Last updated on December 18th, 2025 at 03:04 pm
Email marketing can be a great way to grow your startup.
In fact, we would argue that an engaged email list is one of the most valuable assets that a startup can have. But how can you build one?
And how can you make the most out of it once you do?
Here are our top five email marketing strategies for startups…
#1: Build a Value Ladder Sales Funnel
Email marketing doesn’t exist in isolation – it should always be viewed in the context of your overall sales funnel.
That’s why we recommend designing your sales funnel first – that way, you’ll understand the big picture, which will help you create effective email marketing campaigns.
There are several popular sales funnel models out there. So which one should you use for your startup?
We believe that the most effective way to sell anything online is the Value Ladder sales funnel.
It was created by our co-founder Russell Brunson who then used it to take ClickFunnels from zero to $10M+ in annual revenue in just one year (it’s at $100M+ now!).
This sales funnel has four stages:
- Bait – You offer the potential customer your lead magnet in exchange for their email address.
- Frontend – You offer the potential customer your least expensive and least valuable product or service.
- Middle – You offer the customer a more expensive and more valuable product or service.
- Backend – You offer the customer your most expensive and most valuable product or service.
Ideally, you also offer a continuity program of some sort, meaning, a subscription product that generates recurring revenue.
We also recommend adding downsells, upsells, and cross sells to these core offers in order to maximize your revenue.
The reason why this sales funnel works so well is that it allows you to:
- Start the relationship with that person by offering free value.
- Nurture that relationship by continuing to provide free value via email.
- Build trust by providing progressively more paid value at each stage.
Here’s how Russell explains it:
Case Study: “Dotcom Secrets” Sales Funnel
Russell has written several best-selling books on the subject of growing online businesses:
We use them as physical “FREE + Shipping” lead magnets where we offer physical copies of these books for free but ask the potential customer to cover the shipping costs.
Here’s how the “Dotcom Secrets” sales funnel is structured:
As you can see, it all starts with a free quiz, then gradually progresses in terms of both value and price.
Also, note how we sell not just our software but also info products, events, and memberships to an exclusive community of successful entrepreneurs.
This helps us generate a lot more revenue than we would if our only offer was a software subscription.
It’s also why we have such a strong brand – there are a gazillion funnel builder apps on the market today but ClickFunnels is the name that people recognize.
You see, other companies in the same space offer software, meanwhile, we offer software AND educational resources AND a thriving, engaged community full of ambitious people who inspire each other.
So when you are designing your own Value Ladder sales funnel, take a page out of our playbook and consider how you can offer more than just your primary product or service.
#2: Have a Proper Lead Generation Funnel
One of the most common mistakes that we see startups make when it comes to email marketing is not having a proper lead generation funnel.
The founders tend to be aware that they should be building an email list but they don’t quite realize just how important it is, so they don’t give it the attention it deserves.
Sure, they might have a lead magnet, they might have an opt-in form on their website, or they might even be using pop-ups.
But if you are serious about growing your email list, then you must build a proper lead generation funnel as that is the best way to obtain the email addresses of potential customers.
Here’s how to do it:
- Create an irresistible lead magnet
- Create a landing page for that lead magnet
- Drive traffic to that landing page
Now let’s take a closer look at each of these three steps:
Create an Irresistible Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is a freebie that you offer to potential customers in exchange for their email address.
It can be anything that they can either download to their device or access online:
- A report
- An eBook
- A video course
- An email course
- A webinar
You can also use the previously mentioned “FREE + Shipping” approach and have a physical lead magnet.
Just keep in mind that it’s a lot more risky because physical lead magnets cost a lot more to produce, plus you also have to store them somewhere.
Whether you decide to go with a digital or a physical lead magnet, it’s important to make sure that:
- Your lead magnet provides a solution to a problem that the potential customer is struggling with.
- That problem is either the same one or related to the problem that your frontend offer addresses.
Also, the days when people were handing out their email addresses left and right are long gone, so if you want potential customers to give you their contact details, you must offer them something super valuable in return.
The key to designing an effective lead magnet is to create something that your dream customers desperately want…
And then give it away for free!
Create a Landing Page for That Lead Magnet
Landing pages are a type of web page that converts the best. That’s why you should create one for your lead magnet!
We recommend creating a simple squeeze page which is the most basic type of landing page.
It should have these three key elements:
- A headline that conveys the value of your lead magnet. How will it make the potential customer’s life better? Emphasize that.
- An opt-in form where the potential customer can type in their email address. It can be either displayed immediately or shown once they click the call-to-action button.
- A call-to-action button that encourages the potential customer to get your lead magnet.
It’s best to use offer-specific copy (e.g. “Get Your Free eBook”) as opposed to generic copy (e.g. “Subscribe” or “Download”).
You can also experiment with adding a subheadline, body copy, social proof, a relevant image, etc. Just make sure to A/B test everything!
Here’s a simple, yet high-converting squeeze page that we use for one of our lead magnets:
We don’t recommend building your lead magnet landing page from scratch if you don’t have any previous landing page design experience – it’s better to use a proven landing page template instead.
ClickFunnels includes a bunch of lead magnet landing page templates that have been optimized for conversions. All you have to do is pick one and customize it according to your needs using our visual page builder!
Drive Traffic to That Landing Page With Paid Ads
Once you have your lead magnet landing page, it’s time to start driving traffic to it with paid ads.
Choose the platform that makes the most sense for your startup, set up a small daily budget, and start running ads.
Then sit back and watch what happens. Are people showing interest in your free offer?
If they are, then begin gradually scaling your ad campaign while also using that traffic to optimize your landing page.
If they aren’t, figure out what’s the issue:
- Is your offer not valuable enough?
- Does your landing page fail to convey its value?
- Are you driving the wrong kind of traffic to your landing page?
Worst case scenario, if you realize that it’s the offer that’s the problem, go back to the drawing board and come up with something better.
It might take a few attempts until you find a lead magnet idea that truly resonates with your dream customers.
Once you have a streamlined lead generation funnel, building an email list is easy, provided that you are willing to spend money on paid traffic!
#3: Create a 6-Email Welcome Sequence
Okay, so you managed to get the potential customer’s email address, now what?
We don’t recommend hitting them with a sales pitch for your frontend offer straight away.
Instead, send them this six-email sequence so that you would build a little bit more trust before going for the sale:
- Email #1: Who Are You? Introduce yourself to the new subscriber.
- Email #2: Where Did You Come From? Share your origin story. How did you come to do what you do now?
- Email #3: What Do You Do? Explain in more detail what it is that you do.
- Email #4: How Did You Gain This Expertise? Explain what makes you qualified to do what you do. Mention relevant education, credentials, and accomplishments.
- Email #5: Who Do You Do This For? Explain who is your dream customer + share a case study on how you helped someone like that get the results that they wanted.
- Email #6: How Can You Do It For Me? Pitch your frontend offer.
This welcome sequence can work well for all startups regardless of their size because it allows you to create a connection with the new subscriber through a brand narrative.
Ideally, you want to write this email sequence from the perspective of the founder(s), as that is more personal and therefore more relatable.
However, you can also use a more formal approach where you write from the perspective of the company itself, with an emphasis on the organization and not on individuals.
#4: Start a Weekly Email Newsletter
Email newsletters have been around for ages but they are exploding in popularity right now.
You can take advantage of this trend by starting your own weekly newsletter where you share interesting links, original content, and company news with your email subscribers.
This will give you an excuse to email your subscribers on a regular basis without coming across as spammy.
Moreover, an email newsletter can help you grow your email list faster – if it becomes popular, you will start attracting people who sign up not to get your lead magnet but because they heard about your newsletter.
In fact, you might be able to use the newsletter itself as a lead magnet, with a lead generation funnel of its own.
The key here is to approach it as a serious online publication and to make sure that each and every issue provides genuine value to your subscribers.
#5: Use Marketing Automation to Make Your Emails as Relevant as Possible
Marketing automation allows you to create email workflows with behavioral triggers and tailor your emails to each subscriber based on the actions that they take.
For example, let’s say that there’s an automated promotional email, such as the last email in the welcome sequence that we have discussed previously.
You can set up a workflow that splits into different paths based on whether the subscriber opens the email and then on whether they click on the call-to-action link.
You can also create subscriber segments based on various factors such as lead source, browsing history, purchase history, etc., and then use marketing automation to add people to those segments.
Segmenting your email list like that allows you to make your emails even more relevant because it enables you to send one-off broadcast emails to specific segments instead of your entire email list as well as create workflows that target specific segments.
Keep in mind that the more relevant your emails are, the more likely that subscriber is to continue opening them.
Setting up automations might seem like a lot of work but it’s a worthwhile investment!
Build a Value Ladder Sales Funnel for Your Startup With ClickFunnels!
ClickFunnels has everything you need to build a sales funnel for your startup.
- Sales funnel and landing page templates.
- Visual editor that you can use to customize those templates.
- Email marketing functionality that allows you to send broadcast emails, set up automated email sequences, and create email workflows with behavioral triggers.
What’s best is that we have a free trial which means that you can check out our software without any risk.
So why not start building your Value Ladder sales funnel today?