Why Every Small Business Should Be Using Email Marketing
Updated: Oct 20
Pull up your last 50 invoices, appointment confirmations, or online orders. Count how many have an email address on them. For most local businesses, it's most of them. And almost none of those customers will hear from you again unless something breaks or they happen to remember your name.
Every small business with repeat or referral customers should be using email marketing, because it's the one marketing channel you own outright. No algorithm decides who sees it, it costs little or nothing to start, and it reaches people who already know and trust you at the moment they're ready to book again. A list built from your own customers, a welcome email, a reminder or seasonal email, and one useful message a month are enough to begin. Email isn't worth it if you have no way to collect addresses, can't send even one email a month, or sell something people buy once with no referrals to follow.
The Short Version
Verdict: email is the cheapest way to turn a first job into a second one. Your best future customers are the ones you already served, and email is how you stay in front of them without paying for every view. You probably already have the start of a list in your invoices, booking software, or point-of-sale system. Send a welcome email, a well-timed reminder, and one useful message a month, and judge the results by clicks, replies, and bookings, because open rates stopped being reliable in 2021. Ignore the "$36 for every $1" headline. It's an old, self-reported figure from marketers. Run your own numbers instead, with the table below.
Key Takeaways
Quick answer: email works for small businesses because you own the list, customers still prefer it, it's cheap to run, and automated reminders do a lot of the work. Measure it by bookings, not opens.
Customers still prefer it. In a 2025 CSG and Wakefield Research survey of 1,200 consumers across North America, Latin America, and EMEA, 73% chose email as a preferred channel for business messages, well ahead of text at 31%.
Social engagement keeps slipping. Quid's 2026 benchmark report found Instagram's all-industry median engagement rate "settling at 0.30%," measured against follower count.
Automated emails punch above their weight. Omnisend's 2026 ecommerce report found "Automations made up just 2% of all email sends, yet generated 30% of total email-driven revenue."
Open rates no longer prove much. Apple accounted for 62.26% of opens in Litmus's July 2026 data, and studies Litmus cites put Mail Privacy Protection's reach at roughly 55% to 60% of all opens.
The famous ROI figure is old and self-reported. Litmus's earlier ROI research tied its figures to a 2020 survey of marketers, and its 2025 survey reports a range instead of "$36 for every $1."
Why Should Every Small Business Use Email Marketing?
Quick answer: 5 reasons. You own the list, it reaches people who already trust you, it's cheap to start, it keeps working through automated reminders, and customers say it's how they prefer to hear from businesses. Social media, search, and ads help people find you. Email brings them back.
Reason | What it means for a local business | Evidence |
1. You own the list | No platform can cut your reach, suspend your account, or change the rules on who sees your message | Instagram's median engagement rate was 0.30% in Quid's 2026 benchmarks |
2. It reaches warm people | Everyone on your list has bought from you, booked with you, or asked to hear from you | Past customers already know your work and your prices |
3. It's cheap to start | Entry plans cost little or nothing for small lists | Mailchimp is free for up to 250 contacts (500 sends a month); Constant Contact's Lite plan starts at $10.20 a month billed annually |
4. It works while you work | Welcome, reminder, and seasonal emails send themselves once set up | Omnisend: automations were 2% of sends and 30% of email revenue (ecommerce, 2025 data) |
5. Customers prefer it | More consumers choose email for business messages than text or social media | CSG and Wakefield: 73% chose email as a preferred channel, vs 31% for text |
Sources for the table: Quid, Mailchimp pricing, Constant Contact pricing, Omnisend, and Chain Store Age reporting the CSG survey.
The ownership point matters most. A social post reaches the share of your followers the platform decides to show it to, and you pay again with every boost. An email lands in the inbox of every address on your list. That's why email and social media aren't rivals. Social helps new people find you. Email keeps the people you've already won.
Email is also where nearly everyone is. The Radicati Group projects worldwide email users will grow "from over 4.4 billion in 2024 to over 4.9 billion by 2028" (Radicati Group via EIN Presswire).
Is Email Marketing Worth It? Run Your Own Numbers
Quick answer: multiply your list size by a realistic click rate, then by the share of clickers who book, then by your average ticket. For a local business with 600 customer emails, one monthly email can plausibly produce 2 to 4 bookings. Compare that with a platform that costs $0 to $30 a month.
Industry averages won't tell you what email is worth to your business. Your own numbers will. Here's the math, with an illustrative example:
Step | Your number | Example |
Customer email addresses on your list | 600 | |
Average click rate per email | 2.09% (about 12 or 13 clicks) | |
Share of clickers who book or buy | 1 in 4 (about 3 bookings) | |
Average ticket | $150 | |
Revenue from one email | About $450 | |
Platform cost per month | $0 to $30 |
Two things make the real result better than this table. First, many people don't click. They call, reply, or walk in. Second, the math above counts one email. A welcome email and a service reminder keep working every month once they're set up.
Two things make it worse. A list you never email goes stale as people change addresses, and a list you email too often trains people to ignore you. That's why one useful message a month is a sensible starting rhythm for most local businesses.
RedFork has sent more than 10,000 marketing emails on behalf of its Partners. Whatever your list size, the rule is the same: send real customers something useful every time.
What About the "$36 for Every $1" Claim?
Quick answer: it's Litmus's figure, and Litmus's earlier ROI research was based on a 2020 survey of more than 2,000 marketers. It's an old, self-reported number from marketing teams, not a promise for a local business. Newer surveys still report strong returns, but treat every ROI multiple as a reason to test, not a forecast.
Almost every article on this topic leads with the same figure, and few say where it's from. Litmus's own ROI page says email "drives an ROI of $36 for every dollar spent" (Litmus). An earlier version of Litmus's ROI infographic attributed its figures to "Litmus' 2020 State of Email Survey of more than 2,000 marketing professionals worldwide." Litmus's 2025 version reports a range instead. Among marketing leaders, "35% receive $10-$36 in return" for every $1 spent, from a survey of nearly 500 marketers (Litmus).
In the UK, the Data and Marketing Association's 2026 Marketer Email Tracker put the return at "£40.96 return per £1 spent," based on 250 marketers (DMA).
All of these are marketers estimating their own results, mostly at companies larger than yours. They say email tends to return far more than it costs. They don't say what your list will do. The worked math above will.
Email vs Social Media: Why You Need a Channel You Own
Quick answer: use social media to be found and email to be remembered. Social platforms control who sees your posts, while email reaches everyone on your list. The two measure different things, so compare them by bookings, not likes or opens.
Social media | ||
Who controls reach | You | The platform's algorithm |
Who you reach | People who bought from you or asked to hear from you | Followers the platform chooses, plus paid reach |
Typical engagement measure | Clicks per email delivered (2.09% average, MailerLite) | Interactions per follower (0.30% Instagram median, Quid 2026) |
Cost to reach more people | Nearly flat as your list grows | Rises with every boost or ad |
Best job | Rebooking, reminders, reviews, referrals, offers | Discovery, proof of work, community |
The engagement numbers in that table are measured differently, so don't read them as a head-to-head score. The structural point stands on its own. When a platform changes how it shows posts, your reach changes with it. When you have a customer's email address, your reach is yours (Quid).
Which Small Businesses Get the Most From Email?
Quick answer: any business whose customers come back or refer friends: salons, dental and medical practices, home services, auto repair, restaurants, retail, and fitness studios. Businesses selling one-time, big-ticket jobs still benefit, mostly through referrals and reviews.
Business type | Why customers come back | First email to set up |
Salon, barber, or spa | Regular appointments | A rebooking reminder with a booking link |
Dental or medical practice | Recall visits and follow-ups | A recall reminder and a new patient welcome (keep health details out of marketing email) |
HVAC, plumbing, or pest control | Seasonal maintenance | A seasonal tune-up reminder before the busy season |
Auto repair | Maintenance intervals | A service reminder based on the last visit |
Restaurant or cafe | Frequent visits and events | A monthly specials and events email |
Retail or boutique | New arrivals and seasonal sales | A welcome email with a first-visit offer |
Fitness or dance studio | Class schedules and seasons | A class schedule and new session email |
Roofing, remodeling, or real estate | One big job every few years | A review request after the job and an annual check-in that asks for referrals |
In Central Florida, seasonal emails write themselves. A pre-hurricane-season checklist from a plumber or roofer, a summer AC tune-up reminder, or a back-to-school schedule from a studio is useful, timely, and easy to act on.
When Is Email Marketing Not Worth It?
Quick answer: skip email for now if you can't collect addresses, can't commit to one email a month, sell one-time purchases with no referral loop, or your customers clearly prefer texts. In each case, a better first step exists.
Situation | Why email struggles | Do this first instead |
You don't collect customer emails | There's no list to send to | Add an email field to invoices, bookings, and receipts for 3 months |
You can't send even one email a month | Irregular sends feel random and lists go stale | Set up one automated email, such as a welcome or reminder, and stop there |
One-time purchases with no referrals | Repeat emails have little to sell | Focus on reviews and your Google Business Profile |
Customers respond to texts, not email | Messages get read in the wrong channel | Use texts for reminders and email for monthly updates |
You'd buy a list instead of building one | Bought lists damage deliverability and trust | Build from your own customers, even if it's small |
Being honest about this makes email work better where it fits. A small list of real customers, emailed well, beats a big list emailed badly.
Where Your First Email List Comes From
Quick answer: start with the customers you already have. Export email addresses from invoices, booking software, and point-of-sale records, add a sign-up box to your website and checkout, and ask for an email at every booking. Then follow the permission and sending rules before your first send.
Most local businesses have a list and don't know it. Look in these places:
Invoices and estimates. Your invoicing or field service software almost always stores customer emails.
Booking software. Appointment tools collect emails for confirmations.
Point-of-sale receipts. Many systems ask "Email your receipt?" and keep the address.
Your website. Add a short sign-up form with a clear promise, such as "Seasonal reminders and first dibs on openings, about once a month."
The front desk and the phone. Ask every new customer, "What's the best email for your confirmation and reminders?"
Before you send, know the basics. The U.S. CAN-SPAM Act covers commercial email, and the FTC notes that "The law makes no exception for business-to-business email" (FTC). Email platforms and inbox providers add their own rules. Gmail treats senders as bulk senders when they send "close to 5,000 messages or more to personal Gmail accounts within a 24-hour period," and asks senders to keep user-reported spam "below 0.1%" (Google Workspace Admin Help). Our guide to email marketing rules for small businesses covers what every commercial email must include.
The 4 Emails to Start With
Quick answer: start with a welcome email, a reminder or rebooking email, a seasonal or useful-tip email, and a review or referral request. The first two can be automated once and keep working every month.
Welcome. Sent the moment someone joins your list. Say what they'll get, how often, and one thing they can do now.
Reminder or rebooking. Timed to your service interval, such as 6 weeks after a haircut or 6 months after a tune-up.
Seasonal or useful tip. One short, practical message a month tied to the season or a common question.
Review or referral request. Sent a day or two after a job, when the customer is happiest.
Our guide to email marketing best practices for small businesses walks through writing the welcome email, subject lines, and a pre-send checklist, so this page stays focused on why and whether.
How Do You Measure Email When Open Rates Are Unreliable?
Quick answer: measure clicks, replies, bookings, and revenue from email, plus unsubscribes and spam complaints. Treat open rates as a rough trend at best, because Apple's Mail Privacy Protection marks many emails as opened whether or not anyone read them.
Apple introduced Mail Privacy Protection in 2021, and Apple says it "stops senders from using invisible pixels to collect information about the user" (Apple Newsroom). With Apple at 62.26% of opens in Litmus's July 2026 data, studies Litmus cites put the feature's reach at roughly 55% to 60% of all email opens (Litmus). The DMA's 2026 tracker puts it bluntly: "iOS privacy changes have made open rates functionally untrustworthy."
Here's what to watch instead:
Measure | Why it matters | Where to find it |
Clicks | Shows real interest in the offer or link | Your email platform |
Replies and calls | Many local customers respond without clicking | Your inbox and phone log |
Bookings or sales from email | The number that pays for the effort | Booking software, UTM-tagged links, or "How did you hear about us?" |
Unsubscribes per email | Rising numbers mean the content or frequency is off | Your email platform |
Spam complaints | Too many hurt delivery for every future email | Your email platform and Google Postmaster Tools |
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answer: email is still worth it for most small businesses with repeat customers, it can start free, a few hundred real addresses are enough, and success shows up in bookings rather than open rates.
Is email marketing still worth it for a small business in 2026?
Yes, for businesses with repeat or referral customers. Email reaches people who already know you, costs little to run, and isn't controlled by a platform's algorithm. It's less useful for one-time purchases with no referrals, or if you can't send at least one email a month. Run the math with your own list size and ticket before deciding how much time to give it.
What is the average ROI of email marketing?
The widely quoted "$36 for every $1" is Litmus's figure, which its earlier research tied to a 2020 survey of more than 2,000 marketers. Litmus's 2025 survey reports a range, with 35% of marketing leaders earning $10 to $36 per $1, and the UK's DMA put it at £40.96 per £1 in 2026. All are self-reported by marketers, so test with your own list.
How much does email marketing cost a small business?
Very little to start. Mailchimp's free plan covers up to 250 contacts, and Constant Contact's Lite plan starts at $10.20 a month billed annually, according to their pricing pages in September 2026. Costs rise with list size. The bigger cost is time, by our estimate about an hour to write a monthly email and a few hours to set up automated reminders once.
How many subscribers do I need before email marketing pays off?
Fewer than most owners think. Because a list of past customers is warm, a few hundred addresses can produce bookings from a single email. With 600 customers, a 2% click rate, and 1 in 4 clickers booking, one email brings about 3 jobs. Start with the customers you already have rather than waiting for a big list.
Is email marketing better than social media for small businesses?
They do different jobs. Social media helps new customers discover you, and email brings past customers back. Email reaches everyone on your list, while social platforms decide who sees each post. Most local businesses do best using social for discovery and proof of work, and email for rebooking, reminders, reviews, and referrals.
How often should a small business send marketing emails?
Once a month is a sensible starting point for most local businesses, plus automated emails like welcomes and service reminders that send on their own timing. Increase frequency only if your emails are useful, clicks and replies hold steady, and unsubscribes stay low. Sending too often trains customers to ignore you, and sending too rarely lets your list go stale.
Do I need permission to email my customers?
In the United States, CAN-SPAM doesn't require opt-in permission, but every commercial email must follow its rules, including a working unsubscribe and your physical address. Email platforms and inbox providers often expect permission anyway, and other countries' laws are stricter. Our email marketing rules guide covers the details. This is general information, not legal advice.
Send the First Email This Month
Quick answer: count the customer emails you already have, set up a welcome email and one reminder, and send one useful message this month. If you'd rather hand it off, RedFork's Pro marketing includes email.
This week, export the email addresses from your invoices or booking software and count them. Set up a welcome email and one service reminder. Then write one short, useful email for this month and send it. You'll learn more from that first send than from any benchmark.
RedFork Marketing is an Orlando agency that has helped more than 800 businesses grow since 2014, and has sent more than 10,000 marketing emails on behalf of its Partners. Our Pro marketing team runs email alongside SEO content, social, ads, and design. When you request pricing from RedFork, bring your customer count and your average ticket, and we'll run the email math with you on the first call.
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