I’ve watched too many newbie marketers pursue shiny tactics—TikTok tricks, Insta reels, influencer deals—while utterly ignoring the tool that has been quietly ringing up ROI since the dawn of MySpace: email marketing. It doesn’t catch the same kind of glamour that other channels do, but it has something of higher value—consistency. And if you grasp one thing from more than a decade of attempts and launch failures is that consistency eats virality for breakfast.
I’m not talking here about blast emails that clog inboxes and newsletters that sit unread. I’m talking about emails that generate genuine engagement, clicks and return buyers—not once, but over and over again.
Starting From Nothing!
The majority of students I’ve taught believe that you must have a massive audience before you can even think about email marketing as a possibility. Total myth. You only need the right people. Having a quality list is not about quantity, it’s all about relevance.
I remember my initial lead magnet—a woefully mediocre PDF checklist. But it wasn’t the product that mattered, it was that it filtered intent. If it was downloaded, I had them halfway down the funnel. These days, I recommend you begin with a quiz or a gated tool. They’re engaging and most importantly, filter the prospect before they land on your list.
The Hook’s the Subject Line!
Your open is awful and you’re having a subject-line problem. Your click is awful and your body copy sucks. It really is that easy
And I also have my own rule: write to the person you admire and want to impress at the same time. In that tension comes a natural voice that readers read. I’m not a corporate brochure. And good grief—don’t use copy with false alarm or “Last chance!” unless that really is the last chance.
Personalization is powerful, yes, but not in the guise of names. I once doubled clicks by making a CTA button call out to something that the user had done before (“Finish what you started, Sarah”). Creepy? Maybe so. Effective? You bet.
Timing and Automation
You can write the perfect email and deliver it at the wrong time and it is worthless. I’ve done it more times than I can count. Tuesday at 10:00 is the best in B2B. Sunday evenings do oddly outlead on creative brands. But gold exists in your own list data. That is where segmentation comes in.
They’re what distinguish amateurs from professionals. Welcome series, cart abandonment reminders, win-back workflows—any of them works while you sleep. And if you’re also producing YouTube content to divide your efforts, compounding effects occur. Brands that consistently grow their followers on social media platforms, especially on Instagram, see engagement rates rise by over 34%, amplifying the results of every automated workflow you set.
People Hate Spam
Deliverability is most oftentimes the most neglected part of email marketing. No matter how good your copy is, if Gmail is going to deliver it to Promotions or worse yet, to Spam. I’ve witnessed entire campaigns disintegrate because somebody was not paying close enough attention to proper SPF and/or DKIM configurations. These do matter.
And so do spam trigger words. I once flagged out a whole client list because we’d used “earn money quick” one time too many. Even subtle things—too many URLs, images that don’t include alt text—can damage the sender’s reputation.
If you’re doing leads in the EU, do it by GDPR properly. No tricks. I’ve had a student get served with a legal letter because the student didn’t use a double opt-in. No fun at all
Don’t Chase Vanity Metrics
Let’s be honest here: open rates aren’t what they once were with the recent Apple Mail Privacy updates. Click-through rate, conversion rate, and unsubscribe trends are what I’m concerned about these days. Your funnel is leaking if people are unsubscribing from one or two of your emails.
A/B tests come to the rescue in that case. I sent out two similar emails with only the CTA being modified—”Download Now” and “Grab Your Copy”—and the second did 18% better. Small details accumulate rapidly.
Continue to monitor your bounce rate as well. Hard bounces are deliverability killers. Clean your list regularly. I do it every month, although it seems like admin work. It’s worth it.
E-Mail Marketing’s Evolving
New technology doesn’t kill email marketing, it resurrects it. I’ve increased my use of AMP in my campaigns these days—interactive components like carousels, polls, even carts in the email itself. It’s fresh and users stick longer in the email.
AI comes in now as well. I utilize it primarily for subject line ideas and flow charting, not full copy. There is a human element that needs to be present still. Too polished and individuals can tell. CRM integrations also change the game. Your email is talking to your sales system, your course site. you’ve got ridiculous amounts of personalization power if you’ve got that in place.
Someone completes module 3? Yeah, you’re emailing them in encouragement to take the next step.
Conclusion
Email still works. It’s not flashy, but it gets results when you do it right. Write better, send smarter, and stop waiting for a viral miracle.
Forget big lists and fake numbers. Talk to real people, track real actions, and fix what leaks. That’s how you win.
Set it up once, let it run, and keep it clean. That’s the game.