What is Email Marketing? Your Ultimate Handbook

In this blog post, we will explain the main strategies, importance, and core aspects of email marketing that can propel your marketing efforts and help increase revenue.

Iqra Abid

8/22/20237 min read

A laptop screen showing one unread email
A laptop screen showing one unread email

Email is one of the older forms of digital communication. But still, it's one of the best digital marketing strategies. With a whopping 4.5 billion users, email remains the ultimate king of marketing channels.

In an era conquered by social media and search engines, where everyone wants to entertain and communicate with a larger audience, email marketing stands tall as a proven method for fostering direct and personalized communication with potential customers and existing clients.

Today we are going to uncover the curtains on the main strategies, importance, and core aspects of email marketing, that can propel your marketing efforts and can get you more sales.

What is email marketing?

Sending targeted emails to a group of individuals to promote and sell products and services is called email marketing. It's a versatile tool that can be used for various purposes, such as sending newsletters, offers, new publishes, and new launches.

Email marketing increases the probability of sales and engagement from the fact that many people check their email regularly and your content is delivered straight to their inboxes.

Why email marketing is important?

1- Freedom from Platform Shifts

The biggest advantage of email marketing is that you're not at the mercy of changing the algorithms of different platforms.

On social media, it's like you're renting space – what if they stop showing your content or climb up the costs for visibility?

You're left powerless.

But with an email list, you still have control. You can keep selling your product regardless of any platform changes. Email marketing offers remarkable results because it's not a communication tool, it's a strategic approach.

2- Unparalleled Reach and engagement

With over 4.5 billion email users worldwide, it provides a potential organic reach that beats the combined user count of major social media networks.

Studies show that email has an engagement rate of around 20% more than other digital channels.

3- Remarkable ROI

Investing in email marketing is also a smart financial move. According to research, for every dollar spent on email marketing, the average ROI is around $42.

4- Increase your conversion rate

Emails don't just engage; they convert. According to a study by DMA, email marketing's average conversion rate is nearly 4%, which is significantly higher than other marketing channels.

5- Building customer relationships

By consistently delivering valuable content, insights, and offers, you can position your brand as a trusted resource in the eyes of your subscribers. Relationship-building, customer retention, and brand loyalty are gems of email marketing.

6- Measurable results

Unlike traditional forms of advertising, email marketing's performance is highly measurable. You can track metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and even revenue generated from specific campaigns.

A must-read: Benefits of hiring a marketing virtual assistant.

Email marketing types and examples

Email marketing covers various types of emails tailored to different objectives.

Examples include:

Transactional/Confirmation Emails: These include automated receipts and order confirmations. For instance, when you make a purchase on an e-commerce platform, you'll typically receive an email confirming your order details and providing a receipt for your transaction.

Promotional Emails: Email marketing includes emails that inform customers about special offers, discounts, and sales announcements.

Newsletter Emails: These types of emails include curated content like blogs and articles, industry insights, and updates.

Welcome Emails: Warm welcomes, and introductions to your brand.

Abandoned Cart Emails: Encouragement to complete abandoned purchases.

Re-engagement Emails: Enticing inactive subscribers back.

Announcement Emails: New product launches, company news.

Personalized Recommendation Emails: Product suggestions based on past behavior.

Event Invitation Emails: Invites to webinars, workshops, and events.

Feedback and Review Emails: Gathering customer opinions and reviews.

Remember in today's world of the internet, there is no need to juggle between these emails. Simply hire an email pro virtual assistant and get any type of email at your disposal. These online experts cater each type of email marketing to diverse audience desires and engagement strategies.

Recommended: How do virtual assistants help you in email marketing?

Basics of Email Marketing

Let's start with the fundamentals before delving into the tactics that impact efficient email marketing. These fundamental features are critical to the success of your email campaigns.

Connect on a personal level:

Remember that in writing a marketing email, connecting on a human level is paramount. Infuse emails with a personal touch—use recipients' names and showcase the human aspect of your brand.

In this era of AI, staying human is critical in email marketing.

Recommended: How to keep the human touch in AI-generated content?

Compelling Subject Lines, Genuinely Relevant:

Any type of email in email marketing has its weight on the subject line. It’s the key to boosting open rates. However, keep the subject line aligned with the content to prevent discouragement. Misleading content could result in unsubscribes or spam reports, reducing your deliverability and click-through rate.

Conciseness:

People usually check and read emails on mobile phones. In this case, briefness is vigorous. Keep your message concise and focused. If extensive information is necessary, direct recipients to a blog post or landing page.

Strategic CTA:

CTAs are also as important as subject lines in email marketing. A strong call to action after the first passage and at the conclusion can significantly increase engagement and conversion rate.

Permission and Honoring Commitments:

Purchasing email lists is a no-go—it's often illegal and rarely yields returns. So building an email list is critical for the credibility of your brand. When giving offers, make sure to supply high-quality offerings to establish trustworthiness.

Related: How to build an email list? Unbelievable and easy techniques.

Remember, in the world of the internet, you can easily hire a virtual assistant at affordable rates who is well aware of all these fundamentals and even the pro skills of email marketing. If you don’t know how to hire a virtual assistant, then click here.

Crafting an effective email marketing strategy

Email Campaign Toolkit

When it comes to email marketing strategy, below mentioned are the essential tools that must be present in your email campaign toolbox. Because your email campaign may increase other marketing capabilities like sales and content marketing.

Related: How can a virtual assistant help you in content writing?

1- Email list

Your successful campaign is standing on your email list. A dynamic group of subscribers decided to receive your content in your email list.

There are multiple avenues for list growth, such as enticing potential subscribers with an appealing lead magnet(offer), like an exclusive coupon, to obtain those valuable email addresses.

2- Email Service Provider

ESP is the administrator of your campaign. Beyond managing your list, an ESP empowers you to choreograph automated email sequences. ESP sends timely messages and reminders when an abandoned cart needs attention.

Some big email service providers in the world are RackSpace, Mailchimp, and Yahoo.

3- Clear Purpose

Setting defined goals is the first step in creating an interesting email tale. Your email marketing may have different purposes like

  • Selling

  • Brand awareness

  • Advising potential customers

  • Retaining current ones

  • Establishing loyalty

Your campaigns will operate well if your email list, ESP, and goals all function together.

Strategic Approach

Email marketing needs strategic planning too.

  • It starts with organizing your email lists effectively like dividing them according to their demographics and actions.

  • Then, you create emails to get specific reactions from your recipients - these emails are the heart of your marketing campaign.

  • Your email service provider (ESP) plays a big role in sending and monitoring your emails.

So, in email marketing, everything needs to be in sync for a successful performance.

Strategic List Building

List building is the backbone of all strategies. Never buy a list for your successful campaigns. The easiest ways to build an engaged community are

  • Lead Magnet is offering something like a coupon

  • Give some free downable asset

  • Hosting a free webinar.

Taking care of your list

To keep the email list in good shape, hygiene is important. Trim away inactive subscribers or those who have the wrong email addresses.

Also, remove the subscribers politely who are not genuinely interested in your product or service. In email marketing, dealing with your email list the right way can give your business total success and revenue.

Let's say you have a group of 5,000 subscribers. On average, they make purchases totaling $30,000 during a single campaign. If you conduct four campaigns annually, you can roughly calculate that each subscriber adds about $24 to your yearly revenue.

Maths like this showcase the significant impact each subscriber can have on your overall earnings.

Nurture your audience:

Sending emails on a regular basis keeps your subscribers interested and curious. And virtuous for you when you actually want them to do something like buy from you.

In addition, if some of your subscribers haven’t been paying attention, you can use other kinds of tactics to catch their attention like paid ads. The purpose is to remind them of what you are offering and solving.

Singular focus

Always focus on one objective for each email campaign. Trying to obtain multiple objectives will muddle the waters and dilute your conversion rate. Simplicity is the key to email marketing.

Measure the metrics that matter

To navigate success and understand the strategies, keep track of your every campaign. Keep an eye on key performance indicators(KPIs) like

  • Open rate

  • Click-through rate

  • Sales

  • Blog visits

  • Unsubscribe rate

  • Conversion rate

These KPIs could be all-stars in your email marketing campaign success.

Common Challenges of Email Marketing

Avoiding the Spam Folder

To prevent your emails from being marked as spam, ensure your content is relevant, and always include a clear way for recipients to unsubscribe. Also, check whether your account is properly warmed up to start an email campaign.

A must-read: How to warm up an account for email marketing?

Tackling Unsubscribes

Unsubscribes are natural. Pay attention to consistently delivering value to your subscribers to lessen the unsubscribe rate. Your emails should provide value, whether it's through educational content, exclusive offers, or entertaining stories.

In a nutshell

The landscape of email marketing thrives on a particular strategy, nurturing, and focus. Each email is a brushstroke on your canvas of engagement, a masterpiece formed by the incorporation of your efforts and insights

Remember in email marketing, your email list is not just data- it’s a prized asset. Email marketing demands a steady focus. Designing and running email campaigns, setting goals, measuring performance, and building and retaining the email list all need a touch of expertise and attention.

We can completely understand that it's difficult for business owners and busy professionals to manage all these responsibilities along with taking care of their business.

But fear not because Vaforus has got you covered.

We have specialized virtual assistants for email marketing who are dedicated guardians of your email success. They've been meticulously trained by AI, ensuring they remain unwaveringly devoted to this very strategy—no distractions, no deviations.

If you really want to witness your email marketing to new heights, what you need to do is click here to schedule a meeting and see how your email marketing thrives.