Staying on top of all-things-email-marketing is a challenge, especially for small businesses. Research shows forty-nine percent of small business owners handle their own marketing.
Even if you're an experienced email marketer with a team of people at your disposal, studying new trends, reviewing best practices and finding ways to improve ROI is a daily chore.
Rather than wander through the email marketing world alone, you should rely on resources to help you improve your skills. To help marketers hone their craft and stay informed, we've compiled a list of 15 email marketing blogs to follow.
We've broken them into two categories: one for beginning marketers and one for advanced marketers. The categories are meant to be a guide, but don't let it stop you from exploring blogs in both categories.
Here's a look at 15 blogs you should bookmark today to stay ahead of what's happening tomorrow:
Email marketing blogs for beginners
1. HubSpot
HubSpot is the go-to place for all things marketing and sales. All of their blog posts are in-depth and full of great tips that you'll actually use. Take the blog for a spin and skim some of their topics, or you can focus solely on email marketing content. You can sign up for their email newsletter too and get a dose of email knowledge in your inbox.
Think of Really Good Emails like an email gallery. The website has one purpose: to show you really good emails. When you're stuck and have no idea what kind of email to send or how to design a certain email, it's the perfect place to go for inspiration. All of the emails are categorized, so you can easily sort through messages and find what you're looking for. It's not a traditional blog, but it's an amazing resource for email marketers. Sign up for their newsletter to see the best emails in your inbox.
3. Emailcenter
Emailcenter, a blog out of the UK, is a great place for new email marketers to get their feet wet with email marketing content. You'll find relatable topics like, "What Should You Look for in an Email Service Provider?" and "My Open Rate is Low – What Can I Do?" You can sign up for their email newsletters too.
Run by Experian, Marketing Forward offers strong email marketing content. All of the posts on the site try to move marketing forward, hence the name. You'll find articles that compel marketers to think outside the box, look beyond trends and focus on what's effective in today's digial world.
This blog covers a ton of marketing topics, but you can sort by email marketing and access amazing information. The site's motto is, "real world education for modern marketers." In other words, the site's goal is to teach you something you didn't know before. You'll find a lot of great insights from experts in the field, how-to articles and great data-backed information that you can share with your entire marketing tem.
6. Pinpointe
We're tooting our own horn here, we know, but the Pinpointe blog can help you take email marketing to the next level. Every post is at least 1000 words, which means the content you read is meant to provide deep insight into topics that matter most to marketers. Posts like, "What are Spam Words?" and "How to Create an Engaging Newsletter" are just two examples of the informative content you'll find on the blog. Plus, each post is full of examples that you can learn from too. After all, it's easier to understand best practices when you see them in action.
7. FreshInbox
FreshInbox is an email news source. You won't find how-to articles; it's a resource for industry news instead. For instance, when Gmail announced support for embedded styles in email, FreshInbox was all over it. You can stay on top of industry changes with this blog.
Email marketing blogs for advanced marketers
8. Pure360
Brought to you by our friends across the pond in the UK, Pure360 talks about what's working and what's not with real marketing campaigns. Recent posts include lessons learned from Pepsi pulling a TV ad, and how the local commuter rail, Trainline, is delivering personalized emails with great success. A lot of their content focuses on real-world situations, which is useful and refreshing to marketers.
9. Drip
If you're interested in learning about drip campaigns, Drip is the blog for you. You'll find posts that cover the entire process, from creating a series of emails to sending them to a segmented list. You'll get some great advice on automation techniques too, which can seriously ease your email marketing workload.
10. EDMDesigner
For tech-savvy email marketers with a penchant for design, EDMDesigner is the blog for you. EDMDesigner has tutorials and how-to articles that will help you create or tweak your design for a killer look. It's a niche blog, but if you're into design it's one of few places that offer in-depth guidance.
11. Litmus
Litmus, the leader in email testing and analytics, provides a wealth of content on their blog. From articles to podcasts, you can access a variety of information that's focused on design, testing and metrics with some general email marketing articles sprinkled in. While email testing and analytics sound daunting, Litmus does a great job making the topics interesting and easy to consume.
12. Econsultancy
To stay up-to-date on marketing trends requires a lot of reading and research. Econsultancy does the heavy lifting for you and provides resources on its blog that marketers can use on a daily basis. You'll find a variety of email and social media topics on the blog, along with content that focuses on cross-channel marketing and how to reach customers through multiple platforms. The company conducts a lot of research too, which is always helpful for forecasting and planning.
13. Marketo
Specializing in B2B marketing, the Marketo blog focuses on lead management and campaign practices. It covers a range of marketing materials, which includes email marketing. They've become a go-to spot for marketing information, so you're sure to find content that's applicable to your marketing efforts.
14. Return Path
To learn about deliverability and metrics, go to the Return Path blog. Both topics can be a little scary even for experienced email marketers, but the company does a great job breaking these tough topics down into useable pieces of information that actually make sense. If you've been avoiding these topics, or aren't sure how to wrap your brain around them, bookmark the blog as a great resource.
15. Emailmonday
An independent email consultant, Jordie van Rijn, has a blog that's all email all the time. You'll find an article on just about every email topic you can think of, and they're all insightful pieces that de-mystify topics like the lifetime value of a subscriber.
Don't get left behind, follow these email marketing blogs to stay on the cutting edge of email marketing all while keeping your skills sharp. In additional to watching these blogs, here's a great list of influencers you should consider following on social media too. The combination of blogs and influencers is a sure-fire way to stay current in an evolving digital world.
