Email marketing is alive and well in 2025. Something that’s been declared dead over and over ended up back at the center of the game, because today it’s in everyone’s hands, all the time. That’s why it’s become one of the most effective channels for reaching customers and prospecting.
It’s a channel that opens up opportunities across every level of the business:
- Building awareness
- Building trust
- Building customer loyalty
- Following up with people who already bought
- Driving sales, and more.
Now, on one side you’ve got all these benefits, and on the other you’ve got reality: inboxes are overflowing with hundreds or thousands of companies competing with you. Not just on product, since someone else might sell the exact same thing, but on attention, because everyone’s fighting for the click. That’s where the work and the strategy come in, so every send actually makes an impact. Let’s get into it:
The technical foundation: deliverability
Making email marketing work isn’t just about writing a great subject line or solid copy. There’s a technical side that’s absolutely key: setting up the authentication that tells mail servers your emails are legit. These include
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework): A DNS record that lists which servers are allowed to send email using your domain. It helps email providers tell whether a message comes from a valid source or a spoofed sender.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Adds a digital signature to your email so the recipient’s server can verify the content wasn’t tampered with between your server and their inbox.
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance): A policy that combines SPF and DKIM. It defines what happens when an email fails those checks (for example, send it to spam or reject it) and generates reports so the domain owner can spot spoofing attempts.
These checks reduce the risk of landing in spam and make sure your message arrives the way it should. Without this foundation, every creative effort is lost before it even starts.
Segmentation and personalization
We all know segmentation and personalization are huge when it comes to sending emails. You have to figure out what to send, to whom and how. At the same time, if you start with super deep segmentation, here’s what can end up happening:
First: it takes a long time, not just to split the list but to figure out which bucket each user belongs in;
Second: it’s a big time sink overall;
Third: you’ll probably need a bigger team;
Fourth: you could end up with very few people in each segment. Down the road that’s a good thing, because you’d know exactly who goes where, but early on it can backfire, since you’d have less room for trial and error based on the responses you get.
So my recommendation is to start with 2, 3 or 4 segments and begin testing. Send out a few first campaigns and quickly read the signals that help you segment better.
Suggested starter segments:
- New contacts
- Repeat customers
- By product or service type
- Abandoned carts
- Contacts who open but don’t click
As we mentioned, the idea is to keep refining your segments and add more layers of insight, like:
- Purchase frequency
- Average order value
- Location
- Interaction history (website, emails, events)
You have to be meticulous and put in the time to figure out which contact belongs in each segment.
Flows and automation
Flows and automation are the heart of a great email marketing program. They’re what turn your communication from “one big blast” into a journey that adapts to each person.
A flow is a pre-built journey: sequences like welcome, abandoned cart, nurturing or win-back. What matters isn’t just the content of each email, but the order, the timing and the overall consistency. A well-designed flow follows a logical thread that guides the user from first contact all the way to purchase or loyalty.
Automation adds intelligence to that journey. It’s the conditional layer that says: “if A happens, send X; if B happens, send Y; if nothing happens, wait N days and try something else”. That keeps everyone from getting the same thing and lets the system adapt to how each contact actually behaves.
A few examples to picture it
No need to get too technical, but a few examples help show what this looks like in practice:
- Welcome series. First intro email → if they open it, send a second email with deeper content; if they don’t, resend it with a different subject line a few days later.
- Abandoned cart. Someone leaves a product without buying → first reminder after an hour → second email the next day with a photo of the product → if they buy, the sequence stops; if not, they move into a retention flow.
- Cold outreach. Initial message → if they reply, an SDR takes over → if they don’t, send a different follow-up → if they ignore it again, remove them from the flow.
These examples show the basic logic, but the real power comes from combining them with behavioral data, purchase history or existing segments.
Automation tools
This is where platforms come in that let you connect systems and set up conditional logic without writing code:
- Zapier.
- What it does: connects apps (e.g., when someone subscribes in Brevo, create a contact in Zoho CRM and trigger a welcome email).
- Ease of use: simple interface built for non-technical users.
- Pricing: limited free plan (100 tasks/month); paid plans from ~$19/month.
- Best for: small and mid-sized businesses that want quick integrations without relying on developers.
- Make (formerly Integromat).
- What it does: similar to Zapier, but more flexible for complex flows and higher volume.
- Ease of use: steeper learning curve; it takes more time to get the hang of the visual logic.
- Pricing: limited free plan (1,000 operations/month); paid plans from ~$10/month.
- Best for: teams that need to automate processes involving lots of apps or advanced conditions.
- Workato.
- What it does: an enterprise integration platform (iPaaS) with a more robust approach.
- Ease of use: built for IT and technical teams, less friendly for someone without experience.
- Pricing: significantly higher; aimed at large companies.
- Best for: companies that need to integrate CRM, ERP, databases and internal systems into complex processes.
In practice, the smart move is to start with simple flows (welcome, cart, win-back) and then layer in conditional automation as you start to understand response patterns. Tools like Zapier, Make or Workato make sure those automations aren’t stuck inside your email platform, but connect to your CRM, ecommerce, analytics and your whole marketing and sales stack.
Design and accessibility
Design and accessibility play a central role in your email marketing strategy. They decide whether the message is understood quickly, whether it’s comfortable to read and whether people can interact with it without friction. A well-built email organizes information into a clear hierarchy, highlights the elements that need action and stays visually consistent with the brand.
At the same time, accessibility extends that experience to every device and every kind of user, from reading on small screens to using assistive technology.
That’s why we need to focus on emails that check a few boxes. They should be readable on any device, have proper contrast, make sense even if the images don’t load and let everyone get to the call to action without any trouble.
When those basics are in place, the email comes across as professional, avoids losing engagement for no reason and strengthens the relationship with the person receiving it.In short, the most important things to get right are:
- Enough color contrast to keep it readable.
- Live HTML text, not everything as an image.
- Alt text on images.
- Clear visual hierarchy: headings, subheadings and well-spaced paragraphs.
- Readable fonts, the right sizes and proper line spacing.
- Responsive design for desktop, mobile and tablets
- Calls to action that are visible and easy to tap on touchscreens.
- Go easy on animations and dynamic elements.
A quick look at platforms and what they’re for
“Classic” email platforms
Mailchimp, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), Mailjet, emBlue, Perfit.
Commonly used for newsletters and recurring campaigns without much complexity. Plans that scale by contacts or sends, ready-made templates and basic automations (welcome, cart, simple re-engagement). Fast onboarding and a low learning curve. They integrate well with Shopify, WooCommerce and connectors like Zapier/Make.
- Affordable pricing, fast onboarding.
- Basic automations (welcome, cart, win-back).
- Easy ecommerce integrations (Shopify, WooCommerce) and connectors like Zapier or Make.
Automation platforms, CRMs and advanced marketing
HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo.
They also offer automations, but with more variety and depth: granular segmentation, lead scoring and nurturing, complex workflows and CRM data.
- HubSpot combines marketing with a native CRM (marketing and sales aligned without clunky workarounds).
- ActiveCampaign stands out for automation with a great balance of power and simplicity.
- Klaviyo tends to perform really well in ecommerce thanks to segmentation based on behavior and sales.
They require more investment and setup time, but they also scale a lot further
Cold outreach tools (cold email)
Instantly, Apollo, Lemlist.
Built for 1:1 prospecting. They handle sequences, follow-ups and sending limits. Some offer warm-up and sender rotation. The key: domains with SPF/DKIM/DMARC set up properly, careful volumes and respect for consent and regulations.
- Contact sequences, automatic follow-ups, sending limits and domain warm-up.
- They don’t replace a marketing platform, but they’re key at the SDR stage.
CRMs with email features
Pipedrive, Zoho (1:1 emails and thread logging). They don’t replace a marketing tool when you need campaigns or workflows at scale, but they keep day-to-day sales organized.
In Salesforce, marketing is handled with modules like Marketing Cloud or Account Engagement (formerly Pardot) and, depending on the case, integrations with the platforms above.
Integrations
Zapier, Make, Workato connect forms, stores, payment gateways and CRMs with your email platform. Checking native integrations before you choose saves you time and money later.
Analytics and measurement
Some metrics have been with us forever, but others change over time. In 2025 we know that, for security reasons, many platforms use bots that open, read and even click on emails to check for risks before they reach the inbox. So even though opens and clicks are still important indicators, we can’t always rely on them alone.
That makes the job harder: you have to look beyond the tool’s report and back it up with deeper tracking of what users do on your site or afterward. That’s the only way to know whether an email really did its job.
Opens. With Apple Mail Privacy Protection and similar features, lots of opens get logged automatically without the person ever reading the email. That inflates your open rate and makes it less valuable as a core metric.
Clicks. Something similar happens with anti-malware filters and corporate security systems: in many cases they automatically “click” every link in an email to scan it. The result is an apparent CTR that doesn’t always reflect a real action.
That’s why we need to shift our focus more and more toward metrics that happen on our own websites. That’s where we can really measure whether an email made an impact. These metrics, or “conversions,” vary depending on the product or service and can include:
- Purchases
- Form or newsletter sign-ups
- Items saved to favorites or lists
- Time spent on a page
- Scrolling to a certain point in the content
- Downloading a resource
Cold outreach vs. warm outreach strategies
We’ve touched on cold and warm outreach in a few places already, so here’s a quick recap of the differences, plus a few options for each.
Cold outreach (cold email).
Used with contacts who don’t know you or who you lost touch with a long time ago. It’s also used with purchased lists, another big debate we’ll get into in a future article. The main goal is to get an open and a first interaction that moves things to the next step. The key here is keeping messages short and clear, with a single call to action. It’s often smart to skip links or images to lower the chances of getting caught by spam filters and boost inbox delivery.
Most common options:
- Sequences of 3 or 4 emails.
- Follow-up cadences with clear intervals.
- Dedicated platforms like Instantly, Lemlist or Apollo to handle volume and automation.
Warm outreach (warm email).
Aimed at people who already know you: active subscribers, repeat customers, leads who attended a webinar or downloaded a resource. The advantage is that you have more context and trust to work with. The goal is no longer to open the door, but to deepen the relationship: recommend products, invite them to an event, show use cases, encourage repeat purchases.
Most common options:
- Welcome flows.
- Win-back campaigns.
- Regular newsletters.
- Post-purchase, upsell, cross-sell and other classic automations.
In short, cold outreach is for opening new doors, and warm outreach is for keeping and growing the relationship with your customer. You need both, and they work together as part of a well-rounded email marketing strategy.
Quick examples by industry to give you the big picture:
B2B SaaS.
- Cold: an email to decision-makers: who you are, what problem you solve, a concrete case and an invite to a 15-minute call.
- Warm: sequences with comparable success stories, an on-demand demo, an implementation checklist, an invite to a Q&A.
Ecommerce.
- Cold: prospecting with a first-purchase perk or access to collections and benefits.
- Warm: abandoned cart (1–3 touches), recommendations based on purchase history, replenishment reminders (“you’re almost out of coffee”), back-in-stock alerts.
Professional services.
- Cold: a personalized, industry-specific approach with concrete credentials (project, result, similar client) and an offer for a quick chat.
- Warm: a newsletter with original insights, an invite to a webinar or small roundtable, post-project follow-up to open new opportunities.
We hope this article gives you a solid overview of how to approach email marketing in 2025. The idea is to share our experience and what we’ve learned in each area. If there’s a specific topic you’d like to know more about, drop us a line and let’s talk. Cheers!
References
Litmus – Email Accessibility Best Practices
Mailjet – Creating Accessible Emails
Klaviyo – Email Benchmarks and Automation Examples
Braze – Understanding Email Bot Clicks
Customer.io – Beyond Open Rates
Constant Contact – Mail Privacy Protection: Impact and Considerations
Cloudflare Learning – What Are SPF, DKIM and DMARC?
NIST Technical Note – Email Authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) Guidance
