Unlocking Hidden Content Gold: Using Keyword Research to Drive Your Email Newsletter Strategy

In the fast-paced world of email marketing, we often obsess over the wrong variables — open rates, emoji choices, subject line hacks. But one of the most powerful, yet underutilized tools for creating content that truly connects? Keyword research.

Not in the SEO sense. I’m talking about using keyword research to guide your email newsletter strategy — to help you uncover what your audience is actually interested in and speak to their most pressing needs. Think of it as market research meets message clarity.

Let me explain.

Start With the End in Mind: Who's the Starving Crowd?

When I approach any marketing initiative — whether it's a campaign, an email sequence, or a content calendar — I always start with the end in mind. That means understanding who the consumer is.

● Who am I trying to reach?

● What do they care about?

● What are they typing into Google late at night?

Here’s an analogy I often use:

What’s the most important thing you need to have a successful restaurant?

People throw out ideas like menu, location, the chef, parking, ambience. And those are good answers.

But the real answer?

A starving crowd.

 

You don’t need to be the best chef in town if you’re the only one offering food to hungry people. Likewise, it’s incredibly difficult to sell bottled water in the grocery store — but absurdly easy if you’re selling it to someone dying of thirst in the desert.

The same is true with marketing.

The key is to find your starving crowd. And in the digital world, that means identifying the keywords and search phrases your audience is already using — the questions they’re asking, the frustrations they’re voicing.

That’s why keyword research is my starting point. Not just for SEO, but for everything — blog posts, social content, and especially email newsletters.

My Toolkit: Keyword Research Tools I Actually Use

There are dozens of keyword tools out there, but I’ve got my personal favorites:

● Google Keyword Planner – for volume and competitive insight

● Ubersuggest – for long-tail phrase discovery

● Ahrefs and SEMrush – for SEO-heavy campaigns

● AnswerThePublic – for visualizing real search questions

● WordTracker – my go-to for raw keyword ideas and variations

Let’s say I want to explore the topic “keyword research.” Using WordTracker, I might find it gets around 16,700 monthly searches in the U.S. But when I check Google Keyword Planner, I see a much broader estimate — upwards of 83,000 searches globally.

Neither number is perfect. But combined, they give me a picture: this is a topic people care about. It's relevant. It's active. And it can guide me toward phrases, pain points, and topic angles that are already proven to have traction.

From there, I can shape an email around that topic — or better yet, build an entire campaign series around related long-tail terms.

Why This Matters for Email Newsletters

Most marketers think of keyword research as a tool to drive blog traffic. But it’s just as important for driving relevance and resonance in your inbox.

When you use keyword research to plan your email content, you shift from guessing what your audience wants… to knowing. You get to speak the language they’re already using — in their words, not yours.

As outlined in Mystrika’s comprehensive post, “Essential Email Marketing Keywords: The Complete List,” keyword research is more than a traffic tool — it’s a messaging guide. They note: “Using the right keywords can lead to higher engagement, as your content feels more timely, targeted, and useful.” The idea is simple: speak to what’s already top-of-mind.

 

Use Keywords to Spark Your Content Calendar

Start with seed terms that relate to your niche:

Think “email segmentation,” “drip campaigns,” or “win-back sequences.”

Then plug those into the tools above to generate a list of keyword suggestions and related phrases. Look for:

● Question-based searches

● Rising trends

● Phrases with buyer intent

Long-tail keywords (especially powerful for niche targeting)

The team at MyEmma, in their article “Use SEO Keyword Research for Targeted Email Marketing,” recommends marketers start treating their email list like a search engine audience. They write: “Discover what they’re searching for, then deliver it directly to their inbox.” It’s a powerful idea — and a smart one. When you stop guessing and start responding, your emails feel more like solutions than sales.

Look for Gaps and Fresh Angles

Let keyword research reveal what’s missing in your industry’s content.

Maybe everyone’s talking about A/B testing subject lines — but no one’s connecting that with seasonality or device segmentation. Or perhaps there’s plenty of info on deliverability, but little on what happens after the inbox.

These are your opportunities.

As KeywordSearch.com points out in “Unlocking the Secrets of Email Marketing Keyword Research,” tools like Google Trends and AnswerThePublic help uncover overlooked questions and rising queries. “When you center your content around what people are actively asking,” they write, “you position your brand as a go-to resource. It’s not about chasing volume; it’s about relevance.”

How I Turn Keywords Into Emails

Once I’ve gathered a list of high-interest keywords, I sort them into buckets:

● Educational: Great for newsletters, onboarding, or engagement campaigns

● Transactional: Ideal for promotions, product features, or offers

● Inspirational: Fuel for thought leadership and story-based content

Then I build my email calendar with those clusters in mind. Each email addresses a specific keyword or question — essentially, a mini blog post that delivers real value to my list.

And yes, I often include the keyword (or related phrase) in the subject line. Why? Because it's the language my reader uses. That familiarity can boost opens without relying on clickbait or gimmicks.

Real-Life Proof: The Blog Post That Blew Up

Still wondering if keyword research for email marketers really works?

Let me share a quick case study from my own writing for this exact blog. Back in December 2020, I published a blog post on Only Influencers titled “Temp Email and the Fake Email Generator”. The idea for that post didn’t come from a brainstorming session or a content calendar. It came directly from keyword research.

When I started exploring topics that email marketers were curious about, the phrase “temporary email” (and its variants like “temp email” or “fake email generator”) kept coming up with massive search volume — thousands upon thousands of monthly queries. The search behavior told me there was a genuine need to understand this issue, especially in the context of email marketing and deliverability.

So I wrote the post. And the results?

That article currently sits at 106,118 views — making it, to the best of my knowledge, the most-viewed blog post ever published on the Only Influencers website. To put that in perspective, most OI posts range from 1,500 to 6,000 views. That one post received more than 10X the traffic — not because it was promoted heavily, not because of a lucky break, but because it was built around what people were already looking for.

As of writing this post in 2025, when I type “temporary email” into WordTracker, I see that there are over 311,000 searches per month. So it’s no surprise that the blog post continues to attract long-tail traffic years later.

Don’t believe keyword research works? Here’s your proof.

 Data + intent + content = results.

 

Relevance Wins. Every Time.

Your audience is telling you what they care about. You just have to listen.

Keyword research gives you a window into their world — their worries, their goals, their language. Use that insight to write smarter emails, create better content, and earn your spot in their inbox.

Because in a world full of noise, relevance is your loudest signal.

Sources Cited:

1. Mystrika – Essential Email Marketing Keywords: The Complete List

https://blog.mystrika.com/essential-email-marketing-keywords-the-complete-list/

2. MyEmma – Use SEO Keyword Research for Targeted Email Marketing

https://myemma.com/blog/use-seo-keyword-research-for-targeted-email-marketing/

3. KeywordSearch.com – Unlocking the Secrets of Email Marketing Keyword Research

https://www.keywordsearch.com/blog/email-marketing-keyword-research-secrets-unveild