email-marketing

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name: Email Marketing description: Email deliverability, list management, sequences, segmentation, and campaign optimization. metadata: category: marketing skills: ["email", "newsletters", "sequences", "deliverability", "automation"]

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Deliverability Foundations

Authenticate all sending domains: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC — missing any one tanks deliverability

Warm up new domains/IPs: start with 50-100 emails/day, increase 20% daily over 2-4 weeks

Never buy email lists — purchased lists destroy sender reputation permanently

Clean list regularly: remove bounces immediately, unengaged after 90 days

Monitor blacklists: MXToolbox, Google Postmaster Tools — problems compound if not caught early

List Health Metrics

| Metric | Healthy | Warning | Critical | |--------|---------|---------|----------| | Open rate | >20% | 10-20% | <10% | | Click rate | >2% | 1-2% | <1% | | Bounce rate | <2% | 2-5% | >5% | | Unsubscribe | <0.5% | 0.5-1% | >1% | | Spam complaints | <0.1% | 0.1-0.3% | >0.3% |

One spam complaint per 1000 emails is the danger zone — above this, inbox placement drops sharply

Subject Lines

40-50 characters optimal — truncates on mobile after 35-40

Personalization works: name or company in subject increases opens 10-20%

Curiosity beats clarity for opens, but clarity wins for clicks — balance based on goal

Avoid spam triggers: ALL CAPS, excessive punctuation!!!, "free", "act now"

Test emoji: works for some audiences, hurts others — A/B test before committing

Preview text is second subject line — don't waste it with "View in browser"

Email Sequences

Welcome sequence (5-7 emails over 2 weeks): 1. Immediate: Deliver promised value + set expectations 2. Day 1: Best content or quick win 3. Day 3: Story/origin + values 4. Day 5: Social proof + case study 5. Day 7: Soft offer or deeper engagement 6. Day 10: Address common objection 7. Day 14: Clear CTA

First email in sequence has highest open rate — make it count

Space emails 1-3 days apart — daily is too aggressive for most audiences

Segmentation

Segment by behavior, not just demographics — what they clicked matters more than job title

Minimum viable segments: new subscribers, engaged (opened in 30 days), unengaged, customers

Tag on every click — builds behavioral profile automatically

Sunset unengaged subscribers after 90 days — send re-engagement, then remove

VIP segment for highest engagement — reward them with early access, exclusives

Timing and Frequency

Tuesday-Thursday mid-morning performs best on average — but test your audience

B2B: business hours. B2C: evenings and weekends can work

Frequency depends on value: daily works if valuable, weekly fails if boring

Let subscribers choose frequency — reduces unsubscribes significantly

Send time optimization: most ESPs offer this, use it

Campaign Types

Newsletter: regular value, builds relationship, low direct conversion

Promotional: clear offer, urgency, direct conversion focus

Transactional: receipts, confirmations — highest open rates, add value here

Re-engagement: "We miss you" + incentive + easy unsubscribe

Announcement: product launches, major updates — segment to interested only

Writing for Email

One goal per email — multiple CTAs dilute response

Write for skimmers: bold key phrases, short paragraphs, bullet points

P.S. lines get read — put secondary CTA or key point there

Plain text often outperforms HTML for personal-style emails

Mobile-first: 60%+ open on mobile — single column, large tap targets

Automation Triggers

Sign up → Welcome sequence

Purchase → Onboarding + cross-sell sequence

Abandoned cart → 3-email recovery (1h, 24h, 72h)

No open in 30 days → Re-engagement sequence

Link click → Tag and trigger relevant follow-up

Date-based → Birthday, renewal reminder, anniversary

A/B Testing

Test one variable at a time: subject, send time, CTA, from name

Need 1000+ recipients per variant for statistical significance

Subject line tests: 20% of list first, winner to remaining 80%

Measure what matters: opens for subject, clicks for content, conversions for offers

Document every test — institutional learning prevents repeat experiments

Common Mistakes

Sending to entire list always — segment or face declining engagement

No double opt-in — leads to fake emails and spam traps

Ignoring mobile preview — broken layouts kill credibility

Same email to all segments — personalization is expected now

Hard selling too early — value first, offer later

Ignoring unsubscribe feedback — they tell you what's wrong

Compliance

Include physical address in every email — required by CAN-SPAM, GDPR

Unsubscribe must work within 10 days — one-click preferred

Honor opt-outs immediately — delayed removal is illegal in many jurisdictions

GDPR: explicit consent required, document it, allow data deletion

Separate consent for different email types — marketing vs transactional