What Is Email Marketing? How to Run Effective Email Marketing

What is Email Marketing? Why use Email Marketing to reach customers? Email marketing has become a top-priority advertising tool at a reasonable cost and plays an important part in promoting products and services. In the article below, MONA Media will give you the most complete overview of a campaign Email Marketing.

What is Email Marketing?

Email Marketing, also called marketing by email (electronic mail), is a form of direct marketing that uses email as a vehicle to carry information and messages to advertise to customers. It may be information about sales, marketing or product introductions sent to a target audience planned in advance.

It is the opposite of “spam email”, meaning the same email sent in bulk to any customer at all. That is what we all hate and find annoying, to the point of refusing the mail, or the emails go straight to the spam folder before the customer ever sees them. However, Marketing qua Email is planned with a clear, specific purpose for both content and target audience.

Beyond that, The return on investment (ROI) this strategy brings is rated very highly (about 3600%, meaning every 1 USD a business spends brings back 36 USD in revenue). That is why advertisers keep trusting and investing in Email Marketing strategies.

Common types of Email Marketing today

Now that you know what Email Marketing is, how many types are there? Below are the 8 most common types of Email Marketing for your reference.

Email Sale

Email sale is considered the type businesses use most. It is a form of direct selling that uses email as a means of communicating with and reaching customers. To increase revenue and turn potential customers into real customers, sales email is a direct sales tool that businesses favour.

Example:

Grab sends a promotional email introducing offers to customers

When sales emails work well:

• When you want to increase revenue: The purpose of this type of Email Marketing is to drive business and turn the potential customers into real customers.
• Promoting offers: When tied to promotions, the goal is always to increase sales and sell more. Sales emails help you present current or upcoming promotions in a lively way.
• When launching a new product: When a business launches a new product or service, besides introducing it through media such as newspapers, radio and television,… a sales email is also effective and simpler to do, giving customers the most detailed and clear information.

Transactional email

This type of email is sent to customers after they complete a transaction. The content usually guides customers through completing the purchase of a product or service, or confirms the transaction with the sender. Examples include order confirmations, electronic receipts,…

Example:

Shopee sends an email confirming successful delivery

Here are some tips you need to know to create a transactional email:

• Email subject line: This is the first step in creating a transactional email campaign. The subject line must relate to the content you plan to send the customer. The shorter and more concise the better, around 60-70 characters is fine.
• Personalise the email: This can help increase click and open rates. If possible, collect customers' personal information to build better personalisation tactics. For example, add how to use or store the product to the email content…
• Choose the right timing: Make sure the email goes out at the right time. For example, a confirmation email must be sent right after the user completes the transaction. A feedback email should be sent about one to two days after the order is confirmed.
• Optimise for mobile devices: When designing an email, don't forget to optimise it for each mobile screen, from design and content to spacing, so it doesn't look cluttered or uncomfortable when customers read it.

Welcome email

Welcome email is the first email customers receive after signing up on a business's website to get the latest information on products or services, including promotions. A welcome email usually includes a thank-you, the sign-up password, a link to the official website, an email address for questions, how to unsubscribe or how to update user information.

It is also seen as the first step in building trust between a business and its customers. Statistics show this type of email has the highest open rate of all Email Marketing types.

Example:

Duolingo sends a welcome Email Marketing message confirming successful sign-up

Here are some points to understand when creating a welcome Email Marketing message:

• Consistency: The welcome email needs to be consistent with the following emails in both form and tone. Don't make it unrelated to the campaign you are running, as mismatched content can hurt your credibility with customers.
• Always remind them of the benefits your emails bring: Try to show customers what they will gain by following these emails.
• Include gifts and promotions: An important factor in driving customer interest is promotions and free gifts. So besides greetings and thanks, give customers chances to receive gifts, discounts or enter a prize draw, for example if they make a transaction or simply visit the website,… In particular, the offer should run for a short, fixed period, which encourages customers to act right away.
• Send a sensible number of emails: Too much of anything is bad. So plan to send a suitable number of emails if you don't want customers to mark them as spam or unsubscribe because they find them annoying. Ideally, watch how customers respond and whether they want to keep receiving emails after getting 3 welcome emails:
  • First email: Confirm the sign-up and when the customer wants to receive the next email.
  • Second email: Gives customers a chance to see what the information they signed up for will look like.
  • Third email: This email lets you find out whether they still want to hear from the business, or what information needs adjusting to improve results going forward…

Email is not the only place to publish product promotions, blog posts or newsletters. A website does a good job of delivering useful knowledge to users. Each tool has its own forms of promotion, but the website is what builds solid trust with customers. 

Newsletter email

Newsletter email, also known as an Email Newsletter, means using email to deliver product information and promote your brand and sales. Most customers who receive newsletters have provided their email and information to the business themselves (mainly through website sign-ups). Because of this, the email newsletter is a challenge: the content has to live up to customers' expectations to keep their interest.

Example:

A training centre sends an email introducing a course with clear content

A few tips for Email Newsletters: The content shouldn't revolve only around product and service information, as that gets very boring for readers. What you need is a complete, appealing message to deliver product information to customers.

Example: Say a customer loves perfume and is happy to give the business their email so they can follow promotions on upcoming perfume lines. Instead of constantly receiving emails saying “Buy Now” , which would wear them out and bore them, try to weave in useful information so customers look forward to your emails. The content could be about the most anticipated perfume, how to tell real perfume from fakes, or even tips for choosing a scent for different occasions,…

• Keep email topics fresh and creative: Rather than repeating the same topic over and over, changing the style of your email content is a way to keep customers interested and curious each time they receive an email so they keep following it.
• Eye-catching layout: This is one of the deciding factors in creating a distinctive newsletter that draws readers in. Instead of leaving it blank or using a short footer, this is a prime spot to add information such as contacts, links to your social media, or to introduce current or upcoming events and offers.
• Schedule emails in a planned way: Schedule your email newsletters regularly and sensibly. Make receiving and reading them a habit for customers. This is also a way to increase reach and get to more potential customers. It also helps maintain the relationship between customers and the business and build trust in customers' minds.

Newsletter Email Marketing example

Customer care email

Customer care email is a form of communication between a business and its customers by email to resolve issues related to the products or services the business provides. Through email, customers can send questions, complaints, support requests or feedback on the business's products/services.

When planning a customer care email, keep the following in mind:

• Choose email content and images that match customers' tastes and interests.
• For customer care emails, personalise each email.
• Offer suitable after-sales programmes to keep customers satisfied

Product and service introduction email

Product and service introduction emails are very common today. With this format, the business presents content and images of new products or products and services customers may be interested in. With product and service introduction emails, businesses need to:

• Write a short, concise introduction that highlights the product's strengths.
• Choose striking product and service images that catch the reader's eye.
• Focus the email on sharing information with customers and introducing the products they need.

Win-back email for past customers

For customers who rarely engage, you need a separate email strategy to win them over. The subject line needs to be attractive and spark curiosity. In addition, to retain customers and raise conversion rates, study their habits, behaviour and interests carefully to come up with the most suitable Email Marketing content ideas.

Information-sharing email

Information-sharing email is a type of Email Marketing that sends information customers are likely to care about. It is a way to help a business build brand recognition and increase customer trust. To write an information-sharing email, the writer needs to understand customers' concerns and know what they need and want in order to provide the most accurate information.

Benefits of Email Marketing

The number of email users worldwide reached about 4.5 billion people by 2025 (according to OptinMonster) and is estimated to reach about 4.73 billion by 2026 (according to Statista). In addition, more than 59% of consumers say Email Marketing has directly influenced their purchase decisions.

The potential of this form of advertising is clearly huge. So what are the benefits of running an Email Marketing campaign ? Let's look at them with MONA below.

Optimise advertising costs

In Marketing, there are many channels for promotion and communication plans, such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, advertising on other media,… Varied as they are, these marketing channels are often quite expensive. Email marketing is different: cost is no longer an issue, and you don't need to worry much because it costs very little compared with other channels.

Most Email Marketing campaigns run for a short time (weeks or months), so when you see a campaign has little potential and poor results, you can change or redirect it in time and learn lessons for the next plan and for future campaigns. Email marketing is an ideal strategy for businesses with a moderate budget to deliver information and reach potential customers effectively in the shortest time.

Detailed campaign statistics

If you know how to use Email Marketing, you can measure campaign results immediately without waiting. Measurement tools provide details such as inbox placement rate, open rate, click rate and conversion rate (conversion rate). This makes it easy to track customer engagement closely and in detail. And once you have the figures, you can evaluate customers' behaviour and shopping habits.

Head in the right direction and choose the right target customers

When users agree to receive emails, it shows they are interested in the product or service and have become your potential customers. An Email Marketing system is the bridge that helps a business quickly turn that interest into a purchase.

Since almost everyone today has at least one email address, this approach is seen as the fastest way to reach customers. More importantly, correctly identifying your target customers helps optimise the conversion rate and improve business results.

→ Read more: 5 Steps to define your customer persona

Drive customers to your website

Successful Email Marketing campaigns need appealing content and a strong call to action. Most promotional emails send readers to the business's website to learn everything about the products and services they are interested in. This is currently rated as the best way to increase organic traffic.

Easy to roll out

Email marketing can send hundreds of thousands of emails to target customers in just a few minutes. You can also automate the campaign by scheduling emails to customers. Automated sending suits weekly or monthly customer care emails.

Easy to customise

This form of marketing is also easy to customise when needed. You can always adjust the content, images and videos to suit each target customer group. As a result, a business can tailor each email to the customer's experience, helping increase the conversion rate.

Brand building

Email Marketing is also a strategy building an online sales brand for optimising costs that many businesses use today. Besides encouraging users to buy products and services, Email Marketing also helps a business build a credible brand with its customers.

By sending emails regularly with a detailed plan, current and potential customers get a better view of the business. Appearing repeatedly and consistently also makes the brand recognisable in customers' minds and helps build their loyalty to it.

Fast reach

The effectiveness of a communication campaign depends heavily on speed and on the message going out at the right moment while an event is happening. The strength of online Email Marketing, which no other marketing channel can match for speed, is that it can deliver your message to thousands or millions of customers at once.

On top of that, the Autoresponder feature lets you plan a content strategy prepared in advance and schedule automatic emails to each customer right after they fill in your form. It is really convenient: the feature works exactly as you set it up, so you don't have to worry about it!

How to build an effective Email Marketing strategy

How do you build an Email Marketing campaign? In the next section, MONA walks you through in detail the 6-step process for building effective Email Marketing, the easiest to apply. 

Step 1: Build a quality customer email list

To send emails to customers, the first thing to do is put together a list of customer emails you consider a good fit for the business or for the products and services it wants to offer.

Here are some ways to build a list of promising customer emails:

• Create a newsletter sign-up form on your website.
• Compile the customer information you already have.
• Ask customers to leave their information and email.
• Buy quality lists.

Step 2: Create customer-focused email content

Email Marketing templates that are clearly planned, specific and targeted perform over 90% better than mass emails sent without any rules or purpose.

So to build marketing email content that actually reaches customers, you should:

• Sort and split your email lists by industry, contact behaviour and demographics. This lets you adjust each email's content to suit each audience before it goes out.
• Use automated email types to engage users with the right message at the right time, such as welcome series and emails reminding customers about “abandoned” carts (not yet paid),…
• Try to personalise your emails by adding the recipient's name to the greeting line or somewhere in the email.

Step 3: Build a clear email marketing campaign

Once you have prepared a list of potential customers and finished email content, the next step is to create a campaign to send to users.

Here are the steps you need to prepare and check to build the most effective Email Marketing campaign:

• Define your goal: Is your aim to raise brand awareness, drive purchases or share content? The email content and the statistics you get will differ depending on the goal you choose at the start, so this is very important to define first.
• Decide on the sender: Who will send this email to customers? The company's CEO or a member of a specific department? Who will have more influence? Also, don't forget to keep certain elements consistent in every email you send.
• Pay attention to your approach: Lead with a strong subject line and set up the preview text to make recipients curious enough to open and read the email.
• Professionalism: Design your email professionally so readers are happy with both the content and the visuals.

A few things you should know:

• Avoid images with large dimensions or file sizes; for Email Marketing a ratio of 60% text / 40% images works well.
• Make sure the email content is readable, CTA (call to action) is clear.
• Make sure the message you want to deliver displays fully on different devices.
• Test the email by sending it to your own inbox before actually sending it to customers. If you address emails with customers' personal names through customisation tools, check that they display correctly when sent.

Step 4: Don't overuse complex email designs

Don't use overly complex email layouts: they take time without improving results, and they annoy users and look cluttered. Keep your emails simple with more text than images, and edit images to fit. Using links to insert images into emails is another option, using design techniques so readers can focus on the highlights you most want them to notice.

Step 5: Track the performance of your Email Marketing campaign

What you need to track to understand how the campaign is performing:

• Record the key email statistics (open rate, click rate, bounces, spam, blocks, unsubscribes,…) to set benchmarks and catch any unusual results in time. Make sure you compare and record the campaign against the original goal.
• Once you have enough data, compare the performance of different campaigns to find the best email timing and frequency for the business, for example swapping visual content or moving the call to action, and track the results to find what works and improve your numbers.

Step 6: Check your database list

Finally, review and filter your database list to remove low-potential data and save time and money on the next campaigns.

Also don't forget to refresh your data list regularly by:

• Removing customers who unsubscribed or marked spam after each campaign.
• Sending re-activation emails every 2-3 months to reach inactive addresses.
• Removing customers who have been inactive for 3-6 months.

Even if you follow every step of the Email Marketing process above, the success rate will still only be 70%. So what does the other 30% depend on?

To avoid mistakes in email marketing, you should work with a reputable Email Marketing service provider. MONA Media is confident in introducing an effective Email Marketing solution for businesses, which helps businesses connect strongly with their customers to grow sales quickly.

In detail, MONA's Email Marketing service brings you the following “benefits”:

• Reach millions of potential customers at a reasonable cost
• Commitment to an inbox placement rate of up to 99%, keeping “spam” filtering to a minimum
• Detailed data analysis and campaign performance tracking, so you understand customer behaviour and can easily adjust your strategy.
• Powerful Email Marketing design tools that help you create professional emails that catch your target audience's attention.
• High engagement opportunities with customers through creative email campaigns.
• Support for add-on services such as: Business email registration, Email Server services,…

Work with MONA to win the market, increase engagement and reach the right customers with professional Email Marketing services. Don't wait, call HOTLINE 1900 636 648 or contact our team directly below!

What are the principles of using Email Marketing?

When learning what Email Marketing is, you may still wonder about the principles for doing this kind of marketing. Below are the principles of using Email Marketing you should pay attention to

The “4 YES” principle in Email Marketing

The “4 YES” principle in email marketing strategy includes:

• Protect customer information: In a marketing strategy, customer information must be kept strictly confidential and not used for commercial purposes. This reassures customers when they need to give personal information to the business.
• Give customers value: Besides promoting products, Email Marketing needs to give customers plenty of other information and benefits. This shows customers that the business respects them.
• Keep your email list updated: The customer email list should be continually updated with new potential customers, while removing unsuitable contacts from the list.
• Segment customers: Before sending emails, businesses need to group customers by specific criteria. This makes it easier to build and deliver personalised email content.

The “5 NO” principle in Email Marketing

What is the “5 NO” principle in Email Marketing? Points to note:

• Don't add an email to your Email Marketing list without the owner's consent.
• Don't deceive customers to add their information to your database.
• Don't trade email lists or share data with third parties.
• Don't collect customer data too carelessly, wasting your budget.
• Don't build customer email lists from notes or emails on customers' business cards.

Email Marketing is a very promising form of email marketing for promoting your brand and products that you can put to use. It isn't hard to roll out and doesn't cost much, which makes email marketing the right choice for every industry. MONA hopes this article has helped you understand what Email Marketing is and how to market effectively in your own campaigns.