Here’s a beginner-friendly breakdown of email marketing—what it is, how to do it, and tips to get you going.
Contents
- 1 📨 What is Email Marketing?
- 2 🔧 How to Do Email Marketing (Step by Step)
- 3 ✨ Pro Tips
- 4 📥 Email List Generation
- 5 🛠 Setting up Mailchimp
- 6 ✍️ Creating Effective Email Campaigns
- 7 📅 Creating an Email Plan
- 8 📈 Measuring Results
- 9 🧪 Project: Marketing with Email
- 10 🧩 In Short:
- 11 📊 Email Marketing Metrics – Explanatory Table
- 12 💡 Key Notes:
📨 What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is sending emails to a list of people (leads, prospects, or customers) to:
- Build relationships
- Promote products/services
- Share updates, tips, or content
- Drive traffic, sales, or signups
🔧 How to Do Email Marketing (Step by Step)
1. Choose an Email Marketing Platform
Some popular tools:
- Mailchimp
- ConvertKit
- Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
- MailerLite
- Klaviyo (great for e-commerce)
These tools help you manage lists, design emails, and track performance.
2. Build Your Email List
Don’t buy email lists. Instead:
- Use signup forms on your website
- Offer a freebie (lead magnet) like an eBook, checklist, discount, etc.
- Promote signups on social media or your blog
- Add pop-ups, slide-ins, or embedded forms
3. Segment Your Audience
Group subscribers by:
- Behavior (clicks, purchases)
- Interests (what they signed up for)
- Demographics (location, age, etc.)
This lets you send personalized, targeted emails.
4. Design Your Emails
Keep it simple and mobile-friendly. Include:
- A catchy subject line (short, clear, curious)
- Engaging content (value first, not just promo)
- Clear CTA (call to action) – “Shop now”, “Download”, “Read more”, etc.
- Visuals: images, buttons, spacing
Use your brand voice consistently.
5. Set Up Automations
Automate key emails:
- Welcome series
- Abandoned cart emails
- Thank you emails
- Post-purchase follow-ups
Automation = saving time and making money in your sleep.
6. Test and Optimize
Always:
- A/B test subject lines, buttons, images
- Monitor open rates, click-through rates, conversions
- Clean your list (remove inactive emails)
Data-driven tweaks lead to better performance.
✨ Pro Tips
- Be consistent (weekly or monthly is better than random)
- Don’t spam – provide value every time
- Add personalization – first names, product suggestions, etc.
- Make it easy to unsubscribe (and don’t take it personally!)
- Be GDPR/CCPA compliant – get permission and protect data
📥 Email List Generation
Goal: Build a quality list of people who want to hear from you.
- How to build a subscriber form
→ Learn how to create a form that collects emails (using tools like Mailchimp, Google Forms, etc.). - Best practices
→ Tips like keeping it short, using strong CTAs, placing it in visible spots, etc. - Opt-in process
→ How people confirm they want to be on your list (single vs. double opt-in). - Compliance
→ Legal stuff (GDPR, CAN-SPAM, etc.). You need permission, a privacy policy, and an unsubscribe link.
🛠 Setting up Mailchimp
Goal: Use a tool to manage your list, design emails, and send campaigns.
- Walkthrough of how to create a free account, upload your contacts, design forms, build templates, etc.
✍️ Creating Effective Email Campaigns
Goal: Learn what makes emails perform well.
- Elements of an effective email
→ Includes the subject line, preview text, body, visuals, CTA, and footer. - Drafting subject lines and preview text
→ How to write hooks that boost open rates. - How to write great body copy
→ Clear, personal, benefit-driven content that keeps people reading. - Visual aspects
→ Design, branding, images, layout, and mobile responsiveness. - Creating an actual email
→ Step-by-step: write, design, test, and send.
📅 Creating an Email Plan
Goal: Build a sustainable system, not just random blasts.
- Email campaign strategy
→ Plan around launches, seasons, content calendars. - Engagement strategy
→ How to keep your list active (surveys, contests, value-based content, etc.). - Email workflows
→ Pre-planned sequences (welcome series, sales funnels, onboarding, etc.). - Automation, types, and integrations
→ Set up triggered emails and link with CRMs, websites, and eCommerce platforms.
📈 Measuring Results
Goal: Learn what’s working—and what’s not.
- Key metrics
→ Open rate, click-through rate (CTR), bounce rate, unsubscribes, conversions. - Tracking conversions
→ UTM parameters, links, goals in Google Analytics or Mailchimp’s reports. - A/B testing
→ Compare two versions of a subject line or design to see what performs better. - Email list segmenting
→ Sending personalized emails based on behavior or preferences. - Analyzing result data
→ Interpreting reports to improve your next campaigns.
🧪 Project: Marketing with Email
Goal: Apply what you’ve learned in a real or mock campaign.
- Design an email subscription form
→ Create something you’d use on a website. - Create an email content plan
→ What kinds of emails, how often, who receives them. - Draft email copy and designs
→ Write actual subject lines, body copy, and choose visuals. - Understand and analyze results
→ Send a test campaign, gather data, analyze. - Provide recommendations
→ Suggest improvements for future emails based on your findings.
🧩 In Short:
This structure builds a full skill set—from growing a list, designing and sending campaigns, to automating and analyzing them. It’s great for teaching, self-learning, onboarding interns, or building your own brand’s strategy.
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Here’s a detailed Email Marketing Metrics Table with expanded explanations for each metric. This will help you clearly understand what to track and why each one matters:
📊 Email Marketing Metrics – Explanatory Table
Metric | What It Means | Why It Matters | Benchmark (Varies by industry) |
---|---|---|---|
Open Rate | % of recipients who open your email | Measures how compelling your subject line and sender name are | 15% – 25% |
Click-Through Rate (CTR) | % of recipients who clicked a link in your email | Shows how engaging your content is and how effective your CTA is | 2% – 5% |
Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR) | % of people who opened the email and clicked a link | Helps understand the performance of your email content, not just the subject line | 10% – 20% |
Conversion Rate | % of recipients who completed a desired action (purchase, signup, download, etc.) | Tracks how well your email drives business results (sales, leads, signups) | Varies widely (0.5% – 5%+) |
Bounce Rate | % of emails that couldn’t be delivered | A high bounce rate affects your deliverability reputation | <2% (Hard bounces <0.5%) |
Unsubscribe Rate | % of people who opted out of future emails | High rate = irrelevant or too frequent emails | <0.5% |
Spam Complaint Rate | % of people who marked your email as spam | Signals to email providers that your emails may be unwanted | <0.1% |
List Growth Rate | Net % growth of your email list over time | Measures your ability to grow and retain subscribers | Positive growth is ideal |
Forward/Share Rate | % of recipients who shared or forwarded your email | Indicates how valuable your content is—good for organic reach | <1% is common, higher is better |
Engagement Over Time | Opens and clicks over hours or days post-send | Helps optimize send times and frequency | Track by time zones/day of week |
Device Breakdown | % of opens by device (mobile, desktop, tablet) | Optimizes your email design and layout for the right platforms | Mobile = 40–60%+ |
Revenue per Email | Total revenue divided by total emails sent | Especially useful for e-commerce; helps calculate ROI | Depends on pricing and audience |
💡 Key Notes:
- Track trends, not just single numbers – Consistent drops or spikes are more meaningful than one-off events.
- Use A/B testing to improve subject lines, CTAs, send times, and layout for better metrics.
- Segmented emails often perform better – better open and click-through rates due to higher relevance.