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Email Marketing

What is Email Marketing? Complete Guide 2026

Learn what email marketing is, how it works, why it remains the highest-ROI digital channel in 2026, and which tools to use to get started.

By Corentin Tournier ·

Email marketing is one of the oldest digital channels - and still the most profitable. For every dollar invested, it returns an average of $36 to $42. Yet many entrepreneurs and marketers don’t fully understand how it works or where to start.

This guide answers all the basics.

Definition: what is email marketing?

Email marketing means sending emails to a list of contacts to achieve a business goal: sell a product, retain customers, share content, or maintain a relationship with your audience.

It is not spam. Email marketing is built on an opt-in list - people who have voluntarily given their email address to receive your communications.

Types of marketing emails

There are three main categories:

1. Newsletters

Regular emails sent to your full list. Goal: maintain engagement, share updates, build a relationship with your audience.

2. Transactional emails

Automatic emails triggered by a user action: order confirmation, password reset, abandoned cart reminder. These have the highest open rates of any email type.

3. Automation sequences

Programmed email series that trigger based on user behavior. Example: a 5-email welcome sequence sent to every new subscriber.

Why is email marketing so effective?

Several reasons explain its staying power:

  • You own your list: unlike social media, no one can cut off your access to your subscribers.
  • Exceptional ROI: low costs, high conversion rates.
  • Deep personalization: segment and target by behavior, location, past purchases.
  • Precise measurement: open rates, clicks, conversions - everything is trackable.

Key metrics to track

MetricAverage benchmark
Open rate20-30%
Click rate2-5%
Unsubscribe rate< 0.5%
Conversion rate1-3%

If your numbers fall below these, it’s usually a subject line problem, a segmentation issue, or irrelevant content.

Which tools to use for email marketing?

To get started, you need an email marketing platform. Not sure which one to pick? Our guide How to Choose Email Marketing Software breaks down the decision by profile. Several options exist depending on your budget and needs:

  • Brevo - Strong GDPR compliance, generous free plan (300 emails/day), good value at scale.
  • MailerLite - Easiest to use, perfect for beginners. Clean drag-and-drop editor.
  • Mailchimp - Most well-known, good for teams wanting an all-in-one tool.

See our full comparison: Best Email Marketing Software 2026.

Where to start?

  1. Pick a platform suited to your size (Brevo or MailerLite to start)
  2. Set up a signup form on your site
  3. Write a 3-email welcome sequence
  4. Send at least one newsletter per month
  5. Review your stats and adjust

Email marketing is not complicated - it requires consistency and relevance. The rest comes with practice.

Once the basics are in place, the next step is structuring real campaigns: read our guide How to Run a Successful Email Campaign in 2026.