Email Marketing Practices

One of the greatest opportunities I see for the next generation of client-facing professionals: Being the ones who can read and exercise the norms, whether with colleagues or clients, and still infuse their own personality into the work. Those who can master this will be the ones who build stronger relationships and ultimately win more business. Sure, the pendulum has swung hard toward AI efficiency. And proficiency in it will likely be an essential skill. But over-relying on it? That comes with a hidden cost: it can dull the skills of empathy, discernment, and human connection. I suspect it might become tempting to believe that the safest path to employment and promotion is to keep your head down in automation:  Follow the prompt exactly, never straying from the template, and assume that originality is too risky. But customers can feel when you’ve disappeared behind automation… and it seems that they don’t love it. According to Salesforce, 52% of customers say they’re willing to pay more for a great customer experience, and they define that experience as one that feels more personal and less automated. That means the professionals who keep showing up with genuine connection won’t just feel different (in a good way!), they’ll be the ones winning more trust and more business. This humanness will be the differentiator. Some easy ways to practice this is to start by noticing the social norms, and then thoughtfully adding personality to them. Like: ☑️ Pay attention to how experienced colleagues communicate with clients. What tone do they use in emails, how do they open conversations, how do they handle pushback? How can you use that as a framework and then infuse your personality into it? ☑️ Notice how client meetings start. Do they jump right into business, or spend a few minutes building rapport? What do you know about the client that you can chat about beyond asking about the weather :)  ☑️ When you send a recap or follow-up, include a warm line or a small personal detail you remembered, instead of relying solely on a template. Because if more than half of your customers are willing to pay more for an experience that feels human, it’s a skill worth exercising to make sure they get it! #YouthSkills

𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸, 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺'𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝟭%. "It's just the market," they insisted. "Nobody answers emails anymore." I wasn't convinced. So I pulled up their templates alongside thousands of others I've analyzed over the years, and the patterns were immediately clear. The emails that consistently get responses in today's crowded inboxes aren't the ones with the catchiest subject lines or the most persistent follow-ups. They're the ones that feel like they were written by a human being who's done their homework. Looking through my swipe file of emails with 30%+ response rates, I found myself returning to five core approaches that just work: I call the first one "The Pattern Interrupt" – where instead of saying what everyone else says, you notice something specific and ask a genuine question about it: "I noticed you recently shifted your messaging from security-focused to efficiency-focused. I'm curious what prompted that change?" Then there's what I call "The Contrarian Insight" – where you respectfully challenge conventional wisdom with actual data: "While analyzing conversion patterns across 50 companies in your industry, we discovered something that contradicts the common belief about [specific topic]. I'd be happy to share what we found if it might be useful." My personal favorite is "The Genuine Connection" – where you reference something they've created and add actual value to the conversation: "Your recent post about sales enablement challenges really resonated because I've been wrestling with the same issues. Have you considered [thoughtful question related to their perspective]?" For every client I work with, we build a custom "Message Testing Framework" where we develop variations of these templates specifically for their market, then test them with small batches (about 20-50 prospects each). 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 – 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨. 𝙒𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙨. 𝘼 𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙗𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝-𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙨 𝙞𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧. What consistently works across industries is specificity that shows you've done homework, offering value before asking for anything, and genuine curiosity rather than formulaic personalization. And brevity matters – almost every high-performing email I've analyzed is five sentences or fewer. Which of these approaches would make YOU respond? I'm genuinely curious. #SalesEmails #ProspectingTemplates #OutboundSales

Every number in a company represents a person. But too many leaders forget that. They talk about “KPIs" and "targets" → Not the single parent quietly burning out trying to juggle school runs and late-night emails. They talk about “lead conversions.” → Not the human on the other side of the screen - with real life problems they’re trying to solve. They talk about “investor confidence.” → Not the individual taking a leap of faith and trusting you with their hard-earned money. And then they wonder why: Hard-working staff hand in their notice. Loyal customers take their money elsewhere. Trust in the brand slowly disappears. Nobody wants to be treated like a line item. Or a number on a spreadsheet. The best businesses don’t strip the humanity out of what they do. They DOUBLE DOWN on it. They build systems that support people. Not squeeze them. They lead with empathy, not ego. They remember that behind every email, sale, and KPI is a person who chose to show up. And when you do that? Performance follows. Every. Single. Time. If you want bigger numbers, more profit, more revenue, more growth, start by valuing people. Because without happy, motivated, well-cared-for people…   You have nothing! Business is a people game. Companies, don't forget it.

Email still delivers strong ROI. What’s changed is how leading teams are using it. Here are 7 modern and practical email strategies you can use now and into 2026. 📩 1. AI-Driven Decisioning An example is “next best offer.” Use real-time, historical, and behavioral data to determine the most relevant content, offer, or CTA. Instead of sending the same message to everyone, tools like Movable Ink personalize content based on what users have or haven’t done. 📈 2. Product-Led Lifecycle Messaging Trigger emails based on what users do inside your product. If someone signs up but doesn’t activate, send a reminder. If they complete onboarding but skip a key feature, follow up. Email becomes part of the product experience. 🧱 3. Modular Templates + Guard Rails Stop building emails from scratch. Modular templates let teams assemble emails using approved, no-code blocks. Platforms like Knak help you move faster while staying on brand and rendering correctly across devices. 👁️🗨️ 4. Inbox Retargeting & Re-engagement If someone opens and scrolls but doesn’t click, you can adjust the next email. These behavioral signals help guide follow-ups. A scrolled-but-no-click email may call for a stronger CTA or tighter copy. 🧪 5. Automated Experimentation Go beyond A/B tests. Today’s tools can test dozens or even hundreds of variations at once, subject lines, images, layouts, and more. Platforms like OfferFit by Braze optimize automatically to drive better performance. ⏱ 6. Real-Time Triggers Send the right message the moment someone takes action, like signing up or abandoning a cart. It only works if your data flows smoothly and your systems are well-integrated, but the results are worth the effort. 💰 7. Revenue-Based Measurement Connect email to pipeline and revenue. If your data and attribution are in place, you can measure how nurture programs or product launches actually impact the business. Which do you think is most effective? What would you add? PS: Be sure to check out Knak to scale your email efforts, link in the comments. via Nick Donaldson #marketing #martech #marketingoperations #email

An ecommerce company recently approached my team to do an email audit as they were facing challenges with low open and click-through rates. After analyzing their email account, here are our main recommendations to revive their email marketing channel: 1. Strategic Email Segmentation: Currently, your emails lack personal relevance due to a one-size-fits-all approach. This is a crucial area to address. Action Plan: Implement segmentation based on purchase history, engagement levels, browsing behavior, and demographic information. 2. Personalized Content Creation: Generic content won't cut it. Your audience needs to feel that each email is crafted for them. Action Plan: Develop emails specifically tailored to the different segments. This includes curated product recommendations, personalized offers, and content that aligns with their interests. 3. Subject Line A/B Testing: Your current subject lines aren't doing their job. You need to be implementing ongoing A/B subject line tests, as this is low-hanging fruit to improve your open rates. Action Plan: Regularly test different subject line styles and formats to identify what resonates best with each segment. Keep track of the metrics to inform future campaigns. 4. Mobile Optimization: A significant portion of your audience reads emails on mobile devices. Neglecting this is causing a decrease in your email engagement rates. Action Plan: Ensure all emails are responsive and visually appealing on various screen sizes. Test your emails on multiple devices before sending them out. Additional Campaign Strategies We Recommend: - Launch a Monthly Newsletter: This should include new arrivals, style guides, and user-generated content. It’s an excellent way to keep your brand in the minds of your customers. - Seasonal Campaign Integration: Tailor your campaigns to align with holidays and seasons. This approach can significantly boost engagement and sales during key periods. - Re-Engagement Campaigns: Specifically target subscribers who haven't interacted with your brand recently. Offer them unique incentives to rekindle their interest. Next steps: 1. If you found this helpful, please leave a comment and let me know. 2. If you own/run/work at an Ecommerce company doing at least $1 million in annual revenue, message me so my team can audit your email channel to see if there's a good fit for working together.

After spending time in both B2C and B2B, I’ve realized how much crossover there really is and how consumer marketing principles can spark new thinking in B2B. B2C marketers are experts at earning attention, stirring emotion, and making people feel something. Their campaigns are built around connection, not just communication. They obsess over the audience journey, but also over the moments that make that journey memorable: a line that sticks, a visual that delights, a story that feels personal. In B2B, we often trade emotion for information. We aim for credibility, consistency, and clarity (which are all important), but sometimes we lose sight of the fact that at the other end of every email, ad, or campaign is still a human. That’s why I think B2B marketers should look more closely at what consumer brands do so well. ✔️ You can bring personality into your email campaigns. ✔️ You can use humor to make an ad campaign memorable. ✔️ You can tell stories that create a sense of belonging. ✔️ You can even build anticipation the way an entertainment brand would before a big launch. These aren’t just creative exercises. They’re strategic levers. One of my favorite examples is how some B2B brands are starting to use storytelling frameworks typically seen in consumer marketing. Instead of leading with the product, they lead with a moment of tension or transformation. Think about a cybersecurity company framing its solution not around “threat detection,” but around peace of mind for the people protecting what matters most. That’s a consumer insight translated perfectly for B2B impact. Or take email marketing. Consumer brands know that tone and timing are everything. They build messages that feel like they’re written for you, not at you. Even paid campaigns can benefit from consumer-inspired energy. A touch of playfulness or a more creative visual identity can make a brand stand out in a sea of sameness. We underestimate how quickly people form impressions. Even in B2B, the first few seconds matter. But the real opportunity here isn’t about borrowing tactics. It’s about adopting a mindset. Consumer marketers start with why it matters to the person. They think about emotion as a driver of action. They measure not just clicks or leads, but affinity. The most effective B2B marketing leaders I know have one thing in common: they think like storytellers. When you take that approach, everything becomes sharper. Campaigns feel cohesive instead of disjointed. Messaging becomes more natural. Sales conversations flow more easily because the story has already been told in every touchpoint before it. Bringing a bit of B2C mindset into B2B isn’t about making things flashy. It’s about making them human. And when marketing feels human, the outcomes follow. Because at the end of the day, even in B2B, we’re still marketing to people. #marketing #marketingstrategy

Want to sell £30k packages without burning out? Here’s how. High-ticket sales don’t come from one perfect email (although everyone loves that narrative 🙄) They come from a clear nurturing journey that respects how premium buyers actually make decisions. Think of it in three stages: STAGE 1 — Familiarity: “Who are you and why should I care?” Goal: Turn a cold subscriber into someone who actually looks for your name in their inbox. Your emails here should: ✅ Use their words to speak to their problems. ✅ Show you understand their world/ constraints ✅ Give useful insights they can apply quickly ✅ You’re building relevance not rushing a pitch. STAGE 2 — Depth: “Do you think like someone I’d trust at this level?” Goal: Shift from “this is interesting” to “this person gets how I operate.” Your emails here should: ✅ Share how you think and make decisions. ✅ Walk through recognisable real scenarios. ✅ Name the trade-offs, risks and realities of high-ticket investment. STAGE 3 — Decision: “Is this the right move, right now, with you?” Goal: Make the yes/no feel clean, not pressured. Your emails here should: ✅ Clearly position who the offer is and isn’t for. ✅ Show what working together looks like. ✅ Help them weigh this against other options they already have. You’re building confidence in their decision, not trying to “overcome” them. When your email strategy walks someone through: 1️⃣ Familiarity 2️⃣ Depth, and 3️⃣ Decision Selling 30K offers stops feeling impossible and starts feeling like the logical next step. What resonates most about what I’ve said? (cannot wait til my hair’s this long again 🤩)

How will email marketing change if AI summarizes all your emails? The first wave of AI was about creating content, but the second wave is synthesizing information to save users time: Gen AI → SynthAI. Marketers got a wake up call about SynthAI with Google I/O’s recent announcements. 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 AI Overviews in search will lead to “zero click search” and dramatic drops in clicks to your website. Recommendations for how marketers should respond include: 🎢 Websites must become experiences that can't be summarized. Christopher Penn says machines can’t summarize experiences because there’s no value in the summary; you want to visit Disneyland, not read a summary about a trip. Invest in owned media and communities, with new content formats such as videos, podcasts, and events. 📊 Content must be so relevant that AI search can't ignore and must cite it. Invest in content based on original research and data, a la Gong Labs. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥? Gemini in Gmail can scan unread emails, deliver a summary of key points and action items, and draft a reply. What will happen to B2B email marketing if buyers don’t read their emails and only pay attention to what the AI highlights? The drops in web traffic will be nothing compared to the drops in email open and click rates. 😱 The solution? Like websites, focus on experiences and content AI can't ignore, and: 🤝 Use “human” emails: As AI handles more routine communication, authentic human-to-human interactions will become more important. Emails from people your recipient knows, including your executives, will stand out. ✍️ Master "AI-optimized" email copywriting: A new specialty will emerge in crafting email copy that guides the AI to include it in summaries. This will include authentic personalization; referencing specific events or deadlines that the AI associates with urgency for the user; and including unique, valuable offers or insights that the AI recognizes as noteworthy. 🎼 Orchestrate across channels: B2B marketers will synchronize their email messages across channels like LinkedIn, direct mail, and phone calls to surround prospects and tell a cohesive story that can't be reduced to a summary. 👥 Prioritize human channels: May Habib suggests you engage customers in the channels you know are likely to be their human eyeballs and not their AI ones — particularly social. 💧 Cultivate buyer watering holes: Spend time where your buyers spend time, such as communities, review sites, industry events, and influential publications. Email becomes a notification system to drive engagement on these platforms. 🏆 Build your brand: Most importantly, as I've often said, your brand is what people think and feel about you, regardless of what an AI summary says. If your brand is strong, people will seek you out — something AI can't synthesize. #SynthAI #B2BMarketing #EmailMarketing #AIOverviews #GoogleIO

How to run email outreach like the top 1%: (Based on 1,000,000+ emails analyzed in Instantly.ai) Here were the common patterns shared by the highest-performing campaigns: 1. Small Lists > Broad Lists Micro-lists of 500-1,000 hyper-targeted prospects greatly outperformed 100,000-contact blasts. Reply rates: 20-30% vs. 2-3%. → Stop spraying & hoping someone bites. Target people who actually have a reason to reply. 2. Hyper-Enriched Data > Standard Data Don't stop at just name + email. Pull: - Tech stack - Social activity - Funding rounds - Current initiatives - Website case studies - LinkedIn headline & profile - Job postings (hiring/growth signals) → Effective 'personalization at scale' starts with deep data enrichment. 3. Personalized Openers > Generic Openers Instead of: "Hey John, hope all's well at [Company]" Try: - Job postings → "Saw you're hiring 3 AEs…" - Case studies → "Just read your case study on…" - Tech stack → "Noticed you recently added [tool]…" → Every email should feel 1:1. 4. 3-Step Sequence > Single Email Most replies hit on the first email, but follow-ups massively lift overall sequence reply rates. - Email 1: Personalized opener + value - Email 2: New angle (3-5 days later) - Email 3: Breakup (3-5 days later) → Keep them short (2-4 sentences). Reference the first. Add new value. Pro tip: Layer LinkedIn touches between emails. 5. Value-First > Ask-First Stop pitching a spot in your prospect's calendar in email 1. ❌ "Can we hop on a call tomorrow at 2pm?" ❌ "Do you have 15 minutes to chat?" ✅ "Want me to send over a quick example deck?" ✅ "Happy to share what's working right now." ✅ "Can I send you something that could solve [specific pain]?" → Let them raise their hand first. Earn the conversation. 6. Fundamentals > Fancy Tactics Nail the 3 core pillars: 1. ICP = who exactly are you targeting? 2. Offer = what outcome do you deliver? 3. Copy = how do you communicate value? → Depth > width. Skip the shiny objects. 7. Deliverability > Volume None of the above advice matters if you land in spam. Deliverability rules: - Clean, validated lists - Multiple domains (not one) - 30-day minimum warm-up - 30 emails per inbox per day max - Proper setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) → 100 emails/hour from one inbox = you're landing in spam. 9. Tech Stack - Instantly.ai (sequencing, deliverability, analytics) - Clay (enrichment, intent, personalization) - Prospeo (data, targeting) Want to learn more? 👇 Check out the Cold Email cheat sheet below. PS. What GTM play is getting you the best results with cold email right now?

people often see email marketing as data, clicks, and conversions. but what we don't realise is that behind every open rate is a REAL PERSON. someone checking their inbox on the way to work, someone scrolling at midnight because they can’t sleep, someone deciding in 3-5 seconds if they trust you enough to click. that’s what i’ve learned this past year - email isn’t just about segmentation and automation, it’s about EMPATHY. 🐹 the tone that sounds human, not robotic 🐹 the subject line that feels like it was written just for you 🐹 the timing that doesn’t interrupt, but fits naturally into your day and empathy can be built into the strategy too: 🍒 use your data to check when people actually engage - is it during lunch breaks, office hours, or late evenings? 🍒 build automations around behavior, not just templates. think like a human: what would i want to see next? 🍒 personalise subject lines, but don’t force it. keep it simple, even add a touch of humor. 🍒 don’t overcrowd your emails - white space and clear CTAs always win. 🍒 test, test, test. even the smallest changes (like a button color or placement) can shift performance. because at the end of the day, email works best when people feel SEEN, not targeted. and honestly that’s the side of email marketing and crm i love the most - it’s a reminder that good marketing is really about building human connections, even through something as simple as an inbox.🦉 stay tuneddd - i’ll be sharing more of my learnings from my first year in email marketing & crm ✨