email-marketing

name: email-marketing description: Email sequences, newsletters, subject lines, templates, deliverability. Triggers on "email sequence", "drip campaign", "newsletter", "subject line", "chuỗi email", "gửi mail".

Email Marketing

Design and write email campaigns that drive opens, clicks, and conversions. Covers welcome sequences, nurture drips, promotional blasts, transactional emails, re-engagement campaigns, subject line optimization, and deliverability best practices.

Initial Assessment

Before creating any email content, determine:

1. Campaign type? Welcome series, nurture drip, promotional, newsletter, transactional, re-engagement, or cart abandonment?
2. List characteristics? Size, segmentation, average open rate, platform (Mailchimp, SendGrid, Resend, Brevo, GetResponse)?
3. Goal per email? Click to content, click to product, reply, forward, purchase?
4. Sequence length? Single email or multi-email flow? If flow, how many touchpoints over what period?
5. Language? English, Vietnamese, or bilingual.
6. Brand context loaded? Read docs/brand-guidelines.md for voice, tone, visual style.

Core Methodology

Email Architecture: The 3-Layer Model

Every marketing email has three layers. Optimize each independently:

Layer 1 — Envelope (determines open):

• Subject line (most critical — 50% of open rate)
• Preview text / preheader (the second headline)
• Sender name (use a person's name for B2C, brand name for B2B)

Layer 2 — Body (determines click):

• Opening line (continue the promise from subject)
• Core message (one idea per email — never multiple CTAs competing)
• CTA placement (primary CTA above the fold, repeat at bottom)

Layer 3 — Footer (determines trust):

• Unsubscribe link (required by law)
• Physical address or business registration
• Social links
• Vietnam-specific: Zalo OA link, hotline number

Subject Line Formulas

Generate 5+ subject line variants per email, pick the strongest:

Subject line rules:

• Under 50 characters (mobile truncation at ~41)
• No ALL CAPS, no excessive punctuation (!!!), no spam trigger words
• Personalization token {{first_name}} increases open rate ~20%
• Emoji: use sparingly (1 max), test with Vietnamese audience — 🎁 and ⚡ perform well

Sequence Design Patterns

Welcome Series (3-5 emails, 7-14 days):

Email 1 (Day 0): Deliver the promise — what they signed up for + set expectations
Email 2 (Day 2): Quick win — one actionable tip they can use immediately
Email 3 (Day 5): Story — founder story, customer story, or mission story
Email 4 (Day 8): Value — best content piece, free tool, or resource
Email 5 (Day 12): Soft pitch — introduce product with a specific use case

Nurture Drip (5-7 emails, 3-4 weeks):

Email 1: Problem awareness — "Most [audience] struggle with [pain]"
Email 2: Education — "Here's why [problem] happens"
Email 3: Social proof — "How [customer] solved [problem]"
Email 4: Solution intro — "There's a better way"
Email 5: Product deep-dive — specific feature → specific benefit
Email 6: Objection handling — FAQ or myth-busting
Email 7: Offer — clear CTA with incentive

Cart Abandonment (3 emails, 72 hours):

Email 1 (1 hour): Reminder — "You left something behind" + product image
Email 2 (24 hours): Objection — address top purchase concern + review
Email 3 (72 hours): Incentive — discount or bonus + urgency

Workflow

Scenario 1: Write an Email Sequence

1. Load brand context from docs/brand-guidelines.md
2. Determine sequence type, length, and timing from the assessment
3. Select the matching sequence pattern from above
4. For each email in the sequence, produce:
   • 5 subject line variants (pick top 2 for A/B test)
   • Preview text (complementary to subject, not repetitive)
   • Body copy following the 3-Layer Model
   • CTA with specific action verb + value
5. Format each email as a separate section in the output file
6. Include send timing and segmentation notes
7. Save to assets/emails/[campaign-name]/sequence-overview.md

Scenario 2: Single Promotional Email

1. Load brand context
2. Identify: What's the offer? What's the urgency? What's the main objection?
3. Write subject line variants (5 minimum)
4. Structure body: Hook → Offer → Proof → CTA → PS line
5. PS line technique: restate the strongest benefit or add a bonus ("P.S. Còn tặng thêm...")
6. Save to assets/emails/promo-[name]-YYYY-MM-DD.md

Scenario 3: Newsletter Template

1. Load brand context
2. Establish recurring sections:
   • Opening: personal note or industry observation (2-3 sentences)
   • Main content: 1 featured article or insight
   • Quick links: 2-3 curated resources
   • CTA: one primary action
   • Closing: sign-off consistent with brand personality
3. Create a reusable template with {{placeholders}} for variable content
4. Save template to assets/emails/templates/newsletter-template.md

Vietnamese Email Specifics

Sender name conventions:

• B2C: Personal name works well ("Linh từ [Brand]", "Minh @ [Brand]")
• B2B: Brand name + department ("Team [Brand]", "[Brand] Support")
• Avoid English-only sender names for Vietnamese-audience lists

Cultural timing:

• Best send times for Vietnam: 8-9 AM (morning commute), 12-1 PM (lunch break), 8-9 PM (evening scroll)
• Avoid sending during Tết holidays (check lunar calendar)
• Friday afternoon emails perform poorly — avoid
• 11/11, 12/12, and Black Friday campaigns: start teasing 3-5 days before

Trust signals critical for Vietnamese recipients:

• Business registration number in footer
• Physical address in Vietnam
• Zalo OA link (many prefer Zalo over email for support)
• Hotline with Vietnamese phone number format
• "Cam kết hoàn tiền" (money-back guarantee) if applicable

Deliverability for Vietnamese domains:

• Gmail dominates Vietnam — optimize for Gmail rendering
• Many Vietnamese users use the Gmail app — test mobile layout
• Avoid image-heavy emails (slow mobile connections in rural areas)
• Plain text ratio should be >60% of total email content

Deliverability Checklist

Append to every email campaign review:

• SPF, DKIM, DMARC records configured for sending domain
• Sender address matches "From" name expectation
• Subject line passes spam filter check (no ALL CAPS, no "FREE!!!", no excessive symbols)
• Unsubscribe link present and functional
• Physical address or business info in footer
• Image-to-text ratio < 40:60
• All links functional and tracked
• Mobile rendering tested (320px width)
• Personalization tokens have fallback values (avoid blank "Hi ," on empty names)

Output Specification

• Format: Markdown with email metadata headers per email
• Location: assets/emails/[campaign-name]/ for sequences, assets/emails/ for singles
• Naming: sequence-overview.md for flows, promo-[name]-YYYY-MM-DD.md for singles
• Include: subject line variants, preview text, body, CTA, send timing, segment notes

Quality Checklist

• Subject lines: 5+ variants, under 50 chars, no spam triggers
• One primary CTA per email (no competing actions)
• Sequence has logical flow — each email builds on the previous
• Welcome email delivers on signup promise within 5 minutes
• Brand voice consistent with docs/brand-guidelines.md
• Vietnamese emails use appropriate formality level
• Deliverability checklist passed
• Output saved to assets/emails/ with correct structure

Related Skills

• copywriting — Persuasion frameworks for email body copy
• marketing-psychology — Triggers for urgency, scarcity, social proof in emails
• content-marketing — Newsletter content sourced from blog articles
• analytics — Tracking open rates, click rates, conversion attribution