What is Email Marketing?
Email marketing is a digital marketing channel that uses email to communicate with a list of subscribers who have opted in to receive messages from a brand. It is used for nurturing leads, building customer relationships, announcing products, sharing valuable content, and driving repeat purchases.
Why It Matters
Email marketing consistently ranks as one of the highest ROI digital marketing channels. The average return is $36–$42 for every $1 invested, according to Litmus and Constant Contact research. Unlike social media, an email list is an owned asset — you’re not at the mercy of algorithm changes or platform policy updates to reach your audience.
How It Works
Email marketing requires a list (built through lead magnets, opt-in forms, or customer data), an email service provider (Mailchimp, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit), and a strategy that includes welcome sequences for new subscribers, regular newsletters with value-driven content, promotional campaigns tied to offers and launches, automated sequences triggered by user behavior (abandoned cart, post-purchase follow-up), and re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers.
Real-World Example
Digital Media Run’s email list of 2,400 subscribers receives a weekly newsletter with one actionable marketing tip. When a new ‘Amazon PPC Audit’ service launches, a 5-email campaign is sent to the list over two weeks. The campaign generates 18 audit bookings at $500 each — $9,000 in revenue from a channel with essentially zero ongoing cost.
