Email marketing: strategy, execution and growth

What email marketing really is, and why it still makes money

Email marketing is simply this: you send targeted messages to people who already know you, or who signed up to receive something from you. But “simple” does not mean “easy”. Results depend on three things you control: value, timing and data quality.

In practice, we have seen that email marketing works especially well when you stop doing “one newsletter for everyone” and start doing “one message for one intent”. Think of: a demo request, a product page visit, a download someone actually completed, or a customer who needs help at a specific moment.

If you are doubting now because open rates seem to be falling or because your inboxes are competing for attention, good news: that obsession with benchmarks is often the distraction. Gmail, for example, also explicitly warns that low open rates do not automatically mean a deliverability problem. It can also be due to how people view email and whether tracking pixels are loaded. (support.google.com)

So: we are going to approach email marketing as a system. Not as a standalone campaign.

The foundation of a strong email marketing strategy

A strategy only works when you make choices. That is why we always start with a goal and a measurable path toward it.

1) Choose one primary goal per funnel stage

You can use email for different phases, but per campaign you want one primary outcome. For example:

• Awareness: sign-ups, whitepaper downloads, or view registrations.
• Consideration: demo requests, trial starts, or speaking with sales.
• Customer retention: repeat purchases, lower churn, more feature usage.
• Reactivation: return visits to your site or repeat purchases.

Why this works: if you try to do everything, you do not measure anything well. And then you optimize for the wrong KPI. We see this often go wrong when teams focus on “open rate” while the real value is in clicks, conversions or pipeline.

2) Segment based on behavior, not just demographics

Yes, you can segment by industry, role or company size. But behavior is usually more reliable, because it shows what someone means at that moment.

Concrete segments you can often use right away:

• New subscribers who have not clicked through yet.
• People who visited a specific page (for example pricing, integrations or a use case).
• People who downloaded an asset, but then did not book a demo.
• Subscribers who have had no interaction for 30 to 60 days.
• Buyers who have just purchased, and buyers who have been customers longer.

The strategy behind this choice: you add context. That increases the chance that your message feels relevant. And relevance is the shortest path to engagement.

3) Make the story product- or customer-focused, not “campaign-focused”

We see a classic problem: teams put a template together, fill in a few bullets and call it “an email marketing flow”. But if the story does not match the question someone has at that moment, then you end up fighting on deliverability and timing, while you should really be winning on content.

A simple guideline:

• For top-of-funnel: help someone understand what solves the problem.
• For middle-of-funnel: make it concrete, with examples, outcomes or a comparison of choices (without shouting).
• For bottom-of-funnel: reduce doubt, make the next step logical and easy.

Deliverability and inbox reputation, without unnecessary fear

Deliverability is not only about “not landing in spam”. It is about trust in your sender and consistent quality. In its sender guidelines, Gmail says you should set up SPF and DKIM, plus a one-click unsubscribe process for marketing messages and a clearly visible unsubscribe link. (support.google.com)

In addition, Gmail Postmaster Tools show that you can get insight into spam and reputation-related signals, including authentication. (support.google.com)

What I want to align on immediately: you do not have to guess. You can measure.

What you can do right now (checklist)

1. Turn on SPF and DKIM and regularly check whether anything changes in your DNS.
2. Configure DMARC correctly, so your domain is consistent in authentication.
3. Use a real, recognizable from name and a from address that matches your domain.
4. Provide a clean unsubscribe process (unsub-link), so your list stays healthy. (support.google.com)
5. Monitor your metrics after sending with Postmaster Tools or your own deliverability dashboard. (support.google.com)

Watch open rates, but do not trust them blindly

Open rates remain a useful indicator, but the limitations are real. Tracking is not the same for everyone and in some cases pixels are not loaded. Gmail also states that low open rates do not automatically mean your messages are delivering worse. (support.google.com)

Practical advice:

• If open rates drop, look at clicks and conversions, not just opens.
• Also look at bounce rates (hard vs soft) and your sender reputation.
• Test subject lines and frequency, but do it with a measurement plan, not by gut feeling.

What really works in email marketing, from subject line to conversion

This is where it gets interesting. Not because of tricks, but because of an approach you can repeat.

1) Subject lines: make them specific enough to get a “yes”

We choose subject lines not to make them funny, but to make the content predictable. Think of:

• Promise of value: “Checklist for X”
• Context: “For your team: Y”
• Action-oriented: “Book your demo in 15 minutes”

Important: if your subject line is too far removed from the landing page or call-to-action, you get disappointment and lower engagement. And your list punishes that faster than you think.

2) CTAs that logically follow from the reader

A CTA works better when you let it flow from the sentence before it. For example: after a short explanation of a problem, a CTA follows that solves exactly that problem.

Practical:

• Avoid three different goals in one email.
• Make the primary CTA one and clear.
• Let the secondary route exist, but not compete.

3) Content: short where it can be, concrete where it matters

An email does not have to be long. But it does have to do something. In practice, you often see that “medium length” works, as long as the message is clear and the reader does not have to search for the point.

A format we often use:

• Opening: state why this email is relevant now.
• Proof: example, type of result (without vague hype), or what you do in the process.
• Next step: one action, one link, one expectation.

4) Use benchmarks as a compass, not a judge

Benchmarks can provide direction. Mailchimp, for example, uses campaign data with campaign tracking and reports on open and click rates, with context such as industry and audience. (mailchimp.com)

Use it like this:

• Compare your campaign with the same audience and similar segmentation.
• Do not expect to ever reach “market average” if your message does not match intent.
• Adjust the KPI that affects your goal, not the KPI that makes the story easier.

Automation and flows: your scale engine without spam behavior

Automation is not a luxury. It is the way to automate relevance.

But, note: automation without segmentation quickly becomes spam-like, even if the content is beautiful.

Which flows you almost always need

• Welcome flow: set expectations, show value and guide toward a first interaction.
• Nurture flow: education and product context based on what someone has or has not done.
• Intent flow: respond to actions such as pricing page visits, webinar attendance or an unusual drop-off moment (for example after a form).
• Onboarding flow (for customers): help someone reach success faster.
• Re-engagement: win someone back with a better reason to stay, or cleanly remove passive subscribers.

Want to expand on this more broadly? Also read: Marketing Automation: efficiency and scale through smart flows.

How to make flows measurable

Define a small set of KPIs per flow:

• Deliverability basics: bounce rate, spam-related signals, unsubscribe rate.
• Engagement: clicks and downstream events (such as demo booking or checkout start).
• Business: pipeline, conversion, repeat purchase or activation.

Why this works: it keeps a flow from “feeling good” while having no commercial impact.

The measurement plan: from reporting to decisions

This is where many teams drop off. They have reports. But they do not make better decisions.

Start with a marketing measurement ladder

Use a sequence your team understands:

1. Delivery: are you getting into the inbox?
2. Engagement: are people clicking what you offer?
3. Conversion: are they taking the desired action?
4. Value: does it deliver something for the business?

Gmail shows that you can get authentication and reputation insights through Postmaster Tools. (support.google.com)

Use that as input. Not as an obsession.

What to test, when and with what limitation

You can A/B test, but keep it pragmatic:

• Test one variable at a time (subject line or CTA or landing page), otherwise you do not know what caused the effect.
• Test with segments that have enough volume.
• If deliverability fluctuates, do not test content first. Stabilize first.
• Understand trade-offs: sending more often can increase engagement, but also unsubscribes and reputation risk. That is always a balance.

Combining email marketing with other channels

Email rarely stands alone. It often works best when you bring in data and intent from other channels.

Want more context on how to build traffic and intent? Then these are logical reads, because they improve your marketing funnel:

• Inbound Marketing: attract customers with valuable content
• SEO in practice: strategy, execution and growth
• Sea: meaning, types and smart marketing tips
• Google Ads explained: strategy and practical steps

And if you want content and AI search results to play a role in your strategy, also look at:

• GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) explained, in practice
• GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): Hub for AI search engines

E-E-A-T for email marketing: credibility that helps your inbox

You asked for Google’s E-E-A-T principles. They were originally meant for content quality in search, but the idea behind them is useful for email marketing. You want to build trust and deliver demonstrable value. That shows up in how you treat people.

Google describes E-E-A-T as Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness in its quality guidelines. (developers.google.com)

Translate this to email marketing, concretely:

• Experience: share what you or your team learn from real customer journeys. Even one short “what we saw in practice” works well.
• Expertise: explain why something works, not just what you recommend.
• Authoritativeness: cite sources or data where possible, and show consistency (same domain, same promise, same quality).
• Trust: be transparent, do not send weird scripts and respect unsubscribes. Gmail also explicitly asks for unsubscribe in marketing messages. (support.google.com)

Small reality check: E-E-A-T will not directly “magically” improve your email deliverability. But it does help indirectly. Better relevance leads to fewer complaints, more engagement and healthier signals.

Next step: what you can do this week without regretting it later

Okay, coffee cup in hand, now let’s plan.

If you want to do one thing for email marketing today, choose this order:

1. Make your email goals and KPIs clear per funnel stage. Put this down briefly on paper, one goal per campaign or flow.
2. Check deliverability basics: SPF, DKIM, DMARC and a correct unsubscribe workflow. Gmail provides clear guidelines here. (support.google.com)
3. Upgrade your segmentation with one behavioral criterion. For example, “clicked / not clicked in 14 days” or “demo started / not started”.
4. Start or improve one flow, usually the welcome flow or a nurture flow for intent.
5. Complete your measurement ladder: deliver, engage, convert, value. Report only what leads to better decisions.

If you notice that your team spends too much time on execution, it may help to organize specialist support. Then it makes sense to start with quality criteria for your supplier, see: Choosing a marketing agency: what to look for and, more specifically, Hiring an SEO Specialist: What to Pay Attention To (for SEO, but the same selection principles also apply to email specialists).

Conclusion: email marketing as a system, not a standalone campaign

Email marketing works when you approach it as a collaboration between strategy, content and data. You build trust, you steer on intent and you measure what really matters.

If you take one takeaway with you now, let it be this: stop optimizing for “open rates” if your goal is conversion or pipeline. Gmail warns that opens are not always a reliable deliverability signal. (support.google.com) You win by managing the whole picture: authentication, relevance, timing and a measurement ladder that forces decisions.

Want a broader, practical guide for B2B and B2C? Then definitely also read: Email Marketing: Complete Strategy Guide (B2B and B2C). That way you have a complete map, and we can then choose the route together that fits your audience and growth goal.