Your First Three Steps to Start Marketing Emails
- Email Marketing
- Digital Marketing
- July 16, 2026
You’ve heard the stats. For every $1 spent on email marketing, businesses enjoy an average return of $36.
The ROI of email marketing is undeniable. No wonder it’s considered one of the three essential forms of digital marketing.
But, launching a new marketing channel can feel daunting — especially if you don’t have experience with marketing emails.
That’s where this blog comes in. We break down the first three steps you need to take to launch an effective email strategy, from choosing a platform and getting subscribers to clicking “send” on your first email campaign.
Sections
1. Choose an email platform
This step gets you set up with the software you need to legally and effectively send mass emails to customers and leads.
How to do it: Do not — we repeat, do not — try to send marketing emails from your standard Gmail or Outlook account. You’ll end up in the spam folder fast.
Instead, choose a dedicated email marketing platform like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or Klaviyo. These platforms handle the technical heavy lifting to integrate with your website and other business software. They also include the essential tools you’ll need for a successful email marketing platform, such as:
- Analytics on who opens your emails, where they click, and what actions they ultimately take
- List segmentation so you can organize your subscribers by their purchase history, lead status, and more
- Campaign management, design, and testing features to help you build personalized campaigns that work
- Enhanced deliverability to avoid the dreaded spam folder
Pro tip: Double-check that the platform you choose integrates with your CRM and website software. If you’re working with a limited budget, price-shop different platforms. Some even offer a free tier for a limited number of subscribers.
2. Create a way for people to subscribe
Once you have your platform, you need people to email. It’s time to turn your website visitors into subscribers.
How to do it: Use your new email platform to generate a sign-up form. You can embed this form directly into your website’s footer, create a dedicated landing page, or set up a gentle pop-up that appears when someone browses your site.
Keep the form simple. A first name and email address is all you need to get started.
Pro tip: Give people a reason to hand over their email address. Offer a small lead magnet. A 10% discount code on their first purchase is a common choice for ecommerce, while B2B businesses might offer a free whitepaper, guide, or checklist relevant to your industry.
3. Design your first “welcome” sequence
A welcome sequence is an automated series of emails that triggers the moment a new subscriber signs up.
How to do it: Set up an automated workflow in your email platform. Your sequence should include two to three emails spaced a few days apart. Here’s a sample workflow:
- Email 1: Deliver the discount code or freebie you promised and welcome them to your community.
- Email 2: Introduce your business story or core values. Increasingly, consumers choose to buy from brands that share their values.
- Email 3: Highlight your best-selling products or most popular services.
Pro tip: Write these emails like you are speaking directly to a friend. You want this experience to feel human. Email marketing is relationship marketing, after all.
Ready to level up? Tips for growing your email marketing program
Now that you’ve got your program set up, you can start experimenting with advanced strategies to keep your audience engaged and grow your bottom line. For example:
- Segment your subscribers. Not all customers are the same. Group your subscribers based on their behavior (e.g. loyal vs. occasional shoppers, new vs. warm leads, browsers vs. buyers), so you can send highly relevant, targeted messages to each group.
- Add new email campaigns. Once your welcome sequence is humming along, start introducing new campaigns. Try sending out a monthly newsletter, exclusive holiday promotions, or early-access product drops for subscribers or loyalty program members.
- Test your headlines and copy. Never stop learning what your audience likes. Run simple A/B tests on your campaigns. Send half of your list one subject line, and the other half a different one, to see which gets higher open rates. You can also test different call-to-action buttons or email designs.
If all these possibilities have your head spinning, take a deep breath. You do not have to launch a massive newsletter on day one. In fact, we wouldn’t recommend it. Start small by completing these first three steps, and watch your business grow from there.
For more tips on scaling your business, contact the marketing experts at Your Marketing People.
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