Email remains one of the highest-ROI owned channels when lists are permission-based and messages match subscriber intent. Planning beats blasting.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Plan an email campaign from goal to measurement.
- Build permission-based email lists ethically.
- Explain deliverability and the role of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
- Calculate and interpret core email metrics.
Campaign Planning Steps
- Goal: Awareness, nurture, launch, renewal, or win-back — pick one primary CTA.
- Audience & list source: Forms, checkout, events, lead magnets — never purchased spam lists.
- Offer & angle: Why open this email now?
- Design & copy: Clear hierarchy, scannable sections, one main button.
- QA: Links, preview text, mobile layout, spam words, personalization tokens.
- Measure: Delivery, clicks, and downstream conversions in GA4 (via UTMs).
Types of email
| Type | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Newsletter | Regular value and brand presence | Monthly tips and new arrivals |
| Promotional | Drive a specific sale or sign-up | “Dashain offer ends Friday” |
| Transactional | Confirm an action the customer took | Order receipt, password reset |
| Lifecycle | Respond to where the customer is | Welcome, abandoned cart, win-back |
Transactional emails have the highest open rates, so they are a good place for a light, relevant cross-sell.
List Building (Ethical)
- Clear value exchange (guide, discount, community updates).
- Double opt-in when possible — cleaner lists, fewer complaints.
- Easy unsubscribe — required for trust and compliance norms.
Deliverability Basics
Inbox placement depends on reputation, not only creative:
- SPF, DKIM, DMARC: DNS authentications that prove you are allowed to send as your domain.
- Consistent from-name/domain; avoid sudden volume spikes.
- Remove hard bounces; suppress chronic non-openers carefully.
Worked Example: Reading Email Metrics
A bookshop sends a festival catalogue to 10,000 subscribers:
| Data | Value | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Sent | 10,000 | |
| Bounced | 300 | Bounce rate = 300 ÷ 10,000 = 3% |
| Delivered | 9,700 | Delivery rate = 97% |
| Unique opens | 2,910 | Open rate = 2,910 ÷ 9,700 = 30% |
| Unique clicks | 388 | Click rate = 388 ÷ 9,700 = 4% |
| Click-to-open | — | CTOR = 388 ÷ 2,910 = 13.3% |
| Orders | 58 | Conversion rate = 58 ÷ 388 = 15% |
| Unsubscribes | 30 | Unsubscribe rate = 30 ÷ 9,700 = 0.3% |
Interpretation: the subject line worked (30% opens), but the click-to-open rate is moderate, so the email body or offer can improve. A 3% bounce rate is high; the list needs cleaning. Note that open rates are now less reliable because some email apps open messages automatically for privacy; clicks and orders are better guides.
Tools (Examples)
Mailchimp, Brevo, HubSpot, Klaviyo (ecommerce). Choose based on list size, automation needs, and budget — not brand popularity alone.
Nepal practice: Many customers prefer WhatsApp for urgent offers, but email still works for receipts, courses, B2B nurture, and festival catalogs. UTM every campaign (utm_medium=email) and connect clicks to inquiries or sales in GA4.
Case study: Festival email for an online grocery
Before Dashain, a Kathmandu grocery built a permission list via “festival recipe PDF.” Welcome email → two product picks → WhatsApp reorder link. SPF/DKIM were fixed after week-1 spam placement. Open rates mattered less than reorder rate from the WhatsApp deep link tagged with UTMs in the mirrored email CTA.
Learn more: email marketing services in Nepal.
Summary
Email is a high-return owned channel when lists are permission-based and messages match subscriber intent. Planning moves through goal, audience, offer, design and copy, quality checks, and measurement. Ethical list building uses clear value exchanges, double opt-in, and easy unsubscribe. Deliverability depends on sender reputation and authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Metrics such as bounce, open, click, click-to-open, conversion, and unsubscribe rates guide improvement, with clicks and conversions more reliable than opens.
Key Takeaways
- One email, one primary goal, one main CTA.
- Never buy lists; use value exchanges and double opt-in.
- SPF, DKIM, and DMARC help emails reach the inbox.
- Judge campaigns on clicks and conversions more than opens.
Discussion Questions
- Why do many Nepali businesses prefer WhatsApp over email, and when is email still better?
- What lead magnet could a Nepali college use to build an email list?
- Why might buying a list of emails damage a brand’s deliverability?
Exam-Style Questions
Short answer
- List the steps in planning an email campaign.
- What is double opt-in?
- What are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC?
- Distinguish between open rate and click-to-open rate.
Long answer
- Explain how to plan, build a list for, and measure an email marketing campaign.
- An email is sent to 8,000 subscribers: 400 bounce, 2,280 open, 304 click, and 38 buy. Calculate the delivery, open, click, click-to-open, and conversion rates, and suggest improvements.
