What is email marketing?

A couple of weeks ago, I got challenged by a colleague. He wasn't happy with my usual answer to the question, "what is email marketing?" My spontaneous answer is that email marketing is one of the most effective ways to communicate with your audience. This time I was challenged to formulate what email marketing is in detail. This article became my answer. 

I think most people understand what email marketing is because the term itself is pretty self-explanatory. 

Email marketing is a collective name for using email as a marketing channel.

Yet, to explain at a more detailed level, I came up with the idea of breaking down all must-have components of email marketing. When I was ready, I was pretty happy that I got challenged because it became more apparent to me what email marketing is about. It's not only about sending content through email. 

What are the must-have components of email marketing?

In this section, I'll describe each of the following components that'll need to be included in email marketing: 

• Target groups 
• Goals and KPIs
• Email list
• Email content
• Marketing automation platform

Target groups 
Email marketing is a very efficient way of nurturing leads. But only if the emails are relevant. To increase your relevance, you'll need to ensure that you segment your database to know your target audience.  

Goals and KPIs
For each email marketing campaign, you'll need to define the goals and KPIs. An excellent way to benchmark the statistic is to find out what the averages for your industry are. 

Email list
To send marketing emails, you'll need two things; first, some people to send to, and their permission to receive the emails. A common way to build email lists is to have a form on your website where visitors can subscribe to a newsletter or download gated content.

Content
When you know who the recipients are and your goal with the email marketing activity, it's time to create the content. The content usually consists of a subject line, body text, image, and a call-to-action.  

Marketing automation platform
To manage a large amount of email marketing, you'll need a marketing automation platform. In the article, The best B2B marketing automation tools, my colleague Stellan Björnesjö explains what to consider when selecting a platform and has created a list of the most highly rated by users in B2B.

If you want to keep expanding your knowledge about email marketing, make sure to take a look at our email marketing guide in the 'Learn' section, or download our guide to email marketing tips below.