Email marketing has been around since the dawn of the digital age, and it’s still going strong in 2024. It is a powerful tool for businesses to reach out to their customers and potential customers, build relationships with them, and increase conversions.
If you’re looking for ways to leverage email marketing this year, then you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll provide you with all the information you need on how to get started with email marketing and make sure your campaigns are successful. We’ll cover topics like setting up an effective email list, creating engaging content for emails, understanding analytics data from email campaigns, and more.
By following our step-by-step guide, you will be able to create an effective email marketing strategy that will help grow your business in 2024! So let’s get started!
What is Email Marketing?
Before we dive into the details, it’s important to have a basic understanding of what email marketing is. Email marketing involves sending messages to potential and existing customers with the goal of engaging them and encouraging them to take certain actions. This could include buying products or services, signing up for newsletters, attending events, liking social media pages, etc.
Email marketing started out as a simple way to send messages to an email list, but it has evolved over the years. Now, businesses can create automated campaigns that are triggered by certain events or customer behaviors. They can also personalize messages based on customer data and use analytics to track the success of their emails.
Is Email Marketing Still Worth It in 2024?
Absolutely. Despite the rise of social media and other digital platforms, email marketing remains a powerful tool for businesses to reach their target audience. In fact, according to recent studies, email marketing has an average ROI of $40 back for every $1 spent on it, which is quite a bit higher than most other marketing methods.
Why is this?
There are a few reasons.
First, email is an incredibly personal way to communicate with customers. It allows businesses to build relationships with their customers and create an intimate connection that other marketing methods can’t match.
Also, email campaigns can be highly targeted and personalized, allowing businesses to reach the right people at the right time with the right message.
Finally, email offers a great way to track analytics and measure the success of campaigns. With data-driven insights, businesses can make informed decisions about their email marketing strategies.
Ultimately, you have much more control over and insight into email marketing campaigns than you do with things like Facebook or Google Ads.
You can build your own audience.
You can reach them when you want, how you want, with whatever message you want (without worrying about a gatekeeper).
And you can see their engagement data for yourself, testing and adapting as necessary.
Check out some of these email marketing stats…
- There are 4 billion daily email users.
- 37% of brands are increasing their email budget.
- A majority of marketers using email leverage mobile-friendly emails as part of their marketing strategy.
- Subscriber segmentation is the most effective email marketing campaign strategy.
- 33% of marketers send weekly emails and 26% send emails multiple times per month.
- 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months. Smartphone users prefer to receive brand communications via email.
- Almost half of marketers report changing their email performance measurements as a result of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection changes.
- Testing your emails leads to higher ROI.
The Only Email Marketing Software You’ll Ever Need…
Of course, to leverage the power of email marketing, you can’t just go to your Gmail account and started sending emails.
You need software that allows you to build an email list of thousands of people, send emails to those people, create automations, view key metrics, and test different campaigns.
There are a lot of options out there.
But what if this software also served as your…
- Sales funnel builder
- CRM
- Landing page builder
- Online course creator
- Project manager
- E-commerce store
- Shopping cart
- And your website!
… all under a single subscription?
In that case, you wouldn’t have to worry about integrating your email marketing software with all of the other moving parts in your business.
You could do it all under a single software and under a single monthly membership.
That’s what we’ve created here at ClickFunnels!
We give you everything you need to build, maintain, and grow your online business (even email marketing). Check out how our feature list compares to other popular email marketing software…
Want to try us out for yourself with any risk whatsoever?
Click the link below!
Part 1. Growing Your List
The first critical part of email marketing is growing your list. And this isn’t just something you should do in the beginning when you have 0 subscribers and you’re trying to get to 100 or 1,000.
It’s something you should always be doing… so long as you have an email list.
Why?
Because there’s a direct correlation between how big your email list is and how much money you’ll make every month.
This is something that Russell Brunson and many other successful entrepreneurs and marketers have found from personal experience. They often make about $1 per month per subscriber, and so they make more money as their email list grows.
Ask Your Friends & Family to Join
If you’re just getting started out, then the first thing I’d recommend doing is asking your friends and family to join.
Message friends on Facebook, text your family members and tell them what you’re doing.
They might not be exactly your target market. But in the beginning, they will help to fill out your list a bit.
When I originally started my email newsletter, The Tonic, I must have messaged 500+ people on Facebook telling them what I was doing and asking them to join my list.
Don’t be shy.
You’re an entrepreneur and your friends and family will probably be happy to support you in this small way.
Who knows… maybe they’ll even enjoy your emails!
Create a Subscriber Funnel
Of course, friends and family are only going to take your email list so far. At some point, you’ve got to start tapping into your real target audience.
And the way to do that is with a subscriber funnel.
A subscriber funnel is just a simple sales funnel that turns visitors into subscribers for your email list.
There are a few necessary components for building this funnel. You’ll need…
- A source of traffic — This could be Facebook ads, Google ads, or something else like search engine traffic. You might be able to leverage a source of traffic you’ve already created elsewhere.
- A landing page — This is where the person will arrive when they click on your link. The landing page should give them a good reason to sign up for your email list.
- A simple offer — Your simple offer doesn’t need to be paid (but it could be!). This is the thing you’re offering people in order to get them to sign up for your email list. It could be as simple as “get daily emails with awesome marketing advice”. Or it could offer something a little more tangible like a cheat sheet for copywriting or a free trial of your software.
Let me show you an example of what this looks like for my newsletter, The Tonic.
We run these ads on Facebook.
When people click on the “Learn More” button, they go to this simple article…
At the bottom is this CTA…
And that’s it!
We’re able to get subscribers at about $1.50 with that little funnel.
Again, this doesn’t need to be complicated. You just need those three components I listed above. You can build all of that and automate it right inside of ClickFunnels.
Cross Promote With Other Email Lists
Another great way to grow your email list at pretty much any stage is by cross-promoting with other email lists in your niche.
You could easily reach out to other people in your niche who have email lists and say “I’ll promote your newsletter to my list if you promote mine to yours!”
Here’s the simple email I use when outreaching to people for cross-promo opportunities…
- Hello,
- I’m the co-founder of The Tonic, and we’re looking for other email newsletters to do a cross-promo.
- We currently have over 7,000 subscribers with an average open rate of 40%. Would you be interested in doing a cross-promo with us?
- Thanks!
- Mike
You can also do more traditional joint venture partnerships with people like influencers or major websites in your niche. They might be willing to promote your list if you provide a great offer and good incentives (such as commission on sales, for instance). Or you could just pay influencers to promote your email list funnel.
Either way, these types of collaborations can be highly effective at growing your email list in a short period of time.
You can do cross-promoting at any stage of growth and I recommend continuing to do it over and over again well into the future. In fact, why not hire a VA to consistently outreach for these opportunities for you every single month?
Use the Dream 100 Method
Russell Brunson’s bestselling book, Traffic Secrets, is jam-packed with practical advice for coaches to be able to drive traffic to their websites. And we highly recommend getting a copy (you can get it for free via that link).
The most important concept from his book is that of the Dream 100.
This is a process that any business can use to build brand awareness, generate leads, and make sales.
In fact, it’s the exact process Russell Brunson has used to grow ClickFunnels to a business worth over $100 million (without any venture capital).
Check out the video below.
Here’s the gist.
The people you want to serve — your dream customers — are already congregating in lots of different places online.
They’re listening to the same podcasts, reading the same blogs, signing up for the same newsletters, and following the same Instagram influencers.
What if you could implant your business, your message, and your offers into those congregations?
That’d be super valuable, right?
Heck ya!
The first step is to make a list of 100 different places — hence the name, although it could be more or less than 100 — where your dream customers already congregate online.
Find…
- 10+ top websites & forums where they spend time
- 15+ active Facebook groups
- 50+ influencers they follow on social media
- 30+ podcasts they listen to
- 40+ email newsletters they read
You could also target YouTube Channels, blogs, or even magazines.
Once you’ve got a list, you can either…
- Work your way in — This means reaching out and building relationships with key people. It’ll include guest blogging, being a guest on other people’s podcasts, or reaching out on social media to create friendships.
- Buy your way in — This means you pay money to insert yourself into the conversation. That could be through advertisements, sponsorships, or agreements with influencers.
Here’s a graphic showing how this works to build your email list…
This is the foundation of your email list-building strategy because it tells you where your target market is — and once you know where they are, you can create a plan for inserting yourself into the conversation.
As Russell Brunson explains…
“The core strategy to understand is that your dream customers have already been congregated by your Dream 100. If you focus on identifying them and marketing to them, your dream customers will start flowing into your funnels faster than by anything else you could do.”
You can use this Dream 100 process regardless of the marketing tactics you utilize (ads, influencers, sponsorships, SEO, etc.) — just choose your tactics and then follow the Dream 100 process. It’s the yellow brick road to success.
Part 2. Segmenting Your List
Once you’ve built up an email list of your ideal customers, it’s time to start segmenting them. By properly segmenting your list, you can target specific groups with personalized messages that are more likely to convert and have a higher ROI (return on investment).
Segmenting your list helps you target groups more effectively, but it also helps you automate your email marketing. You can create automated emails using ClickFunnels, for example, that are sent to specific segments based on criteria such as purchase history, geography, and even level of engagement.
For example, if a customer purchases a product from you, they could be added to an automation that thanks them for their purchase and tries to cross-sell them on a similar product.
Customers
These are the people who’ve actually bought from you before. You want to give them special attention because they’re one of the most valuable segments on your list. You can create a segment of customers who’ve purchased in the last 30 days (maybe call it “Active Customers”), or another segment for all-time customers.
This segment is important because when you have new products to launch or special offers only for your customers, you want to make sure the right people know about them.
Engaged Subscribers
These are the folks who open your emails and click through to your site regularly. They’re highly engaged with your brand and they should be treated differently than inactive subscribers. You can create automated campaigns that reward them with exclusive content, free product samples, or discounts on their next purchase.
Inactive Subscribers
These are people who haven’t opened an email from you in several months or longer. You should send out a reactivation campaign to this segment, but if they don’t respond then it’s probably time to delete them from your list — they’re not going to be a good source of revenue for you.
New Subscribers
These are the newcomers to your list — they’re exploring your brand, but may not have purchased anything yet. You can create an automated welcome series that introduces them to your company and encourages them to take their first step with you (like signing up for a free trial or making their first purchase).
Part 3. Onboarding Your Subscribers
Once your segments are set up, it’s time to onboard new subscribers. This is the process of introducing them to your brand and providing content that will help them understand who you are, what you do, and why they should buy from you.
Your onboarding series should have three different parts: the gift delivery (giving them whatever you promised), the welcome email (this is where you say hi and set expectations), and the Soap Opera Sequence (more on this in a moment).
Let’s talk about each of those in detail.
Gift Delivery
If you’re using a traditional email-list-building funnel, then you probably are giving something away for free (or at a large discount) as a “bribe to subscribe.” This could be a free ebook, a discounted course, or a set of templates.
Whatever it is, make sure you deliver on your promise and provide the subscriber with the gift they were expecting right away. This sets the tone for your relationship and helps to build trust.
This should be the very first email your subscriber receives after signing up.
Welcome Email
The welcome email is also super important.
To get a general idea of its importance, take a look at some of these stats…
- Welcome emails have a 91.43% open rate.
- Welcome emails can create an 86% lift in unique open rates.
- The most effective triggered email types for e-commerce brands are cart-abandonment emails and welcome emails.
- Welcome email read rates are 42% higher than the average email.
- Welcome emails have on average 4x the open rate and 5x the click-through rate of a standard email marketing campaign.
- 84% of B2C welcome emails successfully reach inboxes worldwide and have a 23% read rate.
But maybe this email isn’t important for the reasons you expect.
It’s important to say hi to your new subscribers and to “welcome” them to your list. But it’s even more important to set expectations for what they can expect now that they’re on your email list.
If you do this right, then they have a good chance of sticking around and becoming an engaged subscriber over the long haul.
Here’s everything you need to include in your welcome email…
- How often they should expect to get your emails and WHEN (what day(s), time, etc.)
- A quick explanation of what kind of value those emails will include.
- Simple instructions for new subscribers to move your emails to their primary inbox.
Here’s an example of what this looks like…
Soap Opera Sequence
So someone signs up for your list and you send them the thing you promised. Then you send them your welcome email.
What comes next?
Next, we want to give every new subscriber the best possible chance of becoming a paying customer.
We do that with something called a Soap Opera Sequence.
Because, like a soap opera, these emails guide the visitor irresistibly from one “episode” (email) to the next… and eventually to buying your products/services.
Here’s a great breakdown of how this email sequence works from Ryan Wegner…
The soap opera sequence basically consists of 5 emails sent over 5 days (one a day).
You set the stage, create high drama, share your epiphany, discuss hidden benefits, and then use urgency to push the lead over the fence.
Here’s the gist…
- Set The Stage — This is where you introduce yourself, build a bit of rapport, and tell people what they can expect in your upcoming emails. You also want to build some anticipation.
- High Drama → Backstory → Wall — This is where you capture them with a high-drama moment, tell them a bit of backstory, and then reveal the wall you came up against.
- Epiphany → The One Thing — This is where you reveal your big epiphany, how you came to the realization that changed everything.
- Hidden Benefits — This is where you’re going to talk about the benefits of your product that your target market probably isn’t even thinking about… the hidden benefits.
- Urgency CTA — This is where you’ll create urgency or scarcity to push your most stubborn readers over the edge.
If you want a more detailed explanation of how this works, get a free copy of Russell Brunson’s bestselling book, DotCom Secrets ← just pay shipping.
Part 4. Sending Awesome Emails
Obviously, you want to sell products to your email list and make tons of money.
But to keep people on your email list — and to build their trust — you need to also send awesome, valuable emails that they want to read.
Here are some tips for doing that.
Seinfeld Emails
Once someone has finished going through a soap opera sequence… what comes next?
Whether they buy or not, you shouldn’t stop emailing them.
After all, just because someone didn’t buy five days after they signed up for your email list certainly doesn’t mean they’ll never buy.
49% of businesses say that most of their leads require “long cycle” nurturing, according to Ascend2.
So it’s worth your time to keep emailing people who’ve bought before… and people who’ve never bought.
But… what do you send?
Daily Seinfeld emails — check out the video below!
Basically, Seinfeld emails are just daily emails that catch the recipient’s attention, tell a story, and make an offer relevant to the story that was told.
Now you might be nervous about emailing every day, but you could use the same strategy and email just a few times a week or even once a week.
The important thing is to stay in contact with your entire list — to continue building authority, and to continue making them offers.
Once you get in the habit, writing these emails should just take 15 minutes or so every morning.
Hook, Story, Offer
How can you structure your emails to be fun, interesting, compelling, and high-converting?
Use our Hook, Story, Offer format.
Here’s how it works.
- Hook — Get the recipient’s attention with a curiosity-inducing subject line.
- Story — Tell a compelling and interesting story.
- Offer — Offer a product or service that’s related to the story you told.
Here’s an example…
You can use this template with virtually every email you send. It’s super effective and it creates value for your audience. Win-win.
Make it Personal
Unsurprisingly, people connect better with people than they do with a brand or business.
That’s why I always recommend sending your emails from an actual person (or at least making it appear that they come from a person).
Choose someone in your business to be the face of your email marketing efforts — this could be you or someone on your customer success team, or the CEO.
Whatever the case, sending every email from an actual person makes the emails more engaging. It also makes it easier for your subscriber to build a relationship with your emails.
Ask For Replies (& Reply!)
Another way to engage with your email list that feels authentic and exciting is by asking them questions and encouraging them to reply. Something simple like…
What do you need help with in your business right now? Hit “Reply” and let me know.
Not only does this give you invaluable information about what your subscribers are struggling with, but it also makes for a nice change of pace from your other emails. Your subscribers will love it and you’ll probably get more answers than you had bargained for.
Get in the habit of doing this a few times per month and see how it helps you to build meaningful relationships with your subscribers.
Part 5. Understanding Important Email Marketing Metrics
Now that we’ve covered the steps to creating a successful email marketing campaign, let’s review the metrics you should be using to evaluate your campaigns.
You don’t need to overthink the analytics. But it’s always good to keep your fingers on the pulse of your email list and its engagement.
Open Rate
The open rate is the percentage of subscribers that opened an email campaign. A good benchmark open rate is 20-30%, but it really depends on your industry and the quality of your list.
Open Reach
Open reach is a little bit different than open rate. And it’s a great way to get a better picture of how many subscribers engage with your emails at least, say, once a month.
Here’s how it works. Whereas open rate is the percentage of people who open a single campaign, open reach is the percentage of subscribers who’ve opened at least one email over a given period of time.
You can get this number by dividing the number of unique opens by your total number of subscribers over a 30-day period. This number will often be higher than the open rate and will give you a better idea of actual engagement (because people rarely open every email you send).
Click-Through Rate
Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who clicked on one or more links in an email. A good benchmark CTR is around 2-3%, but this will vary depending on your industry, list quality, and other factors.
Unsubscribe Rate
The unsubscribe rate is the percentage of subscribers that unsubscribed from your list after receiving an email. Ideally, you want to keep this rate as low as possible. A good benchmark for unsubscribe rate is at or below 0.3-0.5%.
Net Growth Rate
Earlier I said that your email list should always be growing. But since you’ll always be getting unsubscribes — there’s no way to avoid that — then you better make sure you’re doing enough to make up for those unsubscribes and come out with net positive gains.
For example, if your list is currently at 5000 subscribers and you had 150 unsubscribes in the last month, then your net growth rate would be -3%. But if you managed to get 200 new subscribers during that same period, then your net growth rate would be +1% (because you had a net gain of 50 subscribers).
The key here is to always aim for positive net growth. This means that you need to be focusing on list building and doing it consistently.
Cost Per Subscriber
Cost per subscriber is simply a measure of how much you’re paying to acquire each new subscriber. This metric is especially important because it will help you figure out which list-building efforts are working and which ones aren’t.
For example, let’s say you spend $100 on Google Ads and get 500 new subscribers. That would mean your cost per subscriber for Google Ads is $0.20.
By understanding this metric, you can begin to optimize your list-building efforts and save money in the long run by focusing on what works and cutting out what doesn’t.
Final Thoughts on Email Marketing
The key to successful email marketing is understanding the fundamentals and having a step-by-step process. And the best way to maximize your return on investment (ROI) is by understanding and tracking the right metrics.
Hopefully, this guide has given you an idea of how to get started with email marketing in 2024, as well as how to measure the success of your campaigns.
Good luck and happy emailing!