Email Marketing: The Definitive Guide
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Email Marketing: The Definitive Guide

This is the ultimate guide to email marketing in 2023.

So if you want to:

  • Build your email list
  • Improve your open rates
  • Write amazing newsletters
  • Turn more subscribers into customers

Then you’ll love this new guide.

Let’s get started.

Email Marketing: The Definitive Guide

Chapter 1:Email Marketing Fundamentals

Email Marketing Fundamentals

In this chapter, we’re going to cover the basics of email marketing.

(Including what it is, why it works and why it’s still important.)

I’ll also show you how you can use email marketing to grow your business.

What Is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is the digital marketing practice of communicating with leads and customers with email. Common email-based marketing messages include email newsletters, promotional campaigns and event announcements. Email marketing typically has a significantly higher ROI than many other marketing channels (like social media).

The #1 thing that makes email marketing more effective than SEO and social media is that you have a direct line to your audience.

Email Marketing Gives You a Direct Line to Your Audience

But with new platforms like Tik Tok and LinkedIn Live on the rise, does old-school email still work?

Let’s find out…

Does Email Marketing Still Work?

I’m not going to bore you with a million stats.

Instead, I’m going to quickly show you why email marketing still works GREAT.

The average email subscriber is worth $48.87 (DMA).

The average value of an email subscriber

Email marketing’s ROI is 36:1 (Constant Contact).

Email marketing's ROI is 36:1

This super high ROI is probably why 86% of marketers consider email β€œimportant” or β€œvery important” (DMA).

Importance of Email Marketing to Organizations

Why Email Marketing Still Works

Why does email still work so well?

#1: With Email, You Own The Distribution

This is a big one.

When a new subscriber signs up to your list, you have a direct line to that person’s inbox.

That’s simply not the case with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram… or any other social media platform.

In fact, a study found that Facebook organic engagement plummeted to less than 1% (RivalQ).

Facebook Organic Engagement Was Less Than 1% in 2021

Contrast that number to the engagement rate you get from email.

The average newsletter open rate is 21.33%… 20x higher than Facebook post engagement (MailChimp).

Email Has Higher Engagement Rates Than Facebook

#2: People WANT to To Get Marketing Messages via Email

People don’t go on social media to see ads.

In fact, 45% of consumers report that social media ads are annoying (AdWeek).

High numbers of consumers find social media ads annoying

On the other hand, people don’t mind marketing messages in their inboxes. In fact, they expect them.

For example, one study found that 86% of consumers prefer to get email-based marketing messages over Facebook ads, TV commercials and display ads (HubSpot).

Email and Sponsored Ads Generate the Most Neutral Response

#3: Email Converts REALLY Well

Sure, email has a better reach than social. But does that translate into more sales?

Yup!

In fact, when it comes to turning browsers into buyers, nothing beats email.

Email converts 40x more leads into customers than Facebook and Twitter combined (McKinsey).

Email Converts 40x Better Than Twitter and Facebook

These stats are nice and all. But you’re probably wondering:

β€œHow do I get started with email marketing?”.

Well, that’s what our next chapter is all about…

Chapter 2:How to Build Your Email List

How to Build Your Email List

The first step of any email marketing campaign is to build your email list.

In this chapter, I’m going to show you exactly how to build your email list using strategies that are working right now.

In fact:

These are the same exact list building techniques that I used to grow my email list to 189,044 total subscribers.

Let’s do this!

Optimize Your About Page for Conversions

If you’re like most people, your about page is one of the most-visited pages on your website.

Even better:

The people that go to your about page usually like you.

Which means they’re PRIMED to subscribe.

So I recommend putting at least one email sign-up form on your about page.

For example, my friend James Clear (who has over 500k subscribers) includes a form at the bottom of his about page.

James Clear – About page

My about page is on the long side… so I use two forms:

Backlinko – About page – Forms

Create Squeeze Pages

If you’re serious about building your email list you NEED a squeeze page.

(In other words: a page designed to convert visitors into email subscribers.)

Here’s an example from my site:

Backlinko – Newsletter squeeze page

As you can see, this page doesn’t give you many options. It’s completely focused on the offer (signing up for my newsletter). This is why it converts at 14%.

Newsletter conversion rate

If you want to take this to the next level, you can create different squeeze pages for different audiences.

For example, HubSpot has 463 different squeeze pages. Each one offers a different lead magnet.

HubSpot – Offers

Speaking of lead magnets…

Create Compelling Lead Magnets

Lead Magnets are the lifeblood of any list building campaign.

Why?

It’s REALLY hard to get someone to sign up for a β€œnewsletter” or β€œ21-day email course”. Instead, you need to offer people something they can use right away.

I’m talking about:

  • Checklists
  • Ebooks
  • Swipe files
  • Case studies
  • Templates
  • Videos

In other words:

The more valuable your lead magnet, the more signups you’ll get.

For example, 100 Days of Real Food offers up a full meal plan as a lead magnet:

5 real meals

Optimize Your Blog’s Homepage for Email Signups

Most blog homepages look something like this:

Normal Blog Homepage Design

A list of their latest blog posts.

And hey, there’s nothing wrong with a blog post feed.

But if you want people to subscribe to your email list, you need to put your offer front and center.

In other words:

Design your blog’s homepage to convert readers into subscribers.

For example, my old homepage was your typical blog feed.

Backlinko – Old blog

And it converted HORRIBLY.

That’s when I realized that most of the big sites (like Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook) don’t feature content on their homepages.

Instead, their homepages are optimized for signups.

Pinterest – Login

So I decided to try the same thing.

The result? This new homepage.

Backlinko – Current homepage

My old blog feed homepage converted at 4.6%. The new one? 9.01%.

Old vs. New Homepage Conversion

95% better than my old homepage.

Legit.

Exit-Intent Popups

I’ll be the first to admit it:

I HATE popups.

In fact, I hate them so much that I swore I’d stop using them.

LinkedIn – Popups comment

Then one day I realized something:

Not all popups are created equal.

In other words, there’s a BIG difference between a popup that attacks you the second you land on the page…

… and one that offers something of value as you leave.

So a while ago I decided to try popups again.

This time, I’d ONLY use exit-intent popups. And I’d ONLY offer super valuable stuff.

That way, I’m not annoying people with crap nobody wants, like this:

Annoying Popup

Here’s the popup my team came up with:

Backlinko – Exit intent popup

Not only does it offer something cool, but this popup only appears if you’re leaving the site anyway.

That way, you’re not distracted from the content on the page.

So, how did the new popup do?

Before the popup, my site’s overall conversion rate was 3.55%. After the exit-intent popup, it shot up to 6.14% (a 72.9% increase).

Conversion Rate Before and After Using Exit Intent Popup

Very cool.

Use Content Upgrades

Content Upgrades are one of my all-time favorite list building strategies.

In fact, a single Content Upgrade boosted conversions on one of my blog posts by 755.2%.

Goal conversion rate

Here’s the exact process:

First, log in to Google Analytics. And find a blog post on your site that gets a ton of traffic.

Google Analytics – Backlinko top pages

Next, figure out what someone reading that specific article would want.

For example, this guide gets 8,578 visitors every month:

Keyword Research post – Sessions

The problem is: it’s 4,623 words. That’s WAY too long for most people to read in one sitting.

This is probably why lots of people asked me for a PDF version.

PDF request

So I decided that a PDF version of my guide would make a great Content Upgrade.

Finally, feature your Content Upgrade in your post.

You can offer it at the top of the page:

PDF CTA

At the bottom of your page:

What to do next

Or both.

That’s all there is to it.

Chapter 3:Email Campaign Templates

Email Campaign Templates

Now it’s time to show you how to create emails that get opened and clicked.

Specifically, I’m going to share four proven email templates.

These templates are specifically designed to help you crank out super valuable email content that your subscribers will love.

So if you’re ready to start sending emails that people WANT to read, this chapter is for you.

The Content Newsletter

The Content Newsletter is a newsletter that provides 100% pure value.

The value can be in the form of a handful of tips. Or links to helpful resources. Or a personal story.

The exact type of value doesn’t really matter. As long as you don’t pitch anything, you’re good.

In fact, pure value newsletters are so rare that your subscribers will LOVE you for them.

For example, I sent out this Content Newsletter a while back:

How to create content – Email

(A handful of copywriting tips.)

And dozens of people replied to my email to thank me.

Newsletter email replies

With that, here’s the template:

The Content Newsletter

Intriguing Subject Line

Use a subject line that will make someone curious about what’s inside your message.

For example, I used the subject line β€œHow I Got 45.5% More Traffic (In 7 Days)” for one of my Content Newsletters. And that email got a 32.3% open rate.

How I got traffic – Subject line

Bold Opening

Start your newsletter off with something SUPER compelling.

That way, you hook your reader right off the bat.

Personally, I like to kick things off with a mini-story.

Backlinko – Personal story email

But you can also use a straightforward intro that previews what’s coming next.

Backlinko email – Straightforward intro

Either way works.


Valuable Content

Now it’s time to deliver the goods.

If you’re not sure what to write here, I recommend going with a list of 3-5 actionable tips that people can use that day.

Otherwise, you can teach your subscribers an important lesson in the form of a story.

Backlinko email – Story

Or curate links to content that will help your reader achieve a specific outcome, like this newsletter from Ramit Sethi.

Email links

CTA

Nope, you’re not pitching anything in your Content Newsletter.

But that doesn’t mean you should skip your call-to-action.

So:

How can you use a CTA if your email is 100% value?

Well, when I send out a story to subscribers, I use a CTA that asks people to reply with their opinion or take.

End with a CTA

Or let’s say you just sent out a list of links to Paleo breakfast recipes.

Your CTA could be to try one of the recipes this week.

The type of CTA you go with isn’t that important.

The important thing is to always include a CTA in your newsletters.

That way, when you DO pitch something, your subscribers aren’t caught off guard.

The Marketing Offer

The Marketing offer is just like it sounds:

It’s an email that pushes your subscribers to make a purchase.

(Usually in the form of a limited-time sale.)

Here’s the template to follow:

The Marketing Offer

Straightforward Subject Line

No need to be super creative.

Instead, just let people know about your offer.

Here’s an example from Red Dress Boutique.

Red Dress – Subject line

The Offer

Start your email off with a line or two that describes your offer.

You don’t want to get cute here. Just outline what your offer is and why it’s worth paying attention to.

Email intro – Offer

The Details

So you just outlined your offer. Now it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty.

Here’s where you outline a few key details about your offer, like:

  • Start and end dates
  • Key benefits
  • Story behind the promo
  • Any conditions or limitations

Here’s a real-life example:

Babyletto – Offer

One thing to keep in mind here is that you don’t want to overwhelm people with details.

Remember: it’s impossible to close the deal inside of your email. After all, they have to actually go to your site to buy. So let your landing page do most of the selling.

In short: the goal of this section is to get people to learn about your offer and visit your website.


The CTA

Nothing fancy here. Just a strong CTA that lets people know exactly what to do next.

Shop now – CTA

The PS

A PS is an underrated little tactic that can easily double your conversion rate.

Why?

Because lots of people will skim your message… but stop and read your PS word-for-word.

That’s why I recommend using a PS in almost all Marketing Offer emails. All you need to do here is summarize your offer and include another call-to-action.

"PS" CTA

The Announcement

With β€œThe Announcement” email you’re not pitching a β€œ10% Off Sale”. That type of thing works best with The Marketing Offer template I just showed you.

Instead, you want to save this template for BIG announcements, like:

  • Brand new product or service
  • Live event
  • New version of a popular product
  • Limited-time product release
  • Important features added to an existing product

Here’s the template:

The Announcement

Subject Line=”Introducing” or β€œAnnouncing”

You want to make it clear that your announcement is a big deal.

After all, you’ll probably only send one or two Announcement emails per year.

So don’t be afraid to use terms like β€œIntroducing” or β€œFor the first time” in your subject line.

For example, here’s the subject line I used when I launched a new version of my flagship course:

SEO That Works email – Subject

Compelling Lead

You have a few different options here.

You can jump right into your product announcement:

SEO That Works email – Intro

Or you can build up a little bit of anticipation, like Marie Forleo does here:

Marie Forleo – Newsletter

The Big Reveal

Now it’s time to outline what exactly you’re announcing and why it’s important.

For example, in this announcement email BuzzSumo quickly outlines what makes their new feature unique.

BuzzSumo – Offer outline

Clear CTA

Now that your reader is pumped about your announcement, let them know the next step.

If it’s a product, your CTA should tell people to head over to your sales page and sign up.

If it’s a new service, you might ask people to fill out a form.

Either way, let your subscriber know EXACTLY what to do next.

The Blog Post Newsletter

When it comes to content promotion, email is king.

For example, I published this post in the 2019.

Backlinko – SEO strategy

And to get the word out, I sent a newsletter out to my email list:

SEO Strategy – Email

I also posted a Tweet.

SEO Strategy – Announcement tweet

The Tweet got 962 clicks. And the newsletter got 15,744 clicks.

Blog Post Newsletter vs Tweet

That’s 16x more clicks.

With that, here’s the template I recommend:

The Blog Post Newsletter

Subject Line=Blog Post Topic

I’ve tested dozens of subject line templates over the last six years.

And when it comes to promoting blog content, I’ve found that your blog post topic itself works GREAT.

For example, when I launched this guide to mobile SEO, I went with the subject line: β€œMobile SEO”.

And that dead simple subject line led to a 44.6% open rate.

Mobile SEO – Open rate

The Lead

The type of lead you use depends a lot on your blog post’s topic.

For example, if the topic is something personal, include an anecdote:

GrowthLab email – Personal anecdote

If it’s newsworthy, you want to write something like: β€œAs you might have heard, a new study found…”.

Or you can just let people know that you published something new:

Email announcing something new

Bulleted List

Next, list 3-4 things that someone will learn from your post.

Don’t give away the farm here. Instead, you want to build up excitement for your new content.

Here’s an example from one of my newsletters:

Mobile SEO – Email

Link To The Post

Finally, add a link to your post.

This can be a normal link:

Text link to post

Or a big ol’ button:

Blue CTA

Chapter 4:How to Get Super High Open Rates

How to Get Super High Open Rates

Now it’s time for me to show you how to get SUPER high open rates.

In fact, I consistently get 35%+ open rates on newsletters that go out to 100k+ subscribers.

(Which is double the industry average for a list that size.)

Let’s get right into the strategies.

Optimize Your Send Time

You want to send emails…

  • When people are awake
  • When people’s inboxes aren’t crowded

That’s why I DON’T recommend scheduling newsletters for first thing in the morning.

Otherwise, your message gets buried in someone’s crowded inbox.

Don't Schedule Newsletters for First Thing in the Morning

Instead, send your emails out when your subscribers’ inboxes are empty. This is usually late morning or early afternoon.

That way, your newsletter will pop up at the top of their inbox.

Send Newsletters When Your Subscriber's Inboxes are Empty

That said:

There’s no β€œbest time to send an email” that works for everyone.

You need to test different send times to see which times get the highest open rates for you.

For example, after testing a dozen different send times, I found that 11am Eastern works best for our subscribers.

11am Eastern is perfect because people on the east coast and in Europe are at work. And by 11am they’ve already cleared out their morning inboxes.

That said, Backlinko is B2B.

If you’re in B2C, it might not make sense to send to people’s personal inboxes while they’re at work.

Again, it’s different for every business.

That’s why I recommend testing a bunch of different times to find the best one for you.

Send People a GREAT Welcome Email

Most welcome emails look something like this:

Generic Welcome Email

As my Mom told me: β€œyou don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”.

And this type of welcome email makes a TERRIBLE first impression.

So:

What should you do instead?

First, warmly welcome people to your newsletter.

Welcome text in email

It’s not 1996. No one is excited to sign up for a newsletter.

In fact, new subscribers are on guard. They’re looking for ANY reason to unsubscribe.

Reassure them. Let them know that they made the right decision.

Next, layout the deets of your newsletter.

Specifically, cover what they can expect in the next few days or weeks.

Cover publishing expectations

Finally, end with a call-to-action.

This can be a CTA to check out a few resources from your site that you recommend. Or a link to your latest products.

For example, when I first started Backlinko I asked new subscribers to reply with their #1 struggle:

End with a CTA

Not only was this a goldmine of blog content ideas, but it helped me establish a strong relationship with new subscribers.

Subscriber's friendly email

Remember: These are brand new subscribers. So you don’t want a hard sell CTA.

But you DO want to get them in the habit of taking action.

So don’t skip this step.

Follow β€œThe 80/20 Rule” of Email Content

The 80/20 Rule of Email Content is simple:

80% of your emails should provide value.

And 20% should pitch your products and services.

Follow the 80/20 rule

For example, I usually send about 10 pure-value messages for every sales email.

That way, I don’t burn out my list.

And my subscribers know that when I send something, it’s worth opening.

(Which, at the end of the day, is the real secret to increasing open rates.)

To be clear:

β€œValue” doesn’t have to be in the form of content.

For example, let’s say you run an eCommerce site that sells paleo protein bars.

Well, a 25% off sale for your new line of bars is valuable to people that are in the market for them.

Even so, it’s not a bad idea for eCommerce sites to send value-packed newsletters too.

For example:

Value-packed email from ecommerce site

Optimize For Gmail’s Preview Snippet

When someone’s deciding whether or not to open an email, they look at three things:

  • The subject line
  • The sender
  • The message preview
Optimize for Gmail's Preview Snippet

Most people sleep on the preview. And it KILLS their open rates.

In fact, your message preview is like a second subject line.

And if it looks like this, you’re in trouble:

Poor Preview Snippet

That’s why you want to optimize the first few lines of your message so it looks SUPER enticing.

Here’s a great example:

Enticing emails

Chapter 5:How to Improve Email Deliverability

How to Improve Email Deliverability

Let’s face it:

Email deliverability isn’t the most interesting topic in the world.

Most marketers would rather spend time building their email list or coming up with catchy subject lines.

But in my opinion, email deliverability is THE most important part of email marketing.

After all:

What good is an email list if no one actually sees your emails?

And in this chapter you’re going to learn how to get your emails delivered to people’s inbox.

Ruthlessly Delete Non-Openers

A few years ago I had a MAJOR deliverability problem on my hands.

My open rates went from 40% to 30% to less than 20%… within a few months.

It got so bad that some of my newsletters were getting 15% open rates:

Low open rate

And lots of subscribers were telling me that my newsletters were going to spam.

Emails going to spam – Notification

No matter how many different subject lines I tested or how many tweaks I made to my content, nothing seemed to help.

But there was one thing I hadn’t tried yet. Something I’d been putting off for months:

List hygiene.

In other words: deleting unengaged subscribers.

I had to try it. I couldn’t let my open rates continue to freefall.

So I logged into Aweber and deleted any subscribers that hadn’t opened an email in the last 4 months.

This meant deleting 28,018 subscribers from my email list.

Email List Size

Did it hurt to delete those hard-earned subscribers?

Yup.

Did it work?

Heck yeah!

A few weeks later my open rates shot up like a rocketship.

Higher open rate

Today, I delete any subscriber that hasn’t opened or clicked on an email in 4 months.

And it’s one of the main reasons that I have an outstanding deliverability rate.

Keep Spam Complaints Low

Email services like Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook take spam complaints VERY seriously.

As they should.

If lots of people are marking your emails as spam, it sends a clear message that people don’t want to read your emails.

The question is:

How can you lower your spam complaints?

Well, there’s the obvious stuff… like sending great emails.

But you already knew that πŸ™‚

Besides the obvious, here are two quick tips that I’ve picked up over the years.

Tips that have helped my spam complaint rate stay insanely low (approximately 10 complaints per 100k emails):

Backlinko email – Low complaint rate

First, make it REALLY easy to unsubscribe.

In other words, don’t be β€œthat guy”:

Small unsubscribe link

If you make someone hunt for an unsubscribe link, they’re going to give up and hit the spam button instead.

Instead, make your unsubscribe link super obvious:

Obvious "Unsubscribe" link

Second, don’t send a bazillion emails.

The fact is, most people hit β€œSpam” out of frustration.

(Especially for newsletters that they signed up for.)

And nothing frustrates people more than a non-stop barrage of emails.

So if you send more than one email per week, consider condensing that content into a single, weekly email.

(Note: There are exceptions to this rule. For example, you may want to send 5 emails in 5 days for a big promotion or limited-time product launch. Just don’t make daily emails a habit unless that’s what people signed up for.)

Test Short Subject Lines

Here’s something I recently noticed:

Newsletter with super short subject lines gets the best open rates.

For example, the subject line β€œGreat Content” got a 42.7% open rate:

"Great Content" subject line – Email open rate

This could be due to the simple fact that short subject lines get more opens than long subject lines.

But I have another theory:

Short subject lines help deliverability.

Here’s why:

Spam filters flag messages that contain certain words and phrases. And they put lots of emphasis on the subject line.

So the more words you use in your subject, the more likely one of them will get flagged:

Long Subject Lines Can Result in Poor Deliverability

But when you use short subject lines, you’re much less likely to get caught in the filter.

Short Subject Lines are Less Likely to Get Caught in Spam Filters

Again, this is just a theory. I have no concrete proof that short subject lines get through spam filters more often.

But if you’re having deliverability issues, it’s something worth trying out.

Use Double Opt-In

When it comes to the Single Opt-in vs. Double Opt-in debate, there’s no β€œright’ answer.

If your #1 goal is to maximize the sheer size of your list, Single Opt-in is obviously the way to go.

But if you want to maximize engagement and deliverability, I recommend Double Opt-in.

I’m a deliverability nut, so I personally use Double Opt-in. But it’s ultimately up to you.

Chapter 6:Email Marketing Software

Popular Email Marketing Services

In this chapter I’m going to quickly review five of the top Email Service Providers (ESPs).

Obviously, there’s no single β€œbest email marketing provider” that’s right for everyone. The β€œbest” option depends on your list size, marketing goals, and features that are important to you.

That’s why I’m not going to crown a winner here. Instead, I’ll highlight the pros, cons and use cases for each email platform.

So if you’re in the market for email marketing software, these reviews should help you choose the best option for you.

MailChimp

MailChimp – Homepage

You can use MailChimp to send simple newsletters. Or it can be a full marketing automation platform that taps into behavior-based messages and cart abandonment emails.

It’s one of the few platforms that lets you keep it simple. But if you do want to dig into more complicated stuff, you can.

Pricing is free for up to 2k subscribers (with limited features). Their pro plans start at $10/month.

Constant Contact

Constant Contact – Homepage

With a focus on drag-and-drop design and ecommerce platform integration, Constant Contact is definitely focused on the ecommerce market. That said, quite a few bloggers, nonprofits and service businesses use it too.

So if you run an eCommerce site, you might want to give Constant Contact a spin.

Plans range from $20-$45 and up depending on how many subscribers you have.

ConvertKit

Convertkit – Homepage

ConvertKit came out of nowhere to become one of the most popular email marketing platforms on the planet.

One thing that makes ConvertKit unique is that 100% of its features are focused on helping β€œOnline Creators”.

(Like bloggers, artists and musicians.)

So if you fall in that category, you can’t go wrong with ConvertKit.

Like most ESPs, pricing is based on subscriber numbers. Pricing is free for up to 1k subscribers (with limited features). A full-fledged plan at 1k subs or less starts at $29. They also offer a 14-day free trial.

GetResponse

GetResponse – Homepage

GetResponse includes the features you’d expect from an ESP (like autoresponders and marketing automation).

Plans also come with email marketing tools that actually help you build your list (like landing page software and popups).

Plans start at $15/month with limited functionality. And there’s a full 30-day trial.

Aweber

Aweber – Homepage

Aweber is the king of simplicity. Which is why I use it.

Sure, they have some marketing automation stuff. But it’s pretty basic compared to most other ESPs. And their reporting leaves a lot to be desired.

But if you want simple and reliable software for sending newsletters and autoresponder emails, you can’t beat Aweber.

Paid plans start at $19/month. And you can test out any plan with a 30-day free trial as long as your list has fewer than 25k subscribers.

Comparing Email Marketing Software

Here’s a comparison of the features, pricing and levels of support for popular email marketing software options.

Email Marketing Software Compared
Software Key Features Landing Page Tool Support Pricing
Mailchimp Free plan. Email designs. βœ“ Knowledgebase. Email (premium). Live chat (premium). Telephone (premium). $14.99/month
Constant Contact Ecommerce integration. Email design. X Knowledgebase. Twitter. Facebook. Live chat. Telephone. $20/month
ConvertKit Tagging and automation. βœ“ Knowledgebase. Email. Twitter. Facebook. Live chat. $29/month
GetResponse Funnels. βœ“ Email. Live chat. Twitter. Telephone. $15/month
Aweber Ease of use. Deliverability. X Knowledgebase. Email. Live chat. Twitter. Telephone. $19/month
Drip Automation. Ecommerce. X Knowledgebase. Email. Live chat. Twitter. Telephone. $49/month

Chapter 7:Marketing Automation 101

Marketing Automation 101

A lot of people consider marketing automation β€œthe next big thing” in digital marketing.

Is it true?

Kind of.

No, marketing automation isn’t going to magically double your sales.

Like any tool, automation is all about how you use it.

When you use it right, you can get your messages in front of the right people at the right time.

Which is MUCH better than mass emailing your entire list with the same exact message.

How to Create Awesome Autoresponder Sequences

Autoresponder sequences are like marketing automation training wheels.

So if you’re brand new to automation, I recommend getting your feet wet with a simple autoresponder sequence.

Now:

The content of your autoresponder will be completely different for a blog vs. an ecommerce site vs. a SaaS company.

But they all have the same basic structure:

Autoresponder Sequence Structure

Once you get the hang of creating a basic autoresponder, you can try using different autoresponders for different people.

For example:

Let’s say you run a SaaS company that helps people make doctor’s appointments.

And you have two types of people that visit your site: doctors and patients.

Does it make sense to put a doctor and a patient in the same autoresponder?

Nope!

Instead, you want to create a different autoresponder for each group:

Multiple Autoresponder Sequence Structure

You might be wondering:

β€œHow do you know if a doctor or a patient is signing up for my list?”

Well, you can go by the page they sign up on. Anyone that signs up from β€œregister for a doctor account” page is probably a doctor. So you can automatically put them on that autoresponder.

You can also ask people which group they belong to during the signup process:

Ask People Which Group They Belong to During the Signup Process

Set Up Segmentation

Segmentation is another easy way to get started with marketing automation.

Instead of putting people on different autoresponders, you segment (or β€œtag”) subscribers based on behavior.

Then, send those segments SUPER targeted content.

For example:

When I first launched our new YouTube training program, First Page Videos, we announced it to the entire Backlinko email list.

First Page Videos – Announcement email

My thought process was:

β€œYouTube marketing is blowing up right now. Anyone that’s interested in SEO will probably want to grow their YouTube channel too.”

But I was wrong.

As it turned out, a good chunk of my subscribers had ZERO interest in YouTube.

So the next time we launched I course, I decided to use segmentation. That way, we’d ONLY send emails to people that cared about YouTube marketing.

To do that, I sent our entire list an invitation to a new training series about YouTube SEO.

YouTube SEO training series – Announcement email

But to get access to the series, subscribers had to raise their hand and say: β€œI’m interested”.

Explicit opt-in via link

And because we sent messages to people that wanted to receive them, we had an awesome conversion rate for that launch.

Test Full Marketing Automation Campaigns

Let me be clear about something:

Marketing automation has a ton of potential.

But the downside of automation is that things can get REALLY complicated REALLY quickly.

Before you know it, you need a Ph.D. to understand what’s going on.

Marketing Automation Can Get Complicated

So if you’re new to email marketing, focus on building your list and sending subscribers AWESOME content.

And once you have a handle on that, set up an autoresponder.

And once you have a handle on that, use tags to segment your list into 2-3 different groups.

Then, once you feel like you’ve completely mastered tagging, try full-on email automation.

This means hyper-targeted messages based on opens, clicks, pages visited, past purchases, demographics, time on site, and lots more.

For example:

Let’s say you run an eCommerce site that sells grain-free dog food.

And when a new subscriber signed up they chose β€œDachshund” from your β€œWhat breed of dog do you own?” question.

Have New Subscribers Self-Segment on Signup

A few days later that person put a bag of dog food into their cart… then closed the page.

Well, with marketing automation, you could go beyond the generic β€œYou forgot something” abandoned cart message.

Instead, you can send them a β€œnew customer discount” for 20% off their first purchase. And you can mention the fact that Dachshunds LOVE the product they had in their cart.

Marketing Automation Allows You to Use Customized Abandoned Cart Messages

Pretty cool.

Bonus Chapter:Advanced Email Marketing Strategies

Advanced Email Marketing Strategies

In this chapter I’m going to share a handful of advanced tactics that I’ve picked up over the years.

So if you’re ready to get more from your email marketing campaigns, this chapter is for you.

Let’s dive right in.

Try Text Email Layouts

Nathan Barry said it best:

β€œBeautiful email templates are bad for business.”

And he’s 100% right.

The fancy design does nothing but distracts people from the content of your message.

Instead, I recommend sending emails that look like they came from a friend or coworker.

Here’s a great example from Dan Martell:

Dan Martell – Email

This email could EASILY have a logo, header and other nonsense.

But Dan decided to send a newsletter that’s super simple.

Nice.

Keep Things Personal

Most emails get ignored because they’re boring and generic.

What’s the solution?

Make your emails look like they’re written and sent from a single person.

(Yup, even if you’re a big brand with thousands of employees.)

For example, HubSpot is a publicly-traded company with hundreds of employees.

But even they send their newsletters from Aja, someone that writes for their blog.

Personalized emails

That way, you feel like Aja just sent you an email… not a faceless brand.

One CTA Per Email

Want to improve your email click-through rate?

Use ONE CTA per email.

In fact, WordStream reports that emails with a single CTA can boost clicks by 371%.

In other words, don’t send emails with a million options.

Instead, give subscribers ONE crystal clear option.

Snappa email with one option

Use 15px+ Font

According to Litmus, 67% of all email messages are opened on mobile.

67% of all Email Messages are Opened on Mobile

And one of the easiest ways to make your newsletters mobile-optimized?

Use a big font.

(Ideally, 15px+.)

Unfortunately, most newsletters still use 12-13px font.

This is fine for desktops.

But 12px font is almost impossible to read on an iPhone without pinching and zooming.

For example, look at the difference between these two newsletters:

Font size mobile

Same content. Same formatting. Different font size.

And a world of difference.

Now It’s Your Turn

Email Marketing Guide – Conclusion

I really hope you enjoyed my complete guide to email marketing.

Now I’d like to hear from you:

Which technique from today’s guide are you going to try first?

Are you going to start using 15px font?

Or maybe you want to try marketing automation.

Either way, let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

312 Comments

  1. I’m always motivated to give away more value when I see how much you are willing to share with your readership. Thanks for the helpful information you offer with this guide.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Irene. Glad you enjoyed today’s guide!

      1. I’m logging into aweber and changing my font size right now, will post back and let you know the results over time!

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

    1. Marc Avatar Marcsays:

      That was insane, Dean.
      I’m going to use all this tips with my little community.

      Thank you, and keep the work going!!

    1. I am so impressed with the quality of content Brian shares with his followers. Beautiful, easy to use and super helpful. Truly an inspiration for my blog as well.

      1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

        Thanks Sandy πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

    1. Thanks for this Brian, I’m in the UK. I’m implementing marcus sherdian’s book at the moment, have a startup creative agency. I spent 2 days harvesting emails through good old search them out and data entry into hubspot. I have around 300 on my list, I regularly get 35% open rates as the content has value but trying to get cold email sign ups is hard as I’m in a crowded market and my Web traffic is low. What’s best invest in Google ads for traffic? Also is it legal to email people cold as long as you have your business address and unsubscribe on the email?

  2. Thank you Brian for this thourough article!
    Indeed E-mailing marketing is so important in 2019! And it converts way more than Facebook or any othersocial media platform. That’s a direct way to engage with the audience without being too pushy of course.
    We have noticed that using a bigger fonts increases the time on page on the website, but I never made the experience to apply a 15 pt font on my newsletter! Definitely a must try:) Have a great day!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Sarah, you’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed the post. I actually used to use 12px but realized that 15px also works well for newsletters.
      I might even go up to 16px soon.

      1. I will let you know it turned! but I trust you on this! Awesome content!
        Thank you for all your precious advices!

      1. Another great post! I did a mobile test on the various email autoresponder software mentioned, to test on their text content appearance. Convertkit, aweber looks great on mobile. Dripe, sendgrid & mailchimp looks too big. And the rest are just too small. You are right, font size on mobile plays an important part.

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          Thanks Cheefoo. That’s really interesting!

  3. Is there an advantage to deleting email addresses over, say, limiting what you send to them?

    We routinely move infrequent openers into a low-engagement segment, and that segment doesn’t get most of the emails we send.

    But if there is something that performs really well across the board (a slam dunk), we’ll include the low-engagement segment.

    Something to think about.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      The advantage is that they don’t drag down your engagement rates (which can hurt deliverability). Like you said, some of those low-engagement folks may still have value. So it can make sense to segment them or run a re-engagement campaign. Personally, I prefer to delete them.

      We found that if someone hasn’t opened any of our emails in 4+ months, they’re probably gone for good anyway.

      1. I think the ideal timeframe depends on the email frequency.
        Monthly – delete after 6 months of non-engagement
        Weekly – delete after 3-4 months on non-engagement
        2-3/Week – delete after 4-6 weeks of non-engagement

        The challenge is to separate engagement from inbox placement early on – once subscribers don’t engage with a few emails many mailbox providers start sending emails to Spam folder, even for known quality brands. This is why it’s important to send highly engaging content soon after signing up and keep ratio of sales/ask to valuable content 1/3 or 1/2 to keep engagement high.

  4. Timan Wainaina Avatar Timan Wainainasays:

    Hi Brian, thanks for this awesome guide. I’ve been searching for such a guide for the past week without finding one. I’ll follow it and build my list. Thanks once again!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Timan, nice!

  5. Another amazing guide, Brian. Thanks. (i just don’t agree aWeber is the “king of simplicity”).

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Filipe. What email marketing tool do you use?

      1. My path was: sending emails manually -> Mailchimp -> aWeber -> Convertkit (arguably the best one, in my opinion, and very easy/simple to use).

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          Nice. I tried Mailchimp back in the day and Convertkit more recently. I agree: both are solid and relatively easy to use (compared to stuff like Keap/Infusionsoft).

  6. In-depth as Always πŸ™‚
    Loved It!!!!
    Really admire how you create a story around your content in the email…like in the case when you were pitching your YouTube guides saying that many of your Subscribers found you on YouTube.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thank you πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

  7. Enjoyed this Brian, thanks! Will you be doing anything more advanced on automations?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Arthur. I might. I like to keep things simple and avoid most complex funnels and automation stuff. But if I dip my toes into that world I’ll definitely share what I learn with everybody.

  8. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

    Hi Serge, you’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.

  9. Brian,

    This is an excellent guide. So full of great value for the reader! I appreciate the

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Jeff, I think you meant to say something after “appreciate the…”

  10. This is amazing stuff Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Davis

  11. Brian, thank you for another awesome guide. I am wondering what advice you would have for someone who makes handmade crafts (think jewelry, for example) rather than selling a service? I have a new shop on Etsy, it’s really a hobby, but many folks are leaving Etsy because of how they are strong-arming sellers. I feel like developing my own email list of customers is a better way to go than hoping Etsy “promotes” my shop, but not sure how to apply your tips to my sort of business. I don’t currently have a personal website (I am a UX designer by day), I do blog on Tumblr and use Instagram.

    Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Chris, you’re welcome. The first step would be to get your own website. Otherwise, it’s going to be tough to build your email list from third party websites. It’s also possible to setup a quick landing page using a tool like clickfunnels. But even then, your conversion rate is going to be much better with forms on your own site.

      1. Suzan Avatar Suzansays:

        Maybe ConvertKit could also be an interim solution until the own website subject has been settled – as they seem to offer landing pages that you can use without having your own website; and which help you do the lead magnet(s) and build your eMail lists? (I am not on CK yet just followed a few webinars and videos lately)

  12. Thank you for this guide. Something I was actually recently looking for. Awesome work!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Oh nice! Yeah, I haven’t written much about email, even though it’s HUGE. But, considering how much email marketing has helped grow my business, I thought it was time to write more about it.

  13. “Try Text Email Layouts”

    This is very true. Just last month I tried a text-only Email Campaign and it got almost 2 times more open rate and 4 times more clicks than the Email Campaigns with Templates.

    Maybe that’s why I have never seen your emails with a template! πŸ˜ƒ

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Nice! Yeah, I’ve seen the same thing happen time and time again: text layouts CRUSH fancy newsletter designs.

  14. Junaid hamid Avatar Junaid hamidsays:

    Thanks Brian for the useful information.

    To be honest i never tried E-Mail marketing but now i will definitely add E-Mail marketing into my marketing strategy.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Junaid. You won’t regret it!

  15. John Bailey Avatar John Baileysays:

    I had to shut off my newsletter subscription due to getting so much spam that it caused my email account to be shut down. I was sending over 100 newsletter confirmation emails in less than an hour. I couldnt even email my customers! Very frustrating. Any tips on how to beat this?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hmmm. I’ve never run into that before. What email marketing platform did you use?

    1. oubaymahjor Avatar oubaymahjorsays:

      Use reCAPTCHA from Google on your registration screen

      1. +1 for using reCAPTCHA to avoid bot signups

        Once you have bots on your list you can try to use email verification provider to filter them out

  16. Emails is a super important channel!
    Great way to re-engage with previous readers / leads / clients.

    Love it! Thanks.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, FranΓ§ois. Email is legit!

  17. Good sh*t (as they say)

    Seriously though, epic content as per usual πŸ™‚

    I guess in your business you don’t do cold outreach (outside of link building) but I’d be curious to learn from you if you do have any experience with cold outreach for sales?

    Cheers Brian, keep it up, man!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Keller. I have a lot of outreach experience, but mostly for link building. That said, we recently did an outreach study wit Pitchbox that included cold sales emails.
      https://backlinko.com/email-outreach-study

      Might be worth checking out.

  18. Value packed content as usual Brian. I’ve just taken note to re-design my home page hero banner area to capture leads and to create a lead magnet on my about page. And that was only the first read! Also, short email titles work great. I find them more inviting or something. Can’t put the finger on it.

    Simon

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Simon, nice! Totally: short email titles crush. I think it may be due to the curiosity factor. Short titles give you just enough info to grab attention without giving away the farm.

  19. Brian, this is gold. Sometimes I hate that your guides are so long because I have so much work to get done for clients that I am like dag why is this going to take the next 20 minutes! But within 30 seconds of reading, I am hooked and soaking up every awesome suggestion. I even sent this to my clients who are super engaged in their marketing to remind them of the importance of email marketing. I hope you are making bank because you deserve it for what you put out. Thanks again.

    P.S. Klaviyo is a pretty great email service provider as well, especially for those on running eCommerce on Shopify since Mailchimp and Shopify are no longer friendly.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hey Josh, thank you! Oh nice. I’ve never heard of Klaviyo. I’ll have to check it out πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

      1. It’s focusing on e-commerce, similar to Constant Contact, but more sophisticated and more expensive.

  20. I don’t have or want a mailing list. I sell a product, Custom Calligraphy, (not for weddings) that is generally ordered only once. I want to get more traffic to my site- I’m competing with Etsy- what has scooped up all the first places.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Lianda, it’s obviously your call. But an email list is HUGE for selling anything online.

    1. Karen Avatar Karensays:

      Check out Shinah @crookedcalligraphy on Instagram. She always posts a TON of valuable info about running a calligraphy biz!

  21. Brian, this article is 100% value and it has motivated me to do email marketing the right way πŸ™‚ I am going to change a few things including the mix of educational content and promotional content in my newsletter.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Nice! Keep me posted πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

  22. Wow! Great guide! I’ll start using 15px+ font in all of my emails. Please keep it up!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Awesome Kendra! Let me know how it goes.

  23. great article one more time.
    Nothing beat email (except SEO / Youtube) in term of Real engagement, leads etc.
    I am sure than you will prepare next posts about how to do it, and share your own emailing campaign (that I follow)

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thank you, Olivier.

  24. Great content as usual Brian. I expected nothing less.

    After reading your post I’ll definitely take email marketing serious for my business.

    I noticed that your email had just a few lines. I love it.

    Thanks for the post.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome. Like I mentioned in the guide, I’ve tested super long and super short newsletters. Short emails tend to get better deliverability and clicks.

  25. Steven Avatar Stevensays:

    Awesome timing! I had just pivoted to email marketing after a focus on Messenger marketing and received this great guide. Thanks!

    I was wondering if you had any thoughts on content marketing with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa?

  26. Talk about delivering value, Brian! I would PAY for this info but thanks for sharing freely. My question is about reviving an old list … one that I’ve struggled to email consistently. You said you delete unopens for the last 4 months. I know I need to email them more often, but how would you go about re-engaging a list? Thanks for any help.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Cathy, good question. I wouldn’t delete those folks. I only delete subscribers that haven’t opened in 4 months because we send a fair amount of emails out. In your case, a re-engagement campaign makes much more sense.

  27. Hi Brian,

    For me, email marketing is the toughest job to do as a blogger. I get nightmares when I think of it.
    Email marketing was not needed for my blog until now but my blog is growing and it needs email marketing set.
    Thankfully you posted about the same. Now I am going to follow everything you’ve taught in this post.

    I am a fan of your content and design. Nobody can do better than you. Hands down!

    And for that I say, Thank you, next!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Rajan. Considering you’re just getting started my #1 piece of advice is to keep things SUPER simple. I wouldn’t worry about segmenting, funnels or any complicated stuff like that. Just focus on growing your list and sending your subscribers awesome stuff.

  28. Brian Dean, do you read minds?

    First, that was an INCREDIBLE guide. I have bookmarked this post, I will need to read it again.

    Just last 2 weeks, I decided to focus mainly on building an email list and today you’ve published just what I wanted.

    Like you knew that’s what we’ve been waiting for.

    I was surprised when you said you’ve sent over 11 Million broadcasts… that’s huge!

    My hunger for email marketing just leveled up after this guide, I will start immediately.

    Brian, thanks for this guide. I just shared it to my facebook friends!

    Secondly, I like your eyes! 😁

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Joy, thanks! And very cool to hear that you’re focusing on building your email list. That’s something I wish I started doing much sooner! Congrats and please keep me posted on how things go.

  29. Hi Brian Dean ! You are my idol
    I like the way you write articles

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thank you!

  30. I know exactly what I need to work on straight away. I will be adding a great squeeze page to my website, as my current annoying pop up less than equal.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Awesome! Let me know how it goes πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

  31. Brian,

    I have been following you for a while and you’ve always been delivering value consistently unlike other self acclaimed marketers out there.

    Thank you for releasing this giant guide and have a nice day.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Jamiu. I appreciate that.

  32. Thanks Brian to publish another awesome post.

    I liked your tips about deleting those subscribers who didn’t open mail in 4 months.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Abuzar. I would, of course, be careful about deleting subscribers. But in my opinion, if you do it right, list hygiene can help deliverability a ton.

  33. Floyd Avatar Floydsays:

    Great Email Marketing Guide Brian.

    Really love the section on Automation… even tho you didn’t go in-depth on it you Break down the complex ideas in the simplest form…

    Also, I agree with you on the fact that there should only be one CTA per email. Because even when I am reading emails when there is more than 1 CTA I often get confused.

    Keep up the awesome work.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Floyd. Glad you enjoyed it.

  34. Nafisa Anjum Avatar Nafisa Anjumsays:

    Hello! Can i get the pdf of this Article?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Nafisa, We should have a PDF sometime soon.

      1. Hi Brian, Great post – amazing work. I wanted to be able to refer to it again so I added it to my book marks. I also like to have a pdf. When I need a pdf of a blog article/post I copy all and put in a word doc. then a reduce the images or eliminate altogether. I prefer to print my pdfs and read the paper copy and the images only take up space/ink. I don’t know – am I alone on this or do other people print to read later as well? Just a heads up for you as you prepare to provide the pdf.
        Great work – I have watched many of your videos as well. Cheers!

        1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

          Thanks Andy. We do have PDF versions of our other guides. I try to make them a 1:1 match to the actual guide (including images, graphics etc.), which is the tricky part.

  35. Brian… Man!

    I’ve been doing email marketing these past few months. But, the result was not as expected.

    After spending an hour reading this guide, now I think I know where I did it wrong.

    I will be trying to improve our email marketing using some of these strategies you mention.

    I’ll keep you posted with the result!

    Thanks Man!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Awesome Henry! Let me know how this approach works out for you.

  36. Netranand Meshram Avatar Netranand Meshramsays:

    Really outstanding content !! Thank you so much for such an in-depth information Brain !!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

  37. Shohag Avatar Shohagsays:

    How can I build email list for my Web Design Agency?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      The strategies here apply to pretty much any business… including agencies.

  38. Paul Spencer Avatar Paul Spencersays:

    Hi Brian, thanks for sharing all of this information.
    I am just starting out in e-commerce and reading your blogs has really helped me understand things from a different perspective.
    I consider myself very lucky to have found your blogs before I go live as I’m sure you have saved me from so many headaches in the months and years to come:)

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Paul, awesome! I definitely wish I had something like Backlinko when I first started.

  39. As always, Brian delivers again! He knows his email marketing because his emails are the ONLY ones I get excited to open as I think “ooh what can I learn today”. What’s your thoughts on Mailerlite? I started with Mailchimp and did not really like it. Mailerlite is okay, but it takes forever to click from section to section. On the bright side, it’s still free for me. Do not have enough revenue to pay for email provider just yet.

      1. Nice! I didn’t see this one, thanks for the mention. I made a comparison list for providers with free tiers, will add Hubspot to it.

        Brian, would be cool to add a couple rows/columns with info on free tiers and pricing tiers to your section reviewing providers, to help people choose. I would be happy to make the expanded version for you (for free) if you like the format I used here:
        https://www.bigmailer.io/free-email-sender/

    1. Dave I am the same way. I unsubscribe from newsletters everyday. But I do truly look forward to when Brian’s newsletters come out

    1. Not sure when this post was published / comment posted, but MailChimp made a lot of changes in 2019. I used to recommend MailChimp to my clients needing a free option, and then after the changes I couldn’t. That left me looking around for an alternative. Mailerlite came up a few times in my research, I tried it and it was easy with lots of functionality even on the free plan. Excellent support and lots of how-to videos as well.
      Moving was a no-brainer and I’m so happy with Mailerlite.
      …before you ask, no, they don’t pay me. πŸ™‚

  40. Another great resource Brian! Thanks for creating these!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Nissar.

  41. Jason Avatar Jasonsays:

    Hi Brian, superb article.
    What do you use (or which plugin) to create your opt-in forms on your website?(WordPress)

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Jason. They’re mostly custom coded.

  42. Awesome “complete content” again! πŸ˜‰
    Thank you so much. I also realized the small font size when I checked my newsletter on mobile.

    Do you know the best way to set up a higher font size? Wrapping the whole content in a div and setting it via css? Or better using the old-school font-tag for older email clients?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Thanks Timo! I’m glad you remember the Complete Content email series.

      To answer your question: I’m not 100% sure. I just set the font as 15px in Aweber. I don’t believe they use CSS in plain text emails.

  43. Prasad Avatar Prasadsays:

    Thanks BRIAN😊
    As always you giving us great & very valuable content. These will really help my email campaign. After reading these blog post i have been clean up remaining confusion in my mind about email marketing.

    Ones again thanks so much BRIAN😊.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      You’re welcome, Prasad!

  44. So much great stuff in here, thanks for the considerable effort that went into this! Will you offer it as a digital download for easier printing? Lots of stuff I want to highlight and take notes on.

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Kari, you’re welcome. I do plan on adding a PDF version sometime soon. It takes a while for our designer to turn this into a proper PDF.

  45. Masud Parvage Avatar Masud Parvagesays:

    Dear Brian,

    This is really charming. We’ve got the awesome resource from you…! I read your most of the “Definitive Guide”. There are huge information with practical tips and tricks and the case studies I found in your every single guide.

    Thanks for your valuable contribution to the industry…!

    Masud Parvage

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

  46. Hi Brian
    Brilliant and detailed post which I read through and through. 18pt is where I’m going on emails from now on.

    Question
    Many of your comparisons are with Facebook and Twitter. How about LinkedIn? How does this compare, performance-wise, with email marketing for B2B Professionals?

    Thanks and really looking forward to your reply.

    Matthew

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Matthew, thank you! I appreciate that. Engagement is WAY higher on Linkedin than on Facebook and Twitter. But from my testing, it’s still not close to email (especially CTR).

  47. I’m always amazed at how many email signups my clients get. I thought email marketing was dead long ago, but having seen my client’s subscriber lists grow steadily I had to start rethinking that.

    And now your article further solidifies it. Thanks for in the depth info as always! I have a few tweaks I need to make but glad to know I’ve been doing at least a few things right πŸ™‚

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Mike, it’s kind of crazy that with all the changes in the marketing world, email is still #1 by a mile.

  48. This was JUST what I needed today Brian!

    Quick question about exit-intent pop-ups. Do you only use those on Desktop since there is no real way of knowing exit intent on mobile?

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Happy to help, Kelan. Exactly: they’re only for desktop.

  49. Interesting facts to consider and test. The one that gave me much to think about is the “plain text” template. I’m selling advertising space on my website and I used to be the one with “a beautiful template”, just to better present what they would actually get (I used custom image on how the banner would look like for each company) and to differentiate myself from those spammy emails offering seo services, website creation etc (I know you get them too).
    But since the results weren’t as expected, I should probably try the plain version and visualize what they are getting in the second email, after all, no sale is made from the first message, right?
    Thanks, Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Hi Jure, it’s definitely something worth testing. That’s actually why I phrased this as “testing” a plain text email. There is a place for design. But 9 times out of 10, plain text does better.

  50. Wow! Another GREAT guide packed with ACTIONABLE advice. Time to clear my afternoon and get cracking! Thanks, Brian!

    1. Brian Dean Avatar Brian Deansays:

      Nice!

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