Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to connect with your audience, boost engagement, and drive sales. Whether you’re a small business owner or part of a marketing team, mastering email marketing can transform your communication strategy. This article will guide you through how to start email marketing efforts with confidence and success.
Table of Contents
- How to start email marketing
- How to start email marketing - protips
- Start your email marketing journey today
How to start email marketing
Email marketing might seem overwhelming at first, but it doesn’t have to be. Let’s break down the process of starting your email marketing efforts into five straightforward steps that will have you sending your first email campaign successfully and stress-free.
Step 1: Define your goals and audience
Before you write a single word or choose a platform, you need clarity on two fundamental questions: What do you want to achieve, and who are you trying to reach?
Identify your objectives
Email marketing can serve multiple purposes, so start by defining your primary goals. Are you looking to drive sales for your e-commerce store? Build relationships with potential clients? Share valuable content that positions you as an industry expert? Increase event registrations or webinar signups? Your goals will shape everything from the content you create to how you measure success. Be specific. Instead of "increase sales," aim to "generate 50 new product purchases per month through email campaigns."
Know your audience
Creating detailed audience personas is crucial for email marketing success. Consider demographics like age, location, and job title, but go further. What challenges do they face? What solutions are they seeking? What type of content do they engage with?
Understanding your subscribers' needs and pain points allows you to craft messages that resonate. When you speak directly to someone's specific situation, your emails transform from generic into helpful and anticipated.
Step 2: Choose the right email marketing platform
Your email marketing platform is the foundation of your entire operation, so choosing the right one matters. The good news is that there are excellent options for businesses of all sizes and budgets.
Features to consider
Look for platforms that are easy to use, offer intuitive drag-and-drop email builders, especially if you're not technically inclined. Automation capabilities are essential for sending welcome series, abandoned cart reminders, and birthday emails without manual effort. Robust analytics help you understand campaign performance, while list management tools let you segment and organize subscribers effectively. Integration capabilities matter too. Your email platform should connect seamlessly with your website, CRM, e-commerce platform, and other tools you use daily.
Pricing matters
Most platforms price based on subscriber count, so costs scale with your list growth. Start with a platform that fits your current needs and budget but can grow with you. Take advantage of free trials to test the interface. You'll be spending significant time in this tool, so it needs to feel intuitive for you and your team.
Elastic Email as your new go-to email marketing platform
Check platforms like Elastic Email, which offer a free version of the platform so that you can set up your account, test out the features, and add your contacts to be able to start sending. Send email marketing campaigns, or even transactional emails, thanks to access to email API and SMTP. Create your email templates in its intuitive email designer or choose one of the ready-made templates in the gallery and customize it your way. Create landing pages and signup forms to collect leads. Store and manage your contacts into lists and segments, send successful campaigns and monitor their results in real time, or even set up automated email workflows.
Step 3: Build your email list the right way
Your email list is one of your most valuable business assets, but only if it's built ethically and filled with engaged subscribers who genuinely want to hear from you. Never, ever buy an email list. It's not only ineffective (these people don't know you and didn't consent to receive your emails), but it's also illegal and will get you flagged as a spammer. Instead, focus on organic growth through opt-in forms where people voluntarily subscribe.
Lead magnets are your secret weapon for list growth. Offer something valuable in exchange for an email address: a helpful checklist, exclusive discount code, free e-book, webinar access, or resource library. Make the value proposition clear and irresistible.’
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Strategic signup form placement
Place signup forms where your audience naturally spends time. Add a prominent form to your website homepage, create dedicated landing pages for specific offers, use exit-intent popups (that appear after some time spent on your website), and embed forms in your blog posts. Don't forget social media and use link in bio tools to promote your lead magnets to your followers.
Compelling calls-to-action
Your CTA should clearly communicate what subscribers will receive and how often. Instead of a generic "Subscribe to our newsletter”, try "Get weekly marketing tips delivered to your inbox" or "Join 5,000+ entrepreneurs receiving our Sunday strategy newsletter”. Specificity builds trust and sets clear expectations.
Stay compliant
Familiarize yourself with email marketing regulations. The CAN-SPAM Act in the United States requires you to include your physical address, provide a clear unsubscribe option, and honor opt-out requests promptly. GDPR in Europe demands explicit consent and gives subscribers extensive rights over their data. Most email platforms help you stay compliant, but understanding these basics protects your business.
Step 4: Create engaging email content
You've got subscribers, so now it's time to deliver value that keeps them opening your emails and taking action.
Master the subject line
Your subject line determines whether your email gets opened or ignored. Keep it under 50 characters so it displays fully on mobile devices. Create curiosity without creating clickbait. Use personalization, like including the recipient's name or location. Ask questions, highlight benefits, or create urgency when appropriate. For example, use subject lines like "Sarah, your exclusive 24-hour discount inside”, "The mistake 90% of marketers make”, or "3 strategies that doubled our conversion rate”.
Build an attractive and well-structured email layout
Every email should follow a clear structure. Start with a compelling preheader text that complements your subject line. This preview text appears next to the subject line in many email clients. Open with a hook that immediately addresses a need or desire. Keep your body copy concise and scannable with short paragraphs, subheadings, and bullet points.
Every email needs one clear call-to-action. Whether it's "Shop Now”, "Read More”, or "Register Today”, make it obvious what you want subscribers to do next. Use contrasting button colors and whitespace to make your CTA stand out.
Design best practices
With over 60% of emails opened on mobile devices, responsive design isn't optional. Use a single-column layout, larger fonts (at least 14px for body text), and buttons big enough to tap easily on a touchscreen.
Maintain consistent branding with your logo, color scheme, and voice. This builds recognition and trust over time. Include images strategically and remember to add alt text in case they don’t render properly or some of your recipients use screen readers.
Personalization techniques
Go beyond using someone's first name. Segment your list and tailor content based on subscriber behavior, preferences, location, or purchase history. Someone who bought running shoes might appreciate content about training tips, while someone browsing yoga mats wants different information.
Mix content types
Vary your email types to keep subscribers engaged. Send regular newsletters with curated content, promotional emails for sales and special offers, educational content like how-to guides and tips, and transactional emails like order confirmations and shipping updates. Try the 80-20 rule, and make 80% of your content educational, whereas the remaining 20% purely promotional. The key is finding the right balance for your audience.. Remember that being too promotional leads to people unsubscribing, but too much content without clear value results in engagement drops.
Step 5: Test, launch, and optimize
Email marketing is not a "set it and forget it" strategy. Continuous testing and optimization are what separate good email marketers from great ones.
A/B testing
Test one element at a time to understand what drives results. Start with subject lines and try different lengths, tones, or personalization approaches. Test send times and days of the week to find when your audience is most responsive. Experiment with different CTAs, button colors, email layouts, and content formats.
Most platforms make A/B testing simple: send variation A to a portion of your list and variation B to another portion, then the winning version is automatically sent to the remaining subscribers. Over time, these small optimizations compound into significantly better results.
Analyze key metrics
Review your analytics after every campaign. Check which emails had the highest open rates and drove the most clicks and conversions, or what subject lines performed best. Look for patterns over time rather than obsessing over single campaign results.
Pay attention to metrics beyond opens and clicks. Track unsubscribe rates to identify content that doesn't resonate. Monitor spam complaints, and if this number rises, adjust your frequency or content approach. Watch your list growth rate to ensure your subscriber acquisition efforts exceed the natural unsubscribe rate.
Segment for better results
As your list grows, segmentation becomes increasingly important. Group subscribers by engagement level, purchase history, interests, location, or stage in the customer journey. Send targeted content to each segment rather than blasting the same message to everyone.
For example, send re-engagement campaigns to subscribers who haven't opened emails in 90 days, VIP offers to your best customers, and educational content to new subscribers who aren't ready to buy yet.
Establish consistency
Create a realistic sending schedule and stick to it. Whether it's weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, consistency helps subscribers know what to expect. They're more likely to open emails from senders they recognize and receive regularly.
Commit to continuous improvement
Use data to guide your decisions. If tutorial emails consistently outperform promotional content, create more educational material. If Friday afternoon emails have terrible open rates, shift your send time. Email marketing success comes from paying attention to your audience's responses and adapting accordingly.
How to start email marketing - protips
Here is your checklist of quick wins:
- Set up your welcome email series first, as it has the highest engagement rates
- Start with a simple monthly newsletter before attempting complex automation
- Write like you're emailing a friend, not broadcasting to thousands
- Clean your list quarterly to maintain good deliverability
- Celebrate small wins and remember that collecting your first 100 subscribers is the hardest
Here are common mistakes to avoid:
- Buying email lists or adding people without permission
- Sending too frequently without providing value
- Using all caps or excessive exclamation points in subject lines
- Forgetting to test emails before sending
- Ignoring mobile optimization
- Not including an unsubscribe link - it's required by law!
The most successful email marketers treat their subscribers like valued community members, not just potential customers. Build trust, deliver value consistently, and watch your email marketing become one of your most powerful business assets.
Start your email marketing journey today
Email marketing success doesn't require a massive budget or a large team. It requires clarity, consistency, and a commitment to providing value. By following the five steps we discussed in this article, you're building a foundation for a marketing channel that generates results for years to come.
Remember, every expert email marketer started exactly where you are now. Start small, focus on delivering genuine value to your subscribers, and let data guide your improvements. Your first campaign won't be perfect, and that's okay. What matters is taking that first step.
Ready to launch your email marketing strategy? Start by defining your goals today, and you'll be sending your first campaign before you know it. Your future subscribers are waiting to hear from you.
Ula Chwesiuk
Ula is a content creator at Elastic Email. She is passionate about marketing, creative writing and language learning. Outside of work, Ula likes to travel, try new recipes and go to concerts.
