Why Smart Email Marketing Strategy Matters More Than Ever
Let’s get something straight, email marketing isn’t dead. Not even close. In fact, when done well, it’s quietly outperforming most of the shiny new channels marketers have been obsessing over for the past decade.
TikTok may trend, SEO may swing, and paid ads may drain your wallet, but email? Email endures.
The problem is, “done well” is the sticking point.
Too many brands still treat email like a digital megaphone. They blast out a promo, cross your fingers, and hope it converts. But inboxes are smarter now (so are subscribers) and the gap between simply sending emails and actually getting results has never been wider.
That’s where strategy comes in.
We’re talking real, data-backed, modern email strategies used by brands who know that email isn’t just a marketing tool. Not theory. Not snorefest tactics ripped from 2013 webinars. It’s a relationship channel. One that can build trust, drive revenue, and outperform everything else in your stack if you treat it right.
This guide breaks down seven of the most effective email marketing strategies being used in 2025.
These aren’t gimmicks. They’re sustainable, scalable methods that are working for real businesses, whether you’re running a scrappy ecommerce shop, a growing SaaS company, or a newsletter-based brand trying to cut through the noise.
For each strategy, we’ll walk you through what it is, why it works, and how to implement it without needing a ten-person team or a six-figure tool stack.
Let’s jump in where every great email strategy starts: with personalization that actually means something.
1. Personalization Beyond the First Name: Use Data Like You Mean It
“Hey [First Name]” is no longer personal, it’s perfunctory. Every brand on earth is using it, and your audience knows it’s automated.
In modern email marketing strategies, real personalization means tailoring your message in a way that feels like you actually paid attention.
How to Do It:
● Look at past behaviour. Did they browse boots last week? Show them more boots.
● Track which content they engaged with. Guides, product pages, or that oddly popular FAQ.
● Sort your list by where they are in the journey. New subscriber? Loyal customer? Treat them differently.
● Adjust tone and links based on who they are. A small business owner has different needs than a procurement officer.
This kind of thoughtful targeting isn’t creepy. It’s considerate. The difference is one feels like a spam cannon and the other feels like someone saying, “Hey, I thought of you.”
Example in Action:
Amazon’s not personalizing just with your name, they’re showing you where you left off, what others with similar taste are buying, and offering alternatives before you even knew you wanted them. That’s not magic; it’s memory, leveraged well.
You don’t need Amazon’s budget to pull this off. Tools like Brevo and Klaviyo make it doable with dynamic content blocks and conditional logic that feel almost human.
Pro Insight:
Brands using advanced personalization see up to 122% higher returns on email campaigns (Instapage, 2023). Shockingly, only about 39% of marketers are using that kind of targeting properly. That’s a pretty big gap, one you can stroll right through.
2. Segmentation That Actually Does Something
Having “a list” isn’t a strategy. It’s a start. Real email marketing strategies use segmentation to slice that list into meaningful groups based on how people behave, not just who they are.
This is where behavioural segmentation earns its keep. It’s about sending the right message to the right slice of your audience at the exact moment they’re most likely to care.
How to Do It:
● Engaged vs. Unengaged: Don’t treat them the same. Send win-back emails to the sleepier subscribers and focused offers to the ones who open everything.
● Click Behaviour: Someone clicking on your blog wants value. Someone clicking “Shop Now” wants solutions. Speak accordingly.
● Product Interests: Tailor your content based on what they browsed, not what you wish they liked.
● Lead Source: A pricing page opt-in thinks differently than someone who came from a tweet. Map your tone to their intent.
Example in Action:
One SaaS company split their list into “Feature Hunters” and “Buyers.” Two tailored journeys, one 28% boost in demos. No extra emails sent, just smarter segmentation.
Pro Insight:
Behavioural segmentation isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s the reason the right people actually read your emails. That’s how smart email marketing strategies scale without spamming.
Want to run smarter email campaigns without summoning a full-stack wizard?
Brevo lets you segment like a pro, automate like a boss, and test every little detail.
No dev team, no stress, just results!
👉 Start your free Brevo trial today →
3. Mobile Optimization Isn’t Optional. It’s Survival.
Open your inbox on your phone. Scroll through a few newsletters. Notice anything? Odds are, at least one of them looks like it was built in 2009 by someone with a grudge against formatting.
That’s the problem.
These days, over 60% of emails are opened on mobile. And most of us decide within seconds whether to keep reading or swipe it out of existence. Mobile design isn’t some extra fender polish anymore, it’s the whole car.
How to Do It Right:
● Stick to one clean, vertical column
● Make your buttons big enough to press with a thumb
● Let your preheader finish the sentence your subject line started
● Use short paragraphs with breathing room between them
● Keep images lean so they load before the reader bails
● And yes, test for dark mode. Half your audience lives in it
Example in Action:
An online shop swapped its cluttered layout for a sleeker, scroll-friendly version. Same products, fewer distractions. Their mobile click-through rate nearly doubled in two weeks. All it took was clearing some space and giving readers less to fight with.
Strategy Add-On:
Different devices, different chaos. What looks fine in your preview pane might be a jumbled mess in Gmail. Tools like Email on Acid or Litmus can help you catch the weirdness before it costs you clicks.
Pro Insight:
Smart email marketing strategies always factor in mobile. Even the best writing means nothing if your layout loses people before the second line. Good design makes your message readable. Great design makes it land.
4. Automation That Doesn’t Feel Like It Was Built by a Robot
Sending every email by hand in 2025 is like lighting your home with candles. Technically it works, but you’re one gust of wind away from disaster.
Modern email marketing strategies don’t treat automation like a bulk blaster. They treat it like a thoughtful assistant, one that knows when to show up, what to say, and when to stay quiet.
Done right, it doesn’t feel like automation at all. It just feels like good timing.
How to Do It:
● Welcome Series: Skip the bland intro email. Instead, send a short sequence that actually helps. A tip. A story. A reason to care. Aim for two or three light, useful messages that feel like they came from a person, not a drip campaign.
● Abandoned Cart Nudges: Someone bailed at checkout? Remind them without guilt. A quick message, maybe with a helpful review or common question, often does more than a coupon ever could.
● After Purchase Follow-Ups: The sale isn’t the end, it’s the start. A how-to guide, an invite to share feedback, or a clever upsell can turn one order into a relationship.
● Re-Engagement Notes: When folks ghost you, don’t panic. Try a gentle “Still want to hear from us?” message. Let them choose. The right ones will stick around.
Example in Action:
One course creator noticed lots of people were watching their free workshop, but few were converting. They added a single email that triggered after someone watched 80 percent of the video. It offered a small discount and reminded them what they’d learn inside the full course. Sales jumped 36 percent in a week, no extra ad spend required.
What to Use:
Tools like Brevo and ActiveCampaign make this stuff easy. You can set up smart sequences based on clicks, views, and behaviour, without writing a single line of code. Drag, drop, adjust, go.
Pro Insight:
Automation doesn’t mean emotionless. In fact, the best email marketing services use automation to sound more personal, not less. Time it well, write it right, and your readers won’t know (or care) that a machine helped send it.
5. A/B Testing That Actually Teaches You Something
Testing is how you stop guessing. But let’s be honest, most brands treat A/B testing like a random side quest instead of the main campaign.
They test a subject line once, squint at the open rates, then shrug and move on. That’s not testing. That’s marketing astrology.
Good email marketing strategies treat A/B testing like a conversation. A chance to learn, not just hope.
What to Actually Test (And Why):
● Subject Lines: Curiosity vs. clarity. Try one that teases (“The mistake we all make…”) and one that promises (“3 ways to improve open rates this week”).
● Email Layout: Text-only, image-heavy, or somewhere in the middle? Mobile readers especially don’t love clutter.
● CTA Placement: Up top, at the bottom, smack in the middle? Where does your reader naturally click?
● Send Time: Early birds or late scrollers? A morning send might crush it for B2B, while nights work better for hobbyists and shopaholics.
● Personalization Elements: Does using their first name improve clicks, or creep them out?
How to Test It Properly:
● Pick one thing to test per email. Seriously, just one.
● Set a clear goal (clicks, opens, replies).
● Use a big enough sample to matter. If only 30 people open your email, you’re not getting reliable results.
● Log what you learn. Future You will thank you.
Example in Action:
A niche finance newsletter tested two subject lines for a tax-focused email.
Version A: “How to Reduce Business Taxes This Year”
Version B: “Don’t Let These Tax Mistakes Kill Your Q4”
Version B crushed it with a 41% higher open rate. That tone, urgent but human, became their new standard, and it paid off across multiple campaigns.
Pro Insight:
The point of A/B testing isn’t just to get better open rates. It’s to get smarter over time. When you test with intention, every send becomes a step toward something sharper.
6. Subject Lines That Make Fingers Tap
You can write the world’s greatest email, but if the subject line flops, no one’s ever going to see it.
That tiny line of text is your first and often only shot at grabbing someone’s attention. Treat it like it matters, because it does!
According to OptinMonster (2023), 47% of recipients decide whether to open your email based on the subject line alone. So why are so many email marketing strategies still treating this part like an afterthought?
This is not the place to phone it in. This is your headline. Your movie trailer. Your Tinder bio, if your entire brand was swiping for attention.
Formulas That Actually Work:
● Curiosity Questions: “What’s the one email mistake we all make?”
● Contrarian Takes: “Why fewer clicks can mean more sales”
● Benefits with Specifics: “Recover 15% of lost carts in 24 hours”
● Soft Urgency: “Your strategy guide expires tonight”
How to Make Them Pop:
● Write like you’re talking to one person.
● Trim the fat. No fluff, no filler.
● Avoid ALL CAPS and multiple exclamation points. They scream spam.
● Test variations over time, not just once.
Example in Action:
A SaaS startup swapped out their usual product-focused subject lines like “New Feature: Calendar Sync” for benefit-driven ones like “Save 3 hours a week with this update.” Open rates shot up by 22%. Same list, different tone, way better results.
Expert Insight:
The best subject lines sound like something you’d actually say out loud. Make it personal, useful, and just a little unexpected. That combo gets clicks, every time.
7. Timing and Frequency: Don’t Be the Email That Overstays Its Welcome
You know what nobody likes? Getting five emails in a week from the same brand, especially when they all say the same thing in slightly different fonts. But swinging too far the other way, barely sending anything, is just as bad. Out of sight, out of inbox, out of mind.
Great email marketing strategies don’t just ask what to send, but when and how often to send it. And spoiler alert: guessing isn’t a strategy.
How to Nail Your Send Schedule:
● Track Behaviour, Not Vibes: Use heatmaps and open-time analytics to find the moments your subscribers are actually reading. Your “perfect” Tuesday morning might be their commute, workout, or toddler-wrangling hour.
● Time Zone Truths: Sending at 9 a.m. your time makes zero sense if half your audience is sipping wine in Paris. Use tools that detect and adjust for user location.
● Match Cadence to Context:
○ For B2B, once or twice a week tied to value-heavy content or product updates is plenty.
○ For B2C or eCommerce, you can push it to two to four emails a week, but segment smartly so people only get what they care about.
Trigger-Based Wins Over Blasts:
Behavioral emails (those triggered by what someone does) always outperform scheduled broadcasts. If someone just abandoned a cart or downloaded your pricing guide, they need timely, relevant follow-up. Not next Thursday’s newsletter.
Example in Action:
A travel company tested different send times for their deal alerts. Turns out, Friday morning, when daydreams of vacation hit hard, outperformed Tuesday afternoon by 38% in click-through rates and doubled actual bookings. All they changed was the timing.
Tech That Makes It Easy:
Want to send smarter, not harder? Platforms like Brevo let you automate your timing with behavioural triggers, audience segmentation, and send-time optimization baked right in.
That means less guesswork, more clicks, and fewer unsubscribes.
Q&A: Real Talk About Email Marketing Strategies
How do I know which email strategy to use?
What’s your goal? Selling a thing? Getting signups? Trying to bring back the people who ghosted? Start there. The strategy should match the goal. If someone says there’s a single “best” way, they’re lying (or selling something).
Should I treat B2B and B2C the same?
Nope. B2B folks want to feel smart. B2C folks want to feel something. That’s a generalization, sure, but it helps. Adjust your tone. Don’t send cat memes to CFOs. Probably.
How often should I change things up?
Not constantly. But don’t set it and forget it either. Think of it like a car, check the oil, rotate the tires, clean out the trunk once in a while. Look at your numbers monthly. Tweak, don’t panic.
What’s the biggest mistake?
Emailing like you’re talking to a crowd. Instead, talk to one person. Use their language. Think about what they need, not what you want to say. That switch makes a big difference.
Got a tool that doesn’t make me want to cry or melt my brain?
Yes! Try Brevo. It does all the good stuff: automations, segmentation, testing, without turning your brain into a spaghetti bowl.
TL;DR Recap
Here’s your cheat sheet:
● Personalize beyond the first name.
● Segment by intent, not just demographics.
● Design for mobile-first.
● Automate thoughtfully.
● Test like a scientist.
● Write scroll-stopping subject lines.
● Send smart and often.
● Talk like a human.
Apply these and you won’t just get more clicks. You’ll get a business that actually communicates.
Want to make it easier? Tools like Brevo let you build, test, automate, and personalize from a single dashboard without pulling your hair out. Get started with Brevo
And if you liked this guide, check out the rest of the Growalrus blog. More clarity, less white noise.
