Email Marketing: Easy Beginner’s Guide [2023]

Have you heard the news? … Email marketing is back.

It’s true! And it’s never been more important than it is today.

So many people have made the switch to social media marketing, but they’re missing out on one key thing…

Email marketing is still the most powerful tool to reach your audience, increase sales, and take your business to the next level.

Why?

Because it’s easy, it’s free, and it works!

No, I’m not talking about the minefield of spammy, annoying email marketing that makes you want to delete your inbox…

… Please don’t do that!

I’m talking about the email marketing that, when done right, is like a personal note from you to your customers.

The email marketing that reminds customers about how your amazing products or services can enhance their lives.

The email marketing that makes your customers feel warm and fuzzy by offering them exclusive deals.

And, email marketing that boosts sales and makes your customers return hungry for more.

You can’t do all that with social media alone!

But here’s the thing…

Most people don’t use email marketing because they believe it’s too hard or expensive. Others think that email is no longer effective. And still others simply don’t know where to start.

If any of these reasons sound familiar to you, don’t worry.

I’ve put together this easy email marketing for beginners guide to help you learn more.

In this article, I’ll tackle what email marketing is and how it works. I’ll also explain why email marketing is so effective for growing your business. Finally, I’ll walk you through the process of writing your first successful email campaign.

Remember, email marketing isn’t just for big companies like Amazon and Apple – it’s for YOU too!

Ready to start emailing? Let’s dive in!

What Is Email Marketing?

Here’s the quick and easy definition:

Email marketing involves sending emails to a list of people, who have given you permission, in order to promote your business.

That’s it. Pretty simple, right?

But what does that mean in practice?

Well, here’s the slightly longer version…

Email marketing is a form of direct marketing that is used to inform, entertain, and persuade people to take some form of action like buying a product, or signing up for a service.

It is one of the most powerful and cost-effective ways for companies of all sizes to stay in touch with customers and build loyalty.

Email marketing also offers businesses a way to connect with their customers in a more personal and targeted manner than other forms of digital marketing.

Because of this, email marketing helps to increase brand awareness, and drives more traffic to your website and sales funnels. It also helps to convert new subscribers into more paying customers.

For most people, email remains an important communication tool because it is accessible at any time from almost any device.

How Email Marketing Works

Email marketing works by sending emails to subscribers who have opted in to receive your newsletters or other forms of content.

These emails can include a variety of different types of content, including links to blog posts, articles, or videos, as well as information about your products and services.

By sending out regular emails with interesting information and sales offers, you’re building a relationship with your subscribers. This can help them learn more about your brand and eventually convert them into paying customers.

Email marketing uses software to create and send email campaigns to your subscribers. This software can be used to send out a single email. Or it can be used to create and manage entire automated email marketing campaigns to millions of people.

The best email marketing campaigns are those that are targeted and personalized to each recipient, which makes them more likely to resonate with readers.

The key is to make sure that the content of your email campaigns is relevant and valuable to subscribers so they’ll open them, read them, and then take the action that you need.

Ultimately, this is to buy something from you!

Why Email Marketing Is Important

Email marketing is important because it is one of the best ways to drive sales.

Email marketing allows you to build relationships with your customers and establish a connection with them. It helps you to keep people up-to-date with the latest news about your brand.

Email marketing is also one of the most cost-effective ways to reach your audience.

This makes it invaluable for business owners looking to increase revenue and generate sales without breaking the bank.

Benefits Of Email Marketing

Here are some of the most common benefits of email marketing:

1. Convenience

Email marketing is convenient. Everyone has an email address so it’s easy for your customers to see your messages when they want them.

Your subscribers don’t have to do anything extra to get them. They don’t need to install a new app or sign up for service.

They just open their inbox and there you are.

2. Timeliness

Email marketing is timely. You can send emails whenever you want. This means that you can make sure your offers are relevant and timely for each customer.

You can also send emails at different times of day and on different days of the week, depending on what works for your audience.

3. Personalization

Email marketing is personal. When someone opens an email from you, they know it’s from YOU.

It’s not from some random company that’s trying to sell them something they don’t want. Or worse, get their information so they can sell THEM something.

That makes it easier for them to trust what they’re reading – and respond accordingly!

4. Flexiblility

Email marketing is flexible. You can send emails straight from your computer or phone.

You can also set up your email marketing service to send out thousands (even millions) of emails automatically, whenever you want.

That means you have complete flexibility when it comes to creating email campaigns.

This is great if you’re short on time or just starting out. Its even better when it allows you to spend more time doing the things you love!

5. Cost Effectiveness

Email marketing is cost effective. You can build an email list for free, and the cost of sending emails is relatively low.

In fact, many email marketing service providers offer a free plan that allows you to get started with no cost.

This means you can reach thousands of people with a single email for less money than it would cost to create just one Facebook ad.

6. Trackable And Measurable

Email marketing can be tracked and measured. Email marketing software makes it easy to track who opened your email, how many people clicked on links inside, and what they did next.

This helps you to see and measure which emails are performing best. It also identifies the ones that aren’t working out as well as you’d hoped.

You can then tweak the subject lines, calls to action and content of your emails until you find the ones that work best for your audience.

Types Of Email Marketing (with Examples)

The best email marketing campaigns are a combination of several different types of emails.

Here’s a list of the most common types:

Promotional Emails

This type of email is used to promote your product or service and provide information about it.

It can be sent at any time, but it’s best used for things like sales events, new product announcements or seasonal promotions.

Transactional Emails

These emails are sent after someone makes a purchase or completes some other type of transaction on your website.

They’re typically used to inform customers that they’ve made a purchase, provide them with order details and tracking information, etc.

Relationship Building Emails

Relationship building emails are sent over time to build rapport with customers, maintain contact between purchases, and nurture the relationship between you and your customer base.

Relationship building emails can include welcome emails that thank customers for signing up and introduce them to your service.

They are most often used to check in with customers to see if they have any questions about using your products or services.

Relationship building emails also include newsletter emails that keep customers up to date on new products or services offered by your company.

In fact, newsletter emails are a great way to inform you subscribers about new articles you may have written.

By including links in these emails to your new content, its also a great way to drive traffic, boost your search engine optimization (SEO), and get it to appear higher in Google’s search engine rankings.

Does Email Marketing Work?

Email marketing is a tried-and-true way to reach your audience.

Email has proven to be the most cost-effective and personalized form of communication that works well for anyone.

From individuals and small businesses to the largest corporations in the world, email marketing has proven to be an effective marketing tool.

In fact, email marketing has a higher return-on-investment (ROI) than any other form of digital marketing.

Why?

Because it is so personal and direct. It’s an excellent way to build your brand identity, and establish trust with your customers.

But what if you’re not sure if email marketing will be effective for your business?

Here are some questions to help you decide whether this kind of marketing will work for you:

1. Are you committed to sending emails on a regular basis?
2. Are you willing to test different types of content, and be flexible about what your audience wants to read?
3. Are you willing to make changes based on the results of your tests?

If you answered “Yes” to all three questions, then great… Email marketing should work and be effective for you too!

How Much Does Email Marketing Cost

Email marketing is an affordable way to reach out and connect with your customers.

But what does it cost?

Well, the cost depends on a few factors including:

Mailing List Size

How many email subscribers or contacts that you have. The number of subscribers that you have will affect your email marketing costs. The more subscribers, the higher the cost.

Monthly Email Volume

The amount or number of emails you send each month. This is also known as your monthly email volume and affects your email marketing costs. The more emails you send, the higher the cost.

Type Of Email Marketing Service

The cost of email marketing also depends on the type of email marketing service that you need?

For example, do you want to send a single email to all your list at one time. This is called an email blast.

Or do you want email marketing automation?

This is where an email autoresponder sends out a sequence of emails to a subscriber after they have taken a specific action. For example signing up for your newsletter, or buying something on your site.

Type Of Email List

The type of list that you have affects your email marketing costs too.

If you’ve purchased an email list, it will probably cost more than if you’d built the list through your own organic growth (e.g., by using your own forms or landing pages to gather leads).

Extra Email Marketing Features

Do you need extra services or features like landing pages, forms, analytics, and A/B testing?

These extras are sometimes included in a free email marketing service. But not always. You can always add them later if you find that you need them.

All this is important because the more features you need, the higher the price of your service will be.

With all that being said, what is a typical cost per email?

Well, let’s look at an example…

A popular email marketing service like Sendinblue has its Lite Plan which is aimed at new marketers. On this plan, which costs $25 per month, you get to send 20,000 emails.

That works out at 0.125 cents per email. Or an eighth of a penny. That’s pretty cheap! Especially when you compare it to other forms of digital marketing like Google Ads.

Now on the same plan, if you want to send up to 100,000 emails every month, it will cost you $65 per month.

This now works out at 0.065 cents per email. Or about a fifteenth of a penny. That’s ridiculously cheap! In fact, its now half the cost per email than on the cheaper monthly plan.

This kind of cost per email is typical with all the email marketing providers. Although you pay more to send more each month, the cost to send each email gets much cheaper.

Can You Start Email Marketing For Free?

But what if you’re on a tight budget? Or what if you want to keep things simple when your starting out?

Can you start email marketing for free?

Of course you can…

Most of the best email marketing service providers allow you to have free accounts for beginners.

This way you can build an email list and start sending emails at zero cost.

For example ConvertKit, another very popular email marketing service, is free for your first 300 subscribers and you get to send unlimited emails to them. You also get unlimited forms and landing pages for free to help you get more leads.

On the other hand, Sendinblue offers 300 emails per day on its free package to unlimited contacts. You also get marketing automation for free!

Both free packages are amazing deals and they come from great companies, but each package is targeted at different types of people with different email marketing needs.

And, this is key…

For instance, ConvertKit’s free service is aimed more at people who want to send out multiple, daily email blasts to your first 300 subscribers.

Whereas, Sendinblue’s free service gives you basically free marketing automation to as many contacts that you have as long as you don’t go over 300 emails each day.

So you could have a million contacts and still get SendinBlue’s free service!

This is perfect for someone who doesn’t need to send regular email blasts to over 300 people. Or for someone who is just starting out and building their own list step by step.

So you see, the cost of email marketing really depends on what you need.

But, maybe you’re still not sure whether to try an email service provider but already have a Gmail account.

Well, did you know that with a regular Gmail account, Google gives you a send limit of 500 messages or recipients per day?

This means you can send a single email to up to 500 recipients per day. Or, you can send 10 emails to 50 recipients per day.

Of course, I wouldn’t recommend the latter – but you get the idea.

How To Do Email Marketing

Email marketing can be intimidating for many people. It can seem like a very daunting thing to do, but it’s not as hard as you think.

Here are some simple steps that will help get you started with email marketing.

1. Have A Plan In Place

Know who your customers are, what you want to tell them, and what you want them to do after they open the email.

2. Look At Your List Of Contacts

Start with your existing contacts and set up an email list. If you don’t have any email subscribers that’s okay – we all started with nothing at one time!

3. Check For Permissions

Make sure you have permission from your existing contacts to send them email – You can’t send any emails without permission from the recipient.

4. Get New Email Addresses

Start, or keep collecting emails from people who want to hear from you. You can get email addresses by setting up a sign-up form on your website, giving away freebies or discounts at events and conferences – or any other way that works for you.

5. Choose An Email Platform

Pick an email marketing service platform. I recommend ConvertKit and Sendiblue, but there are many other options to consider as well.

6. Create An Account

Create an account on your email marketing platform, register your email address, and import your list of contacts into the software.

7. Choose An Email Template

Choose the simplest email template from the list of options the platform. Simple works better than templates that look too commercial.

[Helpful Tip] Be aware of using templates or pre-written messages that don’t relate specifically to your customer. This will make them feel like they’re being spammed, which guarantees that they will never open another email from you again!

8. Write Your Subject Line

Write a compelling subject line that will get people to open the email and read it. Make sure its relevant and interesting, so people will want to read what’s inside even if they don’t know you very well yet (or don’t remember why they signed up).

[Helpful Tip] If you’re not sure what to write. Look at your email inbox again and find the email subject lines that appeal to you. Once you figure out what makes your audience tick, crafting the perfect email subject line will be a breeze.

9. Write The Email Body

Create you personalized message in the body of the email. This is where your audience will get to know you and why you’re sending them an email in the first place. Make sure to connect with them by talking about their interests, challenges, goals, etc.

[Helpful Tip] Write content that’s valuable and interesting. Your subscribers signed up because they liked something about what you were offering. Whether that’s free products or valuable information. Now it’s time to give them what they signed up for.

10. Include Your Offer

If you’re selling a product or service then include an offer. This could be a coupon code or even just an offer for free shipping if they spend over $50 on your website during this month only. The more valuable it is, the more likely it will be something they’ll want to check out or click through on immediately!

11. Include A Call-To-Action

Include a link or call-to-action (CTA) that takes them directly to your website, where they can learn more about what you’re offering.

12. Check Your Footer Complies With CAN-SPAM Laws

Make sure you have an unsubscribe or opt-out link in the footer of your email. It’s the law. In order to comply with CAN-SPAM laws you must also include a physical address in the footer of every email you send out too.

[Helpful Tip] If you work from home and don’t want to give out your home address, or if you don’t have an office with a physical address, you can use a P.O. Box via the Post Office, or a UPS Store. You can also use a work address, friend’s business address or a co-working space address. The CAN-SPAM act simply requires that you include an address where you can receive physical mail from customers if needed.

13. Preview Your Email

Preview your email in the software and make sure it looks good on all devices including mobile, tablet, desktop – especially on mobile!

14. Send A Test To Yourself

Send a test email to yourself and see how it looks live, test all links, and check everything again especially your spelling.

15. Send Your Email To Your List

Now send your email to your mailing list! You can do this manually or schedule it to send automatically at a later time or day.

WELL DONE! You’ve just sent your first email marketing campaign.

You’re now officially an email marketer!

16. Check Your Email Marketing Analytics

Wait a few days and check your email marketing analytics in you email software or platform dashboard. This will give you feedback of how many people on your email list open your emails and if they clicked on your links.

17. Analyze, Tweak, And Repeat

Analyze the results of your first email campaign and tweak the emails accordingly. In other words, find out what works, and then try again!

That’s it. See, it wasn’t that hard or scary!

Ongoing Tips For Doing Email Marketing

As you get comfortable learning how to send a few more email campaigns here are some ongoing tips to work on to improve their effectiveness:

Sending Multiple Emails

Don’t be afraid of sending multiple emails in a row, as long as each one has something new to offer. However, don’t upset people by sending too many emails too often unless you are offering significant value with every email.

You can keep track of when people are responding well and when they aren’t, so that you know when it’s time for another message from you.

A good starting point is one email per week.

For the future, be aware that some of the most successful email marketers and affiliate marketers actually email their subscribers everyday – sometimes several times a day. And, none of it is spam!

But, remember these people are email marketing experts. They have been in the email business or affiliate marketing business a long time – they know what they are doing.

These professionals add tremendous value to their subscribers with every email they send. I certainly do not recommend this strategy for beginners!

Email Timing

Send your emails at the right time of day. If you send your emails at 3AM, no one will be awake to read them.

Instead, send them out during the morning or afternoon when people are most likely to be online and ready to buy something new.

Just do some research in you niche or industry to find out what time people are most likely to be online, and send your emails then!

Most email platforms enable you to segment your subscribers by demographics and interest, which means you can send emails at different times of the day to different groups.

If your subscribers live in different time zones, or just have different schedules than you do, this can be a great way to reach everyone.

Test, Test, And Test Again

Keep testing. Test different subject lines and send different types of emails to ensure that you’re giving people what they want when they open up their inboxes.

The best email marketing service providers also offer A/B testing for your subject lines. This means that you can send the same email to different subscribers with a different subject line and see which works best.

Email Blasts Vs Automation Vs Drip Campaign

An email blast is when you send an email to a large number of your subscribers at once, usually with a similar message. This is often how most people start email marketing as it the easiest way to get started.

Email marketing automation is different because it allows you to create rules that automatically send emails to specific groups of people at certain times.

For example, if a subscriber opens up an email then clicks on a link in that email, another email can be sent out to them with more information about whatever product or service you’re promoting.

Email marketing automation is often referred to a drip campaign or automated email campaign.

This method is much more effective than single blasts because it takes advantage of your subscribers’ behavior to get them engaged with what you’re offering.

Tracking Engagement

Keep track of how many people open your emails and click on your links. This is easy to do in your email marketing software.

It’s important to see how many people are engaging with what you’re sending out. It’s even more important to know if your emails are getting through.

Compare those engagement rates with previous campaigns to see which types of emails work best.

Measuring Success

Measure the overall success of your email marketing campaigns in terms of cost and your return on investment (ROI).

Compare this ROI to other digital marketing channels you may have started using like Facebook Ads or Google Ads.

How To Write A Marketing Email That Gets Results

So, you’ve decided that email marketing is for you. That’s great news…

But how do you go about writing an effective marketing email that gets results?

The answer is very simple…

Writing a marketing email is like writing any other type of email.

Just like you, your subscribers are busy people. They are bombarded with emails every day. And they have no time to read through each and every one of them.

This means that you need to make sure your emails stand out from the crowd and grab your readers’ attention right away.

How do you do this?

Well, it’s actually much easier than you think…

You need to write an email that’s so good, your subscribers will want to immediately open it and read it all the way through.

Here are some tips to help you on your way:

1. Understand Your Audience

First, make sure your message will resonate with them, or else they’ll just delete it without reading it. Make sure your email is relevant – if you just sell shoes, then don’t send an email about sunglasses.

2. Establish Your Goal

What is your purpose? Are you trying to get your audience to buy something? Are you giving them some news about your business? Are you informing them of a upcoming event or webinar?

3. Draft A Brief Outline

Depending on your purpose, draft a very simple email outline so it’s clear in your head what the your email structure will be.

Do this on a piece of paper – it’ll take you less than a minute.

Don’t write the entire email – just write a list of headings for each section of the email you want to send. This is just a basic guide for you to keep you on track for when you start writing the real thing.

For example, if you want your audience to buy your product, a simple outline would be:

• Subject line
• Hey [insert name]
• Introduction paragraph
• Product info
• Product benefits
• Product incentive or offer
• Call-to-action
• Thank you

4. Start Writing

Keep it short and sweet. If you can make your entire point in under 200 words then great!

People are busy and don’t want to ready long emails. Use short paragraphs and use bullet points to break up information.

Most of all DON’T USE ALL CAPS FOR SENTENCES – IT COMES ACROSS AS SHOUTING, LOUD, AND REALLY ANNOYING – it also looks spammy.

5. Write A Catchy Subject Line

Create your subject line so that it will get attention and compel your subscribers to open it immediately.

For example, if you’re wanting them to buy something from you, something like “Hey, we’re having a sale this week!” or “Our new product just launched today!”

You could also try “Here’s the perfect gift for you…” or “Don’t miss out on this amazing sale.”.

What if you can’t come up with a catchy subject line?

Well, have you ever noticed how some email subject lines seem to jump out at you from your inbox?

Yes, I’m talking about the ones that you immediately click on as soon as they arrive? You open them even when you doing some much more important…

… Those ones. Yes, we all have them.

Look again to see if there’s one that you could model for inspiration.

If it worked for you, then it’s likely that it will work for your customers too!

6. Write An Introduction

Write a compelling opening sentence that’s personal and warm. Don’t be afraid to be bold. If you can say something interesting or helpful, then go for it!

People will appreciate you for giving them something interesting and valuable to read instead of just selling them something they don’t need.

Use a clear, engaging tone. And write in the 2nd person, using words like “you” and “your.” This will help your reader feel like you’re talking directly to them – like you’re talking to a friend.

If your subscribers gave you their first name with their email address, start your message to them by using that name.

7. Describe Your Product Or Service

Provide a brief overview of how your audience can benefit from your product or service, and why they should take action now.

Explain how you are different from your competitors, and why you are better than them. But only if this is true.

When describing your strengths, focus on benefits rather than features. Provide some evidence or testimonials to back them up – social proof is a powerful tool!

8. Add Visuals

People like visual content, so try putting an image in the email body along with your text. This can help break up the text so it’s easier to read through. But don’t insert too many of them!

Visuals should be interesting enough to attract attention but not so intriguing that it distracts from your message.

Just make sure your image or video supports your message.

Remember, some of the most successful email marketers don’t use any images or flashy graphics at all.

Instead, they rely on excellent copywriting. They focus on writing compelling copy that includes links to relevant landing pages. These are the emails that get the most opens and clicks.

9. Give Them A Reason To Act Now

Provide an incentive for your reader to act immediately. This could be a discount, free access to content, or some other value offering that is exclusive to your subscribers only.

For example, if you’re running an online course, offer exclusive access to the first lesson.  

Keep the focus on what you want them to do – not just what you’re offering. Create a sense of urgency.

For instance, include a time constraint for the offer, like “Offer ends in 24 hours!” or “The first 50 customers will receive 20% off.”

10. Make It Easy To Take Action

Include a call-to-action (CTA) that’s clear and concise. CTAs tell your readers what to do next.

Make sure your links go directly to the landing page where they can buy whatever it is that you’re selling.

That way, you know they’ll get there and won’t get lost along the way!

11. Don’t Forget To Say Thanks

Warmly and personally sign off just like you when you started.

Say “Thanks” or ” Thank you” at the end of your emails.

We all like to be appreciated, right?

And your subscribers should be no different. They are the lifeblood of your business. Show them how much they mean to you by thanking them for their support.

This is a great way to end your email and make it memorable.

12. Proofread Everything

Check your work carefully to make sure it’s grammatically correct. Make sure there are no spelling mistakes.

Poor spelling will come off as unprofessional and may even make readers think that you don’t care about communicating clearly with them.

13. Test Your Email

Send yourself a test email before hitting send to your subscribers so you can make any last-minute tweaks.

This is a great way to avoid embarrassing mistakes and ensure that your email looks as professional as possible.

14. Send Your Email To Your List

Send your emails during work hours when there’s more engagement.

For example, 9am – 5pm Monday through Friday.

Tuesday is one of the best days to send emails, especially for B2B communications (business-to-business).

15. Keep Testing

Monitor your email analytics so you can see how many people opened your email, and clicked through from it.

This will help you learn what works and what doesn’t work.

Knowing who opens your emails and how many people read them helps you to craft better messages.

So, that’s it! That’s how to write marketing emails that get results.

Follow these 15 simple steps and you’ll be well on your way to having a successful email marketing campaign!

Conclusion

Email marketing is the most effective way to reach your audience, increase sales, and grow your business.

And today, it works better than ever!

If you’ve been holding back, I get it… email marketing can feel intimidating.

But the truth is sending emails isn’t scary or hard.

Although, it does take a little time and effort up front. When you set up an effective system that drives results over and over – it’s a no-brainer…

… It’s like a money-making machine on autopilot that makes your life easier!

Simply create some emails, set up your autoresponder to send them when people subscribe, and watch the sales come rolling in!

So what are you waiting for? Start your email marketing today and watch your business grow!

Email Marketing FAQs

Below, I’ve listed some of the most common questions that beginners ask me about email marketing:

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