Although it may sound like an outdated method at first, email marketing is far from obsolete! Sending newsletters remains one of the best marketing tools today, both for acquiring new customers and maintaining customer relationships. Email is still a crucial tool for building trust and connecting with users, as it allows direct communication with potential buyers and enables you to send them relevant content and offers – all for free, or at least at low cost.
In this article, you can read about the following:
- The concept of email marketing
- The advantages and types of email marketing
- Tips and tricks
- The key features of major newsletter editing systems
What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is a popular method of digital marketing in which you build and maintain connections with your target audience through newsletters. Many people believe that newsletters are just about companies trying to persuade users to buy something from them – but this is far from the truth! In reality, there is much more to a well-built email marketing strategy. In newsletters, we offer users quality content, such as reminders, current offers, and educational materials – this helps increase their trust in us. And, if we’re clever, we can even personalize and automate all of this!
The Advantages of Email Marketing
Among the tools of digital marketing, this is one of the simplest and most cost-effective methods, offering direct communication with users and potential leads. Without aiming for completeness, here are some of the main advantages:
- You own your subscribers list, unlike, for example, your Facebook business profile (which legally and practically belongs to Facebook).
- Email remains one of the primary communication tools; almost everyone uses and checks it regularly.
- Effective advertising on online platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Google) is becoming more and more difficult due to restrictions and high costs. This does not pose a threat to email marketing.
- The remarketing process can be automated, allowing you to achieve a high repurchase rate.
- Among marketing tools, it provides one of the highest ROIs (Return on Investment).
- Thanks to segmentation and automation, you can send personalized content to your target audience, which increases their trust in you and encourages higher conversion rates.
- It is a simple tool for increasing website traffic, brand awareness, and revenue.
How do Newsletter Systems work?
The goal of newsletters is to acquire new customers and maintain communication with already existing ones, as well as to maintain the interest of your buyers.
However, the features available in most newsletter software go far beyond simply sending emails. The majority of these programs come with extensive analytical tools that allow you to track campaign results through important KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Nowadays, these systems also offer a wide range of automation features, as well as integration with websites or online stores, allowing for the creation of forms or pop-ups, running A/B tests, and much more.
Each email marketing platform has its own unique features, so it is worth doing a bit of research to find the one that best suits your needs.
When choosing a platform suitable for your business, it is important to consider the intensity of your marketing activities, the nature and size of your business, and last but not least, the budget you can allocate to this area. There are free options among newsletter editing systems, although the functions available in these are always limited. However, paid programs typically offer a free trial period. Pricing is generally based on the number of emails sent and the availability of additional features, generally ranging from $10 to $500 per month.
Next, we will introduce a few editing programs that are definitely worth considering:
Brevo
Brevo (formerly known as Sendinblue) is a comprehensive marketing automation platform that allows you to manage not only your newsletters but also SMS or social media marketing and much more, all in one place. The advantages of Brevo include the user-friendly design, a wide range of templates (including a mobile-friendly format), and extensive functionality despite its simplicity. You can set up A/B tests, and live chat, and in addition to managing your marketing campaign, you can also generate excellent analytics and reports. By applying digital analytics professionally and measuring marketing activities, this program provides clear, understandable reports that can be downloaded in PDF or CSV format.
From an email marketing perspective, however, the main advantage is the high level of automation; in Brevo, you can segment users and send them automated emails based on their digital behavior or in response to certain trigger events (such as subscription, purchase, or request for an offer). The premium package on this platform also includes a “Send at the best time” feature. If you turn this on, each subscriber automatically gets the emails at their most convenient time (based on historical data), which increases open rates and conversions.
Another advantage is that Brevo offers a free version, in which most of the features are available. In this package, you can send up to 300 emails per day (monthly limit: 90,000), however, the Brevo logo will appear on the emails. Paid plans start at $25 per month.
Brevo may be a justified choice for many, but it is particularly useful for small and medium-sized businesses, startups and freelancers who want to dive into digital marketing but cannot allocate a large budget to the task. This program could also be an ideal choice for marketing agencies looking to run multiple campaigns or projects simultaneously. Additionally, as it integrates with many platforms, including Shopify, Brevo may also be suitable for e-commerce businesses.
MailerLite
MailerLite is a newsletter editor praised by a wide range of users. It has an extremely user-friendly design, is easy to use, and offers extensive functionality. The powerful automation feature allows for event-based messaging, and by segmenting users, you can provide your subscribers with personalized content. Thanks to detailed analytical insights, you can continuously monitor the effectiveness and success of your marketing activities.
The benefits of MailerLite include free use of below 1000 subscribers and 12,000 emails sent per month. Paid plans are also affordable, starting at $9 per month. Due to its inexpensive pricing and ease of use, it is particularly suitable for small and medium-sized businesses, e-commerce owners, and beginner marketers.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is one of the best-known and most popular newsletter management systems, currently free for up to 500 subscribers and 1000 emails sent per month, with paid plans starting at $13.
Its advantages include multichannel marketing, meaning you can manage not only emails but also SMS or social media marketing activities within the platform. Additionally, there is a wide selection of templates for various types of newsletters.
Also worth mentioning: the detailed analytical features, advanced segmentation capabilities, and automation options are great advantages of this software. However, a serious drawback is that these features are mainly available in the more expensive, premium package.
Overall, Mailchimp is an easy-to-use, reliable platform, but it can be very costly, if you have a high number of subscribers.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is recommended for those who take email marketing very seriously. There is no free version, and it may seem complicated to use at first, but one advantage is that it certainly leads the way in automation! It offers a wide range of templates, and you can track the performance of different sales channels and manage customer relationships within its CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Thanks to the professional segmentation options and event-based messaging, this program allows you to provide a personalized experience to your subscribers.
As mentioned earlier, unfortunately, there is no free version, but the starter package offers the basic features for as little as $15 per month. Of course, for more advanced tools, you’ll need to choose a more expensive subscription, but those who can do that will quickly get their money’s worth!
Let’s Explore Newsletter Types!
As mentioned earlier, newsletters are not designed to only encourage purchases. Of course, that is not an unimportant goal, but let’s take a look at all the other newsletter categories that exist!
Transactional Emails
These emails are sent after a specific “transaction” has occurred. Their purpose is to notify the user of a successful newsletter subscription, purchase, or appointment booking.
Email Sequences
Email sequences are often pre-assembled, automated chains of newsletters triggered by a specific event. For example, when a user subscribes, they receive a welcome email, followed later by a message about the most popular blog posts or products on the site, and a reminder a few days later. In exchange for subscribing, the user may also receive a series of educational newsletters.
Content Notifications
The purpose of newsletters may also be to draw the users’ attention to newly created, relevant pieces of content. This can be a blog post, YouTube video, Facebook post, or any other material on the website of the business.
Sales Emails
Sales emails are “stereotype newsletters” designed to encourage users to purchase a product or request a quote from the company. With segmentation, you can also send personalized offers to your subscribers and introduce new products and promotions.
Seasonal Newsletters
As the name suggests, seasonal newsletters are sent during specific periods. They are most often associated with holidays such as Christmas, Easter, International Women’s Day, Valentine’s Day, etc., but they can also be tied to other promotional days or periods like Black Friday or Glamour Days. These emails are similar to sales newsletters, as they typically inform recipients about the sender’s current offers, products, services, or promotions during the given period, with the goal of encouraging purchases.
Feedback Requests
Requesting feedback from customers is valuable for several reasons. With the users’ consent, the responses can be used as references. Also, feedback and reviews are crucial for optimizing products and services.
Event-Based Emails
This category includes several of the previously mentioned types of newsletters, but many other types of emails don’t fit into the other categories. These are emails that are sent in relation to a specific event.
For example, when a potential customer subscribes to a company’s newsletter, they automatically receive a welcome email, greeting them as a new subscriber and possibly summarizing key information about the business.
It also includes shopping cart abandonment reminder emails, which are sent a few hours or days after a subscriber adds products to their shopping cart but does not complete the purchase.
Other types of emails that fall into this category include birthday or anniversary greetings, which are triggered by the subscriber’s birthday or the anniversary of their subscription to the newsletter.
In fact, all the newsletter types mentioned so far belong to this category, as every email sent is triggered by a specific reason, which is usually an event or activity.
Tricks and Tips
Like all areas of marketing, newsletters only work well when tailored to the specific needs of the company. There is no “one-size-fits-all” recipe that everyone can apply, as a completely different strategy will work for a small e-commerce webshop compared to a large B2B service provider. That is so because the size, structure, activities, products and services of the businesses are different, and most importantly: because the target audience is different.
That being said, here are some tips worth considering for anyone who wishes to start an email marketing campaign.
Keep Your Email List Up to Date
Continuous updating of the address list is one of the key tricks in email marketing. It can be unnecessary and even harmful to keep bombarding people with newsletters who are not interested in your business. This increases the likelihood of your emails ending up in the promotions or spam folder. That being said, you don’t need to remove everyone who hasn’t opened an email or two, as there could be several reasons for this, not just a lack of interest.
Grow your recipient list! Don’t make users search for a long time on your website to find where they can subscribe – provide a clear option wherever possible (website, blog, shopping cart, checkout)! The trick here is to get users to actually want to subscribe to the newsletter. Offer them an incentive, such as a coupon code or relevant educational content. The key is that they should feel like they’re getting something valuable by subscribing.
Use an Attention-grabbing Subject Line
The open rate of your sent emails depends almost entirely on the subject line. The subject needs to be concise and relevant, something that catches users’ attention so well they cannot resist opening the letter. This can be most effectively achieved with urgent, action-oriented phrases. The subject line should not be too long; according to some tests, 7 words is the ideal subject length.
Keep Testing and Optimize
The key to optimizing your campaigns is analytics. By running A/B tests and experimenting with different send times, you can discover which tactics bring the best results and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Save Time with Automation
Automation is the best way to save time – email marketing is no exception. It allows you to schedule emails or assign specific messages to events, making the user experience more personalized, while also eliminating the need to manually send out emails.
Send Newsletters Regularly
What is “regular”? Well, that depends… There is no universal rule; it can vary depending on the company’s capacity, activity, products, and target audience. As a guideline, sending one newsletter per week may be ideal. Consistency is important (don’t send three emails in one week and then none for weeks after), as is regularity. But also keep in mind that your newsletters must provide real value. If you fail at this, people will unsubscribe – so only send emails if you are sure it is worth their time.
Apply Segmentation and Personalization
Segmentation is the process of categorizing subscribers based on specific criteria. This can be done using demographic or geographic data, or based on purchased products or the types of newsletters opened. The better you know your subscribers and the more accurately you group them, the more personalized offers you can provide them with.
Use Templates for Inspiration
Fortunately, nowadays you don’t have to build your email marketing campaign from the ground up. Newsletter editing systems offer countless templates – feel free to use them! But you can also create your own in most programs, and plenty of sources are available for gathering ideas. Visit Pinterest, Canva, or mailcharts.com; where you can view newsletters from some of the biggest brands! Don’t just copy entire designs though. Use them for inspiration and create your own!
The Challenges and Future of Email Marketing
In our rapidly changing world, you need to ensure that you keep up with the times in the field of email marketing as well. With trends appearing and disappearing at a rapid pace, only the most creative, innovative, proactive, and adaptable entrepreneurs can stay ahead of the competition. Newsletter systems are also facing more and more challenges, which we will explore in more detail in the upcoming section.
How to avoid ending up in the Spam Folder?
This is one of the most important challenges for those working with email marketing. In email platforms (e.g., Google – Gmail), complex scoring systems are behind the classification of emails as spam. They score senders based on many criteria, such as number of opens, forwards, replies, click-through rates, being marked as spam, email deletions, etc. Ultimately, these indicators show how reliable the sender is, the quality of the content they are sharing, and how well they are hitting their target audience. Spam filters also consider the email subject of the email, the recipients, sender authentication, and the content of the email.
By regularly updating your mailing list, sending regular but not annoyingly frequent emails and proper segmentation, you can provide relevant and personalized content to your subscribers, thus greatly reducing the chances of landing in the spam folder.
How to Maintain Subscribers’ Interest?
Click-through rate (CTR) is one of the most important metrics for measuring email marketing success. It shows the percentage of people (who opened the email) who clicked on the link included, which could lead to a website, webshop, or blog. This metric (along with several others) is a great indicator of how well your newsletters are doing at keeping your readers interested. This is becoming increasingly difficult nowadays, and will remain one of the key challenges in the future.
There are several ways to maintain customers’ interest and engagement. Through proper segmentation and event-driven messaging, you can offer personalized deals to subscribers. A/B testing allows you to continuously monitor user preferences for specific campaign elements (e.g., what color should the button be to get more clicks? What text should be on it? What subject line and greeting lead to more opens?). Timing and frequency of emails (it’s important to find balance, as too frequent emails seem intrusive) can also maintain attention and avoid the spam folder. And, perhaps most importantly, you should never underestimate the power of quality content! Blog posts, educational materials, and relevant offers are what truly attract users who are genuinely interested in our brand.
And, of course, analytics; measuring and continuously monitoring the campaign is essential for optimizing and fine-tuning the email marketing strategy.
Let’s Talk about AI!
It is not a hot topic by accident; we can’t ignore the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI will infiltrate every field of work in the future, but its biggest impact will likely be felt by those working in the digital space. This is not necessarily a bad thing; Artificial Intelligence can be viewed as much more than just a job destroyer. In marketing, for example, it can be a huge help in almost every task – if used correctly. Let’s take a look at how marketers are using AI!
- Personalized User Experience: AI can track user behavior and generate automatic responses, offers and subject lines tailored to them. Most newsletter-editing software now offers extensive AI features and automated methods.
- Predictive Analytics: Both in terms of accuracy and time-saving, it’s crucial to talk about AI in the context of analytics. Based on past data and expected events, Artificial Intelligence can provide “predictions” that help you quickly and flexibly respond to changes in the business world. Email marketing relies on these predictions greatly as well; you can jump on and off a trend on time, monitor campaign performance, and more. It is important to understand that it is not just about creating and presenting the reports; manually gathering and processing the data needed for analytics takes a lot of time (and indirectly: money). So, AI proves to be an amazing resource saver in this field as well.
- Content Generation: Relying on analytics, Artificial Intelligence can determine the most ideal way to present content. This could include the subject line, header, greeting, offered products, etc.
- Inspiration: Even if you don’t want to fully outsource email marketing to AI, you can still benefit from it. It can assist in the brainstorming phase for manually generated newsletters.
Data Privacy, Ethical Advertising
One of the main concerns for marketers. Data privacy regulations are becoming stricter with new restrictions being introduced constantly. The confidential and secure handling of data is a key element of online marketing activities. Cybersecurity will be one of the most important issues in the future.
Continuously tracking users and collecting data about them is essential to offer personalized deals. However, the question arises of how ethical this is, as in some ways, this could be seen as manipulation.
The focus in this matter is also on finding the “golden middle.” As marketers, it is important to know your customers in order to optimize the user experience, but at the same time, you must be mindful not to cross certain boundaries and ensure proper protection of their data.
Summary
Email marketing is still a key tool for maintaining contact with the target audience. It is a popular element of marketing activities, and for good reason; even beginners can confidently use it, as it doesn’t require specialized marketing expertise, nor do you need to choose an expensive platform. We’ve seen that both Brevo and MailerLite offer free versions.
If you follow the general rules and apply the tricks and methods you’ve learned, you cannot go wrong. If you haven’t been using email marketing until now, this is your sign to get started!
EN 
HU