Email Marketing Questions, Answered Simply

Email marketing brings customers back to buy again, using a list you own and nobody can take away.

Ads bring a stranger once. Email reminds that person about you for years, at almost no cost per message, which is why it still has the highest return of any channel.

• Build the list with something people actually want, like a guide, a discount or a checklist.
• Welcome new subscribers with a short series that builds trust before it sells.
• Send useful emails on a schedule people expect, and segment so each person gets what fits them.
• Track opens, clicks and sales, and keep the list clean so your emails land in the inbox.

One LearnWithPride send reached a 58.63% open rate on 6,497 people. Want help setting yours up? Ask us.

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Offer something useful in exchange for the address, and ask everywhere your buyers already are.

• A free guide, checklist, discount or price list people actually want.
• A simple sign-up form on your website, with one or two fields.
• A box at checkout and on enquiry forms.
• A sign-up link in your social bios and on WhatsApp.
• A welcome email that delivers the promise straight away.

Never buy lists. Bought addresses damage your sender reputation and rarely buy. At LearnWithPride I built and mailed a list of 6,497 people with a 58.63% open rate, and every address on it had asked to be there.

Read next: Email marketing · Lead generation

Yes. Email remains one of the highest-returning channels because you own the list and sending costs little.

Social platforms decide who sees your posts. An email list is yours, whatever the algorithms do. People do ignore careless mass emails, which is why relevance matters more than ever.

Emails that people asked for, about things they care about, still get opened. The LearnWithPride campaigns I ran reached a 58.63% open rate across 6,497 subscribers, in a market where people say nobody reads email.

Read next: Email marketing · Digital Marketing Case Studies

Emails land in spam when the mailbox provider cannot verify you, or when recipients ignore or report your messages.

• Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your sending domain.
• Send from your own domain, not a free address.
• Mail only people who opted in.
• Remove addresses that bounce or never open.
• Make unsubscribing one click.
• Avoid misleading subject lines.

Gmail and Yahoo expect spam complaints to stay under 0.3%, and well under that is safer. Reputation is earned by sending wanted email consistently.

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They are three DNS records that prove your emails really come from you.

• SPF lists the servers allowed to send for your domain.
• DKIM adds a digital signature to each email.
• DMARC tells mailbox providers what to do when a message fails those checks, and sends you reports.

Gmail and Yahoo require all three from bulk senders, and expect at least SPF or DKIM from everyone. Your email platform gives you the records, and you add them where your domain's DNS is managed. Google explains the requirements in its email sender guidelines.

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Senders of large volumes to Gmail and Yahoo must authenticate their email, make unsubscribing easy and keep spam complaints low.

• SPF, DKIM and DMARC in place.
• One-click unsubscribe in marketing emails, honoured within two days.
• Spam complaint rate under 0.3%.
• A "From" domain that matches your authentication.

Gmail treats anyone sending about 5,000 or more messages a day to its users as a bulk sender. Smaller senders should follow the same rules, because the filters reward the same behaviour at any size.

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Once a week suits most businesses. It is often enough to be remembered and seldom enough to stay welcome.

The right pace depends on how much you have that is worth reading. A shop with new stock weekly can send more. A consultant may send twice a month.

Watch the signals. Rising unsubscribes and falling opens mean too much, or not relevant enough. Tell subscribers at sign-up how often you will write, then keep that promise.

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Many lists see open rates between 20% and 40%, but compare against your own past results, not an industry table.

Open figures are also inflated by privacy features in some mail apps, so clicks, replies and sales are more reliable signs.

• Send to people who asked to hear from you.
• Write subject lines that say what is inside.
• Use a real person's name as the sender.
• Remove subscribers who have not opened in months.

A clean, interested list is how LearnWithPride reached 58.63% opens.

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A good subject line tells the reader plainly what they will gain by opening, in about six to ten words.

• Be specific: "3 mistakes that raise your delivery costs".
• Put the important words first, because phones cut the end.
• Sound like a person, not a billboard.
• Use the preview text as a second line.
• Skip ALL CAPS and false urgency.

Curiosity works only if the email pays it off. Test two versions on part of your list and send the winner to the rest.

Read next: Email marketing · Content marketing

A welcome series is a short set of automatic emails sent to each new subscriber, while their interest is highest.

• Email 1, immediately: deliver what you promised and say what to expect.
• Email 2: your story and why you do this.
• Email 3: your most useful tip or guide.
• Email 4: proof, such as a customer result.
• Email 5: your offer, with a clear next step.

Welcome emails get the highest open rates you will ever see, so it is the first automation worth building.

Read next: Email marketing · Marketing automation

Start with the handful of automatic emails that respond to what a customer just did.

• Welcome series for new subscribers.
• Abandoned cart reminders for online stores.
• Order confirmation and delivery updates.
• A thank-you and review request after purchase.
• A win-back message for customers who went quiet.

These run all day without anyone pressing send, and they often earn more than weekly newsletters. We build them on platforms such as SendPulse and Brevo as part of marketing automation.

Read next: Marketing automation · Email marketing

Choose by your list size, the automation you need and what it connects to. Most platforms have a free tier to start.

We have used SendPulse for Arya Marketplace and Study With FM, and Brevo for LearnWithPride. Both cover email, automation and SMS at prices that suit growing businesses.

Whichever you pick, check three things: it supports SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your own domain, it has automation on your plan, and you can export your list any time.

Read next: Email marketing · Marketing automation

Do not buy lists. They break most platforms' rules, damage your sender reputation and almost never sell.

The people on a bought list never asked to hear from you. They ignore, delete or report the message, and mailbox providers then treat everything from your domain as spam, including emails to your real customers.

Data protection laws in Nigeria, the UK and the EU also expect consent for marketing. A list you built yourself, even a small one, will outperform it.

Read next: Email marketing · Privacy Policy

Remove addresses that bounce, and stop mailing people who have not opened or clicked in a long time.

First send inactive subscribers a short "do you still want these?" email. Keep those who respond and let the rest go. A smaller engaged list reaches the inbox more often and costs less.

Use confirmed sign-up, where new subscribers click a link to confirm, to keep mistyped and fake addresses out from the start.

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Send what helps your reader, with your offer as a natural part of it.

• One useful tip or lesson from your work.
• A customer story or result.
• What is new: stock, services, dates.
• An answer to a question customers keep asking.
• One clear action: reply, book, buy.

One main idea per email is enough. Write it like a note to one customer, from a named person. Emails that read like letters get replies. Emails that read like flyers get deleted.

Read next: Email marketing · Content marketing

Segmenting means grouping subscribers so each group gets emails that fit them.

• Buyers and people who have not bought yet.
• By product or service interest.
• By location, when offers differ.
• By how recently they opened or bought.

Even two segments, customers and prospects, improve results, because the message a first-time visitor needs differs from what a repeat buyer wants. Using a first name is a small touch. Relevance is the real personalisation.

Read next: Email marketing · Marketing automation

Use a proper email marketing platform, send from your own authenticated domain, and mail only people who opted in.

Ordinary Gmail or Outlook accounts are not built for mass sending. They have daily limits and will lock an account that suddenly mails hundreds of people.

• Warm up a new domain by starting with small sends.
• Include a one-click unsubscribe link.
• Keep complaint and bounce rates low.

Platforms handle unsubscribes and reports for you, which also keeps you within the Gmail and Yahoo sender rules.

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Send a short series of reminders to shoppers who added items and left, starting within an hour.

• Email 1, after about an hour: a friendly reminder with the items and a link back.
• Email 2, the next day: answer doubts, with reviews, delivery and returns.
• Email 3, a day or two later: a reason to act, such as low stock or a small incentive.

These emails are among the best earners in ecommerce, because the shopper already wanted the product. Pair them with a WhatsApp reminder for buyers who prefer chat.

Read next: Ecommerce marketing · Marketing automation

Judge email by what it earns, then use the other numbers to explain why.

• Revenue or enquiries per campaign.
• Click rate: are people acting?
• Unsubscribes and spam complaints: are you welcome?
• Bounce rate: is the list clean?
• List growth month to month.

Add tracking tags to your links, so Google Analytics shows visits and sales from each email. Opens are a rough guide only, since some mail apps open messages automatically.

Read next: Analytics and tracking · Email marketing

Yes. Email suits small businesses well, because it is cheap to run, and repeat customers are where most profit comes from.

You can start free on most platforms with a simple sign-up form and one welcome email. Add a weekly or fortnightly email and build from there.

Bring in help when you want automation, better design or sales you can track to each email. Our email marketing service covers strategy, writing, design, automation and reporting.

Read next: Email marketing · Business Growth Pricing Plans

Yes. We plan, write, design and send your campaigns, and build the automations that follow up for you.

The work covers list building, domain authentication, a welcome series, regular campaigns, cart and follow-up flows, list cleaning and monthly reports tied to enquiries and sales.

For LearnWithPride this meant a 58.63% open rate across 6,497 subscribers. Tell us what you sell and whether you already have a list, and we will suggest where to start.

Read next: Email marketing · Digital Marketing Case Studies

Choose a platform, connect your domain, collect addresses with permission and send one useful email on a regular schedule.

• Pick an email platform with a free plan.
• Send from an address on your own domain, with SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up.
• Add a sign-up form to your website and checkout.
• Offer a reason to join: a guide, a discount or a price list.
• Write a welcome email that goes out automatically.
• Send something helpful every week or two.

Start small and stay consistent. A list of 200 interested people is worth more than 20,000 strangers.

Read next: Email marketing · Marketing automation

Write to one person about one thing they want, and ask for one action.

• Subject: say plainly what is inside.
• Opening: the problem or the benefit, in the first two lines.
• Body: what you are offering, why it matters and proof that it works.
• Close: one clear button or link.
• P.S.: a deadline or a reminder of the main benefit.

Keep it short enough to read on a phone. Emails that sound like a person writing to a customer sell better than designed adverts. Send a helpful email more often than a selling one, so your offers are welcome when they come.

Read next: Email marketing · Content marketing

Send a short win-back series to customers who have not bought or opened in a while, before removing them from your list.

• Email 1: a friendly check-in, with what is new since they last bought.
• Email 2: your most useful content or bestseller, plus a customer review.
• Email 3: an incentive with a deadline.
• Email 4: ask if they still want to hear from you, and remove those who do not answer.

Winning back an old customer usually costs less than finding a new one. Those who stay silent should leave the list, which protects your sender reputation.

Read next: Email marketing · Marketing automation

The result I quote most is LearnWithPride in London: a 58.63% open rate on a send to 6,497 subscribers, from a list we built and cleaned ourselves on Brevo.

That rate came from three things: people had asked to be on the list, the sender was a named person, and the subject lines said plainly what was inside. Across client lists we have managed 400,000+ email subscribers.

Open rates are inflated by some mail apps now, so I judge campaigns by clicks, replies and sales too. But a list that opens at that rate is a list that trusts you. The screenshot is on the case studies page.

Read next: Digital Marketing Case Studies · Email marketing

I use SendPulse for Arya Marketplace and Study With FM, and Brevo for LearnWithPride, and I would recommend either to a growing business.

Both combine email, SMS, automation, forms and a simple CRM, both support your own sending domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and both have free or low-cost starting plans that suit Nigerian and UK budgets. SendPulse also handles WhatsApp and chatbots in the same place, which suits businesses that sell in chat.

The platform matters less than the list and the habit. I have seen beautiful Mailchimp accounts with no subscribers and plain SendPulse accounts earning every week.

Read next: Email marketing · Marketing automation

We write them, in your voice, and you approve them before they go out.

The process: we learn how you speak to customers, agree a monthly plan around your offers and seasons, draft each email, and send you a preview. After a few rounds most clients approve in minutes because the voice is right.

Emails that sound like the owner wrote them outperform emails that sound like an agency. For a London education client we wrote as the founder and reached a 58.63% open rate. That is the standard.

Read next: Email marketing · Content marketing

Send small volumes to your most engaged people first and grow the volume gradually over several weeks.

• Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC before the first send.
• Start with a few hundred of your best subscribers, the ones who recently bought or replied.
• Double the volume every few days only if opens hold and complaints stay near zero.
• Send consistently rather than in bursts.
• Remove bounces immediately.

Mailbox providers judge a new domain by how people react to it. A thousand emails on day one from an unknown domain looks like spam, because that is what spam looks like.

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Plain, lightly formatted emails from a named person usually get more replies and sales. Designed emails suit catalogues and announcements.

A plain email reads like a message from someone you know, loads instantly on a phone and rarely trips spam filters. A heavy template with six images and three buttons reads like advertising, because it is.

My default for service businesses is plain text with one link. For stores, a clean product email with real photos works. Test both on your own list; the answer is in your click rate.

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Email is worth it from the first hundred subscribers, if they are the right hundred.

A list of 200 past customers who open your emails will outsell a list of 20,000 strangers. The first customers to buy from a welcome series are often people who already knew you. Small lists also let you reply personally, which builds the loyalty a big list cannot.

Set up the welcome series and one useful email a fortnight now. Lists grow faster once there is something worth joining. Waiting until the list is "big enough" is how businesses end up with no list at all.

Read next: Email marketing · Lead generation

DMARC tells mailbox providers what to do with emails that fail your SPF and DKIM checks, and sends you reports about who is sending as you.

Start with p=none, which only reports. Read the reports for a few weeks to find every legitimate sender: your email platform, your website forms, your CRM. Fix their authentication, then move to quarantine, and to reject once nothing legitimate fails.

Gmail and Yahoo require at least p=none for bulk senders. On this website we run DMARC with reports going to a monitored address, and I move clients to reject only after their sending is clean. Google's sender guidelines explain the requirement.

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Use email for the long explanation and WhatsApp for the nudge, and let automation decide the timing.

• A new lead gets a welcome email with the detail, and a short WhatsApp message the same day.
• Reminders go by WhatsApp, where they are read.
• Education and proof go by email, where there is room.
• Offers go to both, with WhatsApp for the deadline.

In Nigeria, WhatsApp gets the reply; email gets the trust. Across client lists we manage 400,000+ email subscribers and 15,000+ WhatsApp community members, and the accounts that grew fastest used both. Our marketing automation page shows how we connect them.

Read next: Marketing automation · WhatsApp marketing

Yes. The email marketing course is six weeks. You build a list from zero, set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC, write a welcome sequence and build automations. We work hands-on in Brevo and SendPulse, and I show how Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Kit, MailerLite and Systeme.io compare.

Read next: Email Marketing: Turn Your List Into A Sales Machine · Email marketing