Email marketing: everything you need to know

Every day in France, over 1.4 billion emails are sent by 42.2 million users. Nearly 6 out of 10 consumers are influenced by email marketing in their purchasing decisions. Email marketing is a key component of any successful digital strategy. It’s widely used by brands for both acquisition and customer loyalty.

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know about email marketing.

What is email marketing?

Email marketing is a digital strategy based on regularly sending emails to a list of customers or prospects. It’s one of the oldest online marketing channels.

What are the advantages of email marketing?

Here are the main benefits:

Low cost with strong return on investment (ROI): Estimated at around 3,800%, which means for every €1 spent, you can generate up to €38 in return.
Affordability: Email marketing tools range from €9 to €1,000 per month—much less than channels like Google Ads, which can cost up to €10,000. Most tools offer free sign-up and allow you to launch your first campaign at no cost.
Ease of use: Emailing platforms are intuitive, often offering drag-and-drop content editors and pre-designed templates.
Precise targeting: The success of a campaign depends heavily on how well you segment your database.
Personalized messaging: You can boost engagement by inserting the recipient’s first name in the subject line or customizing product/content based on behavior or demographics.
Speed: You can set up and send an email campaign in a single day. Once launched, delivery and reading happen almost instantly—24/7, anywhere in the world.
Trackable performance: Email tools offer real-time stats on open rates, click-throughs, deliverability, and more. A/B testing helps optimize content based on results.
Responsive design: Emails automatically adapt to all devices.
Automation capabilities: Email automation allows you to send triggered emails (welcome, birthday, abandoned cart, first purchase, etc.) and guide users throughout their journey.

What are the goals of email marketing?

Email marketing helps you inform and retain a database of contacts who’ve shown interest in your products or services. It can drive traffic to specific pages and keep your brand top of mind.

It plays a role at every stage of the customer journey—prospecting, conversion, and retention—and supports three main objectives:

Awareness: make your brand known
Image: position your brand as an expert
Action: sell your products or services

At Dataventure, we support all your goals: traffic, conversions, sales (performance), lead generation, and more.

Types of marketing emails

There are two main categories:

One-off emails: Sent manually as needed, like newsletters or promotional emails.
Automated emails: Sent automatically based on user behavior or set rules, saving time and reducing costs.

Here’s an overview of different email types you can send:

Trigger emails: Includes welcome emails, birthday messages, etc.
Newsletters: Regular updates (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)—perfect for maintaining engagement and driving site traffic.
Reminder emails: Sent to customers who didn’t complete an action (e.g., abandoned carts).
Retention emails: Sent after a number of purchases or spending thresholds to boost loyalty.
Promotional emails: Targeted messages tied to your company’s news, rewarding loyal customers or driving sales.
Post-purchase follow-up emails: Offer usage tips, upsell suggestions, referrals, etc.
Lead nurturing emails: Deliver helpful content like white papers, guides, or blog posts to turn leads into customers.
Prospecting emails: Initial outreach to new leads—an alternative to cold calling.
Transactional emails: Sent during key moments (e.g., account creation, order confirmation, shipping notifications).
Re-engagement emails: Target inactive contacts who haven’t interacted in a while.
Invitation emails: Used to invite contacts to events or product launches.

5 KPIs to track email marketing performance

Deliverability rate

Shows how many emails reached recipients’ inboxes:
Deliverability rate = (emails delivered / total emails sent) × 100

It can be affected by:

Technical issues: e.g., incorrect addresses, missing authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Behavioral factors: e.g., low engagement, inactive contacts

Tips to improve deliverability:

Regularly clean your lists (remove inactive or unengaged contacts)
Delete invalid addresses (typos, outdated emails)
Follow consent regulations (opt-in)
Use a recognizable sender name
Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
Make unsubscribing easy

Unique open rate

Indicates how many recipients opened your email:
Open rate = (emails opened / emails delivered) × 100

A good open rate is between 15–25%.

Tips to increase open rate:

Use a compelling pre-header
Add the recipient’s name to the subject line
Send emails at optimal times (test and analyze)

Click-through rate (CTR)

Measures the number of recipients who clicked on at least one link:
CTR = (number of clicks / emails delivered) × 100

There are two types:

Unique CTR: number of people who clicked at least once
Total CTR: includes all clicks, even multiple from one person

Benchmarks:

Below 1.60%: poor
1.60%–3.06%: average
3.06%–6.46%: good
Above 6.46%: excellent

Tips to improve CTR:

Optimize CTA design and wording
Keep content clear and concise
Use responsive design
Write punchy subject lines

Bounce rate

Measures how many emails failed to deliver:
Bounce rate = (bounced emails / emails delivered) × 100

Hard bounce: permanent issue (invalid address)
Soft bounce: temporary issue (full inbox, server problem)

Conversion rate

Measures how many recipients completed the desired action (purchase, click, signup, etc.):
Conversion rate = (converted contacts / emails delivered) × 100

A 4% conversion rate is considered solid.
Want better results? Leverage Dataventure’s performance-driven expertise.