Suppose you have already searched for the best email marketing books online. In that case, you must have certainly seen such flashy phrases as “Email marketing for dummies” or “Email Revolution” that appear in every second article. None of them pops up on this booklist.
My aim wasn’t to scrape the first pages for copied-and-pasted titles. I’ve prepared a selection of the top books for email marketers recommended by those who have actually read them. I asked seven business leaders and marketers to share their preferred reads for email marketing success.
Before diving into them, consider what they have in store for you.
What you can learn from email marketing books on this list
Here are the aspects they cover:
- using psychological tactics;
- writing attractive email copies;
- creating AI-powered emails with ChatGPT;
- gamifying your email marketing campaigns;
- expanding the email list and measuring performance;
- achieving eCommerce growth with the email+SMS duo;
- wowing your customers on holidays.
Now, it’s high time to derive deep email marketing insights from the below must-reads.
Top 7 books every email marketer should read
Dedicate a section of your bookshelf to these email marketing gems.
1. The psychology of email marketing
Subtitle: Influencing subscribers and driving engagement
Author: Eleanor Blake
Year: 2023
(Source: Amazon)
Main highlights
Did you know that the average person receives 121 emails daily?
How can you stand out from that mass?
By using the forces of psychology, of course.
Knowing what drives customer behavior, you can easily apply some sure-fire psychological tricks for effective marketing emails. A few things to mention from the book:
- fear of missing out (FOMO) + sense of urgency (aren’t you using last-chance emails with limited-time offers yet?);
- reciprocity;
- consistency;
- authority;
- scarcity.
In addition, Eleanor Blake guides you on taking advantage of the emotional triggers that work best in online marketing.
Review from Alex Milligan, Co-founder & CMO of NuggMD
Only 125 pages (if print version) separate you from understanding how your customers think, feel, and act. There are no medical or scientific terms from psychology (if you worry about that).
Importantly, it’s one of the newest books about email marketing. And aside from well-known persuasive tactics like FOMO, the author also explains a few emotionally-charged states of mind like the sense of belonging, the desire for self-improvement, nostalgia, and others.
Alex Milligan,
2. Email marketing that doesn’t suck
Subtitle: Have fun writing emails your subscribers will want to read
Author: Bobby Klinck
Year: 2022
(Source: Amazon)
Main highlights
Throw a dart at your sent-email list and read at least one.
Didn’t it leave you drowsy, or was it so interesting you ran for the popcorn to taste the story to the fullest?
Right at the start of his book, Bobby Klinck provides the email copy (his creation) that made him nearly fall asleep. The author also admits: he “used to really suck at email,” just like other online marketers often do.
He learned the lesson. Now, he teaches you how to switch from painfully boring emails you send to your customers to those that can literally make their day. For that, you should implement storytelling in email marketing and follow his fundamental rule. It is the right messages — the right people — the right order. By applying this principle, you can create email copies that convert.
Review from Michael Power, CMO at DTF Transfers
This email marketing book is definitely worth your time. It’s written in the genuine voice of a lawyer-turned-entrepreneur who knows how exactly to make people open emails and actually read them in one gulp. One of the key messages I saw in it is ingraining humor into the stories that sell.
Michael Power,
3. Revolutionize your email marketing with ChatGPT
Subtitle: A guide to using AI-powered writing for effective communications
Author: Dana Sacco
Year: 2023
(Source: Amazon)
Main highlights
Guess what?
Dana Sacco, a mom of five and business owner with 30+ years of experience in entrepreneurship, used ChatGPT to help her write this book. Yup, you’ve read it correctly. It’s one of the best books on email marketing, co-created by Dana Sacco and ChatGPT.
It’s time for you to use generative AI for emails and improve your customer communication strategy with ChatGPT, an AI chatbot and Generative Pre-trained Transformer. The author provides actionable tips on how to train ChatGPT to recognize your unique brand voice, add a human touch, and avoid plagiarism in your AI-generated content.
Review from Fernando Lopez, Marketing Director at Circuit
When I first saw this book, I approached it skeptically: can ChatGPT generate human-like texts? Well, it actually can, and Dana Sacco proved that very well.
With the fast pace of technology, she says, we all need to embrace some cutting-edge solutions like ChatGPT, especially for email marketing. And I completely support this.
I’d also like to thank the author for the invaluable bonus sections with prompts for achieving topic relevancy and writing subject lines with ChatGPT.
Fernando Lopez,
4. Press start
Subtitle: Using gamification to power up your marketing
Authors: Daniel Griffin and Albert van der Meer
Year: 2020
(Source: Amazon)
Main highlights
Here’s an eye-opening truth for you from the book:
Games are played more frequently by adults than by kids.
Telling you this, the authors share tons of gamification ideas for businesses that want to level up emails, marketing, and sales in general.
By sharing true-to-life stories of companies, they demonstrate how you can benefit from game mechanics such as:
- badges;
- levels;
- points;
- awards;
- leaderboards, etc.
You can use other rewards or motivators, just like Booking.com, eBay, FreshDesk, Duolingo, Nike, and other brands did. Their examples can inspire you to gamify your emails and interact with your customers more entertainingly.
Review from Jesse Hanson, Content Manager at Online Solitaire & World of Card Games
Gamification has been in the undercover world too long. I’m glad the writers brought it back into business with their book. It’s a beneficial read for those who’d like to add game elements and some bits of fun into emails, and not only.
Daniel Griffin and Albert van der Meer go from theory to specific cases to the practical framework for designing your gamification scheme, making it a logical guidebook for every marketer.
5. 300 email marketing tips
Subtitle: Critical Advice, Strategies & Ideas To Turn Subscribers Into Buyers & Grow a Six-Figure Business With Email
Author: Meera Kothand
Year: 2019
(Source: Amazon)
Main highlights
“How do I grow my subscriber list? What should I send my subscribers?”
If these are your crippling questions that never quite go away, Meera Kothand, an email marketing strategist, will help you find the answers. Among others, she suggests teaching you the following:
- how to nurture and retain new subscribers;
- how to design a brand-boosting welcome email;
- how to fill in your email calendar;
- how to compose emails for skimmers;
- how to track and measure the effectiveness of emails.
And there are more how-tos in this book for email marketers.
Review from Jerry Han, CMO at PrizeRebel
In this read, you can find hundreds of email marketing hacks you can’t miss out on. Particularly, the sections about lead magnets, incentives, and rewards can be the most useful for you as a marketer. They can help you motivate your dream customers to click, sign up, and buy from you without feeling like you have to shout or wander on social media looking for your leads.
Jerry Han,
6. The ultimate eCommerce growth playbook
Subtitle: Supercharge your DTC business in 90 days with email and SMS
Author: John Moussan
Year: 2023
(Source: Amazon)
Main highlights
Named the top 1% eCommerce growth strategist, John Moussan has gathered all the best SMS and email marketing methods for eCommerce in one book. Specifically, this guide caters to the needs of direct-to-consumer brands.
The author starts with the most significant challenges online entrepreneurs and marketers face in their pursuit of maximizing ROI. The most dangerous one is a sluggish tech stack, according to him.
At the end of the book, you can get a good peek into four real-life cases of boosting eCommerce sales with email and SMS:
- $846,281 in 90 days;
- $273,000 in six months;
- $493,779 in seven months;
- $1.5M in one year.
Review from Jonathan Elster, CEO at EcomHalo
From one founder to another, John Moussan passes over his magic eCommerce pill for effective customer communications. If you want to wind up the eCommerce revenue machine with email & SMS alone, his three-pillar approach to successful campaigns is a must-build.
Jonathan Elster,
7. Black Friday, Cyber Monday & holiday email marketing strategies for eCommerce stores
Author: Andriy Boychuk
Year: 2021
(Source: Amazon)
Main highlights
“The biggest sale of the year for retailers occurred only once a year before the Internet. Black Friday was that day.”
Andriy Boychuk hits you with staggering Black Friday statistics and other impressive revenue numbers from the holiday season between October and December.
With the Internet, there appeared one more lucrative day for eCommerce businesses, namely, Cyber Monday. Don’t forget to add it to your email marketing holiday calendar and use the Black Friday and Cyber Monday email tips outlined by the author.
Review from Morgan Taylor, Co-Founder of Jolly SEO
When the holiday season is coming, we all want to sweep our clients off their feet with outstanding email promos. With this book, there is no need to scratch your head anymore.
Besides, if you buy a printed copy, it goes with QR codes that lead you to the most essential resources cited.
Morgan Taylor,
Wrapping up
Your ultimate list of email marketing books is here:
- The psychology of email marketing by Eleanor Blake.
- Email marketing that doesn’t suck by Bobby Klinck.
- Revolutionize your email marketing with ChatGPT by Dana Sacco.
- Press start by Daniel Griffin and Albert van der Meer.
- 300 email marketing tips by Meera Kothand.
- The ultimate eCommerce growth playbook by John Moussan.
- Black Friday, Cyber Monday & holiday email marketing strategies for eCommerce stores by Andriy Boychuk.
If you need even more inspiration, check out our whitepaper with 94 email marketing resources. Here you will find email marketing blogs, events, podcasts, YouTube channels, influencers, courses, and more.
Following the instructions from these books, join Stripo and start designing your “wow” emails in just a few clicks. Amaze your customers, and don’t let them delete your message or doze over it again!
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