How to Start Email Marketing: What You Need to Know Before Getting Started
- S Mirembe O.A
- Nov 14, 2025
- 3 min read
Email marketing is a powerful tool for growing your business, building customer relationships, and increasing sales. But how do you actually begin? What are the essential steps to launching a successful email marketing campaign? In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly what you need to know, from gathering leads to crafting engaging content. Let’s get started!
Step 1: Build Your Email List (With a Lead Magnet)
Before you can send any emails, you need an email list—but not just any list. You need a list of potential customers who are genuinely interested in what you offer. The best way to encourage people to sign up is by giving them something valuable for free, known as a lead magnet. This might be a free eBook, checklist, template, short course, or even a free service.
Your lead magnet should speak directly to your audience’s needs or pain points. If you’re a coach, for instance, offering a free guide or a clarity session could be the perfect incentive. Once someone signs up to receive your lead magnet, they become a warm lead you can begin nurturing.
Step 2: Discover Where Your Audience Spends Time
Once your lead magnet is ready, the next step is finding the right places to share it. This requires understanding where your ideal audience spends their time. Do they scroll through Instagram, engage in communities on Facebook, network on LinkedIn, or are they more likely to find you through Google?
If your audience prefers social media, post regularly about your free offer and make it easy to sign up. If they’re more likely to search online, make sure your website is optimised for SEO so they can find you organically. The better you understand where your audience “hangs out,” the more effectively you can promote your lead magnet.
Step 3: Send Regular, Engaging Emails
Once people subscribe, it’s important to nurture them with consistent, meaningful email content. Share who you are, what you do, and why you do it. Let your personality show—people connect with people, not faceless businesses.
Provide helpful tips, address your audience’s pain points, and show them how your products or services can support them. The aim is to build trust and form a genuine connection.
The hardest part of email marketing is staying consistent. You need to find a rhythm that works for your schedule, whether that’s weekly, fortnightly, or monthly. Using a reliable email marketing tool will help you automate campaigns, schedule one-off promotions, and keep everything running smoothly.
Step 4: Choose the Right Email Marketing Tool
The right email marketing tool can make a huge difference. Some of the best free options include Mailchimp, Benchmark Email, and Sender, all of which offer user-friendly interfaces, templates, automation, and list management tools.
I know choosing a tool can be difficult—I had issues with mine, which resulted in me stopping my monthly emails for over six months. But now I’m starting again, and as a personal challenge, every new person who signs up for my free visualising guide called "5 steps to create a vision board" is invited to help me improve by sending to me email replies with your thoughts, opinions, and suggestions to help me make my email marketing top-notch. Hurry to get yours here or copy this URL : https://subscribepage.io/5stepsOferaServices in your browser!
Conclusion
Email marketing is all about consistency, connection, and offering real value. And if your audience is active on LinkedIn, you can download my “How To Get Leads With a Proven System” guide by clicking this link to help you attract more of the right people. Or simply copy this URL in your browser:
So sign up for my free visualising guide and join me on this refreshed email marketing journey. Let’s grow together!
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