How to Start Email Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Email Marketing Campaigns are one of the smartest ways to spend your money on your company, however, sometimes it may seem very daunting when you do not have any experience with it before. How do I do it? What software should I use? Where can I get subscribers?

All your questions will be answered in this guide. You will learn how to create an email marketing campaign from scratch.

Table of Contents

Why Start Email Marketing?

Here’s why you should think about email marketing first before you even get to the how:

ROI between $36–$45 for each $1 invested
List is yours (no algorithm can take away your access to it)
Access to those who have already expressed interest in your business
It works for any company of any size or any industry or budget
Can be automated and thus bring income even when you’re sleeping

If you haven’t started doing it, then you’re losing money.

Step 1: Choose an Email Marketing Platform

The first step is choosing the right email service platform, which can also be referred to as an ESP (Email Service Provider). It will enable you to create the list, design the emails, and send the campaign.

Best Options for Beginners

Mailchimp

Free up to 500 subscribers
Drag-and-drop email editor
Great automation tools at higher plans
Ideal for: Small businesses and beginners

MailerLite

Free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers
Has a cleaner interface than Mailchimp
Great automation features at cheaper rates
Ideal for: Bloggers, creatives, and startups

ConvertKit

Free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers
Made for creative individuals (newsletter, online courses)
Landing pages, automation features available
Ideal for: Solopreneurs, coaches, creatives

Klaviyo

Paying from day one (but worth it)
Best ecommerce integrations in the industry
Awesome segmentation and automation features
Ideal for: Ecommerce companies

Always start with a free plan. Then you can move on to paid plans if needed.

Step 2: Define Your Goal and Audience

Before creating your list, make sure you know two things:

1. Who Are You Emailing?

Who is your perfect customer? What is their biggest problem? What do they wish to learn or achieve? How can you get them interested in reading your emails?

2. What Do You Want Email to Do for Your Business?

Sell more products at your online store
Find more clients for your service company
Attract subscribers for your blog or newsletter
Keep existing customers loyal to your brand

This will affect all the choices you will be making later, from the lead magnet you will offer to the email copy you will write.

Step 3: Build Your Email List

It’s impossible to write email campaigns without having any subscribers. This is the way you can build up an audience from scratch:

Create a Lead Magnet

Lead magnet is some kind of valuable content provided by you for someone’s email. The best lead magnets are always very specific and useful.

Proven Lead Magnet Ideas

Checklist (“10 Point SEO Audit Checklist”)
Template (“Free Email Campaign Calendar Template”)
Mini-guide (“Beginner’s Guide to Facebook Ads”)
Discount code (“Get 15% off your first order”)
Free tool / Calculator
Email course (“5 Day Instagram Growth Challenge”)

Add a Signup Form to Your Website

Insert a sign-up form in the following high visibility places:

Hero section or pop-up on homepage
Sidebars on blog and end of blog post
About Us page
Footer of contact page
Checkout page (if ecommerce site)

Promote Your List Everywhere

Place sign-up link in social media profiles’ bios
Discuss your newsletter on your content
Place sign-up link in your email signature
Discuss your email list on the podcasts/videos you guest on

Never ever purchase an email list. It does not work, harms your sender reputation, and is against the law.

Step 4: Set Up Your Welcome Email

The welcome email will be the most significant email that you will ever send. You send it when the interest is at its highest, right after people subscribe. The open rate for the welcome email is 50 to 80 percent.

Your Welcome Email Should:

Thank the subscriber for signing up
Deliver the lead magnet you offered (if there was one)
Greet the new subscriber and introduce your brand
Create some context around how the relationship will progress
Provide at least one action for the new subscriber to take

It should be brief and personal. You want to build trust, not make a hard sell.

Step 5: Plan Your Email Content

Lack of ideas is one of the reasons why businesses decide to stop using email marketing. Below is an easy formula for ensuring that you have plenty of content:

The 80/20 Rule

80% of the emails you send should contain value-added material (insights, tips, educational content, etc.), while the other 20% can be promotional emails.

Content Types That Work

Guides useful for your audience’s struggles
Tales behind the scenes from your business
Product or service launches
Success stories of your customers
Recommendations of tools, books and articles
Personal stories linked to your business or audience
Themed content

Create a basic content calendar, even if it is only an Excel sheet with your next 4 weeks of emails mapped out. Consistency is better than perfection.

Step 6: Write Your First Emails

It’s not necessary for you to be an experienced copywriter to send effective emails. Just be clear, helpful, and human.

Email Structure That Works

1. Subject Line

The first task of yours is to have your emails opened. So, you should either be specific and benefit-oriented or create curiosity. (“The one mistake that kills email open rates” beats “Newsletter #12”).

2. Preview Text

The preview text that comes up in your inbox. Use it as an aid to the subject line.

3. Opening Line

Get their attention right from the beginning. Raise a question, give a strong assertion, or begin with a situation.

4. Body

Offer your value proposition. Limit paragraphs to two or three sentences. Employ bullet points if they help clarify your points.

5. Call to Action

A single, distinct action for the recipient. Including multiple CTAs in one email doesn’t work as well as including only one.

Step 7: Set Up Basic Automation

Automation ensures that your marketing emails run when you do anything else. Here are the first two:

1. Welcome Sequence (3–5 Emails Over 1–2 Weeks)

Following your first email after subscription, send out a short email campaign that:

Features your best content or most valuable resources
Promotes your products or services in a values-led manner
Bolsters trust with stories or testimonials
Concludes with a soft pitch or a call to action

2. Abandoned Cart Sequence (For Ecommerce)

For customers who abandon their carts on your site, an automated campaign recovers 5-15% of potential losses.

Step 8: Send Consistently and Track Results

Consistency fosters trust. Decide on a sending schedule and stick with it:

Weekly – an excellent starting schedule for most businesses
Bi-monthly – for businesses where subscribers are expecting less frequent contact
Daily – for media sites, newsletters, and highly active subscribers, but high content output is necessary

Track These Metrics Monthly

Open Rate – Do they open your emails? (Goal: 25-40%)
Click Rate – Do they click your links? (Goal: 2-5%)
Unsubscribe Rate – Keep it below 0.5%
Revenue or Leads – The one that counts the most

Take advantage of what you find out. Test your subject lines. Experiment with different types of content. Test different schedules. Little changes make a big difference over time.

Final Thoughts

Getting into email marketing does not have to be hard. Select a platform, create a basic lead magnet, make a sign-up form, draft a welcome email, and deliver something of value to your subscribers every week or two.

The companies that succeed in email marketing aren’t those with the most advanced software or largest budget; they’re those that show up regularly, write emails worth reading, and treat their list with the respect it deserves.

Begin now. Your future self and bank account will thank you for it.