In this article, we'll explain how to launch email marketing for a small business, which tools to use, and how to calculate your budget.
📊 According to a Martechnews analytical review, every ruble invested in email marketing can bring in up to 40 rubles in revenue (ROI ~40:1), making email one of the most cost-effective channels for retention and repeat sales.
Many people think email marketing is expensive and complicated. We'll prove otherwise: you can launch a campaign in 1-2 days with minimal costs, using just two of the right tools.
Two key tools for a quality campaign
Success in email marketing depends on the right combination of tools. For an email to be visually appealing, reach the recipient, and display correctly (say, on an iPhone or in Outlook), you'll need:
- A builder for visually designing emails (for example, Letteros)
This is specialized software for creating emails. Building the layout directly in the sending platform's (ESP's) own editor often limits functionality, can introduce code errors, and may not display correctly across devices.
Letteros lets you skip hiring a coder, handling the entire technical side for you. We provide:
- Responsive code: The email displays correctly on any device.
- Built-in microservices: A photo editor and grammar check in one window.
2. The sender (ESP): contact database and delivery
This is a specialized platform (UniSender, SendSay, Mailganer, etc.) responsible for:
- Storing the contact database.
- Technical sending (IP addresses, deliverability).
- Collecting statistics (opens, clicks).
Build the email in Letteros, then export it to the ESP of your choice for sending. This delivers the highest quality with the least amount of work.
Budget calculation: ₽0 or ₽2,760 a month
Let's bust the myth that it's expensive. You can start from zero. Compare the two budgets below.
Expense item | Tool | Price | Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
Email creation | Letteros (Free plan) | ₽0/mo. | Ready-made templates, 10 exports (enough for 2-3 campaigns). |
Sending | UniSender (Free plan)* | ₽0/mo. | Up to 100 contacts, up to 1,500 emails a month. |
Total | 0 rubles | Launch with zero risk and zero investment. |
* Most ESPs have similar free plans, but with different limits.
Expense item | Tool | Price | Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
Email creation | Letteros (Start plan) | ₽2,000/mo. | Unlimited exports, 100 rendering tests (checking display across 40+ devices). |
Sending | UniSender (Lite plan) | ~₽960/mo. | Database of up to 500 contacts, unlimited emails. |
Total | ~₽2,760 a month | Fully professional email marketing. |
Comparison: ₽2,760 a month is 1.5-2 times cheaper than ordering just one responsive email from a freelancer (a full-service package, including design and coding, usually starts at ₽3,000).
A step-by-step plan for launching your campaign:
Step 1. Preparing your list
The main rule: Don't buy ready-made lists.
Using purchased lists violates the Federal Law "On Advertising" and the Federal Law "On Personal Data", leads to low campaign performance, and guarantees landing in spam. Only collect contacts legally: through subscription forms on your website (pop-ups, sidebars) or via lead magnets (a free guide, a checklist, a discount for subscribing).
Check out our article: How to Build a List for Your Campaigns
Step 2. Choosing your tools: the "Email Builder + Sender" combo
Choose Letteros for design and layout. Choose an ESP or CDP (UniSender, SendSay, Mailganer, etc.) based on price and functionality for storage and delivery.
Step 3. Creating an email: quick design in Letteros
You don't need to hire a designer to create your first email in an hour:
- Start with a template. Choose a ready-made template in Letteros.
- Brand it. Change the colors and upload your logo in one click.
- Add content. Insert text, edit product photos right in the built-in editor. Letteros will check the grammar.
Important: Design is 50% of success. 8 Email Design Mistakes That Kill Conversions
Step 4. Export and send
Export the finished HTML code for your email straight from Letteros into most popular ESPs. Import the email into your ESP, set up your target segment, and send.
Integration setup guide: How to Connect a CRM, CDP, or ESP to Letteros
Step 5. Analytics: what the numbers mean
Evaluate the result.
- Open Rate (OR): How many people opened the email. A measure of subject-line quality.
- Click Rate (CR): How many people clicked a link. A measure of content quality and the call to action (CTA).
- Unsubscribe Rate: How many people unsubscribed.
Compare metrics across campaigns. This will show which subject lines and formats work best for your audience.
Practical scenarios for small businesses
Business type | Example email | Starting budget | How Letteros helps |
|---|---|---|---|
Beauty salon/Barbershop | "Open slots on weekday afternoons with 20% off" | ₽0 (list <100 people) | Quickly build a promo banner and a responsive booking block. |
Online store | "New arrivals this month" (product showcase) | ~₽2,760/mo | Product cards line up perfectly on mobile without falling apart. |
Expert/Consultant | A useful long-read + webinar invite | ~₽2,760/mo | Flawless formatting of text and graphics, so nothing distracts the reader from the point. |
Case study: "Abandoned cart" — a profitable trigger
For online store owners: automate the recovery of lost sales using trigger emails. The Klaviyo team found that these emails bring in the most orders:
- Average open rate (OR): 50.5%.
- Average click rate (CR) for returning to the abandoned cart: 6.25%.
- Number of completed orders: 3.33%.
Automation based on customer behavior generates steady profit. Email marketing is a highly cost-effective channel that doesn't require constant manual oversight.
Common beginner mistakes
Avoid these mistakes so your efforts actually pay off:
- Sending from a personal mailbox (Gmail/Mail.ru). Guaranteed to land in spam. Only use a professional ESP.
- A banner-only email (one big image). If the image fails to load, the person sees an empty space. This hurts deliverability. An email should be built from text and blocks.
- Ignoring the mobile version. 80% of emails are opened on a smartphone. At Letteros, we solve this automatically thanks to responsive layout.
Why Letteros?
Letteros is a modular editor that lets you build an email template layout without a specialist or HTML knowledge.
We offer you more than the limited editors built into ESPs:
Feature | Business benefit |
|---|---|
Built-in microservices | An inliner and code minifier, spelling and typography checks, an image optimizer, and email rendering — these and other services are seamlessly built into the platform. Saves time on technical polishing. |
Rendering tests (Precheck) | Display checks across 100+ email clients: from browser-based versions of Outlook, Apple Mail, Gmail, Yandex, and Mail.Ru to versions on iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows. A guarantee that it will display correctly for the recipient. |
Consistent style | Built on a master template, your entire campaign looks professional and recognizable. Increases trust and brand recognition. |
Email marketing is the most cost-effective tool that gives your small business independence from advertising algorithms.
You don't need a team to get started. You need the right combination:
The Letteros builder (for visuals and speed) + an email service (for delivery).
Get started now:
- Sign up for Letteros for free and build an email from ready-made templates and blocks, and check that it's responsive.
- Need a custom brand style right away? Order a custom template from our designers.