Business owners often fall into the trap of immediate gratification, rushing to invest in Meta and Google Ads, hoping for a quick fix. It’s like constructing a house without laying the groundwork – expensive and likely to crumble. Let’s talk about why developing your email strategy should be your first move, not an afterthought.
The ROI Powerhouse
Recent 2025 data show email marketing delivers an astounding $36-$40 return for every dollar spent – that’s a 3600% Return on Investment (ROI). Compare this to paid advertising’s average 700% ROI, and the difference becomes clear. Don’t get me wrong – a 700% ROI is fantastic. Combine your paid ads with an email strategy and you will be unstoppable.
Building Your Marketing Foundation
Think of your email list as your owned marketing asset. Unlike paid ads where you’re essentially renting attention, an email list is:
- A connection that can’t be taken away by an algorithm
- A direct line to people who’ve already shown interest in your business
- A way to test messaging before scaling with paid ads
- An audience you can reach repeatedly without additional cost
- A tool for gathering valuable customer feedback
The Cost-Effective Sequence
Before launching expensive ad campaigns, follow this strategic roadmap:
- Build and nurture your email list
- Decide on a cadence: aim for consistent communication
- Add value to the reader with each email, don’t just sell
- Place strategic signup forms on your highest-traffic website pages
- If you have a large email list, begin to segment the list based on the subscriber interests and behavior
- Test and refine your messaging with your subscribers
- A/B test your subject lines to improve open rates
- Try different content formats (stories, tips, case studies)
- Track which topics generate the most engagement
- Monitor click-through rates on specific calls-to-action
- Ask for direct feedback through quick surveys
- Use insights from email engagement to inform your paid social media strategy
- Identify your best-performing email content topics
- Use successful email headlines as ad copy inspiration
- Target paid ads to audiences similar to your most engaged subscribers
- Apply email segment insights to paid ad audience targeting
- Leverage your top-performing email offers in ad campaigns
- Scale what works through paid channels
- Start with small ad budgets to test proven email concepts
- Gradually increase spend on winning ad combinations
- Create lookalike audiences based on your email subscribers
- Use multi-channel approaches (social, display, search)
- Continue measuring and optimizing based on results
Remember: This sequence helps you perfect your message with a warm audience before investing in reaching cold prospects through paid advertising.
Our clients have seen substantial benefit from using email for long term customer relations and increased sales. If you would like this for your company, we are here to help.