What’s Email Marketing and Why Does it Matter?
Estimated Reading Time:
5 Mins., 59 Secs. ‧ 1,199 Wrds. *
Email marketing is one of the most powerful digital marketing tools you’ve got. It’s direct, personal, and incredibly effective when done right. But what exactly is email marketing, and why does it matter for businesses of all sizes? If you’ve ever signed up for a brand’s newsletter, received a discount code in your inbox, or gotten a follow-up email after making a purchase, you’ve experienced email marketing in action. It’s more than just sending messages—it’s about building relationships, driving engagement, and ultimately growing your business in a way that feels organic and meaningful.
How Does Email Marketing Work?
At its core, email marketing is a way for you to communicate with your audience through email. You can use it to share updates, promote products or services, educate your customers, and even provide support. What makes email marketing so powerful is that it allows you to speak directly to folks who’ve already shown interest in what you offer. Unlike social media, where algorithms decide who sees what, emails go straight to a person’s inbox, giving you a direct line of communication with your audience.
If you're new to email marketing, think of it as a digital version of a conversation—you send messages to your audience with the goal of informing, engaging, and eventually leading them toward a specific action, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a webinar, or just keeping in touch.
Here’s how:
Build an email list of targeted subscribers who want to hear from you. This could be through a sign-up form, a free giveaway, or an exclusive offer. Your email list is the foundation of your strategy—it ensures that you’re reaching the right folks with the right messages.
Create engaging, valuable content that resonates with your audience. This could include newsletters, product updates, or educational resources. The more relevant and useful your content is, the more likely your subscribers will stay engaged and look forward to your emails.
Design great-looking emails to ensure readability and engagement, even for folks who may not be tech-savvy. A clean, well-structured design makes your emails easy to skim and digest, increasing the chances that your message gets across effectively.
Send, track, and analyze performance using tools like Mailchimp or HubSpot to measure effectiveness and improve future campaigns. Keeping an eye on key metrics like open rates and click-through rates allows you to refine your approach and ensure your emails are delivering results.
Why Email Marketing Works
Email marketing works because it is cost-effective, easy to personalize, and one of the most reliable ways to engage with your audience. Unlike social media posts that may or may not be seen due to algorithms, emails land directly in inboxes, where they’ve got a much better chance of being read.
Here’s why:
It’s cost-effective – no need for expensive ads. Email marketing allows businesses to reach their audience without the hefty costs associated with paid advertising.
It has a high return on investment (ROI) – studies show email converts better than many other marketing channels. When done correctly, email marketing can generate significant revenue, making it a crucial part of any business’s strategy.
It allows audience targeting – segmentation, personalization, automation, and optimization make emails more relevant. By sending personalized emails based on subscriber preferences and behaviors, businesses can boost engagement and build stronger relationships with their audience.
It provides measurable results – you can track opens, clicks, and conversions to improve your strategy. Unlike traditional marketing methods, email marketing gives businesses real-time data to analyze and optimize their campaigns.
How to Use Email Marketing
The key to success with email marketing is consistency and providing value. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with sales pitches—balance is important. Instead, mix promotional emails with helpful content that educates and engages your subscribers.
Here’s how:
Create a clear, value-driven offer to encourage folks to join your email list. A compelling incentive, such as a free ebook or discount, makes it more likely that folks will sign up.
Use segmentation to send tailored content to different groups of subscribers. Not all subscribers are the same—dividing them into groups based on their interests or behaviors allows you to send more relevant emails.
Design mobile-friendly emails so they look great on any device. Most folks check their emails on their phones, so it’s crucial that your emails are formatted for easy reading on smaller screens.
Include clear calls to action (CTAs) that encourage subscribers to take the next step. Whether it’s clicking a link, signing up for a webinar, or making a purchase, every email should have a clear purpose and an easy way for subscribers to take action.
Track your results and adjust your strategy based on what works best. Regularly reviewing email performance helps you refine your approach and improve future campaigns.
How to Make Money with Email Marketing
Email marketing isn’t just about staying in touch—it’s also a powerful revenue generator. You can monetize your emails in multiple ways.
Here’s how:
Promote your products or services through well-crafted email campaigns. By showcasing your offerings directly in emails, you can drive traffic to your website and increase sales.
Use affiliate marketing by recommending partner products and earning commissions. If you align with other brands, you can promote their products and earn a percentage of the sales through affiliate links.
Create urgency with limited-time offers that encourage subscribers to act fast. Limited-time discounts and flash sales push subscribers to make quicker purchasing decisions.
Upsell and cross-sell to existing customers by introducing them to related products or services. If a customer has already purchased from you, email marketing is a great way to introduce complementary products they may be interested in.
Automate email sequences to nurture leads into paying customers over time. Automated email series, such as welcome sequences or abandoned cart reminders, help move subscribers through the sales funnel and increase conversion rates.
Email remains one of the most reliable and effective marketing channels. It’s a direct line to your audience, a way to build trust, and a powerful tool for driving business growth. If you're new to email marketing, remember this: keep it simple, be consistent, and always focus on adding value to your audience. Over time, you’ll see just how powerful this tool can be for your business. By continuously refining your strategy and keeping your audience engaged, email marketing will become an invaluable asset in growing and sustaining your brand.
*Read time is the time an average person takes to read a piece of text while maintaining reading comprehension silently. Based on the meta-analysis of hundreds of studies involving over 18,000 participants, an adult’s average silent reading speed is approximately 238 words per minute (Marc Brysbaert, 2019).
References
Brysbaert, M. (2019). How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate. Journal of Memory and Language, 109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047
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Author: Kenyana David, MBA, DBA(c), is the principal of 81Eighteen™, LLC and the Fe-Mail Marketing for Entrepreneurs (FEMME) Academy™, or “the Academy.” She's HubSpot certified in email marketing, inbound, inbound sales, inbound marketing, content marketing, frictionless sales, and social media marketing.