Email marketing boasts an average ROI of 36–45×. Yes, put in $1, and get $36–$45 out. But email marketing is a very broad term. The scope of this blog aims to show you the difference between email automations and email campaigns, and then we'll cover how they work together to accelerate the sales cycle, create relationships with your customers, and increase revenue.
Before we get started, I must add that email marketing is incredibly easy to set up. Most website builders offer email marketing capabilities, and if not, your CRM (Customer Relationship Management — where you store customer data) likely does. If you need to purchase new email marketing software, it's usually quite affordable. This means that there are very few barriers to getting into email marketing.
Key Takeaways
Email Marketing ROI: Email marketing remains one of the most profitable digital marketing strategies, with a return of $36–$45 for every $1 spent.
Email Campaigns vs. Automations: Understand the difference—campaigns are time-based and promotional; automations are behavior-triggered and ongoing.
S4 Email Campaign Framework: Use the Season, Simmer, Sizzle, Seal approach to increase email engagement, drive conversions, and reduce objections.
Customer Journey Mapping: Identify key trigger points in your sales funnel to build targeted automations that improve both lead nurturing and retention.
Scalable Implementation: Start with 10 essential automations and build out over time, focusing first on touchpoints that move the needle on conversions.
Table of Contents
What is an Email Campaign
5 Questions to ask before writing your first email campaign
Email Campaign "Cheat Sheet"
What is an Email Automation
How do email automations add to your sales funnel?
What Email Automations do I Need?
Summary
What is an Email Campaign?
Email campaigns are a scheduled sequence of emails that go out, typically for seasonal or promotional communications. Email campaigns are NOT just one email sent out; do not expect a 36×–45× ROI from one email. This is what a Christmas promo campaign may look like:
Email #1: Introduce the product and its story
Email #2: Build Desire & Urgency (introduce benefits & limited stock)
Email #3: Tell a customer success story
In my oversimplification of an email sequence, you can see how each email adds to the next email. I am not talking about the Christmas sale in one email, and then going to the New Year's sale. Email campaigns should consist of ONE GOAL. Before you plan your next email campaign, I'd recommend you start with the end in sight.
5 Questions to ask before writing your first email campaign:
What specific action do I want the reader to take?
What transformation or outcome should the subscriber experience after this campaign?
Who exactly is this campaign for — and where are they in the customer journey?
What belief, mindset, or objection do I need to shift by the end of this campaign?
How does this campaign fit into my larger funnel or marketing system?
Email Campaign "Cheat Sheet"
I forgot where I saw this framework so I can't give credit, but a simple method you can use to write email campaigns is the "S4 Framework":
S1: Season — Provide great content and value to boost clicks & engagement S2: Simmer — Drop the offer on them, keep it short and simple.
S3: Sizzle — Cover common objections & get a little deeper into the offer.
S4: Seal — Give deadlines and create urgency.
The great thing about this framework is it's repeatable without being repetitive. You can use this framework month after month and just change out the content and offer.
What is an Email Automation?
Email automations are essentially email campaigns, but automated. An email automation is triggered by a set event (e.g., customer buys a product), you can think of it like this:
When X happens, Y should follow
Some examples of useful email automations may include:
Reactivation Sequence — A sequence of emails that go out after a customer has NOT purchased from you after 90 days.
Abandoned Cart Sequence — A sequence of emails that go out after a customer adds a product to cart and then doesn't follow through with the purchase.
Email automations tend to be more generic because they are triggered by events that not all customers will make at the same time. What I mean is this: if you are writing your email automations during Halloween, you wouldn't want to make these emails have a seasonal theme, as someone could receive these emails in October or April.
You can think of email automations as mini email campaigns for one customer, rather than your entire list.
How do email automations add to your sales funnel?
Email automations can help you on both the front end (prospects converting into customers), and the backend (customers spending more with you over a longer amount of time).
On the frontend, email automations are going to help you accelerate your sales cycle by educating prospects, sharing customer testimonials, and tapping into fears and desires. You are moving them from where they are (uneducated, skeptical, and reserved) to where you want them to be (educated, happy with your product, and wanting to tell others about it). Some frontend triggers (to start the sequence of emails) may include lead magnet claimed, call booked, demo requested, or newsletter signup.
On the backend, email automations help keep your customers connected and informed about new additions to the business — you are essentially keeping them in the loop and showing your appreciation. Backend triggers may include a sequence sent after their second purchase, cart abandoned, new product category viewed in your online shop, or milestone emails (e.g., for a business that offers a course, you may want to trigger sequences once the customer reaches different lessons).
What Email Automations do I Need?
There are probably thousands of email automations out there; you don't need thousands, you likely need around 10. To figure out which email automations you could benefit from, here's what I would do.
Map out your customer journey, from click to close (frontend to backend). Once you have this drawn out, circle the points of contact that could be turned into a trigger (on the front end, this may be harder because you may not have their email yet — I'll write a blog on acquiring emails). Once you have your triggers established, you will need to develop some empathy and put yourself in their shoes. Here are five questions you can ask yourself to determine what emails will be needed in this automation sequence:
What action or trigger will start this automation?
What is the end goal of this email sequence?
Where is the subscriber in their customer journey when they enter this flow (what are they thinking, what do they want, and how did they get here)?
What concerns or questions might the subscriber have at this stage?
What change in knowledge, emotion, or behavior are we trying to create with each email (that will ultimately make them receptive to buying)?
It's important to note that you will NOT build this in a day, or even a week. Rome was not built in a day, and neither are marketing systems. Take your time to build these automations out, starting in the high-impact areas where automations would most help your customer.
Summary
Email marketing delivers a strong return on investment—typically $36 to $45 for every $1 spent—and is easy to implement using website builders or CRM platforms.
There are two primary types: email campaigns and automations. Campaigns are scheduled sequences, often tied to seasonal or promotional efforts, and should pursue a single, focused goal. A proven structure is the S4 Framework: Season (offer value), Simmer (introduce the offer), Sizzle (overcome objections), and Seal (drive urgency).
Automations, on the other hand, are triggered by customer actions like abandoned carts or inactivity. These work across both acquisition and retention and should remain broadly applicable rather than seasonal. To get started, businesses should build around 10 key automations, mapping out the customer journey to identify triggers and rolling them out in phases, prioritizing those with the highest potential impact.