Unlocking Email Marketing Strategies [+ Bonus Insights]

Billions of emails are buzzing across the globe.

In 2023, almost 347 billion emails were sent and received globally on a daily basis. And the year 2026 is predicted to witness an email blast with the figure jumping to 392.5 billion.

The stats are mind-blowing. Right?

Confused about how to jump on the bandwagon? Let me just spill the beans! 🤫

You need to do more than just crafting snappy email subject lines. You need to master email marketing strategies if and only if you want to win the heart of the recipient.

What Is an Email Marketing Strategy?

Email marketing strategy is a roadmap that gives purpose and direction to your campaigns. It’s like your BFF that tells you:

The audience to target.
The marketing tools to be used.
The tactics to be applied.
The types of emails to be sent.
The best time to run campaigns.
The email format to opt for.
The tests to be performed.

And more!

B2B and B2C Email Marketing Strategies: What’s the Difference?

You might be curious to know B2B vs. B2C email marketing strategies. Well, these are like two different dance moves on the email marketing floor.

Here’s how:

Effective Email Marketing Strategies Are a Gamer-Changer: How?

Well, some may argue that email is an old-fashioned way of marketing. But the fact is that it’s a timeless classic that never goes out of fashion. Dependable and enduring in the age of budding new media and marketing technologies, it is every marketer’s go-to option today.

Here’s how a well-crafted strategy can nail your email marketing game:

Targeted messaging: Helps you reach the audience you want.
Personalized offers: Helps you approach them with what they want.
Scaling: No need to get into any complexities. Cross that bridge when you come to it: you scale when your subscribers grow.
Tracking: Metrics like Click-Through Rate (CTR), Bounce Rate, etc., help you track your marketing performance.
Rewarding: Generates higher Return on Investment (ROI) than other marketing channels.
Cost-effective: The cost of owning your audience base is priceless. With email marketing, you don't have to fear any media acquisition costs. You become your own media company.

Is Email Marketing Still Effective? 6 Experts Weigh In

1. Adam Holden-Bache

Adam is the Email Marketing Director at Enventys Partners and the author of “How to Win at B2B Email Marketing: A Guide to Achieving Success.”

Here’s his stance on whether email marketing works:

Adam Holden-Bache’s words on email marketing

2. Kath Pay

Kath is the CEO of Holistic Email Marketing. She won the EEC’s “Email Marketer Thought Leader of the Year 2021.”

When asked how vital email marketing is, here’s what Kath replied:

3. Paul Airy

Paul is a well-renowned email accessibility and design expert. He had a passion for typography and even wrote a book ‘A Type of Email’ which talks about typography in emails.

Let’s read his say about email marketing:

4. Chad S. White

Chad is the current Head of Research at Oracle Marketing Consulting. He has written four editions of ‘Email Marketing Rules’ and almost 4,000 articles and posts on digital and email marketing.

When asked how an email impacts and supports the customer journey, he said:

Chad S. White’s words on email marketing

5. Rafael Viana

Rafael is a senior email strategist at Validity. He is your go-to guy to craft a high-converting email strategy.

Email marketing, according to him is:

6. Samar Owais

Samar is a leading email conversion strategist and a champion in the field of SaaS email sequences. She has 14+ years of experience working with top brands like Pinterest, HubSpot, and Drip.

To know her views on “Does email marketing work?”, here you go:

What Makes Email Marketing So Effective? 3 Examples!

So, it’s time to compare email with other marketing channels to see who wins the ROI game.

1. Email marketing vs. social media

If we dive deeper into the realm of email marketing vs. social media, both are the powerhouses to boost your marketing efforts when tailored to your needs.

But email marketing takes the crown for better reach, adding more value, offering better security and authority, generating more ROI, and is the most preferred platform by users.

2. Email marketing vs. SMS marketing

Well, in the battle of email marketing vs. SMS marketing, both go head-to-head as each has its unique strengths. However, email marketing excels in cost-effectiveness, visual storytelling, and the most appealing strategy for users.

3. Email marketing vs. SEO

Yum … this one is juicy! Email marketing vs. SEO are both great tools for addressing very specific business needs individually. However, email marketing wins the accolade due to its higher ROI, stability, user-friendliness, personalization, hitting relevant traffic, and building long-term customer relationships.

🚀 Bonus Insight: 4 Killer Email Marketing Strategies by Austin Brawner

Austin Brawner hosts the E-commerce Influence Podcast. His expertise lies in automation, segmentation, and driving sales out of effective email marketing strategies.

Here are his tried and tested strategies to level up his email marketing game:

Email marketing strategy with Austin Brawner

6 Best Email Marketing Strategies to Stage the Show in 2024!

You must have some winning email marketing strategies at your fingertips to boost sales.

Buckle up! We are about to explore how to build a perfect email strategy. ✌🏻

1. Set email marketing goals

The first and foremost thing is to be clear on what you want to achieve from your email marketing efforts.

Is it:

Maximizing ROI?
Generating leads?
Nurturing potential leads?
Cross-sell?
Upsell?
Retaining customers?

Decide what you actually want. Pick one goal and then go big on that one.

2. Create an email marketing plan

Here’s what a well-made plan is all about:

👉 Define your audience

How do you up your game of marketing a product/service when you don't know who wants it? Defining your audience is as important as laying down the foundation of a house. Who are they? What do they need to do their work effectively? How does your solution make sense to them? Why should they care? etc.

👉 Leverage signup sources

Signup forms can be your super partner in helping you figure out how and at which step your email subscriber signed up for your list. It helps you better communicate with them and also shift your email marketing efforts according to your customer’s preferences.

👉 Segment and group your audience

Once you are done with identifying a small group of people interested in your product, segmenting them into groups is the very next task. This will be a good practice as you can send more personalized emails—the more relevant the email campaign, the better the outcome.

You can segment your audience into the following categories for more effective communication:

Demographic: Gender, age, occupation, ethnicity, life stage, etc.
Geographical: Language, country, city, area, etc.
Behavioral: Customer loyalty, purchasing behavior, user status, etc.
Psychographic: Social status, interests, attitude, personality, etc.
Jobs To Be Done (JTBD): Work needs, preferences, behaviors, priorities, and expected job outcomes, etc.

👉 Identify the type of email to send

The choice of which email needs to be sent depends on the aim of the specific campaign.

For example:

If someone has joined your mailing list, send a welcome email.
If you have launched a product, send a promotional email.

👉 Establish email-sending frequency

There isn’t any hard and fast rule on how many times you may email your clients. Pinging your subscribers now and then will only annoy them. So, stick to the ‘less is more’ formula if you really want to get heard.

👉 Make a schedule

One of the smartest ways to stay on track is to schedule your social media posts, blogs, etc. You should know what time is the best time to land in your recipient’s inbox.

According to HubSpot, the highest email engagement rate is at these times:

9:00 am to 12:00 pm
12:00 pm to 3:00 pm

🚀 Pro tip: Stay compliant with email regulations

You can win your customer’s heart simply by complying with the rules and regulations. When they know the law protects ‘how’ and ‘where’ their information is being used, they feel secure and satisfied.

Here are the two email regulations to abide by:

3. Create your emails

Now that you are done with making a master email marketing plan, it’s time to work on what to write and how to design it.

Remember: Your email should have a purpose; why should your subscribers sign up?

👉 Content tips

Craft your email marketing content in a way that attracts your readers:

1️⃣ Write attention-grabbing subject lines.

2️⃣ Personalize your content.

3️⃣ Write in your readers’ language.

4️⃣ Avoid spam filters in emails.

5️⃣ Write a brief and easy-to-skim content.

6️⃣ Avoid using the hated email jargon.

Here are the basic rules for writing a professional email:

👉 Design tips

Designing a freaking-cool email template could be a piece of cake if you have been following our "Ultimate Guide to Email Design Best Practices in 2024." If you haven’t already, here’s a quick list of things to keep in mind:

1️⃣ Choose a minimalist email design.

2️⃣ Go for retro design.

3️⃣ Use trendy GIFs in emails.

4️⃣ Pick any 3D illustration that goes well with your content.

5️⃣ Add a loud Call to Action (CTA).

6️⃣ Add the brand logo in the header.

7️⃣ Add contact details and unsubscribe option in the footer.

8️⃣ Use single-column layouts to make navigation easy.

9️⃣ Use fonts that compliment the tone of your brand.

🔟 Use headings to convey the message.

4. Test your emails

Email testing is a must if you want to stand out in your subscriber’s inbox.

So,

👉 Check email responsiveness

Check out how your emails appear in different Email Service Providers (ESPs). Your email should display perfectly on desktop and mobile devices.

👉 Get feedback from friends

Send test emails to your friends. Ask them to go through your email and point out any typos or other potential issues so that you can redo them before sending them to their intended audience.

👉 Run A/B test

Perform an A/B test to check out which subject line works for you, what time is the best time to reach out to your audience, what a perfect copy length is, etc.

Here’s how to do an A/B test in four steps:

Step 1: Set a goal

Step 2: Form a hypothesis

Step 3: Do the testing

Step 4: Implement the findings

5. Leverage email automation

Make the most out of email automation. It’s like your virtual assistant who keeps doing its magic without your constant input and helps you invest your energy in other tasks like boosting ROI.

Well, the three email automation tools worth investing in are:

1️⃣ Brevo - Offers multiple workflows, creates high-performing campaigns, guarantees data security, and a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor.

2️⃣ Mailchimp - Allows to send relevant automated emails based on subscribers' preferences, offers 300+ app integrations, and is known for its exceptional customer service.

3️⃣ Drip - Best for beginners and experts, it offers two automation types, i.e., rules and workflows, and allows setting up automation triggers from social media platforms.

6. Measure your performance

Check out how your email marketing efforts are doing using different metrics like clickthrough rate, unsubscribe rate, etc. They will not only help you track at what stage the customers disengage but also help you fine-tune your email campaigns accordingly.

Here are the eight email marketing KPIs to check if your email marketing is performing or just costing you.

Here you go!

🚀 Bonus Insight: Unveiling Email Marketing Potential With Jordie Van Rijn 🤫

According to the independent email marketing consultant Jordie van Rijn, companies must take advantage of all the opportunities that email marketing brings by:

1. Creating a strategic channel: Develop a business model for email marketing efforts and set goals to get the desired results.

2. Not ignoring the list health and growth: Prioritize increasing subscribers’ number to boost engagement. Also, use email validation tools to check your list’s authenticity and deliverability.

3. Leveraging trigger triumphs: Focus on audience segments and high-potential emails for better results.

FAQs Related to Email Marketing

Q. What are the three stages of the email marketing funnel?

Well, three stages of email marketing include:

Top of the Funnel (ToFu) - Generate leads
Middle of the Funnel (MoFu) - Nurture subscribers
Bottom of the Funnel (BoFu) - Convert into customers

Q. What are the 4 D’s of email management?

The 4D’s are:

Delete - The email is spam, remove it from the mailbox.
Delegate - The email isn’t for you; delegate it to the person responsible.
Defer - The email includes tasks or requests that are too big to be performed at the moment; add it to the ‘to-do list.’
Do - Reply to the email as soon as possible because it’s urgent.

Q. What are the 5 T’s of email marketing?

The 5 T’s are:

Tease (with a snappy subject line)
Target (with personalized content)
Teach (with tips and tricks )
Test (with different layouts)
Track (your email marketing performance)

Q. What is the Rule of 7 in email marketing?

It says that repetition is the key. You have to repeat your message, as it takes an average of seven interactions with the brand before customers decide to buy.

Q. What is the Rule of 3 in email marketing?

The Rule of 3 is all about keeping things brief, sweet, and impactful.

Three key points
Three CTAs
Three visual elements

This is how you can avoid overwhelming your audience with too much information.

Q. What are the three styles of email?

Formal email (business email, job application, etc.)
Semi-formal email (colleagues, team members, classmates)
Informal email (friends, family members, relatives)

Q. What is the first rule of email marketing?

Building your identity by answering two main questions: ‘Who’ and ‘Why’ is the very first rule of email marketing.

Over to You!

Now you are equipped with a power-packed email marketing strategy, it’s time to navigate the digital landscape with confidence. Remember, success does not lie in knowing the strategies but in executing them extensively, and tailoring them according to your business's unique needs.

All the best! ✌🏻