What is Email Marketing & How to Get Started in 2025?

Email marketing has stood the test of time, prevailing as one of the most potent channels for communication and conversion in the digital world. It has numerous advantages over other marketing channels and has earned the reputation of being the one with the highest returns on investment. Let’s explore what email marketing is, how it works, and the best practices in the field.

What Is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is a form of digital marketing that focuses on delivering emails to targeted individuals or groups to promote products, share updates, or communicate valuable information. Its goal is to increase brand visibility, provide relevant content, advertise specific products or services, and ultimately improve sales or other business goals. 

At its core, email marketing aims to nurture connections with an audience. Additionally, it allows marketers to segment their audience and send personalized messages based on interactions, individual preferences, or subscriber behaviors, making it a highly effective tool.

In 2025, despite the growing number of digital touchpoints, email remains a key factor in marketing communication with an impressive return on investment (ROI) Its direct nature and the ability to offer a personalized experience make it more relevant than ever.

Why Is Email Marketing Important?

If you are thinking about incorporating email marketing into your business strategy, you are on the right track to boosting your business results. It is one of the easiest and most effective ways to achieve digital success.

Direct & Personalized Communication with Your Audience

Email marketing allows for tailored communication that speaks directly to the individual, creating a sense of one-on-one dialogue. This personalized approach is not just effective – modern audiences expect it.

Consumers nowadays desire communication that’s customized to their likes, interests, and past interactions with your brand. They know when they are being marketed to and have little patience for irrelevance. That is why an email demonstrating understanding and consideration for their individual needs and preferences is more likely to be well-received.

Cost-Effectiveness Compared to Other Marketing Channels

When it comes to ROI, email marketing continues to outshine other channels, as it’s the most cost-efficient way to reach your target audience. Multiple sources claim that the average ROI of email marketing is $36 for every $1 spent.

Sending out marketing emails comes with a price tag that pales in comparison to traditional direct marketing expenses, especially considering the costs related to Google and social media ads. The more tangible cost comes from the subscription fees for email service providers.

But, in 2025 providers offer tiered pricing to suit various business sizes, which means you can heavily optimize the spending and let it grow only if your email list grows. That makes email marketing extremely affordable even for small businesses that are tight on budget.

Driving Customer Engagement and Loyalty

Email marketing is heavily used by businesses for building client retention and loyalty. A well-crafted email marketing strategy can turn one-time buyers into loyal customers who repeatedly shop from your business and stay engaged with your content and brand.

The key to driving retention, engagement, and loyalty lies in understanding and optimizing the email customer journey — the path a subscriber takes from their first interaction with your business to becoming a loyal advocate. By personalizing your messages, keeping your content relevant, and maintaining communication at the right frequency, you create the foundation for a long-term relationship with your audience.

Benefits of Email Marketing

As we’ve seen, email marketing offers unparalleled opportunities for personalized communication, cost-effectiveness, and customer loyalty. But these advantages only scratch the surface of why email marketing is an indispensable tool in your marketing work.

Let’s explore some of the benefits of email marketing and why it has become a significant part of the digital marketing mix.

1. Helps You Improve Sales

Email marketing is a very effective way to drive sales for your business. As we said, it allows you to personalize your messaging and adapt it with precision to specific groups of your audience. The fact that you can make your messages more relevant, provide special sales offers whenever you wish, and guide subscribers toward making a purchase, can greatly improve your sales overall.

2. Grows Your Audience and Increases Leads

Email marketing not only nurtures existing customers and drives sales, but also helps you grow your audience by attracting new leads. Different marketing methods like sign-up forms, lead magnets, or exclusive incentives make it easy to capture email addresses and expand your reach. For instance, offering a free ebook or a discount code in exchange for email subscriptions can be a highly effective way to build your list, but don’t worry, we’ll get into more detail about that a little later.

3. Delivers Exceptional Value to Your Audience

Email marketing is also an opportunity to provide value to your audience. To do that, share genuinely useful and relevant tips, insights, and resources to your subscribers. This will help educate your audience, and position your brand as a trusted resource.

4. Keeps You Top of Mind Thanks to Timely Updates

Email marketing allows you to send updates at the perfect moment, ensuring your subscribers stay informed about your latest offers, promotions, and updates. This helps you stay relevant to your audience, and shows that you’re attentive and engaged. 

5. Drives Traffic to Your Website

If your goal is to drive traffic to your website and popularize it, email marketing could be beneficial for that too. With each campaign, you can encourage your audience to visit specific pages, such as your new blog posts, product listings, or event pages, through thoughtfully created calls to action (CTAs).

Main Types of Marketing Emails

To answer “what is email marketing?” it’s essential to understand that there are several main types of marketing emails, and many subtypes depending on their specific goals, type of content, and format (see a comprehensive list of all different types of emails). Each email serves a unique purpose in your overall email marketing strategy, contributing to the achievement of your business goals.

Let’s explore the main email types to help you tailor your content and connect with your target audience effectively.

Welcome Emails: Helping You Make a Strong First Impression 

A welcome email is the first message you send to a subscriber after they join your email marketing list or make a purchase from your store. It’s your opportunity to introduce your brand, set the tone for your relationship with a new contact, and make a strong first impression that can shape how people perceive your company.

Welcome emails are incredibly effective for several reasons. First, subscribers expect them – they look forward to receiving a warm greeting after signing up or completing a transaction. These emails also allow you to showcase your brand’s personality and values from the start. Additionally, they are known for driving higher engagement than regular email campaigns, often achieving better open and click-through rates.

To make the most out of a welcome email, it’s a must to send it immediately after someone subscribes or makes a purchase, as timing is critical to capturing their interest. Personalization is also quite important – make sure to address the subscriber by name and adapt the content to reflect the action they made (like joining your newsletter, downloading a resource, or purchasing a product).

The subject line should be compelling and inviting, encouraging people to open the email. Meanwhile, the body of the email should be clear, concise, and of course – welcoming. Finally, describe the next steps you’d like your subscribers to take, whether it’s exploring your website, following your social media channels, or checking out an exclusive resource. Also, including links to your social profiles is a good practice that can help keep your brand on customers’ radar.

Promotional Emails: Driving sales and Signups

Promotional emails are marketing emails designed to drive sales, signups, or subscriptions. They focus on capturing attention with special offers, holiday discounts, flash sales, or other limited-time deals, etc. These can also announce bundled offers like “buy 1, get 1 free,” cross promotions between brands, raffles where users can win a prize after purchase, and others.

Promotional emails commonly come in a series to ensure that your offer reaches as many readers as possible and achieves the biggest impact. When crafting promotional emails, the call to action is paramount. It’s the crown of your email content – the moment when recipient engagement turns into a measurable action. The advantages of email marketing shine here, allowing for direct tracking of metrics like click-through rate, which gauges the effectiveness of your campaign.

To create email campaigns that convert, consider including the following:

• Showcase the special offer.
• Explain clearly what your offer includes.
• Include a clear and strong call-to-action button.
• Use a tone of voice and language that create excitement.

Informational Emails: Providing Valuable Content and Resources

Informational emails include all sorts of newsletters, announcements, invitations to webinars, educational messages, or other messages that don’t aim to sell something directly, but rather to inform and educate users.

Normally good informational emails will lead the reader to a link on your website, blog, or social media profile for more information. In other words, they are frequently used by marketers as a way to create engagement with their brand’s content.

For example, many bloggers often send updates to their email marketing list when a new article goes live, or a newsletter once per week/month to include all fresh content released between two emails. That way, they inform their audiences that they have created something new worth reading and, in doing so, bring all those people back to their blog, where they can also include third-party banners, run promotions, or other sales triggers.

Retention Emails: Keeping Customers Engaged and Using Your Product

Retention emails play a significant role in helping existing customers use the product or service you offer and keep them engaged in your brand. The most popular retention emails are how-to emails, next-step emails, achievement emails, those focusing on specific products or services, and success stories.

In order to determine what kind of retention emails you need to create for your clients, you may want to ask yourself these three questions:

1. What problems might my clients face when starting to use the product, and how can I prevent those problems?
   Offer the solution via an email before they even encounter the problem. This will spare client frustration and make them happier with you as a service provider. Send a series of “how-to” emails that include helpful resources and outline the next steps users should take to ensure proper onboarding and make the most of your product’s features.
2. What kind of content is relevant to my clients and aligns with my product and brand?
   This is when you’ll want to share all the news related to what your brand does, inside information on how you build your product, CEO’s insights on the industry, special educational content exclusive to your clients, invitations to exclusive events like webinars and workshops, and use cases and success stories that your clients can relate to.
3. Is there anything I can do to make my clients feel happier with my brand and product (not including service upgrades or feature additions)?
   It’s actually quite easy to create small moments of joy and pride by celebrating your client’s progress and success at every step of their journey with your product. This is where “achievement” emails help to commemorate those milestones for the client and show them that you share the excitement.

Event-Triggered Emails: Personalized Messages at the Right Moment

Event-triggered messages are another key type of marketing email, sent automatically in response to specific actions or milestones reached by a customer or subscriber.. The real value of these emails lies in their ability to deliver timely, relevant, and highly personalized content to recipients based on their individual behavior. Popular event-triggered emails include abandoned cart emails, birthday or anniversary emails, purchase confirmation emails, and others.

To make your event-triggered emails effective, they must be sent as soon as the event occurs. For example, an abandoned cart email should be sent within a few hours of the action in order to remain relevant and drive conversions.

The content of the email should also be personalized to the customer’s behavior. Using the customer’s name and referring directly to the action they took can make the email feel more like a personal conversation. For example, “Hey [name], you left some great items behind!” This helps the email stand out and makes it feel less like a generic communication.

Thank You Emails: Showing Appreciation

This type of email has one main goal – to build better relationships with your subscribers by showing appreciation. They are simple, but effective and create a positive impression of your brand. When people feel appreciated, they are more likely to engage with your brand again and recommend it to others.

Thank you emails are usually sent to express gratitude to your customers or prospects for making a purchase, signing up for your newsletter, making a referral, signing up for an event, and similar. You can include additional information and value, such as a discount, related products, or inviting recipients to follow you on social media. Keep the tone warm, friendly, and sincere, and avoid sounding too formal. 

Transactional Emails: Facilitating Customer Interactions and Transactions

The main purpose of transactional emails is to automate important moments in the buyer’s journey and create a sense of trust and confidence in the process. They serve a functional purpose and are often essential for completing a process or providing clarity. Some common types of transactional emails include:

• Order confirmation emails, which confirm that the customer’s purchase was successful.
• Invoice emails, which provide a detailed receipt of the user’s transaction.
• Shipping details, which let the customer know when their order has been shipped and often include tracking information.
• Password reset emails, which help users change their password and regain access to their accounts.
• 2-factor authentication emails, which improve security by verifying the user’s identity.

Additionally, transactional emails can be used to encourage recipients to make further interactions, such as prompting them to leave a review on your website after a purchase, or offering them a discount on their next order.

In short, it’s crucial to understand and effectively use different types of emails in your email marketing strategy. Each plays a vital role in nurturing the customer journey – from the initial brand awareness to the repeated transactions of a loyal customer base.

How to Get Started: Email Marketing Help and Tips

1. Plan Your Email Marketing Strategy

To kick off your marketing efforts on the email front, you need to devise an actionable plan. In other words – an email marketing strategy. To create an effective email marketing strategy, first define your goals.

Setting a goal for your email marketing campaigns allows you to focus your marketing efforts more effectively. An email marketing campaign may aim to accomplish any of the following goals:

• Generate leads
• Convert leads to customers
• Enhance customer retention
• Promote new products or services
• Re-engage inactive subscribers
• Grow social media presence
• Collect customer feedback
• Educate your audience
• Improve customer loyalty
• Segment your audience
• Maximize event attendance
• Test marketing messages

Then, identify who your target audience is and map out their journey with your business, so you can create relevant, personalized content. Consider what type of content will resonate with your audience, including what will be valuable, informative, and engaging for them.

You also need to determine how best to reach them, including the format and style of your emails, as well as when to send them for maximum impact. Finally, decide which key email marketing metrics to track to evaluate the success of your campaigns and make adjustments as needed.

2. Choose the Best Email Marketing Platform

An email service provider (ESP) is your primary tool for executing your email marketing campaigns. You need to define and prioritize the features you require and see how that fits your budget.

Most email marketing services offer tons of capabilities like email list management, email design templates, automations, segmentation, and analytics. The real difference is in the complexity of the tools and their pricing, which is why here at SiteGround, we have launched one of the easiest email marketing platforms out there at a really great price.

3. Build and Manage A Quality Email Marketing List

Effective email marketing largely depends on a robust contact list. If your campaign goal is to engage your existing clients with your brand, then you may already have an email list and therefore all you need to do is import it using a .CSV file in the email marketing tool of your choice. But if you wish to nurture leads and haven’t yet generated a strong list, you may want to put effort into building an email list of prospects.

Add a Signup Form to Your Website

With SiteGround Email Marketing service, you can easily build a form on your WordPress site using our Lead Generation Plugin. With it, each subscriber from your website will automatically be added to your email marketing list. If you already have a signup form on your WordPress website, you can use the SiteGround Lead Generation plugin to connect the SiteGround Email Marketing platform with the contact form plugin you use. Currently, it allows integrations with:

• Contact Form 7
• Elementor Pro-Forms
• WPForms
• Ninja Forms
• Gravity Forms

Segment Your Mailing List

Segmenting your mailing list is a crucial step in targeting your audience effectively. Organize your subscribers based on specific criteria like demographics, purchase history, or engagement levels.

This focused approach can lead to increased relevance of your messages, higher engagement with your content, and, ultimately, more conversions from your email marketing campaigns. The SiteGround Lead Generation plugin lets you classify your subscribers into particular Groups. This way, you can tailor your messages to the distinct needs of different audience segments.

4. Craft Your Email Marketing Campaigns

Once you’ve selected an email marketing platform, set up your email list, and identified the goal of your email campaign, it’s time to prepare its design and content. No need to worry, though: most email marketing tools have ready-to-use layouts or templates that will help you build a message without any HTML or coding involved.

The SiteGround Email Marketing platform, for example, includes an easy no-code email builder. You simply choose a layout for your message and then add your text and images into each of the sections. In just a few minutes you can have professional and visually appealing emails.

If creating copy for your emails feels overwhelming, you can easily lean on SiteGround’s AI assistant, which is integrated into the email builder interface. It’s trained extensively by our AI engineers and marketing experts to deliver spot-on content specifically for emails. We’ve also prepared downloadable email prompts to help you instruct AI. This means you can spend less time learning how to talk to ChatGPT or more time with our friendly AI Email Writer.

And if you’re not sure where to get images for your emails, we’ve got that covered too – our AI-generated image gallery, which is conveniently integrated in your email builder interface, gives you free and quick access to tons of images. SiteGround’s features ensure that each email captures attention and resonates with your audience, driving your campaign’s objectives forward.

Best Practices for Email Marketing

The success of your email marketing campaigns doesn’t just depend on setting clear goals or designing great emails—it’s also about following the right practices. If you want your emails to land in your subscribers’ inboxes and make an impact, sticking to proven industry best practices is essential.

1. Consider Email Deliverability Factors

This is a big topic on its own, and we’ve covered it in detail in our email deliverability blog post, which we highly recommend reading. Before you even start sending emails, there are a few important steps to take—like authenticating your domain—that can significantly improve your campaign’s delivery rate.

2. Avoid Purchasing Email Lists

Focus on building your subscriber list ethically—subscribers who genuinely care about what you offer are invaluable. Grow your list organically by providing real value in exchange for sign-ups.

Avoid purchasing email lists at all costs. These lists often contain invalid addresses, spam traps, or uninterested recipients, leading to high bounce rates and harming your sender reputation. Worse, using them can put you at risk of violating anti-spam laws.

3. Get Subscribers’ Permission With Double Opt-in Signup Forms

As we mentioned earlier, having a list of subscribers who are genuinely interested in your content is key to email marketing success. That’s why it’s crucial to ensure you have your contacts’ consent to be on your list.

The simplest way to achieve this is by using double opt-in forms. These forms include a verification step: after signing up, the user receives an email with a confirmation link to finalize their subscription. This approach is an effective way to maintain the quality of your email list while respecting user consent. Plus, it aligns perfectly with best practices for permission-based marketing.

4. Clean Your Email List Regularly

Regularly removing inactive subscribers and invalid email addresses from your list is highly recommended. This ensures you’re only sending emails to engaged and interested recipients, which helps reduce bounce rates and minimize spam complaints. Maintaining a responsive, active list leads to better engagement and provides more accurate data for evaluating your campaign’s performance.

5. Comply with Legal Regulations and Provide an Easy Unsubscribe Option

Following legal regulations is a must in email marketing. Laws like CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and CASL establish clear rules for sending commercial emails. Staying compliant not only avoids hefty penalties but also builds trust with your audience.

Protecting your subscribers’ privacy should be a top priority. This includes transparent data practices and offering simple, hassle-free opt-out options. Respecting privacy demonstrates integrity and reinforces an ethical approach to email marketing.

The SiteGround Email Marketing platform helps ensure compliance by automatically including an unsubscribe link in your email footers and a one-click unsubscribe option in the email headers, aligning with the latest requirements of major email providers.

6. Segment Your Audience and Personalize Messages for Better Engagement

Segmentation is a powerful strategy for dividing your subscriber list into smaller, targeted groups based on criteria like demographics, purchase history, or behavior. By tailoring your messages to the unique needs and interests of each segment, you can create more relevant and impactful communications.

Segmentation drives higher engagement rates, boosts conversions, and improves customer satisfaction. When combined with email personalization, the results can be transformative.

Personalized emails that feel relevant and genuine build stronger connections with subscribers. People are more likely to engage with an email that feels like it’s from a friend rather than a faceless brand. Simple tactics, like using the subscriber’s name or referencing past interactions, can significantly increase the likelihood that your emails will be read and acted upon.

7. Optimize Your Subject Lines, Content, and CTAs to Maximize Results

When crafting an email campaign, three key elements determine its success: the subject line, the body content, and the call to action (CTA). Each plays a critical role in capturing and holding your audience’s attention.

Subject lines are your first impression—they decide whether your email gets opened or ignored. To create irresistible subject lines, keep them short, clear, and relevant. Personalization works wonders, so consider including the recipient’s name. Adding a touch of curiosity or urgency can also entice readers to open your email.

Once the email is opened, the content needs to deliver on the promise of the subject line. For most promotional emails, concise, value-driven copy is most effective. If your email is longer, use subheadings, bullets, and visuals to break up the text and enhance readability. The tone and length of the email should align with its purpose, whether informative, promotional, or relational.

Finally, a strong CTA is crucial for driving action. Make your CTA specific, action-oriented, and visually distinct. Avoid vague phrases like “Click here” and opt for something more engaging, like “Discover Your Perfect Match” or “Claim Your Free Trial.” Position the CTA prominently, and experiment with different formats—such as buttons, images, or anchor texts—to find what resonates best with your audience.

8. Find the Perfect Email Frequency

Striking the right balance in email frequency is key to maintaining a strong relationship with your audience and keeping your subscribers engaged. Sending too many emails can overwhelm and frustrate your readers, leading to higher unsubscribe rates.

On the flip side, sending too few emails can cause your audience to lose interest or forget about your brand altogether. To find the ideal frequency, consider your business type and your subscribers’ preferences. Test different schedules, monitor the results, and adjust based on what resonates best with your audience. Remember, quality always outweighs quantity—every email should provide genuine value, not just add to inbox clutter.

If you’re targeting a global audience, don’t forget to account for time zones. Sending emails when subscribers are most likely to check them—during morning coffee, lunch breaks, or evening downtime—can significantly boost engagement rates. Tailor your timing to align with their daily routines for maximum impact.

9. Test, Analyze, and Refine Your Email Campaigns

Consistently testing and refining your email campaigns is essential for understanding what resonates with your audience. One of the most effective methods for doing this is A/B testing, or split testing. This involves dividing your audience into two groups and sending each group a different version of the email—varying elements like subject lines, CTAs, or visuals.

By comparing the performance of these versions, you can identify what works best. This data-driven approach enables you to optimize your campaigns in real-time while gathering valuable insights to enhance future email marketing efforts. Continuous improvement ensures your campaigns stay effective and relevant.

Conducting A/B Testing to Optimize Performance

Use A/B testing to experiment with different elements of your emails, such as subject lines, images, and calls to action. This allows you to make data-driven decisions rather than relying on assumptions. Even small changes, like the timing of your email campaigns, can have a significant impact on your results.

For example, if you’re promoting a new coffee blend, try testing two different subject lines to see which one drives a higher open rate:

• “Introducing Our New Sumatra Coffee Blend – A Unique Experience for Your Senses”
• “Try Our Newest Coffee Blend from Sumatra – Your Taste Buds Will Thank You!”

These variations take different approaches—one emphasizes a direct call to action, while the other sparks curiosity and highlights the experience. By measuring open rates, you can determine which subject line connects better with your audience and refine your future emails based on those insights. Now, let’s explore other important email metrics you should be tracking.

Key Marketing Metrics to Track & Analyze

Monitoring key email metrics is crucial for understanding the impact of your email campaigns. The most important metrics to track include:

• Open Rate – Reveals how effective your subject lines are at capturing attention.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR) – Indicates whether your content is engaging and persuasive enough to drive action.
• Conversion Rate – The ultimate measure of success if your goal is sales or conversions.
• Spam Complaint Rate and Unsubscribe Rate – Both suggest that your content may not align with what your audience expects, signaling a need for better relevance.
• Bounce Rate – Reflects the quality of your email list. A high bounce rate may indicate it’s time to clean up your list and remove invalid addresses.

Driving your marketing campaign to success relies on clear metrics and data analysis. With the SiteGround Email Marketing platform, you get built-in analytics that make it easy to measure the success of your campaigns and optimize them for better results.

10. Leveraging Automation to Streamline Workflows and Scale Your Efforts

Email marketing automation is a game-changer for streamlining email processes. It typically involves sending emails triggered by specific actions, such as welcome emails for new subscribers or customers.

By setting up automated email sequences, you can maintain consistent communication with your audience while saving time for more targeted campaigns. Automation ensures timely, relevant engagement with subscribers without the need for constant manual intervention, allowing you to scale your efforts efficiently.

Define Your Journey in Email Marketing

Defining your journey in email marketing is the first step toward achieving success. It’s not just about sending messages—it’s about building lasting connections with your audience. With a clear vision of your goals, a solid understanding of your subscribers, and a commitment to continuous improvement, your email campaigns will drive impressive results.

Email marketing success isn’t defined by one standout campaign. It’s the cumulative impact of all the lessons learned and strategies tested over time. Success is there for those who are willing to put in the work, crafting each email with care and purpose.

For beginners, now is the perfect time to tap into the potential of email marketing. Start building your campaigns with the tools and knowledge shared here. Don’t be afraid to dive into the world of email marketing—it’s made easy with the SiteGround Email Marketing platform.

SiteGround’s Email Marketing service offers a robust platform with all the essential features to launch, manage, and optimize your email strategy. With these resources and a comprehensive Email Marketing Knowledge Base, you’re well-equipped to make your mark in the competitive world of email marketing.