Every few years, someone declares email marketing dead. Social media killed it. Then mobile killed it. Then chatbots killed it. Now AI is supposedly killing it.
Spoiler alert: email marketing is very much alive. It’s actually thriving. The average ROI for email marketing is $42 for every dollar spent. Show me another marketing channel with returns like that. I’ll wait.
The problem isn’t that email doesn’t work anymore. The problem is that most people are terrible at it.
Why Your Emails Go Straight to Trash
Let’s start with some real talk. Your emails probably suck. I don’t mean that personally – I mean that statistically, most marketing emails are terrible. They’re generic, boring, self-centered, and they completely ignore what the recipient actually wants or needs.
Think about your own inbox right now. How many unread emails do you have? How many promotional emails did you delete this morning without even opening? How many brands have you muted or sent to spam because their emails were annoying?
Now think about the emails you actually open. The ones you read. The ones you click through. What makes them different? They’re probably from brands you genuinely like, offering something you actually want, written in a way that doesn’t make you feel like you’re being marketed to.
That’s the bar you need to clear. And most email marketing doesn’t come close.
The biggest mistake? Treating your email list like a captive audience you can blast with whatever you want. Your subscribers gave you permission to email them, sure. But that permission is conditional. It’s fragile. Every email you send is either building trust and strengthening that relationship, or it’s pushing them closer to that unsubscribe button.
Building a List That Actually Matters
Before we even talk about what to send, let’s talk about who you’re sending to. Because you can have the world’s best email campaign, but if it’s going to the wrong people, it doesn’t matter.
Stop trying to build the biggest list possible. Start trying to build the right list. Quality over quantity isn’t just a cliché here – it’s the entire game. Would you rather have 50,000 subscribers with a 2% open rate, or 5,000 subscribers with a 40% open rate? Do the math. The smaller list is actually reaching more people. And those people are way more likely to convert.
So how do you build the right list? Start with your lead magnet. And no, “sign up for our newsletter” is not a compelling lead magnet. Nobody wakes up thinking “gosh, I really hope I get more email today.” You need to offer something valuable enough that someone is willing to trade their email address for it.
The best lead magnets solve a specific problem your ideal customer actually has. A checklist. A template. A guide. A tool. A discount that matters. Whatever it is, it should be immediately useful and relevant to what you offer. Because the people who download your guide to Instagram marketing are much more likely to care about your social media services than random people who signed up for a generic “marketing tips” newsletter.
And please, be upfront about what people are signing up for. How often will you email them? What kind of content will you send? What value will they get? The more transparent you are, the better quality subscribers you’ll attract.
Subject Lines That Actually Get Opened
Your subject line is the gatekeeper to everything else. It doesn’t matter how brilliant your email is if nobody opens it.
So many marketers overthink this. They try to be clever. They use emojis for no reason. They write vague, cryptic subject lines that are supposed to create curiosity. And it all falls flat because people are busy, their inboxes are full, and they’re making split-second decisions about what to open.
The best subject lines do one of three things: they promise specific value, they create genuine curiosity, or they feel personally relevant. Sometimes all three.
“5 mistakes killing your conversion rate” promises specific value. “You’re probably doing this wrong” creates curiosity. “Hey Sarah, noticed you didn’t finish checkout” feels personal. See the difference?
Bad subject lines are generic, vague, or salesy. “Newsletter #47.” “Check out our latest products.” “You won’t believe this.” Nobody cares. Be specific. Be clear. Be compelling. And for the love of all that is holy, don’t use all caps or excessive punctuation. That’s spam territory.
One trick that works surprisingly well? Making your subject line sound like it came from a friend, not a brand. Because that’s what you’re competing against in the inbox – actual emails from actual people. The more your marketing email can feel like a personal message, the better your chances.
Writing Emails People Want to Read
Okay, they opened your email. Now what? This is where most email marketing completely falls apart. Because the email itself is usually a hot mess of corporate speak, unnecessary formality, and thinly veiled sales pitches.
Write like a human. Please. I’m serious. The same person who opens their email to read a funny message from a friend doesn’t suddenly want to read stiff, formal, corporate-sounding content from you. They’re the same person. Talk to them like one.
Use “you” and “I.” Use contractions. Vary your sentence length – some long, some short, some just a few words. Break up paragraphs. Use white space. Make it scannable because people skim emails. They don’t read every word unless you give them a reason to.
Start strong. Your opening line matters almost as much as your subject line. Don’t waste it with “We hope this email finds you well” or “We’re reaching out because.” Get to the point. Hook them immediately. Make them want to keep reading.
Tell stories. People are wired to respond to stories. A case study about how a customer used your product is infinitely more compelling than a list of product features. A personal anecdote about why you created something connects better than corporate mission statements. Stories make your emails memorable.
And here’s the crucial part: every email should have one clear call to action. One. Not five. Not “check out our blog AND shop our sale AND follow us on social media AND refer a friend.” One thing you want them to do. Make it obvious. Make it easy. Make it compelling.
Segmentation Is Where the Magic Happens
Sending the same email to your entire list is lazy. It’s also ineffective. Because the person who just subscribed yesterday has different needs than someone who’s been on your list for a year. The person who already bought from you is different from someone who’s never purchased. The person who opens every email is different from someone who rarely engages.
Segmentation means dividing your list into groups and tailoring your messaging to each group. And no, I don’t mean just adding a first name merge tag. I mean actually different content based on behavior, interests, and where they are in their customer journey.
New subscribers should get a different welcome sequence than existing customers. People who abandoned their cart need different messaging than people who completed a purchase. Engaged subscribers can handle more frequent emails than people who rarely open.
This requires more work upfront. You need to set up the segments. You need to create the different versions. You need to track the right data. But the results? Absolutely worth it. Segmented campaigns get 50% more clicks than non-segmented ones. Because relevance matters.
The most basic segmentation you should be doing: new subscribers, engaged subscribers, lapsed subscribers, customers, and non-customers. That’s five segments. If you’re sending the same message to all five, you’re leaving money on the table.
Timing and Frequency: The Eternal Debate
There’s no perfect time to send emails. Sorry. Everyone wants a magic answer – “send at 10am on Tuesday!” – but it doesn’t exist. The best time to send depends on your audience, your industry, and what you’re sending.
That said, there are patterns. B2B emails often perform better during business hours on weekdays. B2C emails might do better in evenings or weekends. Promotional emails might work on different days than educational content. The only way to know for sure? Test.
As for frequency, here’s the truth nobody wants to hear: you can email as often as you want, as long as every email provides value. The problem is that most marketers can’t sustain high-value content at high frequency. So they end up sending a lot of mediocre emails and wondering why everyone’s unsubscribing.
It’s better to send one great email per week than seven okay emails. But some brands successfully send daily emails because every single one is worth opening. The key is consistency and value. Pick a frequency you can maintain with quality, stick to it, and deliver value every single time.
And watch your metrics. If your open rates are tanking or unsubscribes are spiking, you’re probably emailing too much. If engagement is strong, you might be able to increase frequency. Let data guide you, not arbitrary rules.
Automation That Feels Personal
Marketing automation is powerful. It lets you send the right message at the right time without manually sending every email. But most automated emails feel automated. They feel robotic. They feel like you couldn’t be bothered to actually write to someone.
The best automated emails don’t feel automated at all. They feel timely and relevant and personal. How? By being triggered by actual behavior and written with genuine care.
A welcome series for new subscribers. A re-engagement campaign for people who haven’t opened in 90 days. A birthday email that’s not just “here’s a discount code.” A post-purchase follow-up that checks in and offers helpful tips. These can all be automated while still feeling human.
The key is in the writing. Even though you’re writing once for thousands of people, write as if you’re writing to one person. Use natural language. Anticipate questions. Show personality. Make it conversational.
And personalize beyond just the name. Reference their specific behavior. “I noticed you downloaded our Instagram guide” is more personal than “Hi [First Name].” “It’s been a while since you visited” shows you’re paying attention. Dynamic content based on interests, past purchases, or engagement level makes automation feel a lot less automated.
The Metrics That Actually Matter
Open rates get all the attention, but they’re just the beginning. An open means someone saw your subject line was interesting enough to click. That’s it. It doesn’t mean they read your email. It doesn’t mean they cared. It doesn’t mean they took action.
Click-through rate is more meaningful. It tells you how many people were engaged enough to actually do something. But even that doesn’t tell the whole story. Where are they clicking? What are they clicking on? Are they clicking multiple times?
Conversion rate is where the real money is. How many people took the action you wanted them to take? Made a purchase, downloaded something, signed up for something, whatever your goal was. This is what actually matters for your business.
But don’t ignore the softer metrics either. How many people are replying to your emails? That’s a sign of genuine engagement. How long are people staying on your list before unsubscribing? That’s a measure of long-term value. How often do people forward your emails? That’s organic reach.
And pay attention to your unsubscribe rate. Some unsubscribes are healthy – you want to clean out people who aren’t interested. But if you’re seeing spikes, something’s wrong. Maybe you’re emailing too much. Maybe your content isn’t relevant. Maybe your targeting is off.
Mobile Optimization Isn’t Optional
Most emails are opened on mobile devices now. Not some. Not many. Most. If your emails don’t work on mobile, they don’t work. Period.
This means short subject lines that don’t get cut off. Single-column layouts that don’t require zooming or side-scrolling. Big, tappable buttons instead of tiny text links. Images that load quickly and scale properly. Text that’s readable without squinting.
Test your emails on actual mobile devices before sending them. Don’t just trust the preview. Open it on your phone. Open it on a tablet. Click the links. Make sure everything actually works. Because if it doesn’t, you’ve wasted that open.
And think about the mobile context. People checking email on their phone are often distracted, doing something else, or just killing time. Your message needs to work in that context. It needs to be scannable, quick, and easy to act on.
The Power of Re-Engagement
Not everyone on your list is engaged. That’s normal. People’s interests change. Their situations change. They get busy. Their inbox gets overwhelming. It doesn’t mean they’ll never care again.
Re-engagement campaigns are for those lapsed subscribers—the people who used to open your emails but haven’t in months. Before you give up on them or remove them from your list, try to win them back using strategies you’d typically learn in a digital marketing course, such as personalized subject lines, value-driven content, and smart timing to reconnect and rebuild interest.
A good re-engagement email is honest and low-pressure. “We’ve missed you” is fine. “Want to keep hearing from us?” is better. Give them an easy out if they’re not interested anymore – it’s better to have a smaller, engaged list than a large, unengaged one.
But also remind them why they subscribed in the first place. What value were you offering? Are you still offering it? Have things improved? Give them a reason to re-engage.
And if they still don’t respond? Let them go. Remove them from your active list or suppress them from campaigns. They’re dragging down your metrics and potentially hurting your deliverability. Better to focus on the people who actually want to hear from you.
Building an Email Strategy That Lasts
Email marketing isn’t about tricks or hacks. It’s not about finding the perfect subject line formula or the optimal send time. Those things matter, sure. But they’re tactics, not strategy.
Real email marketing success comes from understanding your audience, providing consistent value, and building genuine relationships over time. It comes from treating your list as people, not numbers. From respecting their attention and their inbox. From sending emails you’d want to receive yourself.
Start with strategy before you worry about tactics. Who are you emailing? What do they care about? What value can you provide? How often should you show up? What action do you want them to take? Answer these questions first.
Then focus on quality over quantity. Better to send fewer emails that people love than more emails that people ignore. Better to have a smaller list of engaged subscribers than a huge list of people who never open anything.
Test, measure, and iterate. Try different approaches. See what works. Do more of that. Stop doing what doesn’t work. Email marketing is an ongoing process of learning and improving, not a set-it-and-forget-it system.
And remember: email marketing works. When done right, it’s one of the most effective, most profitable marketing channels available. The brands crushing it with email aren’t lucky. They’re not using some secret trick. They’re just doing the fundamentals well, consistently, with genuine care for their subscribers.
You can do that too. Stop making excuses. Stop blaming the channel. Start sending better emails.
