What is email marketing?

Email marketing

Email marketing is a form of direct digital marketing that uses email to communicate with customers and prospects. Businesses send messages to people who have opted in to receive them, sharing promotions, updates, educational content, and transactional information.

Unlike social media or paid advertising, email gives you direct access to your audience's inbox. You own your subscriber list, and no algorithm decides whether your message gets seen. When someone gives you their email address, they're inviting you into a space they check multiple times a day.

Why email marketing still works

Email has been around since the 1970s, yet it remains one of the most effective marketing channels available. The reason is simple: people still use email constantly.

Billions of people check their inbox daily. They use it for work, personal communication, and hearing from brands they care about. That habit isn't going away.

Email also delivers results that other channels struggle to match. The direct line to your audience means higher engagement rates than social media posts. The ability to personalize means messages feel relevant rather than generic. Because you're reaching people who already raised their hand to hear from you, conversion rates tend to be strong.

The cost structure works in your favor too. Sending an email costs almost nothing compared to paid advertising, and a small business can reach thousands of subscribers without a massive budget. That accessibility makes email marketing viable for companies of any size.

Types of email marketing campaigns

Different goals call for different types of emails. Here are the most common:

• Welcome emails introduce new subscribers to your brand and set expectations for what's coming
• Newsletters share regular updates, content, and company news
• Promotional emails announce sales, new products, or special offers
• Transactional emails confirm purchases, shipments, or account changes
• Abandoned cart emails remind shoppers about items they left behind
• Re-engagement emails reconnect with subscribers who've gone quiet

Each type serves a specific purpose in the customer relationship. A welcome sequence builds trust with someone new. A promotional email drives immediate action. An abandoned cart reminder recovers revenue that would otherwise disappear.

How email marketing works

The process starts with building a list of subscribers. People sign up through forms on your website, during checkout, or in exchange for something valuable like a discount or free resource. The key word is "sign up," since buying email lists violates most platform terms of service and spam laws.

Once you have subscribers, you segment them into groups based on shared characteristics. Demographics, purchase history, engagement level, and interests all make useful segments. Email segmentation lets you send relevant messages instead of blasting everyone with the same content.

Then you create and send campaigns. Most businesses use an email service provider to design messages, manage lists, automate sends, and track results. The platform handles the technical complexity so you can focus on strategy and content.

After sending, you measure what happened. Open rates show how many people read your subject line and decided to click. Click-through rates reveal whether your content compelled action. Conversion rates tell you if those clicks turned into purchases or sign-ups.

Email marketing vs. other channels

Email differs from other marketing channels in a few important ways.

Compared to social media: You control the relationship. Platform changes can't suddenly hide your content from followers, and your subscriber list belongs to you.

Compared to paid advertising: There's no ongoing cost per impression or click. Once someone joins your list, reaching them costs almost nothing.

Compared to content marketing: Email delivers your content directly rather than waiting for people to find it. Blog posts need SEO or social promotion, while emails land in inboxes automatically.

That said, email works best alongside other channels rather than replacing them. Social media builds awareness. Content marketing establishes expertise. Paid ads reach new audiences. Email nurtures those relationships over time.

Getting started with email marketing

Starting doesn't require a massive investment or technical expertise. The basics involve three elements:

1. An email list of people who want to hear from you
2. An email service provider to send and manage campaigns
3. A clear goal for what you want to accomplish

Begin by adding signup forms to your website and offering something valuable in exchange for an email address. Then send consistently, whether that's weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Pay attention to what resonates with your audience and adjust.

Email automation can handle repetitive tasks like welcome sequences and abandoned cart reminders. Set them up once, and they run automatically based on subscriber behavior.

FAQs

Is email marketing still effective?
Yes. Email consistently delivers strong ROI because it reaches an engaged audience directly. People who subscribe want to hear from you.

How often should I send marketing emails?
It depends on your audience and content. Weekly works for many businesses, but the key is consistency and value. Send when you have something worth saying.

Do I need special software for email marketing?
An email service provider makes list management, design, automation, and analytics much easier. Most offer free tiers for small lists.

What's a good open rate for email marketing?
Open rates vary by industry, but most businesses aim for somewhere between 15% and 25%. Focus more on trends over time than any single number.

Ready to see what email marketing can do for your business? Start your free ActiveCampaign trial and send your first campaign today.