Email Marketing
Email Marketing tests list building, deliverability, segmentation, automation, and measurement. Expect questions on consent, authentication, lifecycle campaigns, subject lines, and metrics that survive privacy changes.
Core rules and concepts
- Permission is foundational. Use clear opt-in, honor unsubscribes promptly, and follow laws such as CAN-SPAM and GDPR/UK GDPR depending on audience.
- Authenticate sending domains with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC; warm new domains; keep bounce and complaint rates low.
- Segment by behavior, lifecycle, and preference. A welcome series, abandoned-cart flow, and win-back sequence usually outperform one-off blasts.
- Subject line and preheader work together; clarity and relevance beat tricks.
- Track delivery, bounce, complaint, click, conversion, and revenue per recipient. Open rates are directional because privacy features can distort them.
Worked example
A campaign sends 20,000 emails. 19,000 are delivered (95%). 5,700 open (30% of delivered). 1,140 click (20% of openers, or 6% of delivered). 200 unsubscribe (1.05% of delivered). If 5% of clickers purchase and AOV is $60, revenue is 1,140 × 0.05 × $60 = $3,420. The reasoning: label each denominator and avoid mixing openers with delivered recipients.
Traps that cost marks
Buying or scraping lists; using a single open rate as the KPI; ignoring mobile rendering and plain-text versions; mailing too often without preference controls; and missing authentication, which damages inbox placement.