If you have ever attended a marketing conference or read a specialized article in the last 10 years, you have probably heard that "email is dead." That people no longer open emails. That social media has replaced everything. That newsletters are spam.
And yet, companies that seriously invest in email marketing continue to report that it is the channel with the best ROI in their entire marketing mix. Not one of them — the best.
How is this explained? Simple: email is not dead. It has changed. And those who have not adapted are the ones who say it no longer works.
Some numbers that put things into perspective
Email marketing generates on average 36–42 USD for every 1 USD invested, according to repeated studies by Litmus and DMA. No other digital marketing channel comes close to this ratio.
There are over 4 billion email users worldwide. More than the users of any social media platform. And unlike Facebook or Instagram, your email list belongs to you — algorithms cannot reduce your organic reach overnight.
A Facebook post organically reaches 2–5% of your followers. An email reaches the inbox of 85–95% of your subscribers — even if not all open it, it got there.
Why many say email doesn't work
There are a few real reasons why people have this impression — and all are related to how they use email, not email itself.
They send too rarely or too often. An email list that receives nothing for months forgets about you. A list that receives daily emails with offers unsubscribes quickly. Frequency must be consistent and justified by content.
They send the same message to everyone. An email about an offer for new customers sent also to loyal old customers is annoying. Segmenting the list — even a simple one — dramatically increases open and click rates.
They write emails that sound like marketing. "Exclusive limited offer! Act now!" is a recipe for the spam folder or unsubscribes. People want to read something useful, not be sold to.
They measure nothing. Without tracking open rates, click rates, and unsubscribes, you cannot know what works and what doesn’t. Email without data is a blind action.
What makes a good email in 2026
A subject worth opening. The email subject is the only thing the subscriber sees before deciding whether to open or ignore. Not "May newsletter" — but something that promises concrete value or sparks curiosity. "3 mistakes that cost you customers without you knowing" will be opened. "News from our company" will not.
One goal per email. The biggest sin of email marketing is an email with 5 different calls-to-action. Each email must have one clear purpose: read the article, download the guide, book a consultation. When you give too many options, people choose none.
Written for a person, not for an algorithm. Email has no SEO. It has no distribution algorithm. It only has a person who reads it — or not. A personal, direct, and useful tone works incomparably better than corporate language.
Sent at the right time. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings between 9–11 are generally the time slots with the best open rates for B2B emails. For B2C, evenings and weekends often work better. Test with your specific audience — general rules are starting points, not absolute laws.
Types of emails that work for a small business
Welcome email — sent automatically immediately after subscription or after the first purchase. The open rate of welcome emails is 3–5 times higher than regular emails. It’s the first contact — use it well.
Value newsletter — useful content, practical tips, industry news. Not ads disguised as newsletters. People subscribe for value, stay for value, leave when the value disappears.
Follow-up emails — after an offer sent, after a meeting, after a purchase. Simple, personal, without pressure. "I wanted to check if you have questions about the offer sent last week" is an email that brings money with minimal effort.
Reactivation emails — for customers who haven’t bought in a long time or subscribers who no longer open. A single direct email: "We’ve seen you around, but haven’t heard from you. Are we still relevant to you?" Works surprisingly well or cleans the list of inactive contacts — both results are good.
How to build an email list without buying contacts
Never buy email lists. Never. It is illegal in the EU under GDPR, inefficient (people who haven’t subscribed to you won’t read anything), and it destroys your sender reputation, which means your emails will end up in spam even for those who subscribed organically.
You build the list organically by:
— A clear and simple subscription form on the site, with a specific promise ("weekly tips for X", not "subscribe to the newsletter")
— A lead magnet — something useful offered for free in exchange for the email: a guide, a checklist, a free consultation
— Collecting emails at the point of sale or at the end of a collaboration, with the client’s explicit consent
A small list of people who want to hear from you is 10 times more valuable than a large list of people who don’t know who you are.
Platforms you can use
For a small business starting out, there are free or very cheap options that do everything you need:
Mailchimp — the best known, free up to 500 subscribers, easy to use, with good templates.
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) — generous free plan (300 emails/day), popular in Europe, GDPR compliant.
MailerLite — clean interface, free up to 1,000 subscribers, automations included in the free plan.
You don’t need something complex to start. You need a form, a list, and something useful to say.
Conclusion
Email is not dead. It is probably the most underestimated marketing channel for small and medium businesses in Romania in 2026.
It’s not spectacular like TikTok. It doesn’t generate visible likes and comments. It works silently, directly in the customer’s inbox, without intermediaries and without algorithms deciding how many people see it.
If you don’t have an email marketing strategy, you don’t need a complicated one to start. You need a form on your site, a free platform, and the first email written for people, not for an algorithm.
