With some 347 billion messages exchanged every day, email marketing is still the dominant channel for reaching customers. What’s more, marketers see an average $42 ROI for every $1 spent, and personalised email campaigns deliver 26% higher open rates, while automated workflows produce 320% greater ROI than manual sends. As a marketing agency for finance, we’re sharing what works to generate revenue and how to create a solid foundation for your email marketing strategy.
Strategic Foundations for Revenue-Generating Email Marketing
The email funnel you develop for your customers takes them on a journey from having their interest piqued, to opening and reading the email to taking the next action you want from them, usually to click through to your landing page. Every one of these steps needs to be considered and structured to make that journey flow smoothly. Here are the foundations you need to put in place.
#1 Build Rock-Solid Funnels & Landing Pages
A successful email campaign doesn’t exist in isolation. Every email must align with a well-designed funnel:
- Clear user journey: From inbox to landing page, every step should feel intuitive and frictionless.
- Landing page synergy: Copy, tone, visuals, and call to action must mirror the email to maintain momentum and trust.
#2 Nail Your Tone of Voice
A relatable, human tone that is not overly promotional, builds trust. People respond more to emails that feel personal, like they’re written by a person, not a faceless company and not AI. Integration of first-person voice (“I,” “you”) often lifts both engagement and conversion. Be consistent so your audience learns to recognise your email content.
#3 Adopt Email Best Practices
There’s a lot of excellent examples of what works well that you can find on the internet. Here are some we’ve drawn from Tillison Consulting:
- Subject line magic: Use relevance, intrigue, or pain hooks. Always A/B test (pain vs curiosity vs success-driven lines) to see what resonates
- Deliverability matters: Ensure clean lists, valid domains, and avoid spam triggers like excessive caps or exclamation marks
- Segmentation is king: The more personalised and relevant your email, the more revenue it can deliver.
According to Forbes personalising messaging can increase open rates by 26%.
Proven Tactics & Types of Revenue-Driving Emails
Whether you’re in e-commerce, finance or both, here are some effective email types that consistently deliver:
- Welcome Series – Engage early with a warm welcome, nurture trust, and introduce value.
- Abandoned Cart Reminders – A key revenue booster, especially for e-commerce.
- Post-Purchase Follow-ups – Encourage reviews, cross-sells, or referrals with tailored content.
- Re-Engagement Campaigns – Win back lapsed subscribers or clean your list by prompting disengaged users to unsubscribe or re-engage.
- Segmentation-Driven Broadcasts – Send offers only to relevant audience segments for higher conversion.
- Email Sales Letters – Think editorial-style, story-driven emails that feel personal and build emotional connection, like a conversation with a friend, not a pitch.
- Automated Drip Sequences – Triggered emails based on user behaviour: welcome, cart, post-purchase, inactivity. More on this below!
- Promotion & Seasonal Campaigns – Timely offers tied to holidays or events drive urgency.
- Cross-Selling & Product Recommendations – Intelligent, behaviour-based suggestions improve average order value.
Don’t have the time or resources to develop your email funnel strategy? Contentworks has worked with top global finance brands to create effective emails that communicate and convert clients. Book in for a free 15 minute zoom and tell us what you need.
Automated Drip Sequences
Let’s take a look at how drip sequenced emails can work for a financial services firm or a forex broker. When someone signs up for your mailing list, whether it’s to download a trading guide, register for a demo account, or attend a webinar, they’re signalling interest but not necessarily commitment. That’s where automated drip sequences come in.
What Are Drip Sequences?
Drip sequences are pre-planned, automated sets of emails triggered by a user action (sign-up, account registration, inactivity). Instead of blasting one generic email, the drip “drips” content over time. The aim is to warmup leads, overcome objections, and guide them toward a specific goal, like completing KYC, depositing funds or starting /resuming trading.
Why Drip Sequences Work in Finance
Finance decisions are rarely impulsive. Trust, education, and reassurance are key before someone invests their money. Drip emails let you:
- Educate gradually: Provide tutorials, explainers, or market insights in digestible pieces.
- Build authority: Consistently offer value, e.g. daily analysis or strategy tips to establish thought leadership.
- Overcome objections: Address common hesitations (security and privacy, fees, volatility, regulations) through FAQ-style emails. Extra points for saving time for your customer support team!
- Nurture to action: Move prospects from demo accounts to live trading with incentives or real-life case studies.
A Sample Forex Drip Sequence
Here’s what a typical 5-step drip journey looks like:
- Welcome & Trust Builder (Day 1)
- Subject: “Welcome to [Your broker’s name]! Here’s your free guide to smarter trading.”
- Content: Thank them for signing up, deliver their lead magnet (eBook, webinar replay, trading glossary), and outline what to expect next.
- Education & Value (Day 3)
- Content: Based on where they are in your funnel, develop educational material that helps move them along – e.g. “Let’s complete your KYC in 3 short steps”. Can link to to FAQs or explainer videos.
- Platform Familiarisation (Day 5)
- Content: Walk them through your trading platform with screenshots or a short video. Show how easy it is to start.
- CTA: “Log in now and explore with your demo balance.”
- Social Proof & Trust (Day 7)
- Content: Client testimonials, success stories, or stats (e.g. “Over 1M traders trust us”).
- CTA: “Upgrade to a live account today.”
- Conversion Push (Day 10)
- Content: Limited-time deposit bonus, free signals, or exclusive webinar for live account holders.
- CTA: Clear button: “Fund Your Account Now.”
Advanced Email Marketing for Finance Brands
- Behavioural Triggers: If a lead downloads a “Forex Scalping Guide,” send a follow-up about advanced strategies. If they watch a webinar on crypto, send crypto-focused trading emails.
- Branching Logic: Use marketing automation platforms to create pathways. E.g., demo account users who don’t deposit get one sequence, while live account users receive retention campaigns.
- Regulation Awareness: Financial services emails must remain compliant (e.g., disclaimers, risk warnings). Drips can automatically insert required text while keeping the main body persuasive and clear.
Remember, your email strategy is just one part of your overall marketing plan. Read about what else you need to include in your forex marketing plan.
Setting KPIs & Tracking Wins
Every solid financial marketing strategy will include key performing indicators (KPIs) so you can measure success and know what to keep, throw away or tweak.
Define what “winning” means, based on your goals:
- Open Rate: Are your subject lines compelling enough?
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): Is your messaging driving action?
- Conversion Rate: Are recipients completing desired actions? For our forex broker example this might be to complete a specified action like downloading the platform, getting a demo, depositing, attending a webinar, actively trading.
- Revenue per Email: Especially for e-commerce, track direct ROI. For a broker, this might measure how long it takes to get leads to fund their account.
- List Health Metrics: Monitor unsubscribes, bounces, and re-engagement.
Templates to Kickstart Your Revenue Strategy
Here are some some basic templates to get you started.
- Subject Line A/B Test Template
- Option A (Pain): “Still Struggling with [Problem]? We Can Help.”
- Option B (Intrigue): “Here’s How to [Desired Outcome]”
- Sales Letter Framework Email
- Headline: Identify pain point or desired outcome.
- Body:
- Relate – share a story or insight.
- Agitate – highlight implications of ignoring the issue.
- Help – offer value upfront (tips, guidance).
- Solution – present your offering as helpful, not pushy.
- CTA: Friendly, low-friction fallback (ex: “Learn more,” “Reply to chat”).
- Automated Abandoned Cart Email
- Subject: “Forgot Something?”
- Body: Brief reminder + value reinforcement + clear CTA (“Complete Your Purchase”).
Emails Done Right
Recent data confirms that email marketing delivers an impressive return on investment, often 2 to 4 times higher than most other digital channels. In fact, email continues to dominate ROI rankings as the most effective marketing tactic in 2025.
Emails, when done right, are powerful, scalable revenue drivers. To succeed you need to:
- Understand customer journey & funnel.
- Use a human, engaging voice.
- Master segmentation, personalisation, deliverability.
- Define KPIs and optimise with A/B testing.
- Leverage proven email types: automations, stories, promos, re-engagement.
Need an email marketing strategy that drives revenue? Contentworks is the leading marketing agency for finance. Speak to our team about creating emails that generate revenue.