The Importance of Email Marketing

Brands can use email to:

• Share company news;
• Offer exclusive deals;
• Announce new products;
• Provide helpful content;
• Reinforce brand values.

Email is known for delivering one of the highest returns on investment in digital marketing.
You can reach thousands of people at a very low cost, making it especially effective for startups and small businesses.

How to Encourage Sign-Ups

Offer meaningful incentives to motivate visitors to subscribe:

• Exclusive discounts;
• Early access to new products;
• Members-only content;
• Free guides or templates.

Segmentation

Segmentation means dividing your subscriber list into smaller groups based on shared characteristics. This allows you to deliver personalized, relevant, and highly targeted messages.

Common segmentation criteria:

• Purchase history (first-time buyer vs. loyal customer);
• Interests or browsing behavior;
• Engagement level (active vs. inactive readers);
• Location or time zone.

Building and Growing Your Email List

1. Collect Emails Through Your Own Channels

• Add sign-up forms on your website (header, footer, pop-up);
• Use clear, honest promises like "Weekly insights" or "Free templates";
• Always use permission-based collection and link your privacy policy;
• Enable double opt-in to remove bots and typos;
• Add sign-up links to your Instagram bio, Facebook lead form, or pinned LinkedIn post; -Use Apollo.io to find verified business contacts based on industry, size, role, and region;
• If needed, use scrapers/export plugins—but always follow platform limits and terms of service (ToS).

2. Verify Every Email

Tools like MillionVerifier classify contacts into:

• Good → email safely;
• Risky → monitor or re-check;
• Bad → delete immediately.

Verification protects deliverability and prevents spam flags.

3. Keep Your List Healthy

• Segment early (website, LinkedIn, outreach);
• Clean regularly (remove bounces + inactive contacts);
• Warm up gradually (don't import thousands at once);
• Deliver value instantly (welcome email, free resource);
• Use lead magnets (guides, checklists, discounts).

Designing and Srtructuring Emails that Work

Email Structure

1. Subject Line: acts as the headline. Should spark curiosity or promise a clear benefit. Avoid clickbait; use personalization (e.g., the subscriber's name);
2. Preview Text: supports the subject line by adding context. Never repeat the subject;
3. Body Copy: focus on one main idea per email. Use short paragraphs, white space, bold highlights, and bullet points;
4. Call to Action (CTA): one primary CTA per email for maximum clicks.

Launching and Tracking Your First Campaign

Launching your first email campaign involves three core steps: setting up the campaign, personalizing your content, and tracking performance. Modern tools like Mailchimp, Brevo, or Instantly all follow nearly the same workflow, so once you understand the logic, you can work in any platform confidently.

Tracking Performance with UTM Parameters

To understand what happens after the click, add UTM parameters to your links. UTMs help Google Analytics (or any analytics tool) identify where your traffic comes from.

Example UTM link:

https://example.com/offer?utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=welcome_series&utm_content=cta_button

What each parameter means:

• utm_source=email → identifies that traffic came from email;
• utm_medium=newsletter → specifies the channel type;
• utm_campaign=welcome_series → groups traffic under a named campaign;
• utm_content=cta_button → tracks which element was clicked.

Most tools can auto-generate UTMs, but you can also build them manually using Google's Campaign URL Builder.

Automation and Customer Jorneys in Practice

Automated Workflows

• Welcome Series: a sequence that introduces your brand, shares educational content, provides a first-purchase incentive;
• Cart Abandonment Flow: when a user leaves items behind, automation sends a reminder, or a value proposition (reviews, benefits), possibly a discount;
• Post-Purchase Flow: used to thank the customer, deliver order info, suggest complementary products, request reviews;
• Re-engagement Flow: targets inactive subscribers with "We miss you" messages, updated offers, content refreshes.

Analyzing Email Campaign Performance

Key Email Marketing Metrics

1. Open Rate: the percentage of subscribers who open your email. It show the effectiveness of your subject line and sender name;
2. Click-Through Rate (CTR): the percentage of people who clicked a link inside your email. It measures content quality and engagement. Even if someone opens your email, CTR reveals whether the message was convincing enough for them to take the next step;
3. Conversion Rate: the percentage of people who completed the desired action (purchase, sign-up, download). It shows whether your email successfully guided subscribers toward the outcome you intended.

Deliverability, Reputation and Continuous Optimization

Email deliverability = your ability to land in the inbox, not spam.

Three core factors control it:

1. Domain & Technical Reputation: maintain low bounce and complaint rates, remove inactive contacts regularly, and continuously test subject lines, timing, and CTAs to keep improving performance and inbox placement;
2. List Quality: regularly verify contacts with tools like MillionVerifier, remove invalid, bounced, or inactive addresses, and ensure bounce or complaint rates stay below 2%;
3. Email Content & Sending Practices: avoid spam triggers such as excessive images, all-caps text, spammy phrases like "free" or "act now", and missing unsubscribe links. Follow best practices: keep a healthy text-to-image ratio (or send text-only for maximum safety), include a clear unsubscribe option, send from a real name and address, and respond to incoming replies to boost engagement and reputation.