end up on an email blocklist.

A relevant and engaged audience is essential for successful email campaigns, so it's important to focus on building a quality list of email contacts.

3. Marketing Campaigns

Marketing campaigns coordinate individual email messages with a specific purpose or call-to-action (CTA) over a specific period. A marketing campaign aims to reach a target audience with relevant content and a clear CTA to achieve the desired goal. For example, it could be downloading a white paper, signing up for a webinar, or making a purchase.

For emails to be effective, they must have a concise, attractive subject line, relevant content, and a bold CTA button that doesn't take away from the messaging. Good campaigns also include dynamic content to appeal to different segments within the target audience and one main CTA with a possible secondary CTA. Furthermore, marketing campaigns can be sent through email service providers, such as Campaign Monitor. They can be either a one-off or a series of messages over a certain timeframe.

4. Open Rates

The open rate for email marketing is typically between 14 and 27%. To increase this rate, sending valuable information to subscribers and testing different formats for subject lines is important. Additionally, marketers should track the deliverability, open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribe rate, and bounce rate of their emails.

5. Click Rates

Click-through rates are an important metric in email marketing. They measure the success of an email campaign by calculating the number of people who clicked through from the email to a designated landing page. Higher click-through rates indicate that the email campaign effectively engages its audience. When click rates are low, it indicates something is wrong with the email campaign, and strategies need to be adjusted.

Low click rates can result from several factors, including a lack of personalization and relevance, poor design, or ineffective copywriting. Marketers must improve click rates, focus on better targeting, use more engaging content, and keep their emails simple and concise. They should also consider testing different subject lines and ensuring the email is optimized for mobile devices. By improving email content and targeting, marketers can increase click rates and maximize the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns.

6. Opens

Email open rate is a metric that indicates the percentage of recipients who opened an email out of the total number of recipients who received it. It is typically used to measure the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns. The formula for calculating the email open rate is (number of unique opens/number of emails sent) x 100.

7. Clickthroughs

Clickthroughs are a key metric in email marketing that measures how successful a campaign is by measuring the number of people who click through from an email to your website. This can measure engagement with your emails, as it provides insight into how interested your customers or prospects are in your message and how likely they are to take the desired action.

CTR is a great indicator of how well your email campaigns resonate with your target audience, showing whether they took the time to click through and visit your website. A high CTR is a good sign of success and suggests that your content is interesting and provides relevant information. Using clickthroughs to measure campaign success, you can adjust your campaigns accordingly and tailor the content for future campaigns to better meet your customers' needs.

8. Unsubscribes

Unsubscribes can hurt email marketing, leading to lower open rates and decreased email deliverability. Low open rates can lead to email providers deeming your campaigns as spam and blocking your emails from being delivered. Additionally, having too many unsubscribes can affect your sender's reputation, further damaging your email deliverability.

To prevent unsubscribes, it’s important to have a clear opt-out link in the footer of each email you send. Additionally, reactivation campaigns and incentives such as discounts or exclusive offers can be used to re-engage inactive subscribers.

Finally, suppose no engagement is received from a subscriber even after a re-engagement campaign. In that case, it’s best to remove them from your list to maintain the health of your mailing list and protect your email deliverability. A good unsubscribe rate should ideally be 0.5 or less to ensure optimal email deliverability.

9. Email Marketing Best Practices

What is Email Marketing? Definition, How it Works, and Strategies - Email Marketing best practices

What are some best practices for email marketing? [Step-by-step instructions]

Leverage email marketing tools: Take advantage of email marketing tools to automate processes and optimize your campaigns. Popular tools include MailChimp, Klaviyo, and HubSpot.
Segment your audience: Segment your audience based on where they are in the buyer’s journey and interests. This will help you create targeted campaigns with content that each group will likely relate to.
Monitor and change what isn’t working: Utilize analytics tools to monitor and optimize your campaigns. Try A/B testing to see which subject line, call-to-action, offer, or time works better.
Personalize your emails: Use personalization tokens to make your emails more engaging. This will help customers feel like the message was specifically tailored to them.
Don’t spam your list: Sending too many emails can come across as spammy and make people unsubscribe. Aim to send meaningful content at least once a week.
Use email design best practices: Follow email design best practices to ensure your messages are readable and engaging. Consider the subject line, formatting, images, and calls to action.
Test deliverability: Make sure your emails are reaching the intended inboxes by testing deliverability. Use tools such as Litmus to check whether your campaigns are delivered successfully.

10. Email Marketing Tools

Email marketing is one of the most popular and effective online marketing tactics. To make the most of this tool, it's essential to have the right email marketing tools to help with your campaigns.

Some of the top email marketing tools used to optimize email campaigns include Scope, PutsMail, Emma, Touchstone subject line analyzer, VWO, Mailerlite, Constant Contact, Sendinblue, and Pardot. These tools provide features such as automated product recommendations, shoppable emails, CRM, live chat, SMS, and more. With these tools, marketers can build high-growth email campaigns, segment their emails, and reach out to the biggest audiences. Email marketing provides the highest ROI, with $38 in ROI returned for every $1 spent, and has the highest conversion rates compared to other advertising channels.

How to get started with email marketing?

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how you can set up an effective email marketing campaign:

Set your goals: Before starting an effective email marketing campaign, you must clearly define your goals. What do you want to achieve? What do you want to communicate? Is this campaign for brand awareness or lead generation? Answering these questions will help you set the foundation for your campaign.
Build an email list: Now that you know what you want to achieve, it’s time to build an email list. You can embed an email registration form on your website, leverage existing visitors, and use social media accounts to acquire emails. When collecting emails, let potential subscribers know their email addresses will be kept private and not sold or spammed.
Know your audience: Understanding your audience is key to creating a successful email marketing campaign. Who are you sending emails to? What interests them? Identifying these details will help you craft compelling email content that resonates with your subscribers.
Develop email content: Now, it’s time to create the content for your emails. You can send links to articles on your website, loyalty rewards, customer testimonials, promotional offers, and more. Stay true to your brand guidelines and maintain a consistent brand voice throughout.
Choose an email marketing service tool: Many email marketing software tools can help you manage your campaigns and measure your success. Do some research to see which one best fits your needs.
Plan your follow-ups: Once you’ve started sending emails, it’s important to plan them. You don’t want to overwhelm your subscribers with too many emails, but make sure to send out messages when they join now and then to keep them engaged.