#21: Only Emailing When You’re Selling Something
The Reality Check:
Your subscribers didn’t sign up to be sold to—they signed up for value. Data shows that promotional-only emails experience 3x higher unsubscribe rates and 40% lower engagement over time (HubSpot).
Impact on Deliverability: ISP filters now consider engagement rates when deciding inbox placement. Promotional-heavy lists see up to 70% lower deliverability within 6 months (Return Path).
🧪 Self-Diagnosis Test
Last 30 Days:
Promotional Emails:
[Count your sales emails]
Value Emails:
[Count your educational/content emails]
Healthy Ratio: ≥ 70% value / ≤ 30% promotional
🎯 The 70/20/10 Content Mix Framework
70% Educational
- How-to guides
- Industry insights
- Case studies
- Tutorial videos
- Research findings
Goal: Build authority & trust
20% Relational
- Company stories
- Team spotlights
- Behind-the-scenes
- Industry commentary
- Customer interviews
Goal: Humanize your brand
10% Promotional
- Product launches
- Limited offers
- Special discounts
- Event invitations
Goal: Drive revenue
📅 Sample Monthly Content Calendar
Week 1:
Industry trends report
Week 2:
Case study deep-dive
Week 3:
How-to guide
Week 4:
Promotional offer
📋 90-Day Content Transformation
✅ Audit last quarter’s emails
✅ Create content calendar
✅ Build 3 evergreen sequences
✅ Implement 70/20/10 mix
✅ Measure engagement lift
#22: Letting Dead Subscribers Linger Too Long
The Silent Killer:
Inactive subscribers aren’t just costing you money—they’re actively hurting your deliverability. Mailbox providers now use engagement as a primary filtering metric. Lists with >25% inactivity see deliverability drops of 40-60% (SenderScore).
Cost Analysis: Sending to 10,000 inactive subscribers at $0.001/email = $120/month wasted. Over 3 years = $4,320 for zero return.
📊 Inactivity Classification Matrix
🟢 Warm
Engaged < 30 days
🟡 Lukewarm
30-90 days inactive
🟠 Cold
90-180 days inactive
🔴 Dead
>180 days inactive
📈 Re-engagement ROI Projection
Before Cleanup:
• List: 50,000
• Active: 60% (30,000)
• Avg. Revenue/Email: $0.15
After Cleanup:
• List: 35,000
• Active: 85% (29,750)
• Avg. Revenue/Email: $0.22
Revenue Increase: +46%
🔄 The 30-Day Re-engagement Funnel
Day 0
“We miss you”
Check-in email
Day 7
“Exclusive content”
Value delivery
Day 14
“Preference update”
Last chance to stay
Day 30
“Goodbye”
Auto-remove
📊 Expected Performance Metrics
Re-engagement Rate:
15-25% of inactive list
Deliverability Improvement:
20-40% increase
Cost Reduction:
30-50% lower sending costs
Engagement Lift:
2-3x higher open rates
📋 List Hygiene Implementation
- Define: Set inactivity thresholds (recommended: 90 days)
- Segment: Create inactive segment in your ESP
- Automate: Build re-engagement sequence
- Prune: Set up auto-removal workflow
- Monitor: Track deliverability improvements
#23: Writing Like a Corporate Newsletter
🎭 The Tone Transformation Test
Read these aloud. Which would you open?
Corporate:
“We are pleased to announce the enhancement of our synergistic solution…”
Human:
“Your team just got 3 hours back every week. Here’s how…”
The Engagement Data:
Human-centered emails see 47% higher open rates and 62% more clicks than corporate-style emails (Litmus). Yet 68% of B2B emails still use corporate jargon.
Reading Level Impact: Emails written at a 6th-8th grade reading level perform 36% better than those at college level (Nielsen Norman Group).
📝 The Corporate-to-Human Translator
🔄 Before & After Rewrites
| ❌ Corporate Speak | ✅ Human Translation |
|---|---|
| Subject: “Quarterly Solution Enhancement Announcement” Opening: | Subject: “Your reports just got 40% faster” Opening: |
| Body: “Leverage our innovative framework to optimize operational efficiencies…” | Body: “Save 3 hours every Monday morning with our new template system…” |
| CTA: “Click here to learn more about our capabilities” | CTA: “Get the faster report template” |
📊 The Hemingway Editor Test
Copy your email into Hemingway Editor. Aim for:
Reading Level:
Grade 6-8
Adverbs:
< 5% of words
Passive Voice:
< 10% of sentences
Sentence Length:
< 20 words avg
📋 30-Day Tone Transformation
- Audit: Run 3 emails through Hemingway Editor
- Rewrite: Transform your worst-performing email
- Test: A/B test corporate vs human versions
- Train: Create team writing guidelines
- Measure: Track engagement improvements
#24: Ignoring Subject Line Testing
The 80/20 Rule of Email:
Subject lines determine 80% of open decisions, yet most teams spend < 20% of their time optimizing them. A 10% improvement in open rate can drive 30%+ more revenue from the same list.
Testing ROI: Companies that systematically test subject lines see 2.4x higher email ROI than those that don’t (MarketingSherpa).
🎯 The Subject Line Testing Matrix
Test One Variable at a Time:
- Length (short vs long)
- Tone (benefit vs curiosity)
- Personalization (name vs company)
- Numbers (% vs $ vs #)
- Emojis (yes vs no)
📈 Testing Impact Calculator
Current:
• List: 50,000
• Open Rate: 18%
• CTR: 2.5%
• Avg. Order: $150
After Testing:
• Open Rate: 22% (+22%)
• CTR: 3.1% (+24%)
• Revenue Increase: +$16,200/month
🧪 The Scientific Testing Framework
A/B Test (Weekly)
Sample: 5,000+ subscribers
Duration: 2-4 hours
Metric: Open rate
Example:
A: “Increase Your Revenue”
B: “How [Company] Grew Revenue 27%”
Multivariate (Monthly)
Sample: 20,000+ subscribers
Duration: 24 hours
Metric: Conversion rate
Example:
Test combinations of:
• Personalization
• Numbers
• Length
Seasonal (Quarterly)
Sample: Full segment
Duration: Full campaign
Metric: Revenue/email
Example:
Q4 holiday messaging vs
Q1 goal-setting messaging
📚 High-Performing Subject Line Templates
Benefit-Driven:
“Save [X] hours on [task] with this template”
Question-Based:
“Struggling with [problem]? Here’s the fix”
Number-Focused:
“[X] ways to improve [metric] this quarter”
📋 90-Day Testing Protocol
- Setup: Configure A/B testing in your ESP
- Baseline: Document current performance
- Test: Run 12 A/B tests (1/week)
- Analyze: Build winning subject line library
- Optimize: Implement best performers
#25: Sending the Same Message to Everyone
The Segmentation Advantage:
Segmented emails generate 760% more revenue than non-segmented sends (Campaign Monitor). Yet 42% of marketers still send the same message to their entire list.
Personalization Impact: Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened, and personalized CTAs convert 202% better (HubSpot).
🎯 The Segmentation Priority Matrix
🔥 High Impact
• Lifecycle stage
• Purchase history
• Engagement level
⚡ Quick Wins
• Job title/role
• Industry
• Company size
📈 Advanced
• Behavioral triggers
• Predictive scoring
• Intent signals
💰 Segmentation ROI Projection
Blast Email:
• Open Rate: 18%
• CTR: 2.1%
• Conversion: 0.8%
• Revenue: $1,200
Segmented Email:
• Open Rate: 31%
• CTR: 4.7%
• Conversion: 2.4%
• Revenue: $4,500
ROI Increase: +275%
🔄 The 4-Layer Segmentation Framework
Layer 1: Demographic
- Job title/function
- Industry
- Company size
- Location
Implementation: Form fields + enrichment
Layer 2: Behavioral
- Email engagement
- Website visits
- Content downloads
- Feature usage
Implementation: Tracking pixels + automation
Layer 3: Transactional
- Purchase history
- Order value
- Product ownership
- Renewal date
Implementation: CRM integration
Layer 4: Lifecycle
- Lead score
- Customer stage
- Churn risk
- Advocacy level
Implementation: Scoring model + triggers
🎯 Personalization in Action
For CMOs:
“Drive 30% more pipeline with AI lead scoring”
For Operations:
“Reduce processing time by 40% with automation”
For IT Directors:
“Cut integration costs by 60% with our API”
📋 60-Day Segmentation Implementation
✅ Identify 3 key segments
✅ Build segment-specific content
✅ Implement basic automation
✅ Test vs blast emails
✅ Scale to 7+ segments
🎯 The Email Excellence Framework
How these 5 mistakes connect across your email program
Content Strategy
Mistake #21:
70/20/10 Rule
Impact:
+47% engagement
List Health
Mistake #22:
Dead subscriber cleanup
Impact:
+40% deliverability
Copywriting
Mistake #23:
Human-centered writing
Impact:
+62% clicks
Optimization
Mistake #24:
Subject line testing
Impact:
+30% revenue
Personalization
Mistake #25:
Segmentation
Impact:
+760% revenue
📅 90-Day Email Transformation Roadmap
Month 1: Foundation & Audit
✅ Conduct email program audit
✅ Clean dead subscribers
✅ Implement content calendar
Month 2: Optimization
✅ A/B test subject lines
✅ Humanize email copy
✅ Build 3 key segments
Month 3: Scaling & Automation
✅ Implement automated sequences
✅ Scale to 7+ segments
✅ Measure performance lift
💡 The Professional’s Insight:
“Great email marketing isn’t about sending more messages—it’s about sending better messages. Every email should earn its place in someone’s inbox by delivering clear value, respecting their time, and advancing your relationship.”