You designed a split test. You launched it. You waited patiently (or maybe not so patiently). You crunched the numbers... and came up empty. No statistical significance. No learning. Just... a shrug from your data. Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. You may not be “doing it wrong,” but you...

If you knew in 2020 that COVID was coming, what would you have done differently with your marketing? That's where we are today with tariffs and looming trade wars. Once again, we marketers are figuring out how to continue marketing amid turmoil and uncertainty. We need to connect with and reassure...

Circa 2004, Bill Gates suggested that every email sent should have a small charge, like a digital postage stamp — perhaps X seconds of compute time — for every message. He was responding to the early-ish days of email SPAM. (For context, Blackberry had around a million subscribers in 2004. The...

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...

In June of 2024, I presented at Email Innovations World alongside Paul Shriner (AudiencePoint) on emotional loyalty in email. At the time, I didn’t realize just how deeply personal that topic would become for me only a few months later, when fires swept through Los Angeles. To provide some context, I...

Email marketers love metrics. They give us tangible proof that what we’re doing is working (or not). But here’s the catch: applying the same success metrics to every campaign is like using the same measuring cup for every ingredient in a recipe. Sure, it works sometimes, but other times, you’re going...

Imagine losing 70% of your email audience overnight—not because your content isn't valuable, but because a tiny 0.3% triggered an invisible digital gatekeeper. In the high-stakes world of email marketing, this isn't a hypothetical scenario; it's the new reality imposed by Google's stringent spam rate policy. Your emails' journey from "send"...

I've always considered myself an enthusiastic early adopter, embracing new technology with unbridled passion. This was true with marketing automation, advanced personalization, and analytics of all kinds. So, when large language models (LLMs) became a thing, I quickly jumped on the bandwagon. At first, the results were underwhelming. But gradually, as...

The 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant™ for Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) finally dropped on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Although it's not publicly available yet, I had the chance to review a copy and like another popular industry report, the 2024 Forrester ESP Wave™, it’s filled with a mix of valuable insights, conspicuous...

In the email industry, we have a lot of terms we use regularly. Deliverability, Open Rate, Inbox, Subject Line, Friendly From, Call-to-Action, etc. For the most part, we all have a consistent shared definition of what these terms mean. But there is one commonly used email term where the definition can...

It’s not that inbox providers sit between brands and their subscribers, but rather that brands need to satisfy both their subscribers and inbox providers. Just like brands have their own goals and desires, so do subscribers and so do inbox providers. For example, subscribers want content that’s valuable to them, doesn’t...

I've come across lots of email A/B testing tools in my career. Some are good. Most don't deliver on the reasons why you test in the first place: to get meaningful insights you can use to learn more about your customers, improve your messaging, and spend your marketing budgets wisely. I...

In January, I attended the Email Summit 2025 in Odense. One topic kept surfacing in our conversations—email localization. Participants from various industries and countries, especially from the Scandinavian region, shared their experiences in localization. These countries are connected economically, but their different native languages make localization a challenge. I have noticed...

My last post for Only Influencers highlighted some predictions for new roles AI will create. In the corresponding OI Live session, Paul Shriner (yes, the legend himself!) asked if I would also explore this from a different angle— what human skills are irreplaceable? Well, good news, Paul. I have delivered. And...

Email marketing stands as one of the most powerful yet underappreciated tools in the modern marketing landscape. Despite boasting an impressive 42x ROI (or at least that was the number kicked around a few years ago), the industry faces a unique paradox: high demand for skilled professionals, but limited formal pathways...

Since Apple and others have started caching images this means some of the techniques that the likes of Movable Ink, NiftyImages, Zembula, Campaign Genius and Reignite (for disclosure that’s my platform) don't work in the same way as before. Does this mean this part of the industry is dead? Spoiler alert:...

The US’s decision to ban TikTok (although it was given a temporary 75-day reprieve) took businesses, content creators, and users by surprise. Despite the warnings, many believed it wouldn’t happen. The impact led some content creators and consumers to other platforms, some remained at a loss. With all this said, downtime,...

The time has come for brands to dust off their vendor evaluation playbooks because, in 2025, many will need to reconsider their ESP (Email Service Provider) partnerships. The seeds of this reckoning were sown back in 2020 when the COVID-19 lockdowns forced brands to hit the brakes on ESP RFPs, delaying...

As we look forward to the year ahead, it's crucial to acknowledge the unique challenges and responsibilities that come with being an email marketer. With over two decades of experience in the field and more recently, advising businesses, agencies, and professionals, I've seen firsthand the immense value email marketers deliver with...

Introduction Imagine this: you're deep into the process of selecting a new ESP (Email Service Provider). You've nailed down the must-have features, reviewed all the shiny tools, and your comparison scorecard is nearly complete. But here’s the kicker—the biggest difference between platforms often doesn’t make it onto that list. It’s the...