54 Extremely Useful Email Marketing Resources

Some blog posts are meant to be read, tweeted and forgotten. Others are meant to be bookmarked. This is one of those posts.

The Internet provides us with quantity, but not always quality. For this reason, Chris Hexton and I compiled some of our favorite email marketing tips, blogs, guides, templates and webinars. These are resources we have read over and over and referenced many times and believe they should be more accessible to every marketer.

We think you’ll find this to be extremely useful, but if you know of great resources missing, don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments.

Tools

This is a potentially endless category, so we intentionally kept this list short. Here are some of the best and most useful email marketing tools out there.

• Google URL Builder: This is the easiest way to keep track of clicks from email campaigns in Google Analytics. This tool makes it easy to set parameters, which can easily be tracked. CrazyEgg has a really useful tutorial on the topic. Pro tip: Buffer uses this feature, and you can customize the tracking in your settings, under “Link Shortening.”
• Dropbox: For those rare occasions when you need to send an attachment – an e-book download, a receipt, etc. – use Dropbox to send a link rather than a file. Your recipients’ inboxes will appreciate it.
• Litmus: This is an awesome way to see how your email will look in 30 different email clients. It’s a cool way to ensure your emails are mobile-ready. Litmus also offers advanced tracking and spam-filter testing.
• Zapier: Think IFTTT on steroids. Zapier allows you to connect web apps to each other via a simple interface. KISSmetrics famously used Zapier to supercharge webinar registrations by 1,000 percent! Because you can connect a number of enterprise applications – Unbounce, GoToMeeting, Github, Salesforce, Freshbooks, Help Scout and many more – it’s possible to automate all kinds of tasks, including data collection.
• Gmail Labels: It’s simple, yes, but Gmail Labels are the perfect way to create an email swipe file. When you see an email you like and want to borrow ideas from, simply drag it into your swipe file. Pretty soon, you will have a treasure trove of ideas for subject lines, email copy and growth hacks.
• SumoMe: If you’re looking for free ways to grow your email list, SumoMe has a number of useful plugins to do just that.

Tips

These tips range from beginner to black belt, but there is something to be learned in each and every article.

Subject lines:

• How to Write Email Subject Lines That Get Opened (Based on Research)
• 557 Email Subject Line Hacks to Get You Noticed in the Inbox
• 5 Email Subject Line Strategies That Will Increase Your Open Rates

A/B testing:

• Email Split Test Tricks So Good You’ll Kick Yourself for Missing Out
• How to Formulate A Smart A/B Test Hypothesis (and Why They’re Crucial)
• How to Build a Strong A/B Testing Plan That Gets Results

Landing Pages:

• The ABCs Of A/B Testing
• The 12-Step Landing Page Rehab Program
• The Landing Page Optimization Guide You Wish You’ve Always Had

Lead Nurturing:

• The 12 Key Messaging Strategies for Email Lifecycle Marketing
• 20 Killer Lifecycle Email Campaigns
• Are You Losing Business When You Hunt for Customers?

Conversion:

• How to Get More Subscribers
• 10 Email Marketing Campaigns Analyzed to Increase Email Conversions
• 13 Ways to Increase Your Conversion Rate Right Now

Templates

HTML emails aren’t always the right approach, but they will give your messages a beautiful look and feel. There are so many options to choose from, so we are keeping this section short. Here are our three favorite places for HTML email templates.

• ThemeForest: There are more than 600 email designs here. They aren’t free, but for between $6 and $20, you can purchase some beautiful designs. Nearly all of these are mobile responsive, but confirm before you buy.
• Campaign Monitor: With more than 100 free templates, this is a gold mine for email marketers. Browse through their designs or download them all right now.

Mashable curated a handy list of free mobile responsive templates that is quite handy. If you have another good source of email templates, let us know in the comments.

E-books and Guides

These long form guides are best enjoyed with coffee, although some are long enough to require Red Bull. But seriously, in-depth guides like these provide valuable information you could never stuff into a blog post. Dig in, and enjoy.

• Email Marketing: How to Push Send and Grow Your Business
• Landing Pages: How to Turn Traffic into Money
• The Ultimate Guide to Successful Email Marketing
• The Definitive Guide to Landing Page Optimization
• A Beginner’s Guide to Successful Email Marketing
• The Ultimate Guide to A/B Testing
• The Smart Guide to Email Marketing Conversion

Webinars

If you aren’t up for reading a 30-page guide, a 60-minute webinar is the perfect alternative. These awesome webinars will guide you through some complex (but very important) topics.

• How to Integrate Community Into Your Inbound Marketing Strategy
• 5 Game-Changing Tactics To Lift Your Email Conversions
• Transactional Email Best Practices
• The 10 Ways You’re Screwing Up Your Landing Page (And What To Do About It)
• How We Achieved a Lift of 33% Across 11 A/B Tests
• Practical Advice For Growing Your Software Business
• How to Find Where Your Website is Leaking Money (and How to Fix It)
• From 0 To 1000 – How I Grew My Mailing List, Fast
• How to Run AB Tests that Get REAL Results
• How to Build the Funnel that Will Grow Your Subscription Business the Fastest

Blogs

Here are some of our favorite blogs. Check out all 50 here.

• Annielytics
• Campaign Monitor
• ConversionXL
• Copy Hackers
• The Daily Egg
• Econsultancy
• Email Institute
• Gregory Ciotti
• Inside Intercom
• KISSmetrics
• Okdork
• Quick Sprout
• Unbounce

Have a great resource that we missed? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter.