# Email Marketing Guide

## Email Marketing Fundamentals

### Email Campaign Types

**Welcome Series** (new subscriber or customer)
- Purpose: Build relationship, set expectations, drive first engagement
- Length: 3-5 emails over 1-2 weeks
- Structure:
  1. Immediate welcome + thank you + first offer
  2. Introduction to company/mission (day 1-2)
  3. Key benefit/feature overview (day 3-4)
  4. Social proof or testimonial (day 5-7)
  5. Re-engagement or special offer (day 10-14)

**Newsletter** (regular, recurring)
- Purpose: Keep brand top-of-mind, build community, drive consistent traffic
- Frequency: Weekly or monthly (pick one and stick with it)
- Structure: 3-5 content pieces or highlights per issue
- Format: Curated content, internal articles, customer stories, industry news

**Promotional Campaign** (product launch, seasonal, special offer)
- Purpose: Drive conversions or awareness of specific offer
- Length: 3-5 emails over 1-2 weeks
- Sequence:
  1. Announcement/teaser (day 1)
  2. Soft sell with details (day 2-3)
  3. Social proof or urgency (day 5)
  4. Last chance/urgency (day 7)

**Nurture Sequence** (lead generation follow-up)
- Purpose: Educate leads and move them closer to purchase
- Length: 5-8 emails over 2-4 weeks
- Structure: Each email addresses a specific objection or provides one key benefit
- Timing: Based on user behavior/interests, not fixed schedule

**Re-engagement Campaign** (win back inactive users)
- Purpose: Determine if contact is still interested; remove if not
- Length: 2-3 emails over 1-2 weeks
- Structure:
  1. "We miss you" message with incentive (day 1)
  2. Value reminder (day 5)
  3. Final offer or cleanup (day 10)

### Email Metrics & Healthy Targets

| Metric | How to Measure | Healthy Range | Notes |
|--------|----------------|------------------|-------|
| **Delivery Rate** | (Delivered / Sent) × 100 | 98%+ | Check bounce rates |
| **Open Rate** | (Opened / Delivered) × 100 | 20-40% | Varies by industry |
| **Click-Through Rate** | (Clicked / Opened) × 100 | 2-5% | Important for conversions |
| **Conversion Rate** | (Conversions / Clicked) × 100 | 5-15% | Depends on offer |
| **Unsubscribe Rate** | (Unsubscribes / Sent) × 100 | Below 0.5% | Rising = messaging issue |
| **Spam Report Rate** | (Spam reports / Sent) × 100 | Below 0.1% | Red flag if rising |
| **Email List Growth** | New subscribers / month | 5-10% | Sustainable growth |
| **Revenue per Email** | Revenue generated / emails sent | Industry varies | ROI metric |

## Email Template Structure

### Standard Email Template

```
[EMAIL HEADER]

[BRANDED HEADER IMAGE OR LOGO]

---

[GREETING]
Hi [First Name],

[OPENING HOOK - 2-3 sentences max]
[Reference something personal about them, their company, or current situation]
[Lead with benefit/outcome, not feature]

[BODY SECTION 1]
[Main idea/value proposition - 2-3 short paragraphs]
[Include specific numbers or outcomes when possible]
[Use short paragraphs (2-3 sentences max) for scannability]

[BODY SECTION 2 - Optional]
[Secondary benefit or context]
[Social proof element (testimonial, metric, customer name)]

[CALL-TO-ACTION SECTION]
[Reinforce the benefit of taking action]
[PRIMARY CTA - action-oriented, specific benefit]
[SECONDARY CTA - lower commitment option if applicable]

[CLOSING]
[Your name]
[Your title]
[Your contact info]

[FOOTER]
[Preference center link] | [Unsubscribe link] | [Social links]
[Company address for CAN-SPAM compliance]
```

### Email Subject Line Formulas (with A/B testing ideas)

**Formula 1: Curiosity**
- "The [industry] trend that's changing [outcome]"
- A/B Test: Curiosity vs. Direct benefit

**Formula 2: Specific Benefit**
- "[Number] ways to [outcome] without [obstacle]"
- A/B Test: Different number

**Formula 3: Personalization**
- "[Name], [Company] is using [tactic] - here's how"
- A/B Test: Company-specific vs. generic

**Formula 4: Urgency**
- "Only [timeframe]: [offer] for [audience]"
- A/B Test: Different timeframe

**Formula 5: Social Proof**
- "How [known company] achieved [result] in [timeframe]"
- A/B Test: Different company or result

**Formula 6: Question**
- "Is your [area] losing [customers/time/money]?"
- A/B Test: Different problem or urgency element

### Pre-send Checklist

**Content Quality**
- [ ] Subject line is specific and benefit-driven
- [ ] Preview text completes subject line message
- [ ] Opening hook is compelling (grabs attention in first 2 sentences)
- [ ] One main message (don't try to do everything)
- [ ] CTA is clear and action-oriented
- [ ] All copy is scannable (short paragraphs, breaks)
- [ ] Tone matches brand voice
- [ ] No typos or grammatical errors

**Technical**
- [ ] All links work (especially CTA links)
- [ ] Email renders correctly in Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail
- [ ] Mobile view is readable (single column, large fonts)
- [ ] Images have alt text (for accessibility)
- [ ] From name is recognizable (brand or person)
- [ ] Reply-to address is monitored
- [ ] Unsubscribe link is present and working

**Compliance**
- [ ] CAN-SPAM compliant (physical address in footer)
- [ ] Unsubscribe link is easy to find
- [ ] Privacy policy link is accessible
- [ ] For promotional emails: clear it's a promotional email

**Targeting**
- [ ] List segment is appropriate for message
- [ ] Personalization tokens are correct
- [ ] Send time is optimized for audience timezone
- [ ] This email follows frequency cap (not sending too often)

## Email Segmentation Strategy

Segment your email list to send relevant messages:

### By Customer Type
- **Prospects**: Not yet customers (nurture content)
- **New Customers** (0-3 months): Onboarding and education
- **Established Customers** (3+ months): Retention, upsell, advocacy
- **Churned Customers**: Win-back campaigns

### By Product/Interest
- Segment by which product they use or are interested in
- Send relevant features, use cases, and updates
- Reduce unsubscribe rates by sending only relevant content

### By Behavior
- **Highly Engaged**: Open rates 50%+ (premium content, exclusive offers)
- **Moderately Engaged**: Open rates 20-50% (standard content)
- **Low Engaged**: Open rates below 20% (re-engagement campaign)
- **New Subscribers**: Special welcome sequence

### By Company Attributes
- **Company Size**: Send different messaging to SMB vs. Enterprise
- **Industry**: Tailor examples and use cases
- **Geography**: Send localized content or offers
- **Revenue Potential**: VIP treatment for high-value companies

## Email Deliverability Best Practices

**Sender Reputation**
- Warm up new sending IP gradually (start 100 emails/day, ramp up over 2 weeks)
- Maintain consistent sending volume
- Monitor sender reputation using tools like: Return Path, Validity, 250ok

**List Hygiene**
- Remove hard bounces immediately
- Monitor soft bounces (resend max 3 times, then remove)
- Unsubscribe inactive subscribers after 6 months of no opens
- Remove spam complaint addresses immediately
- Implement double opt-in for new subscribers (reduces spam reports)

**Authentication**
- Implement SPF record (Sender Policy Framework)
- Implement DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
- Implement DMARC policy (Domain-based Message Authentication)
- Use company domain, not third-party sending domain

**Content**
- Avoid spam trigger words: "free", "click here", "limited time" (use sparingly)
- Balance text and images (don't send image-only emails)
- Use legitimate from address and display name
- Avoid excessive capitalization or exclamation marks
- Don't use too many links (max 2-3 per email)

## Email A/B Testing Guide

### What to Test (in priority order)

**1. Subject Line** (biggest impact on opens)
- Test curiosity vs. direct benefit
- Test personalization vs. generic
- Test short (30 chars) vs. longer (50+ chars)
- Run test on 25-50% of list, send winner to remaining 50%

**2. CTA Button Text** (impacts click-through)
- "Learn more" vs. "Get started free"
- "Schedule demo" vs. "See it in action"
- "Get the guide" vs. "Download whitepaper"
- Minimum 1,000 people per variation

**3. Send Time** (impacts opens/clicks)
- Test morning vs. afternoon
- Test weekday vs. weekend
- Test industry norms (business hours for B2B, evenings for B2C)
- Analyze historical data first

**4. Preview Text** (second thing people see)
- Different messaging vs. auto-populated
- Test what completes the subject line message
- Test social proof vs. value prop

**5. Email Copy** (tone, length, style)
- Long-form vs. short-form body
- Casual tone vs. professional
- Story-driven vs. benefit-driven
- Use separate audience segment for this

### A/B Testing Rules

- Change only ONE element per test
- Run minimum 2-3 days (captures different times of day/days of week)
- Aim for 1,000+ recipients per variation for statistical significance
- Statistical significance: ~200 conversions minimum
- Winner = statistically significant difference (not just 1% higher)
- Run multiple rounds of testing in sequence

## Email Frequency Best Practices

**Recommended Frequencies**
- **Newsletters**: Weekly or monthly (pick one, be consistent)
- **Promotional**: 2-4 per month (during campaigns)
- **Nurture sequences**: Every other day for 2-4 weeks
- **Transactional**: As needed (order confirmations, password resets)
- **Re-engagement**: 1-2 per quarter

**Unsubscribe Prevention**
- Provide frequency preferences (let subscribers choose weekly/monthly/quarterly)
- Monitor unsubscribe reasons and adjust if pattern emerges
- Send welcome series immediately after signup (establishes expectations)
- Never surprise subscribers with sudden change in frequency

**Benchmarks**
- Industry average unsubscribe rate: 0.2-0.5%
- If rising above 0.5%: Frequency too high or relevance too low
- If below 0.1%: You might be sending too infrequently
