What is Marketing Email?


August 07, 2013
Written by
Jillian Smith
Contributor
Opinions expressed by Twilio contributors are their own

What is Marketing Email?

Marketing-EmailMarketing email (also known as commercial or promotional email) as defined by the CAN-SPAM Act is any message in which the primary purpose “advertises or promotes a commercial product or service, including content on a website operated for a commercial purpose.” Examples of marketing email include newsletters, email promotions, coupons and special offers. Essentially, marketing email attempts to encourage the recipient to take an action such as making a purchase, downloading content, registering for a service, attending an event, or visiting a store. Since the intent of marketing email is to promote a commercial product or service, it must adhere to certain legal requirements defined in the CAN-SPAM Act that were specifically developed to protect consumers and help senders provide the best possible email experience.

Following email best practices in your marketing emails can yield great rewards and doesn’t have to be difficult. The 2012 DMA Client Benchmark Report reveals that email marketing ROI yields $40.56 for each $1. Those numbers are hard to ignore! So how do you create effective and ROI positive marketing emails? Great content along with quality sending and data collection practices present prime opportunities for marketing email to yield high response rates that drive your customer acquisition strategy.

While there is still debate about which email marketing metrics to measure, industry gurus all agree that click-through rate is a good indication of subscriber interest and engagement. And ISPs are now using engagement data to help determine email deliverability. SendGrid’s Marketing Email Service provides you with powerful analytics (like tracking email sends, deliveries, bounces, spam reports, clicks, opens, unsubscribes, category use, and more) that help you monitor your marketing campaign success. You can also A/B test and create customized reports based on timeframe, email category, ISP, geography, and device-type. This level of visibility into your marketing email performance is invaluable when it comes to determining what resonates best with your audience.

Overall, the key to a successful marketing email is that it drives an action. You should strive to provide relevant content by using segmentation strategies to tailor your communications. This is best achieved by testing your design, content, and offers to determine what resonates best with your subscribers.

For detailed tips and examples on how to best take advantage of your marketing email, download our free guide: Transactional and Marketing Email: How to Build a Powerful Integrated Email Program


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