Back in the 1990s, email went mainstream with the introduction of services like Hotmail and Yahoo Mail. For businesses, this felt revolutionary because emailing someone was cheaper, faster and far more scalable than traditional ways of sending messages.
Naturally, everyone jumped in.
By the early 2000s, inboxes started getting flooded. Anyone with access to a database, or even a scraped list, began sending emails. Spam exploded. Trust dropped. And email marketing slowly started earning a bad reputation.
Between 2005 and 2012, things matured. Tools like Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor came into the picture. Marketers learned how to segment lists, personalise messages, automate messaging and actually analyse what was working. Email marketing started becoming smarter and more intentional.
Then social media happened.
As platforms like Facebook, Instagram and later WhatsApp took over people’s daily attention, inbox competition increased dramatically. Work emails, notifications, updates and promotions all fought for the same space. Even good emails started struggling to get noticed as inboxes became crowded and attention spans dropped.
So what exactly is email marketing today?
Email marketing is the practice of sending emails to people who have permitted you to contact them. Yes, this definition technically also includes people with questionable ethics who spam inboxes, but let’s keep them aside for a moment.
At its core, the goal of email marketing is simple:
That action could be anything: reply to an email, book a demo, make a purchase, renew a plan, attend a webinar or take the next logical step.
Short answer: yes.
Long answer: yes, but only if you’re doing it right.
Email marketing is still relevant because it solves a problem that no other marketing channels can fully replace: direct communication. An email lands straight in someone’s inbox, whether they are on a laptop or checking emails on mobile devices.
That said, email marketing today looks very different from how it started with email marketing in the early days. Earlier, businesses focused on sending more marketing emails. Now, successful email marketing focuses on sending better emails.
Email marketing is no longer about blasting promotional emails. It’s about:
Most email marketers now rely on email marketing software, email marketing tools or popular email marketing platforms to manage email campaigns properly.
When done well, email marketing helps:
Email marketing is not just one type of email sent again and again. There are different types of marketing emails, and each one serves a different purpose in your email marketing strategy.
Here are the main types you should know.
Welcome emails are the first email messages sent to new subscribers after they sign up.
These emails set expectations and start the relationship on the right note. They are a key part of lead nurturing and often see strong engagement.
Good welcome emails:
This is where email marketers begin building customer relationships and customer loyalty.
Promotional emails are used to promote offers, updates or announcements.
These marketing emails usually aim to:
The key here is balance. Too many promotional emails increase unsubscribe rate and hurt campaign performance. When done right, they support marketing campaigns without annoying the target audience.
Transactional emails, also called transactional messages, are sent when a user takes an action.
Examples include:
These emails are expected and usually have high open rates. They are not promotional emails, but they play an important role in customer satisfaction and direct communication.
Lead nurturing emails help move potential customers closer to a decision.
These emails:
Lead nurturing emails are often sent using email automation or email marketing automation as part of a structured email marketing program.
Targeted emails are sent based on customer data and customer information.
Instead of sending the same message to everyone, email marketers send targeted messages to specific groups. This improves customer engagement and makes email marketing efforts more effective.
Personalised campaigns help:
These email messages are sent to inactive users or previous customers.
The goal is simple: re-engage customers who have stopped opening emails or interacting. When done with relevant content, these emails can revive customer relationships instead of pushing people away.
Newsletter-style marketing emails share updates, blog posts, tips or company news.
They support:
They work best when the content is useful, not sales-heavy.
Different email campaigns serve different goals. Using the wrong type at the wrong time hurts email deliverability and sends signals to spam filters and internet service providers.
Strong email marketing platforms and many email marketing tools help manage this through campaign management, email automation and performance tracking using tools like Google Analytics.
Quick Read: Sales Funnel vs Marketing Funnel: 8 Key Differences for MSMEs [2025]
Like every marketing channel, email marketing has its strengths and its limits. It works really well in some situations and poorly in others. Knowing both sides helps you use email marketing the right way as part of your overall marketing strategy.
Let’s break it down simply.
1. Direct communication with your audience
Email marketing allows direct communication with your target audience. Your email messages go straight to their inbox, whether they’re checking emails on laptops or mobile devices. There’s no algorithm deciding who sees your message.
2. Helps build customer relationships
Consistent marketing emails with relevant content help build customer relationships over time. This is how businesses improve customer engagement, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
3. Supports customer loyalty and retention
Email works especially well for existing customers and previous customers. Regular updates, transactional emails and lead nurturing emails help encourage customer loyalty and turn users into loyal customers.
4. Easy to personalise and target
With customer data and email marketing tools, businesses can send targeted emails and targeted messages instead of generic blasts. Personalised campaigns usually see better click-through rate and stronger campaign performance.
5. Works well with automation
Email automation and email marketing automation make it easy to send automated messages like welcome emails, follow-ups and transactional messages. This saves time and improves consistency across email campaigns.
6. Easy to measure results
Most email marketing platforms and popular email marketing tools show clear metrics, such as open rates, unsubscribe rates, and campaign performance. Tools like Google Analytics also help track how email marketing efforts help drive sales.
7. Cost-effective marketing channel
Compared to many other marketing channels, email marketing software is affordable. This makes email marketing a strong option for long-term digital marketing and marketing campaigns.
1. Inbox competition is very high
People receive many marketing emails every day. Between work emails, promotional emails and notifications, standing out is difficult. Poor subject line choices often send emails straight to the spam folder.
2. Spam filters are strict
Spam filters and internet service providers actively block emails that look suspicious. Bad email marketing practices, ignoring opt-in subscribers or violating rules like the CAN-SPAM Act can hurt email deliverability.
3. Takes time to see results
Email marketing success is rarely instant. Lead nurturing and building customer loyalty take time. This can frustrate teams expecting quick results from email campaigns.
4. Easy to do poorly
Sending too many commercial messages, irrelevant content or poorly targeted emails increases unsubscribe rate and damages trust. Bad email marketing efforts can harm future campaigns.
5. Not ideal for discovery
Email marketing is not great for reaching new audiences. It works best after someone has already shown interest. For discovery, other marketing channels like social media marketing perform better.
Writing a marketing email is all about being clear, useful and easy to read for the reader. More like a good WhatsApp message, but with better manners and better structure.
If you want email marketing success, you need to get four things right:
Before the subject line, people see who it’s from.
And this part is bigger than most email marketers think: 68% of Americans say they decide to open based on the “from” name.
So don’t send from:
Send from something familiar:
This is one of the easiest best practices to improve email deliverability without changing anything else.
Your email subject line has one job: make the open feel worth it.
People scan subject lines quickly, especially on mobile devices. If it feels irrelevant or salesy, they move on.
Simple examples that work for B2B SaaS marketing emails:
Lead nurturing (potential customers):
Promotional emails (drive sales):
Existing customers (customer loyalty):
Also: the subject line and content must match. If the subject promises one thing and the email delivers another, your campaign performance drops and your unsubscribe rate climbs.
Preheader text is the small line that appears next to or below the subject line in many inboxes. It helps people decide whether to open.
Think of it as your “second subject line”.
Example:
Subject line: “Missed follow-ups?”
Preheader: “Here’s a simple email marketing automation you can set up today.”
This helps you get opens without sounding spammy.
People don’t read marketing emails like novels. They scan.
Campaign Monitor’s design guide mentions the average adult attention span is about eight seconds, so your email must be easy to skim.
So your body should look like:
Not:
Here’s a structure you can reuse for almost any email marketing campaign:
This works for campaign management because it stays consistent across future campaigns.
Real examples of good emails
Subject line: “Your leads aren’t the problem”
Preheader: “It’s the follow-up system (fix inside)”
Email message:
Hi {{Name}},
Most sales teams don’t lose deals because they can’t sell. They lose deals because follow-ups are scattered.
Here’s a simple fix:
If you want, I can share a quick setup you can copy.
CTA: “Reply with ‘setup’”
Why this works:
Subject line: “Get 1 extra user free”
Preheader: “Offer ends Friday”
Email message:
Hi {{Name}},
If you’re planning to add users next month, do it now and save the money.
This week only:
No forms. No drama.
CTA: “Get the offer”
Why this works:
Transactional emails (and transactional messages) are things like: receipts, password resets, demo confirmations. People expect them, so they usually perform well.
Subject line: “Your demo is booked”
Preheader: “Here’s the link and next steps”
Email message:
You’re all set ✅
Demo time: {{time}}
Meeting link: {{link}}
To make this useful, reply with your top 1 problem (missed follow-ups, calling tracking, reporting).
Why this works:
Related Read: CRM for Marketing to Automate Communication and Improve Retention
Spam filters and internet service providers don’t hate email marketing. They hate bad email marketing efforts.
Avoid these:
If you keep your email marketing strategy focused on relevant and valuable content, deliverability improves over time.
To send properly, most teams use:
Most email marketing tools will show you:
And you can connect Google Analytics to see what email campaigns actually do on your site (not just vanity clicks).
Also Read: Marketing Analytics: What It Is and How It Drives Revenue
Email marketing has changed, but it hasn’t disappeared. It started as a fast and cheap way to send messages. Then it was overused, abused and labelled as spam. Today, it has settled into its real role inside digital marketing and the overall marketing strategy.
The teams that see email marketing success are not the ones sending the most emails. They are the ones sending relevant content to the right target audience, using the right timing, clear subject lines and respectful messaging.
With the right email marketing strategy, good email marketing tools and a focus on valuable content, email continues to be one of the most reliable ways to engage customers and drive sales.
In the end, email marketing is simple. Be useful. Be clear. Be consistent. And that’s what keeps it relevant.
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© Copyright 2025 Telecrm.in - All Rights Reserved • Privacy Policy • T&C