What Is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is the highest-ROI channel in digital marketing — here's how to build a list, write emails people actually open, set up automations, and avoid the spam folder.
The newsletter that makes $75 million a year
In 2017, a former journalist named Austin Rief started a free daily email newsletter called Morning Brew. The concept was simple: summarise business news in a casual, witty tone that a 25-year-old would actually read. No app. No paywall. Just email.
By 2020, Morning Brew had 2.5 million subscribers and was generating tens of millions in revenue from sponsorships. Business Insider acquired a majority stake for a reported $75 million.
The entire business was built on a channel that's been around since the 1970s: email.
While marketers chase TikTok trends and algorithm changes, email quietly remains the most reliable, highest-returning channel in digital marketing. It's not glamorous. It's not new. It just works — consistently, predictably, and at a scale that no social platform can match.
Why email beats every other channel
✗ Without AI
- ✗Algorithm controls who sees your post
- ✗2-5% organic reach on Facebook pages
- ✗Platform can ban you or change rules overnight
- ✗You're renting the audience
- ✗Content disappears in the feed within hours
✓ With AI
- ✓You decide who gets your message
- ✓95-99% deliverability to the inbox
- ✓You own the list — no algorithm gatekeeper
- ✓You own the audience
- ✓Message sits in inbox until opened or deleted
The fundamental difference: on social media, you're renting access to someone else's audience. With email, you own the relationship. Instagram could shut down tomorrow and your followers vanish. Your email list is yours — you can take it anywhere.
That's why experienced marketers repeat the same advice: "Build your email list. Build your email list. Build your email list."
There Are No Dumb Questions
"Isn't email old and boring? Don't young people only use social media?"
Email is old — it predates the World Wide Web. But "old" doesn't mean "outdated." Every social media account requires an email address to create. Gen Z checks email daily — they just expect it to be relevant and well-designed, not the bulk-blast newsletters of 2005. Substack, Beehiiv, and creator newsletters are booming precisely because email works.
"Won't my emails just go to spam?"
Only if you do it wrong. If people opted in to your list, you send relevant content, and you use a reputable email service provider, your deliverability will be 95%+. We'll cover how to stay out of spam later in this module.
Building your email list
You can't do email marketing without email addresses. Here's the uncomfortable truth: buying email lists is never the answer. Purchased lists have low open rates, high spam complaints, and can get your sending domain blacklisted. Every serious email marketer builds their list from scratch.
How do you get people to hand over their email address? By offering something valuable in exchange.
Lead magnets — A free resource (PDF guide, checklist, template, video course) that solves a specific problem. "Download our free 30-Day Social Media Calendar" works because it's concrete and immediately useful.
Content upgrades — A bonus resource specific to the content someone is already reading. If someone reads your blog post on SEO, offer a downloadable "SEO Audit Checklist" at the bottom. Conversion rates are 2-5x higher than generic lead magnets because the offer matches the intent.
Newsletter value proposition — "Join 50,000 marketers who get our weekly 5-minute breakdown of what's working in digital marketing." The newsletter itself is the offer — but only if the value is clear and specific.
Discounts and exclusive access — E-commerce staple. "Get 15% off your first order" in exchange for an email. Simple, transactional, effective. Nearly every online store uses this.
Gated tools and calculators — Interactive tools (ROI calculators, quizzes, assessments) that require an email to see results. HubSpot's Website Grader has generated millions of leads this way.
Design a Lead Magnet
25 XPAnatomy of an email people actually open
The average office worker receives 120+ emails per day (Radicati Group, 2024). You're competing for attention in a crowded inbox. Every element of your email matters.
The subject line
Your subject line determines whether the email gets opened or ignored. It's the single most important line of copy you'll write.
| Subject line strategy | Example | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Curiosity gap | "The SEO mistake 90% of websites make" | Creates an itch they need to scratch |
| Specificity | "How we grew revenue 34% in 60 days" | Concrete numbers feel real and credible |
| Urgency | "Sale ends at midnight — 40% off everything" | Loss aversion drives action |
| Personalisation | "Sarah, your cart is waiting" | Using the recipient's name boosts open rates 10-20% |
| Value-first | "5 free Canva templates for social media" | The benefit is obvious before they open |
What to avoid: ALL CAPS, excessive exclamation marks!!!, clickbait that doesn't match the content, "Re:" tricks, and the word "free" in the subject line (can trigger spam filters).
The email body
Open with a hook. The first line shows in the email preview. Make it count. A question, a bold claim, or a relatable scenario — not "Hi, I hope this email finds you well."
One email, one goal. Every email should have a single primary call-to-action (CTA). Want them to read a blog post? That's the only link. Want them to buy? That's the only button. Multiple CTAs dilute focus and reduce conversions.
Write like a human. The best marketing emails don't read like marketing. They read like a smart friend sharing something useful. Short sentences. Conversational tone. No corporate jargon.
Make it scannable. Short paragraphs (2-3 sentences max). Bold key phrases. Bullet points for lists. Most people scan emails in 11 seconds (Litmus eye-tracking study).
End with a clear CTA. "Read the full guide →" or "Shop the sale" — make the next step obvious and easy. Button CTAs outperform text links by 28% on average (Campaign Monitor).
There Are No Dumb Questions
"How long should my emails be?"
It depends on the purpose. A promotional email: 50-150 words. A newsletter: 200-500 words. An educational sequence: 300-800 words. The Morning Brew daily newsletter is about 500 words. The rule: as long as it needs to be to deliver value, and not a word longer.
"What time should I send emails?"
Tuesday through Thursday, 9-11 AM in your audience's timezone tends to perform best (multiple studies from Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Omnisend). But every audience is different. Test different send times with your own list and let the data decide.
Email automation: working while you sleep
Manual email (writing and sending each one individually) doesn't scale. Email automation lets you send the right message to the right person at the right time — automatically.
| Automation type | Trigger | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome sequence | Someone joins your list | 3-5 emails introducing your brand, delivered over 1-2 weeks |
| Abandoned cart | Someone adds to cart but doesn't buy | "You left something behind" email with product image, sent 1-4 hours later |
| Post-purchase | Someone buys a product | Thank you email → How-to guide → Review request → Cross-sell |
| Re-engagement | Someone hasn't opened in 90 days | "We miss you — here's 20% off" or "Should we remove you from the list?" |
| Birthday/anniversary | Date-based trigger | "Happy birthday! Here's a special gift" — personal touch at scale |
| Behaviour-based | Specific page visit or content download | Visited pricing page → Send case study. Downloaded SEO guide → Send SEO email course |
Write a Welcome Sequence Outline
50 XPMeasuring email marketing performance
| Metric | What it measures | Good benchmark | How to improve it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open rate | % who opened the email | 20-25% (varies by industry) | Better subject lines, send time optimisation |
| Click-through rate (CTR) | % who clicked a link | 2-5% | Stronger CTAs, better content relevance |
| Conversion rate | % who completed the desired action | 1-5% | Landing page optimisation, offer quality |
| Unsubscribe rate | % who opted out | Under 0.5% per email | Better segmentation, less frequency, more value |
| Bounce rate | % of emails that weren't delivered | Under 2% | Clean your list regularly, use double opt-in |
| Revenue per email | Total revenue / Emails sent | Varies widely | Segmentation, personalisation, better offers |
Average ROI per $1 spent by marketing channel (industry composites, 2023-2024)
The chart tells the story: email consistently delivers the highest ROI of any digital marketing channel. It's not close.
Staying out of the spam folder
Nothing kills email marketing faster than landing in spam. Here's what triggers spam filters and what keeps you in the inbox:
✗ Without AI
- ✗Purchased or scraped email lists
- ✗No unsubscribe link
- ✗Misleading subject lines
- ✗ALL CAPS and excessive punctuation!!!
- ✗Sending from a free email (gmail, yahoo)
- ✗High image-to-text ratio with no alt text
✓ With AI
- ✓Permission-based, double opt-in list
- ✓Clear unsubscribe in every email
- ✓Subject lines that match email content
- ✓Professional, conversational tone
- ✓Sending from a branded domain ([email protected])
- ✓Good text-to-image balance, descriptive alt text
Technical essentials: Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your sending domain. These are email authentication protocols that prove to inbox providers that you are who you say you are. Every reputable email service provider (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Klaviyo) walks you through this setup.
There Are No Dumb Questions
"What email service provider should I use?"
For beginners: Mailchimp (free up to 500 contacts) or ConvertKit (free up to 1,000 subscribers, built for creators). For e-commerce: Klaviyo (deep Shopify integration). For advanced automation: ActiveCampaign or HubSpot. Pricing as of early 2025 — check current plans on vendor sites.
"How often should I email my list?"
At least once a week. Less than that and people forget they subscribed (and mark you as spam when you reappear). More than daily and you risk fatigue. Newsletter businesses like Morning Brew send daily and it works — but they deliver high value every single time. Match frequency to the value you can consistently deliver.
The email marketing stack
| Tool category | What it does | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Email service provider (ESP) | Sends emails, manages lists, tracks metrics | Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign |
| Landing page builder | Creates opt-in pages for lead magnets | Leadpages, Unbounce, Carrd |
| Pop-up/form tool | Captures emails on your website | OptinMonster, Sumo, built-in ESP forms |
| Deliverability monitoring | Checks if your emails reach the inbox | GlockApps, Mail Tester |
| Copywriting assistant | Helps write subject lines and email copy | ChatGPT, Jasper, Copy.ai |
Back to Morning Brew
Morning Brew didn't build a $75 million business with fancy technology or secret tactics. They built it with a simple formula: (1) a clear value proposition — business news you'd actually enjoy reading, (2) a consistent schedule — every weekday morning, (3) a referral programme that turned subscribers into recruiters, and (4) relentless focus on the one metric that matters for a newsletter business — open rate. They treated every subscriber's inbox as sacred real estate and never wasted the privilege. That discipline — value, consistency, respect — is the entire playbook.
Key takeaways
- Email delivers the highest ROI of any marketing channel — $36 for every $1 spent on average. It's not glamorous, but it works.
- Build your list through value exchange — lead magnets, content upgrades, and discounts. Never buy a list.
- Subject lines determine open rates. Use curiosity, specificity, or personalisation — never clickbait.
- One email, one goal. Every email should have a single clear call-to-action.
- Automate your welcome sequence first — new subscribers are at peak interest. A strong welcome sequence can 3x your revenue per email.
- Respect the inbox. Send only what you'd want to receive. Set up authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Keep unsubscribe rates below 0.5%.
- Email is an owned channel. Unlike social media, no algorithm can take your list away. Build it from day one.
Knowledge Check
1.Morning Brew grew to 2.5 million subscribers and was acquired for $75 million. What was the foundation of their strategy?
2.Why is buying an email list a bad idea?
3.An online store's abandoned cart email has a 45% open rate but a 0.5% click-through rate. Where is the most likely problem?
4.Why do marketers say 'build your email list' so emphatically compared to growing social media followers?