Email Campaigns: How to Use Them For Marketing

Why are email newsletters used in marketing?

Email marketing is still considered one of the most effective channels for digital promotion. Studies show that more than half of the population uses email, and every dollar invested in email newsletters may bring an average of 42 dollars in profit.

The main advantage of email newsletters is direct contact with the audience. People who have subscribed to your emails have already shown interest in your brand. Regular helpful emails strengthen trust and loyalty. By using segmentation and automation, you can send personalized offers, such as birthday greetings or reminders about sales.

What types of email newsletters exist?

There are many formats for email newsletters—the choice depends on the campaign's goals and the audience.

• Promotional newsletters. Direct offers to make a purchase: these emails include promotions, discounts, new products. Promotional newsletters are often sent in series of several emails on a schedule to gradually engage the customer.

• Informational newsletters. Messages about changes and news within the company: new product launch, events, service updates. Such emails do not sell directly but inform subscribers about important matters, maintaining communication with the audience.
  
  
• Content (educational) newsletters. Emails with useful content: articles, tips, reviews, client cases. Their goal is not to sell directly, but to build trust in the brand.

• Triggered emails. Emails that are sent automatically when a user takes action or an important event occurs. For example, this could be a welcome message for a new subscriber, an abandoned cart notification, or a personal birthday greeting with a special discount. Such messages are always relevant, as they rely on specific actions of the users.
  
  
• Transactional emails. Service messages that are sent upon the completion of some action: order or payment confirmation, delivery status information, electronic ticket, etc. Such emails are expected by the user and contain important details of the purchase or transaction.
  
  

• Survey newsletters. Their purpose is to gather feedback from the audience. Examples include NPS surveys, requests to evaluate service quality, or an invitation to participate in customer preference research.

• Onboarding newsletters. A series of emails for new subscribers or service users. The goal is to introduce the person to the company and product, gradually engage them in interactions with the brand (welcome sequences, usage guides, etc.).
  
  
• Seasonal and situational newsletters. One-time email campaigns tied to holidays or events. For example, a New Year greeting, an invitation to a webinar, a newsletter for Customer Day, or a message about a Black Friday sale.

How to launch an email newsletter?

Here’s a brief action plan:

• Define goals and audience. Decide what you want to achieve with the newsletter (sales, traffic to the site, increasing loyalty, etc.) and who your recipients are.
  
  
• Legally collect a subscriber base. Gather contacts using subscription forms on your website, landing pages, social media, or offline events. It's always important that people explicitly confirm their consent to receive your emails. Here we explain how to legally collect customer data without incurring fines.
  
  
• Choose a suitable platform for sending email newsletters. For mass email sending, a specialized tool is needed. Register with a mailing service that meets your needs and database size. For example, Altcraft Platform allows for mass email dispatches, automating campaigns, and tracking audience reactions.
  
  
• Prepare the email content. Create an attractive email: think about the subject line, write an engaging preheader, and compose useful and clear text. Use templates and a visual editor. If possible, personalize the content (for example, address the subscriber by name).

• Test and send the newsletter. Before sending the email to the main database, do a test send to yourself or colleagues. Ensure that the email displays correctly on different devices, all links work properly, and there are no typos.
  
  
• Analyze results and work on improvements. After sending the campaign, track key metrics: the percentage of delivered and opened emails, clicks on links, and conversions. Analyze which elements performed well and which did not.

What metrics to consider when analyzing newsletters?

• Deliverability. The percentage of sent emails that successfully reached the audience. Low deliverability signals problems with address lists or sender reputation.

• Open Rate. The share of recipients who opened the message.
  
  
• Click-Through Rate. The percentage of users who clicked on links in the email.
  
  
• Unsubscribes and spam complaints. The share of recipients who unsubscribed after receiving the email and the number of complaints.
  
  
• Conversion and sales. The number of recipients who carried out the target action (for example, made a purchase).
  
  
• ROI. Return on investment: profit from the email campaign.

How to avoid spam in mass email sending?

When sending mass emails, there is a risk that messages will end up in the "Spam" folder or be blocked altogether. To avoid this, you need to adhere to a number of rules:

• Only collect a "clean" subscriber base. Emails should only be sent to those who have opted in to your newsletters. It is recommended to implement a subscription confirmation process (double opt-in), where the user enters their email address and then gives their consent through an email.
  
  
• Always include an unsubscribe option in your emails. Each email must have a visible link allowing users to opt-out. Do not hide it, otherwise you may face a risk of complaints about spam.
  
  
• Monitor sender reputation. To confirm the authenticity of your newsletters to email service providers, configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records on your domain.
  
  
• Send emails moderately. A sudden spike in volume may lead to suspicion among email service providers. If you are just starting mass mailing, gradually increase the number of sent emails to "warm up" the domain.
  
  
• Avoid spam vocabulary in content. Do not use obviously "spammy" phrases such as "today only!", "low price", etc. Do not overuse ALL CAPS and exclamation marks.

How much does email marketing cost?

First, you need to understand who will be responsible for creating and sending emails. Regular mail service won’t suffice, so special mailing services and specialists need to be involved. Here are the key points:

• The types of newsletters and mailing frequency: do you plan to send simple informational emails once a week, or create complex chains with segmentation for different clients? The more complex and frequent your campaigns are, the higher the cost.
  
  
• Subscriber base size: the more subscribers you have, the more work it takes to prepare emails and the more expensive the mailing platform services become. This depends on the number of users on your list.
  
  
• Who handles the process: if you hire an agency or freelancers, additional expenses for their services need to be considered compared to an in-house team. On top of that, you should take into account the choice of the email service provider.

Which platform to choose for mass mailing?

Altcraft is a Russian omnichannel platform that includes a convenient mailing service. For marketers needing more advanced features, Altcraft offers several advantages:

• Unlimited email sending. There are no limits on the number of messages: you may send as many emails as you want to any base. This is convenient when the audience is growing and you need to scale your email campaigns.
  
  
• All tools in one solution. Altcraft provides all marketing functions "out of the box", regardless of the price plan. You receive an email builder, segmentation, analytics, and automation in one service: no need to purchase extra modules or use separate tools.
  
  
• Omnichannel. In addition to email newsletters, Altcraft supports messaging over other channels, such as SMS, push notifications, messenger apps (Telegram, WhatsApp*) and others.
  
  
• Flexible personalization. The platform collects and stores customer data (demographics, interests, behavior, purchases) in a single profile, allowing for precise audience segmentation and sending personalized newsletters. You may include the recipient's name into emails and even automatically select the optimal sending time for each segment.
  
  
• Automation and testing. Altcraft supports creating automatic scenarios: series of welcome emails for new clients, triggered chains for abandoned carts, reactivation campaigns for inactive subscribers, etc. A/B/n testing helps marketers to experiment with different subject lines, content, and send times to improve campaign results.
  
  
• On-Premises option and high performance. For companies that need to keep data within their perimeter, Altcraft allows platform deployment on their servers (on-premise). The solution scales to accommodate large data volumes and withstands high loads.
  
  
• Prompt support. Altcraft team provides users with quick support and assistance.

Conclusion

Email campaigns remain an excellent way to communicate with customers and increase sales. If set up correctly, they not only inform customers about news but also strengthen relationships and boost trust and loyalty toward the brand.

The key is to make personalized offers, segment subscribers, and regularly monitor how effectively everything works.