Definition
Getting started with email marketing involves understanding the core concepts, choosing the right tools, and following established practices to build a subscriber list and send effective campaigns. For beginners, the most important principles are permission, value, and consistency.
Getting Started Steps
- Choose an email marketing platform: Select an ESP that matches your needs, budget, and technical requirements. Most offer free plans for small lists.
- Build your list legally: Only add subscribers who have explicitly opted in. Use sign-up forms on your website, social media, and at points of sale.
- Create a welcome email: This is your most important email. Send it immediately after someone subscribes to make a strong first impression.
- Send valuable content: Before promoting products, establish trust by sending useful content that helps your subscribers.
- Learn the basics of deliverability: Authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Keep your list clean.
- Review your analytics: Start by tracking open rates, click rates, and unsubscribe rates. These basic metrics tell you what is working and what needs improvement.
Related Glossary Terms
A/B Testing
A/B testing in email marketing is the practice of sending two variations of an email to a small sample of your list to determine which version performs better before sending the winner to the remaining subscribers.
Abandoned Cart Email
An abandoned cart email is an automated message sent to customers who added items to their online shopping cart but left without completing the purchase. It is one of the highest-converting email types in ecommerce.
AIDA Model for Email
The AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) is a classic copywriting framework used to structure email campaigns that guide subscribers from awareness to conversion.
AMP for Email
AMP for Email is a Google-developed framework that allows email messages to include interactive elements like forms, carousels, accordions, and live content. It turns static emails into dynamic, interactive experiences directly inside the inbox.
Anchoring Effect in Email Marketing
The anchoring effect is a cognitive bias where the first piece of information presented (the anchor) influences subsequent decisions, used in email to frame pricing and value perception.
Announcement Email
An announcement email is a dedicated campaign that communicates a specific update, milestone, or change to subscribers, from product launches and feature releases to company news and events.