Email marketing is the practice of sending commercial messages to a group of people by email — newsletters, promotions, product updates, and automated messages triggered by what someone does. It is one of the oldest digital channels, and more than three decades in, it is still the one that quietly outperforms almost everything else on return.
This guide is written from a Canadian perspective: what email marketing actually is, why the return on investment is so strong, how CASL shapes the way we do it here, and how to start without wasting money. If you have read the big global explainers, this is the version that accounts for CAD budgets, Canadian compliance, and Canadian buyers.
What email marketing actually is
At its simplest, email marketing is permission-based communication. Someone gives you their address and their consent, and you send them messages that are useful enough to be worth the inbox space. Those messages generally fall into three buckets:
- Broadcast campaigns — a newsletter or promotion sent to a whole list or a segment of it.
- Automated / triggered emails — messages that send themselves in response to an action, such as a welcome email after sign-up or a reminder after someone goes quiet. These are the backbone of modern email automation.
- Transactional emails — receipts, confirmations, and account notices tied to something the recipient did.
The thread connecting all three is consent and relevance. Email marketing works because the person asked to hear from you — which is also exactly where Canadian law comes in.
Why the ROI is so strong
Here is the number that keeps email at the top of the list: according to Litmus, email drives an average return of $36 for every $1 spent, higher than any other channel. Even read conservatively, that is a return most paid-advertising budgets can only dream about.
Why does a decades-old channel still win on ROI?
- You own the audience. Unlike social followers or ad audiences, your email list is an asset you control. Algorithm changes and rising ad costs do not take it away from you.
- The cost base is low. Sending email is inexpensive relative to paid media, so even modest revenue per campaign produces a strong ratio. On Public Circles, plans start at $25/mo USD, which keeps the “spend” side of that ratio small.
- It compounds through automation. A welcome series or re-engagement flow you build once keeps earning with no extra effort. Automated emails routinely earn far more per message than one-off broadcasts.
- It is measurable. Opens, clicks, and conversions tell you what works, so you can put more behind what pays and stop what does not.
A simple way to think about your own ROI: (revenue from email − cost of email) ÷ cost of email. If a $25/mo USD plan helps recover even a handful of carts or close a few extra sales a month, the maths tends to look very good, very quickly.
The Canadian angle: CASL is not optional
Most global guides treat compliance as a footnote. In Canada it is the foundation. CASL — Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation — is among the strictest anti-spam laws in the world, and it changes how you build a list and send to it.
The essentials:
- Consent first. You generally need express or implied consent before sending a commercial electronic message. Buying or scraping lists is both bad practice and a compliance risk.
- Identify yourself. Every message needs accurate sender information and a valid mailing address.
- An easy way out. A clear, working unsubscribe must be honoured promptly.
- Keep records. You should be able to show how and when someone consented.
None of this is a reason to send less — it is a reason to send *better*. A clean, consented list engages more and lands in the inbox more often. This is why CASL-compliant consent and unsubscribe handling are built into Public Circles on every plan, rather than being something you bolt on later.
What good email marketing looks like
You do not need to do everything at once. The highest-return fundamentals are:
- Grow a consented list with clear sign-up forms that say what people are agreeing to.
- Segment it so the right message reaches the right people — new subscribers, repeat buyers, and quiet contacts should not all get the same email.
- Automate the obvious moments — a welcome series, a post-purchase follow-up, and a re-engagement flow capture most of the easy ROI.
- Write for one person, with a clear subject line and a single obvious action.
- Measure and adjust — watch clicks and conversions, not just opens, and keep your list clean.
How much does it cost to get started?
Less than most people expect. Many platforms offer a free or low entry tier, and paid plans scale with your list size. The thing to watch in Canada is USD billing — several of the big platforms price in US dollars, so your real cost drifts with the exchange rate. Public Circles bills Canadian customers in CAD and US customers in USD, with plans from $25/mo USD, so the number on your invoice is the number you planned for.
The bottom line
Email marketing endures because it pays: you own the audience, the cost is low, automation compounds the return, and every dollar is measurable — which is how it keeps delivering such a strong return. Done the Canadian way, it starts with consent and CASL, and rewards you with a list that actually wants to hear from you.
Ready to put it to work? See how Public Circles works, or explore our plans from $25/mo USD.
