How to Check Competitors’ Email Marketing: Tools and Techniques for Success

Email marketing is a cornerstone of successful digital marketing strategies. Keeping an eye on your competitors’ email marketing campaigns can provide invaluable insights to refine your strategy. By analyzing their techniques, frequency, and engagement strategies, you can uncover opportunities to stand out. This guide explores actionable tools and techniques to ethically and effectively check competitors’ email marketing.

Why Analyze Competitors’ Email Marketing?

Analyzing your competitors’ email marketing strategies is not about imitation; it’s about gaining insights that can help you sharpen your campaigns. By studying how they engage with their audience, you can uncover valuable information to fine-tune your approach and achieve better results.

1. Identify Industry Trends and Benchmarks

Competitor analysis provides a clear picture of what’s trending in your industry. Are they using bold subject lines, interactive content, or gamified emails? Recognizing these patterns allows you to align your campaigns with current audience preferences, ensuring you don’t fall behind.

2. Discover Gaps in Their Approach

No strategy is perfect. By critically evaluating your competitors’ emails, you might spot opportunities they are missing. For example, if their emails lack personalization, you could implement dynamic content that addresses recipients by name or adapts to their past behaviours. Filling these gaps can set your campaigns apart.

3. Improve Your Campaigns

Learning what works (and what doesn’t) from your competitors’ strategies can save you time and resources. If they’re using specific tactics like countdown timers for promotions or story-driven emails, testing similar ideas could yield higher engagement. On the flip side, identifying strategies that underperform in their campaigns can help you avoid costly mistakes.

4. Stay Competitive in Your Niche

The digital marketing landscape evolves quickly. Regularly monitoring competitors ensure you’re aware of emerging practices, whether it’s integrating AI-powered email tools or optimizing for mobile-first audiences. This knowledge helps you stay relevant and competitive.

Example in Action:

Let’s say a competitor uses time-sensitive offers, such as “Flash Sale! Ends Tonight.” You notice this approach drives significant engagement, indicated by visible social chatter or increased sales. By incorporating similar urgency-driven tactics into your campaigns, like limited-time discounts or early bird deals, you might see a substantial boost in click-through and conversion rates.

Competitor analysis isn’t just a tool; it’s a strategy to continuously evolve and outpace the competition in the dynamic world of email marketing.

What to Look for in Competitors’ Campaigns

When analyzing your competitors’ email marketing strategies, paying close attention to specific elements can help you uncover tactics that drive their success. One of the most impactful components to examine is their subject lines, as these are often the deciding factor for whether an email gets opened or ignored.

1. Subject Lines

The subject line serves as the gateway to an email. Crafting the right one is crucial for boosting open rates. To effectively analyze your competitors’ subject lines, focus on the following aspects:

• Length: Are their subject lines concise and to the point, or do they include additional details? Research shows that subject lines under 50 characters often perform better on mobile devices, while longer ones can offer more context.
• Tone: Pay attention to how competitors frame their messaging. Do they use humour to entertain, the urgency to prompt quick action, or direct value propositions to immediately highlight benefits? The tone of the subject line can influence whether recipients feel compelled to open the email.
• Personalization: Are their subject lines tailored to individual recipients? Including the recipient’s name or referencing specific preferences (like past purchases) can make emails feel more relevant and engaging.

Example in Action:

Consider this subject line from a competitor: “Exclusive: 20% Off Ends Tonight!”

• Length: It’s short snappy, and easily readable on mobile devices.
• Tone: The sense of exclusivity and urgency prompts immediate attention.
• Effectiveness: This format likely encourages recipients to prioritize the email, fearing they’ll miss out on a limited-time deal.

Pro Tip:

When evaluating subject lines, also consider their use of emojis. For instance, a travel affiliate might use ✈️ or 🏖️ to grab attention and align with their audience’s interests.

By understanding how competitors craft their subject lines, you can adopt, adapt, and innovate strategies that resonate with your target audience and improve your open rates.

2. Frequency and Timing

Evaluate how often competitors send emails and at what times.

• Are they sending weekly newsletters, daily promotions, or sporadic updates?
• Do they target specific times, like mornings or evenings?

Tip:

Track frequency patterns to see if their engagement spikes during certain days or times.

3. Content and Design

Review the type of content they include:

• Are emails focused on promotions, educational content, or customer testimonials?
• Is their design minimalistic, image-heavy, or interactive?

Example:

A competitor in the travel niche might use vibrant images and dynamic CTAs like “Book Your Dream Trip Now.”

4. Call-to-Actions (CTAs)

CTAs are critical for driving clicks. Examine:

• Placement: Are CTAs at the top, middle, or bottom of the email?
• Wording: Are they using phrases like “Shop Now” or “Learn More”?
• Design: Are buttons clear and visually distinct?

Tools to Spy on Competitors’ Email Marketing

Free Tools

1. Subscribe to Their Emails
   • Sign up for competitors’ newsletters to directly monitor their strategies.
   • Use tools like Gmail filters to organize and analyze their emails.
2. Wayback Machine
   • Check archived versions of their landing pages linked in emails.

Paid Tools

1. MailCharts
   • Tracks competitors’ email campaigns, providing insights on frequency, content, and timing.
   • Best for analyzing trends across industries.
2. Email Insights by Newsletter
   • Monitors competitors’ email activity and performance over time.
3. SimilarWeb
   • Provides data on traffic sources from email campaigns linked to websites.
4. Hunter.io
   • Finds email addresses of key individuals for targeted monitoring.

Step-by-Step Guide to Analyze Competitors’ Emails

Step 1: Identify Key Competitors

List 3–5 competitors whose email strategies align with your niche.

Step 2: Subscribe to Their Newsletters

Use a dedicated email address to subscribe to their lists.

Step 3: Categorize Emails

Organize received emails into categories like promotions, newsletters, and abandoned cart emails.

Step 4: Analyze Performance

If possible, use analytics tools to estimate open rates, click-through rates, and conversions.

Step 5: Benchmark Your Findings

Compare their tactics to your campaigns to identify areas for improvement.

Case Study: A Successful Email Marketing Analysis

Brand: E-Shop Apparel
Competitor: Trendy Wearables

Objective

E-Shop Apparel wanted to improve its email marketing performance, specifically open rates and conversions, by identifying and applying successful tactics used by a leading competitor, Trendy Wearables.

Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: Identifying the Competitor
E-Shop Apparel identified Trendy Wearables as a direct competitor in the fashion industry. Trendy Wearables was known for its active email campaigns, creative promotions, and frequent sales, making it an ideal brand to analyze.

Step 2: Subscribing to Competitor Emails
E-Shop Apparel’s marketing team subscribed to Trendy Wearables’ email list using a dedicated email account. This account was organized to categorize and analyze incoming competitor emails without cluttering their main work inbox.

Pro Tip: Use a separate email address specifically for competitor monitoring. Tools like Gmail filters can automatically organize emails into folders based on the sender.

Step 3: Tracking Campaigns for Three Months
Over three months, the team systematically tracked various aspects of Trendy Wearables’ email campaigns:

1. Frequency: The team recorded how often emails were sent—daily, weekly, or during specific events.
2. Timing: They noted the time of day and day of the week emails were sent.
3. Subject Lines: The team documented the structure, length, and tone of each subject line. For example, Trendy Wearables often used phrases like “Don’t Miss Out!” and “Flash Sale Ends Tonight.”
4. Content: The marketing team analyzed the types of offers, design elements, and CTAs (Call-to-Actions) in each email. Emails often featured bold, time-sensitive CTAs like “Shop the Sale” or “Grab Your Deal Now.”
5. Engagement Signals: While direct engagement metrics (like open rates) were not available, the team used clues such as email frequency during promotional periods and corresponding social media activity to infer audience response.

Step 4: Identifying Patterns and Insights
At the end of the three-month analysis, the team observed clear patterns:

• High Engagement During Flash Sales: Trendy Wearables sent emails announcing flash sales every two weeks. These emails consistently had urgency-driven subject lines like “Flash Sale: Ends in 24 Hours!”
• Effective Use of Scarcity and Exclusivity: Many emails emphasized limited stock or exclusive deals for subscribers, fostering a fear of missing out (FOMO).

Step 5: Implementing Similar Strategies
E-Shop Apparel adopted the insights into their email marketing campaigns:

1. Frequency: They started running bi-weekly flash sales, aligning with the frequency observed in Trendy Wearables’ campaigns.
2. Subject Lines: Subject lines were optimized to convey urgency and exclusivity, such as “Exclusive Flash Sale: Only 24 Hours Left!”
3. Timing: Emails were sent at times similar to Trendy Wearables’ schedule (e.g., mid-morning on weekdays), which seemed to target peak audience activity.
4. Content: Flash sale emails featured bold banners, countdown timers, and clear CTAs, such as “Shop Now Before It’s Gone!”

Step 6: Testing and Refining
E-Shop Apparel monitored the performance of its new strategy using email marketing tools to track open rates, click-through rates, and sales. They adjusted their subject lines and email design based on the data, further optimizing results over time.

Results

• Increased Open Rates: Within the first quarter of implementing these changes, E-Shop Apparel saw a 20% increase in email open rates.
• Boosted Sales: Sales from email campaigns grew by 15%, driven by the success of the bi-weekly flash sales.

How to Replicate This Strategy

1. Identify Your Competitor: Choose a competitor with an active email marketing presence.
2. Subscribe to Their Emails: Use a dedicated email address and organize competitor emails into folders for easy tracking.
3. Track and Analyze for 2–3 Months: Focus on key elements such as frequency, timing, subject lines, and content. Look for patterns in their engagement strategies.
4. Implement Insights: Apply the most effective tactics to your campaigns. Start with small adjustments to test what works.
5. Monitor Performance: Use email marketing tools to track key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversions.
6. Refine Your Strategy: Continuously analyze performance and make iterative improvements based on audience feedback.

By replicating this process, you can unlock valuable insights and boost the effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.

Ethical Considerations When Monitoring Competitors

1. Avoid Spamming Their Systems: Subscribe responsibly and respect their privacy policies.
2. Don’t Copy Content: Use analysis for inspiration, not duplication.
3. Follow Legal Guidelines: Ensure your methods comply with data protection laws like GDPR and CAN-SPAM.

Conclusion

Monitoring competitors’ email marketing strategies can provide actionable insights to enhance your campaigns. By leveraging tools like MailCharts and Owletter, analyzing subject lines, and studying frequency patterns, you can refine your approach for better engagement and conversions.

Start by subscribing to competitor newsletters, and let the data guide you to email marketing success. Want to dive deeper into advanced tools or techniques? Let’s continue the discussion!