Email Marketing

What is email marketing?

Email marketing is a powerful marketing channel –– a form of direct marketing, as well as digital marketing, that uses email to promote your business’s products or services. It can help make your customers aware of your latest items or offers by integrating it into your marketing automation efforts.

It can also play a pivotal role in your marketing strategy with lead generation, brand awareness, building relationships or keeping customers engaged between purchases through different types of marketing emails.

A brief history of email

The very first email was sent in 1971 by a computer engineer named Ray Tomlinson. The message he sent was just a string of numbers and letters, but it was the beginning of a new era of communication. Tomlinson was also the person who introduced the usage of the “@” symbol in email addresses.

In 1978, a marketing manager at Digital Equipment Corp named Gary Thuerk used this new method of direct communication to send out the first commercial email to let people know about a new product.

Thuerk's email list only had 400 addresses, but the emails he sent resulted in about $13 million in sales. (Source: Computerworld)

By the ‘90s, the internet had become commercially available to the masses. The way people communicated with one another began to change dramatically, and marketers discovered that email could be an effective way to advertise.

The emergence of marketing emails also ushered in the need for regulatory updates; the U.K.'s Data Protection Act, for example, was adjusted to require an "opt out" option for all marketing emails.

Email has become such a popular marketing tool for businesses partly because it forces the user to take some kind of action; an email will sit in the inbox until it’s read, deleted, or archived.

Advantages of email marketing

Email delivers measurable results, reaches people directly, and costs less than most other channels. Whether you're launching your first campaign or refining an existing email marketing program, understanding these advantages helps you make the most of every message you send.

Here's why businesses across industries rely on email to connect with their audience.

Direct communication with your audience

Email gives you a direct line to your customers through their inboxes. They land in a space that people check regularly. This direct access means you can deliver personalized messages that speak to individual preferences and behaviors.

Over time, this consistent communication builds stronger customer relationships. When people hear from you regularly with content they actually want to see, they stay engaged with your brand.

Cost-effective marketing

Email costs significantly less than traditional advertising channels like TV, radio, or print. You don't need a huge marketing budget to run a successful email marketing campaign. When you target the right people with the right messages, email delivers a high return on investment.

It scales easily too — whether you're reaching 100 subscribers or 100,000, the cost difference is minimal compared to other marketing channels. This makes email accessible for businesses of any size.

Measurable results and insights

With email, you can track exactly how your campaigns perform.

• Open rates show you how many people are reading your messages.
• Click-through rates tell you which links and calls to action resonate most.
• Conversion tracking reveals which emails actually drive sales or sign-ups.

These key metrics help you understand what your target audience responds to, so you can refine your messaging for future campaigns. The data you collect also gives you valuable insight into customer behavior and preferences.

Drive traffic and sales

Email lets you promote products, services, and events directly to people who've already shown interest in your business. With it, businesses can encourage repeat purchases from existing customers or re-engage people who haven't bought in a while.

Targeted links and special offers boost website traffic and move people toward a purchase. Email keeps your products and services visible to your email subscribers, which means they're more likely to think of you when they're ready to buy.

Automation and efficiency

Email automation saves your marketing team time while keeping communication consistent.

You can schedule campaigns weeks or months in advance, so they send at optimal times without manual effort. Triggered emails based on customer actions — like welcome messages for new subscribers or transactional emails after a purchase — happen automatically.

This frees up time for your marketing team to work on strategy and creative efforts rather than sending individual emails. Your email service provider handles the heavy lifting while you maintain regular contact with your audience.

Enhanced brand awareness

Regular communication keeps your brand at the top of people's minds.

When subscribers hear from you consistently, they remember you when they need what you offer. Each message reinforces your brand identity and values. Delivering valuable content — not just sales pitches — builds trust over time.

This trust translates into loyalty, which is what every business needs to grow. Email helps you stay relevant and visible in a crowded market.

Challenges of email marketing

Email marketing delivers strong results, but it comes with obstacles that every business needs to be able to manage.

Understanding these challenges helps you build a winning email marketing strategy that actually works. From getting your messages into inboxes to keeping subscribers engaged over time, these are the realities you'll face when running email campaigns:

Deliverability and spam filters

Getting your emails into inboxes isn't guaranteed. Spam filters have gotten more sophisticated, and they don't just look at your content — they evaluate your sender reputation, engagement rates, and technical setup. If your emails consistently go to spam folders, your subscribers never see them.

You need to follow guidelines like the CAN SPAM Act, GDPR, and CASL, maintain a clean email list, and monitor your deliverability metrics. Poor deliverability wastes your email marketing efforts and prevents you from reaching your target audience.

Mailchimp helps with this using built-in deliverability tools that monitor your sender reputation, provide guidance on best practices, and automatically handle technical requirements to improve email deliverability.

Email fatigue

Email marketing isn't something you can set up once and walk away from.

What works today might not work next month. You need to constantly test subject lines, review your email marketing plan, analyze performance data, and adjust your approach. This takes time and resources from your marketing team.

You're competing for attention in crowded inboxes, so your email marketing strategy needs to evolve based on what your data tells you. Mailchimp simplifies this email marketing process with built-in A/B testing, performance reports, and optimization recommendations.

The platform shows you what's working and where to improve, making it easier to refine your email marketing strategy without starting from scratch every time.

Cost considerations

Email marketing is cost-effective compared to many channels, but it's not free. You need to pay for the right email marketing platform that fits your needs. As your list grows, so do your costs. Many email marketing services charge based on subscriber count or email volume.

Beyond the platform itself, you might need a budget for design work, copywriting, email marketing tools, and analytics. If you want advanced features like SMS marketing capabilities or robust customer relationship management integration, those often come at a premium.

Mailchimp provides free email marketing services for smaller lists, and our pricing scales with your business. You get templates, automation, and analytics included, which reduces the need for separate tools or extensive design resources.

Email marketing types and examples

There are many different types of email marketing. Each one serves a different purpose and takes a different avenue to engage with your audience. We are going to look at some of the many different types, so you can create the best email marketing campaign for your company.

Welcome emails

This type of email welcomes customers and encourages them to learn more about your product or service. They often offer a trial or other bonus. It is used to introduce a potential new customer to the business.

Newsletter emails

Newsletter emails are very popular, and they often highlight new products and services. They may also include articles, blogs, and customer reviews. Usually, there will be a call to action to move the reader to do something, whether that is reading a new blog post or checking out a new product.

Lead nurturing emails

This type of email targets a specific audience through a series of emails in the hope of eventually converting them.

Typically, lead nurturing emails focus on a group that is interested in a specific product or service and then build their interest through more emails that offer additional information or relevant promotions. The goal is to push users from the consideration stage to the purchasing stage.

Confirmation emails

Those that have recently signed up for emails or newsletters, or have purchased an item online for the first time may get a confirmation email. This ensures the prospect that the information has been received and they are on the list to receive additional information.

These are also a way to let users know that their purchase has been received or that their sign-up was successful and can include more actions for them to take.

Dedicated emails

If you want to reach out to only a portion of your email list, this is called a dedicated email. Its list may be based on recent purchases, inactive clients, new members, and other specific types of criteria.

Invite emails

These types of emails often announce upcoming events, new product launches, and seminars. Most companies use these types of emails when there is something special going on to gain attention and increase awareness about special events.

Promotional emails

These types of marketing emails are very common and tend to be generic and go out to a large audience. They are usually used to maintain awareness and may tease new products and services.

Survey email

Feedback from customers is one of the best tools for a business. Sending out these emails communicates to your customers that you value their opinion and want to create an experience, product, or whatever you’re offering that they’ll enjoy.

Businesses can also take the feedback from these surveys and apply them to their offerings, creating what is hopefully a better product.

Seasonal marketing emails

Many companies take advantage of the holiday season or special occasions to reach out to their customers and prospects with information on upcoming sales and promotions. They are often tied to holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s, and Father’s Day.

Quick tips for building your email marketing list

But how do you build an audience of people to send email to as part of your internet marketing efforts in the first place? There are a few ways, and all of them have to do with treating your customers right, taking into consideration marketing best practices.

Don’t buy email lists. Many email marketing companies (including Mailchimp) have a strict, permission-based policy when it comes to email addresses, which means that sending to purchased lists is prohibited.

Instead, concentrate on encouraging folks to opt into receiving messages from you by using lead magnets. You could offer a discount on your customers' first orders when they sign up for your email list via a custom signup form.

Or maybe you can offer new subscribers free shipping on their next order—or give them a chance to win a prize when they join your list. Here are some more tips to help you build an email list.

Be aware of national (and international) email regulations

Make sure you adhere to any legal requirements and applicable laws in your area when sending automated emails, like the CAN-SPAM Act in the United States, the Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL), or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union for the treatment of personal information.

The regulations are based on both your location and the location of your subscribers, and it’s your responsibility to know which laws apply to you.

Use email to have a conversation with your customers

Email is a great marketing tool, but it can help your business in other ways, too.

Consider taking the occasional break from your regular marketing content to send out surveys, tell you customers how much you appreciate them after buying from you, following up after an abandoned cart, or just say hello.

Not only does it give your audience a chance to provide you with valuable feedback, but it also allows them to get more insight into the person behind the business.

Only send when you really need to

Once someone has trusted you with their email address, don’t abuse that trust. Flooding your audience’s inbox with superfluous emails will cause them to lose interest or unsubscribe entirely. Focus on sending them relevant, engaging messages about the stuff they like, and they'll be loyal for a long time to come.

"A key best practice for improving email deliverability and engagement is maintaining a clean, segmented email list. Regularly remove inactive subscribers, use double opt-ins to ensure quality sign-ups, and segment your audience based on behavior or preferences. This helps prevent your emails from being marked as spam and ensures you're sending relevant content to the right people."

                  — Denzil Charles, Head of Partnerships, INSIDEA Inc

Drive better results with email marketing

Email marketing gives you access to your target audience, measurable results, and a cost-effective way to grow your business. The challenges are real, but they're manageable when you have the right platform and strategy in place.

Mailchimp makes email marketing simple, with tools designed to help you succeed at every stage. Our templates get you started quickly, while segmentation and automation ensure you're sending the right message to the right people.

Built-in analytics show you what's working, A/B testing helps you improve, and deliverability tools keep your emails landing in inboxes. From list building to campaign optimization, everything you need is in one place.

Email marketing FAQs

How to get started with email marketing?

Mailchimp makes it easy to get started with email marketing: Sign-up for a free account or test a paid account. You can easily upgrade later as your email list grows. Mailchimp offers more than 130 industry-specific email templates based on your intent to make it easy for you to create your marketing emails.

How important is the email subject line?

The subject line is crucial! A poor subject line can cause your email to end up in the spam folder. If it isn’t captivating, it may not grab the readers' attention and be deleted before it is even opened. The subject line should make the reader want to open and read the email.

How do I connect with my audience?

The best way to connect with your audience is to create email campaigns that have value. Cost savings, new products, new services, and product benefits show the reader that the email has value to them, and they should keep on reading.

Marketing by email is a great way to keep your business top-of-mind with customers and prospects so they don’t think of your competitors. When done correctly, your email marketing campaign can show great success and lead customers to act, which is what all businesses want when developing their campaigns.