A Guide to the Best Email Marketing Books for 2024
There’s nothing like hands-on experience to teach you the ropes of email marketing, but studying theory can make you a better email marketer. The email marketing industry is a few decades old now, and there is plenty of advice going around that you can benefit from. In fact, you could try reading up on the basics of email marketing before you even begin so you can get off to a running start.
Books about email marketing aren’t just for fresh-faced email newbies — even for experienced marketers, there are higher levels they can aspire to reach. And what better way to reach those levels than by learning from the experts who paved the path in the field.
Email marketing books can keep you inspired, get your creativity flowing, and offer a perspective you never considered before. There are many impressive titles out there, so we compiled the best ones and wrote a quick summary for each!
The Benefits of Reading Email Marketing Books
Reading books on email marketing can offer a range of benefits for individuals at various stages of their careers.
Here are the top advantages:
- You can gain a solid understanding of foundational principles and best practices in email marketing.
- You get to hone your skills in designing effective email campaigns, writing compelling content, and optimizing campaigns for better engagement.
- It’s an opportunity to learn more about data analytics and metrics, which help measure the success of your email marketing efforts.
- Email marketing books can guide you to develop a strategic mindset by understanding how email marketing fits into the broader marketing plan.
- Case studies and real-world examples featured in books can be inspiring, stimulating creativity in your own campaigns.
- The more you know, the better your career prospects. By acquiring specialized knowledge in email marketing, you can stand out as an asset to companies during the hiring process.
- Reading such books builds a habit of continuous learning, which is crucial in a rapidly evolving field like email marketing.
Email marketing books can be a valuable investment in your professional development, offering a combination of theoretical knowledge and practical insights to enhance your effectiveness in the field.
Email Marketing Terms You Should Know
If you’re just stepping into the world of email marketing, the jargon can quickly get overwhelming. It’s best to get familiar with a few terms first, so you have an easier time with books about email marketing.
Here is a table of terms and topics to read about:
| Term | Explained |
|---|---|
| Subscriber | An individual who has opted in or agreed to receive emails from a particular sender. |
| Open rate | The percentage of recipients who opened an email, indicating the effectiveness of the subject line and sender reputation. |
| Click-through rate or CTR | The percentage of email recipients who clicked on at least one link contained in an email. |
| Conversion rate | The percentage of email recipients who completed a desired action, such as making a purchase or downloading a file. |
| Bounce rate | The percentage of sent emails that could not be delivered to the recipient’s inbox due to various reasons. |
| Unsubscribe rate | The percentage of email recipients who opt out or unsubscribe from an email list, indicating disinterest. |
| Sender reputation | Sender reputation refers to the perceived trustworthiness and reliability of the individual sending emails, which influences whether their emails are delivered to recipients’ inboxes or marked as spam. |
| Deliverability | The ability of an email to successfully reach the recipient’s inbox without being flagged as spam or bouncing. |
| A/B testing | Experimentation with different versions of an email to determine which one performs better in terms of engagement or other desired outcomes. |
| Segmentation | Dividing an email list into smaller, targeted segments based on specific criteria (say, demographics or behavior) to send more personalized content. |
| Drip campaign | A series of automated emails sent to subscribers over a predefined time to nurture leads or guide them through a sales funnel. |
| Autoresponder | A series of pre-scheduled emails triggered by specific events or actions, often used for welcome sequences, nurturing campaigns, or follow-ups. |
| Call to action or CTA | A clear instruction that prompts the recipient to take a specific action, such as clicking a link, making a purchase, or signing up for an event. |
| Landing page | The web page where a recipient is directed after clicking on a link in an email, designed for a specific purpose. |
Once you understand what these terms mean, you’re ready for your first email marketing book!
Email Marketing Books: Our Top Picks
We’ve compiled this collection of email marketing books with practicality and usefulness in mind, catering to readers at various stages of their careers. Whether you’re just starting out or have years of experience in this industry, our goal is to provide a diverse selection of books that meets your needs.
Our approach to assembling this list involved a thorough exploration of the titles available; we covered both foundational principles and actionable knowledge. In email marketing, your theoretical knowledge must be supplemented by examples you can learn from.
Without further ado, here’s our list of best email marketing books:
| Title | Author | Link |
|---|---|---|
| E-Mail Marketing For Dummies | John Arnold | Buy |
| Email Marketing Demystified | Matthew Paulson | Buy |
| Email Marketing Rules | Chad S. White | Buy |
| The New Email Revolution | Robert W. Bly | Buy |
| Email Persuasion | Ian Brodie | Download for free |
| Email Marketing Mastery | Tom Corson-Knowles | Buy |
| Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Business | Susan Gunelius | Buy |
This list contains popular titles that come with recommendations from email experts all over the world. You can look forward to learning a lot about email marketing from these books!
E-Mail Marketing for Dummies by John Arnold
We had to start off with this one — not because we consider anyone dummies, but because it’s a great book to learn everything about email marketing. If you’re a newbie, this is the starting point you seek.
That doesn’t mean the book isn’t ideal for seasoned email marketers. The USP of the book is how extensively it covers various email marketing topics. It targets business owners and marketers and explains the fundamentals of email marketing in simple language.
Topics Covered
Here are the topics this book covers:
- The basics of email marketing,
- Creating an email marketing strategy for your company,
- Guide to writing a great marketing email,
- Analytics.
The book does a great job of explaining these topics and bringing it all together.
About the Author
Besides this book, John Arnold has also written “Web Marketing All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies,” and “Mobile Marketing for Dummies.” John is a marketer himself and also writes for Entrepreneur Magazine Online. He has also developed training programs for Coca–Cola, The Mobile Marketing Association, and the email platform, Constant Contact.
Email Marketing Demystified by Matthew Paulson
One of the more popular email marketing books in the market today, “Email Marketing Demystified” is a must-read for marketers. Matthew does a great job addressing common myths in email marketing and provides tons of suggestions to see stable and consistent list growth.
There are multiple case studies to learn from. The book also delves into content strategy and talks about methods used by top email professionals to achieve the success they did. “Email Marketing Demystified” also shares lessons on writing compelling copy and tactics to build an interested audience.
Topics Covered
“Email Marketing Demystified” covers these topics:
- Choosing a good ESP,
- Using lead magnets effectively,
- Automation,
- List management,
- Email copywriting techniques,
- Funnel management,
- Deliverability tactics,
- Monetization
This book is an entertaining read that also educates you in the process, giving you excellent insight into how large-scale email operations work.
About the Author
Matthew Paulson is a business owner and entrepreneur who has built four businesses that do millions in annual revenue. He is also a partner in a digital publishing company. He uses outbound email campaigns extensively, which is the base of his learnings, which he shares in this book.
Email Marketing Rules by Chad S. White
If you want to read about email best practices, then “Email Marketing Rules” gives you 184 of them. The book aims to be a complete guide for email marketers who have already had a taste of running campaigns and want to learn more about improving their results.
“Email Marketing Rules” discusses metrics you need to study, how to build high-quality email lists, achieve great sender reputation, implement automation best practices, and more. The book, currently on its fourth edition, comes highly recommended by top email experts from across the world and is a must-read for everyone in the industry.
Topics Covered
“Email Marketing Rules” covers topics such as:
- List-building,
- Setting campaign goals,
- Writing great emails,
- Creating relevant triggers,
- Campaign management,
- Growth strategies,
- Using subscriber data,
- Lead generation.
The examples in this book are highly relevant and if you grab the latest copy, you will discover strategies you can apply to your own email marketing activities immediately.
About the Author
A former journalist with Conde Nast, Chad S. White is a seasoned email expert who has been writing about the email industry for about 18 years. His work has appeared in publications like The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
He also works as an email marketing researcher and has done stints at huge firms like Oracle, Responsys, Salesforce, and ExactTarget. He is currently Head of Research at Oracle Digital Experience Agency.
The New Email Revolution by Robert W. Bly
The New Email Revolution is a healthy mix of technical information and general advice, and it works well. The book covers various topics in detail but keeps an eye on the larger picture the whole time.
Robert W. Bly also discusses spam filters and other factors that affect deliverability in detail, and shares best practices to ensure your emails look good and land in the inbox consistently. He also talks about using different multimedia in email and how to format everything correctly.
After covering the basics, he then moves on to talking about strategy and the role played by email marketing in building a strong audience. He wraps up the book by sharing multiple samples of emails.
Topics Covered
“The New Email Revolution” talks about these subjects:
- Autoresponders,
- Email language,
- Design options,
- Writing better CTAs,
- Building good landing pages.
While the biggest takeaway is the copywriting and content suggestions, there are also multiple lessons on strategy and understanding customer psychology.
About the Author
Robert W. Bly, or Bob Bly as he calls himself, is a direct response copywriter who has worked with companies like IBM, Forbes, AT&T, ITT, Intuit, Medical Economics, and many others. Bob has won numerous awards for his work and teaches copywriting at New York University. He has published more than 100 books and has written for publications like Cosmopolitan, DM News, Amtrak Express, and Writer’s Digest.
Email Persuasion by Ian Brodie
As the title implies, this book is all about using persuasive or compelling language in your emails, but in a tasteful manner. “Email Persuasion” covers a lot more, too, especially about the basics of email marketing. If you want to learn the nuances of communicating effectively with your subscribers, this is the best book to pick up.
“Email Persuasion” includes everything — strategy, examples, techniques, and lots of real-life examples you can learn from. The book does not get too technical and is ideal for beginners or intermediate email marketers. The best part is you can download the PDF version for free from the author’s website (link in the table above).
Topics Covered
“Email Persuasion” covers these matters:
- Basics of email marketing,
- Building email lists quickly,
- Strategies to improve open rates,
- Writing persuasive emails,
- Improving click-through rates,
- Automation strategies,
- Segmentation strategies,
- Monitoring campaign performance effectively.
The book may not cover advanced topics, but covers the basics pretty effectively. “Email Persuasion” uses simple language and answers a lot of questions newbies may have.
About the Author
Ian Brodie used to work in research and development teams in IT before working as a consultant. Working with numerous clients in the early 90s, he learned about email marketing from scratch through lots of trial and error. This book is his attempt at summarizing his lessons.
Email Marketing Mastery by Tom Corson-Knowles
Email Marketing Mastery begins by talking about fundamentals and works its way toward more complex topics. The book is perfect for readers who want to learn all about email marketing — from the basics to the more advanced stuff. We would recommend it for both beginners and intermediate email professionals.
The book covers strategy as well as how to study the data from your campaigns; it eventually expands into discussing growth methods and tactics to increase revenue. “Email Marketing Mastery” also talks about choosing the best autoresponders for your business and budget-friendly methods to get the most out of your email marketing operation.
Topics Covered
“Email Marketing Mastery” takes on topics like:
- Autoresponders,
- Drip campaigns,
- List building techniques,
- Email segmentation methods,
- Improving conversion rates.
This title does a great job of sharing actionable advice; most readers will find the book enlightening.
About the Author
Tom Corson-Knowles built his first business at age 13 and is a serial entrepreneur and author. He has written over 20 books on marketing and management and currently operates numerous online businesses. He also runs a publishing company and helps distribute the work of authors using his skills as a marketer.
Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Business by Susan Gunelius
The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Business is a book that attempts to enlighten readers about almost everything there is to know about email marketing. Susan Gunelius does a fantastic job of covering multiple topics — from strategy to list-building methods to writing great content to studying campaign reports, this book is in-depth.
The book also talks about managing email marketing costs and building a marketing funnel. “The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing for Business” explores spam regulations, discusses tools you can use to improve your productivity, and even talks about lead generation, copywriting, and deliverability.
Topics Covered
- History of email marketing,
- Marketing funnels,
- Regulations and compliance,
- List segmentation,
- Lead Magnets,
- Copywriting tips,
- Autoresponders,
- Tracking performance.
Susan covers a wide range of topics in this book, making it the most complete book in this entire list.
About the Author
Susan Gunelius is the CEO of a marketing communications agency and has 30 years of marketing experience under her belt. She has worked with multinational companies like AT&T, HSBC Bank, Household International, and more.
As an author, Susan has written 12 books on marketing and her work has made it to publications like Forbes, Business Week, MSNBC, and Entrepreneur. She also appears on TV frequently and conducts speaking events in the US.
Learn Email Marketing: Other Excellent Resources
While these books we’ve listed so far are pretty excellent resources, a common opinion we see online is — where is the actionable stuff? These email marketing books are essential reads before you get started on your own email marketing campaigns, but you might want something a bit more concrete. Well, we’ve got you covered!
The Inbox Formula: Master Deliverability
Written by our CEO and founder, Travis Ketchum, this guidebook is the definition of actionable wisdom. In just 24 pages, The Inbox Formula shares decades of experience in email marketing, covering topics like IP management, technical settings, email list management, industry insights, and more.
Packed to the brim with best practices, this book contains all the principles that Campaign Refinery operates by. We promise you that you’re going to love it!
And guess what? The guidebook is COMPLETELY FREE — no catch here! We wanted to give our readers something special while on the topic of email marketing books, so download the Inbox Formula ASAP to get started!
And we’re not done sharing knowledge. We’ve got an even bigger surprise for you in the next section!
Lead Magnet Multiplier: A Secret Lead Generation Weapon
Email marketers already know how lead magnets work — but do you know how to make signups spike by 8x?
That is exactly what the Lead Magnet Multiplier program aims to do for you.
This course, consisting of 4 mini training videos, teaches you all about the art of using lead magnets THE RIGHT WAY — to attract readers, know how they think, and maximize your signup rate. When you set out to build a list of leads, you will discover that finding quality prospects is a huge challenge. With the help of this program, your list will grow at a much faster rate and with interested leads!
Like The Inbox Formula, the Lead Magnet Multiplier course is 100% FREE. The only catch is that you have to finish it in a week if you want to retain access forever. We put this clause in there to ensure you’re fully committed to learning what we have to teach!
Sign up for the program here: Lead Magnet Multiplier.
Besides this, at Campaign Refinery University, we have other tutorials that will teach you clever email strategies you can apply immediately, to improve your marketing performance. You can access these once you finish the Lead Magnet Multiplier course.
Email Marketing Success: Our #1 Suggestion
Once you take on email marketing, you will quickly discover that the biggest challenge is reaching the inbox. There are plenty of ESPs out there that promise you everything under the sun and offer hundreds of features, but we’re going to be honest with you. All those features won’t make up for poor inbox placement rates.
What you need is an email platform that offers top-grade deliverability, has a simple user interface, powerful automation controls, and does not entertain spammy customers, regardless of how much they are willing to pay.
Campaign Refinery checks all those boxes.
We asked the best email professionals what they wanted in an email platform and built a service that delivers the goods:
- Powerful list management tools,
- Flexible automation controls,
- Gamification, which sends your engagement rates skyrocketing,
- Automated list cleaning, which gets rid of all problematic email IDs on your list,
- Unlimited contacts.
If you want to be an A-level email marketer, Campaign Refinery is the place to be!
