Email marketing remains one of the most effective tools in a marketer’s arsenal, consistently delivering an impressive ROI of $36 for every $1 spent.1 However, its success depends on precision—delivering the right message, to the right audience, at the right time.
In a competitive and cluttered inbox, marketers need strategies rooted in data and personalization to break through. Below are our top 7 email marketing strategies and tips for 2025.
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#1 – Start with a Clear Objective
The foundation of any effective email campaign begins with defining a single, focused objective. Too often, marketers attempt to accomplish too much in one email, leading to confusion and a diluted impact.
One Email = One Goal: Are you aiming to promote a sale, re-engage churned customers, drive event registrations, or introduce a new product? Aligning your messaging and call-to-action (CTA) with one core goal ensures clarity.
Optimove Insight: Emails with a clear, singular message achieve 20% higher click-through rates (CTR) than emails with multiple objectives.
By focusing on a singular outcome, marketers can deliver an actionable, distraction-free message that drives measurable results.
#2 – Target the Right Audience with Precision: Use Segmentation
Once the objective is defined, success hinges on reaching the right audience. Effective audience targeting and customer segmentation ensure that your message resonates with the people who matter most.
Segmentation Strategies
Behavioral Segmentation: Group users based on their actions, such as recent purchases, browsing history, or engagement levels.
Exclusions & Suppressions: Avoid sending irrelevant content to users who don’t fit the objective (e.g., excluding recent buyers from promotional emails).
Lifecycle Targeting: Personalize content based on where customers are in their journey—acquisition, retention, or reactivation.
Suppress Users With Lapsed/No Engagement – It is important to clean these recipients from the list due to their increased likelihood of causing deliverability issues
Optimove Insight: Targeted campaigns using advanced segmentation can significantly drive up click-thru rates compared to generic sends.
Precision targeting not only improves relevance and engagement but also protects deliverability and sender reputation.
#3 – Craft Messaging That Converts
The content of your email—copy, visuals, and call to actions (CTAs)—needs to work together to achieve your objective. Personalization and strategic messaging are key here.
Four Pillars of Effective Messaging
Make it Relevant – This is the most important part of effective messaging. Relevancy includes personalization that goes beyond a subscriber’s first name. It identifies key information that is used dynamically to populate content and messages that are specific to each customer on a 1:1 basis.
Compelling Subject Lines: These determine whether your email is opened.
Keep it short, clear, and benefit driven.
Add urgency or personalization (e.g., “Don’t Miss Out—Your Exclusive Offer Awaits!”).
Engaging Copy: Lead with value. Avoid fluff and get to the point quickly, as most readers scan emails.
Actionable CTAs: The CTA is where the magic happens. Replace generic phrases like “Shop Now” with first-person, benefit-driven alternatives:
Before: “Buy Now”
After: “Get Your Discount Code”
Optimove Insight: Emails with personalized CTAs see significantly higher conversion rates compared to generic alternatives.
#4 – Design for Mobile-First Responsiveness
With over 60% of emails2 being opened on mobile devices, responsive design is non-negotiable. Emails must look great on small screens and adapt seamlessly to desktops.
Mobile-First Design Tips
Use single-column layouts for easy scrolling.
Keep CTAs prominent and tap-friendly.
Place critical content (headline, offer, CTA) above the fold.
Test across devices to ensure seamless rendering.
Optimove Insight: Brands that optimize emails for mobile experience 24% higher engagement rates compared to those using desktop-only designs.
#5 – Optimize Send Timing for Maximum Impact
Another effective email marketing strategy involves timing. When your email lands in a recipient’s inbox it significantly influences its performance. While automation tools can identify optimal send times, simple testing and analysis can yield valuable insights.
Timing Best Practices
Analyze historical data to determine peak open times for your audience.
Consider time zones when scheduling campaigns for global audiences.
Test sending on weekends or off-peak hours when inbox competition is lower.
Optimove Insight: Campaigns sent based on audience behavior (e.g., historical open patterns) can achieve up to 30% higher open rates.
The Guide to Advance Customer Segmentation
Go in depth on advanced segmentation with this guide which was written based on analyzing tens of thousands of segments across Optimove’s customer base.
An email marketing strategy is only as strong as its ability to evolve. Marketers must continuously analyze performance and use insights to improve future campaigns. Our sixth tip is about the power of measurement.
Key Metrics to Monitor
Open Rate: Indicator of subject line effectiveness.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): Measures engagement with email content and CTAs.
Conversion Rate: Tracks the percentage of users who complete the intended action.
Unsubscribe Rate: A high rate may signal content fatigue or lack of relevance.
By monitoring these KPIs, marketers can identify areas for improvement and apply A/B testing to optimize subject lines, messaging, design, and CTAs.
#7 – Personalization: The Key to Standing Out
Finally, our last email marketing strategy is the power of personalization. Consumers expect emails that feel tailored to their preferences and behavior. According to Optimove data, 71% of consumers say they are frustrated by irrelevant or impersonal emails. Therefore, the key to a solid email campaign is harnessing personalized messaging.
Personalization in Action
Dynamic Content: Tailor product recommendations, offers, or messaging to individual preferences.
Behavior-Triggered Campaigns: Send emails based on specific actions (e.g., cart abandonment, product views).
Name and Context: Include the recipient’s name or mention past interactions to build a deeper connection.
Optimove Insight: Brands using personalized messaging achieve up to 300% higher conversion rates during peak shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The Best Email Marketing Strategy Checklist
To help you execute successful campaigns every time, here’s a summary of the timeless email marketing framework:
Define Your Objective: One email, one clear goal.
Segment Your Audience: Target the right users and suppress irrelevant ones.
Craft Compelling Messaging: Personalize copy, design actionable CTAs, and lead with value.
Design for Mobile: Build responsive emails that adapt to all devices.
Time It Right: Send emails when your audience is most likely to engage.
Analyze and Optimize: Measure performance and iterate for continuous improvement.
Prioritize Personalization: Use dynamic content and behavior-triggered messaging to drive engagement.
By following this framework and our email marketing tips to increase sales, marketers can ensure their emails are relevant, actionable, and results-driven—today, tomorrow, and next year.
In Summary
In a crowded inbox, the best emails are those that feel personal, relevant, and timely—turning one click into lasting customer relationships. Optimove’s analysis of billions of emails proves that precision matters. The leading brands in email marketing are those that focus on clear objectives, audience targeting, compelling messaging, and continuous optimization.
Email marketing continues to deliver unmatched ROI and engagement, but email marketing strategy success requires more than batch-and-blast campaigns. By embracing our top email marketing tips like segmentation, personalization, and data-driven optimization, retail marketers can unlock the full potential of email to drive revenue and long-term customer loyalty.
Dana Carr is Optimove’s Director of Email Marketing. Dana has over 20 years of experience managing the email marketing strategies of many recognizable global B2C and B2B brands. As the Director of Email Marketing, Dana is bridging the gap for Optimove’s customers by providing a data-driven marketing plan and timely implementation grounded in best practices, targeted content, and visually engaging design.
