There was a time when opening the email was a drag. Only bills arrived. And some weird chain from a relative. Today, things have changed quite a bit. Email has become one of the most profitable channels for selling. And the best part is that it doesn't depend on Instagram, TikTok, or the algorithm that reduces your reach whenever it wants.
SMEs realised this sooner than the big companies. While some pray that Meta doesn’t mess things up for them, others use a email marketing service to attract customers and talk to their audience directly. No intermediaries. No paying a fortune. No dancing in front of a camera. Sounds easy. And it really is.
Why email keeps winning the game
I’m going to drop an uncomfortable truth. Email has a massive return. For every euro you invest, you can get back between 35 and 42. Just like that, no exaggeration. No social media ad comes close to those numbers. And believe me, there are marketers who swear otherwise.
Why does this happen? It’s very simple. When someone gives you their email, they’re giving you something more valuable than a like. They’re opening the door to their inbox. That place where they receive messages from their mother. And their payslips. And dentist reminders. If you sneak in there without overdoing it, you’re already halfway there.
Another good thing about email is that it’s yours. You have the list. No one can take it away from you. In contrast, social media followers are borrowed. They’re here today, gone tomorrow. If the platform shuts down, we’ll see. That’s why building a good subscriber base is like having your own vegetable garden. It feeds you no matter what happens.
The difference between annoying and being liked
Not everything is rosy. Poorly executed email is one of the most annoying things out there. Almost as annoying as YouTube ads that cut videos in half. Sending emails to a purchased list is the best way to end up in spam. And worse still, in the mental blacklist of the customer.
The key is segmentation. It’s not enough to just put the name at the top of the email. That doesn’t work anymore. You need to send the right message. To the right person. At the right time. If someone has just bought running shoes, send them technical socks. Don’t send them padel rackets. That’s a waste of time.
Automations that work while you sleep
Here comes one of the best parts. Almost everything can be automated. From the welcome email to the abandoned cart email. That one that rescues sales that seemed lost.
The nice thing is that, once set up, it runs on its own. You could be watching a series on the sofa. And meanwhile, your system sends emails. Segments people. Closes sales. It’s like having a salesperson who never gets tired. Doesn’t ask for holidays. Doesn’t complain about the office air conditioning.
The funnel that doesn’t look like a funnel
They’ve been talking about conversion funnels for years. But the truth is that no one likes to feel like they’re in one. No one wants to be pushed to buy. That’s why well-crafted email flows work the other way around. They provide value first. Build trust afterwards. And finally, when you’ve earned the reader’s trust, you propose the sale.
A typical sequence might go like this. First email, a free guide. Second email, a couple of practical tips. Third email, a personal story. Fourth email, a success case. Fifth email, now yes, an offer. By then the reader knows you. They’ve read you several times. And if you’ve done it right, they might even have a fondness for you.
The most common mistakes that ruin your strategy
There are mistakes that repeat over and over. The first is not taking care of the list. Buying databases. Not cleaning out subscribers who haven’t opened anything for months. Continuing to send to bouncing addresses. That destroys your reputation. And makes sure that not even your best emails get through.
The second mistake is writing boring subject lines. The subject line is the only thing you have to get them to open the email. If you put something like “June Newsletter”, you’re in trouble. You need to be creative. Generate curiosity. Promise something concrete. But don’t overdo it with clickbait, as that burns out quickly too.
The third mistake is sending too much. Or sending too little. If you write every day, you’ll wear them out. If you write once a year, they’ll forget about you. You need to find the right rhythm. And that depends on the sector. And the type of customer. There’s no one-size-fits-all rule.
Design matters, but not that much
Many people obsess over spectacular templates. Full of images. With colourful buttons. And huge banners. The truth is that the simplest emails often work better. Plain text ones. The ones that look like they were written by a normal person. Not by an agency.
This doesn’t mean that design doesn’t matter. But closeness weighs more than pretty gradients. A good email reads like a conversation. Not like a supermarket flyer. If your subscriber feels like a friend is writing to them, that’s it. You’ve won.
The future is about one-on-one communication
Current tools allow for things that once seemed impossible. You can segment by behaviour. By interests. By purchase history. Even by the time each person usually opens their email. Sounds crazy. But it works very well.
And that’s where the real advantage lies. Brands that understand that email isn’t mass communication, but personal, will retain loyal customers. The others will keep paying for increasingly expensive ads. To reach people who are less and less interested. You don’t need to be very smart to see where this is heading.
The good thing is that to get started, you don’t need a huge team. Or a big budget. You just need a well-maintained list. Something to say. And consistency. In the end, consistency is what separates those who sell by email from those who only try for two months and give up.
And one more thing. Email is patient. It’s not like an ad campaign that shuts down the day you stop paying. A good list keeps bringing you joy months later. Even years. It’s one of the few investments that truly stays with you in the long term.
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