What is email marketing and why does it still outperform everything else?

Email marketing sends commercial messages to a list of people who agreed to receive them. It is regularly declared obsolete and regularly returns the highest measured return on investment of any digital channel, frequently cited in the region of thirty pounds returned per pound spent. The reason is structural rather than clever. Email is the only significant channel where you own the audience relationship outright. No algorithm sits between you and the recipient, no platform can change the rules, and nobody can raise your cost of reaching your own subscribers.

How often should I email my list?

As often as you have something worth sending. Frequency complaints usually indicate irrelevance rather than volume. Nobody unsubscribes from emails they want to receive.

What is a good open rate?

Typically 20% to 30%, though Apple Mail Privacy Protection now inflates open rates by pre-loading images. The metric has become substantially unreliable, and click rate is the more honest measure.

Should I buy an email list?

No. Purchased lists violate GDPR consent requirements, damage sender reputation, and produce spam complaints that harm deliverability to the subscribers who did opt in. The damage extends beyond the campaign.