Clearing out two inboxes after a family loss exposed broken unsubscribe flows and a missed opportunity for empathy. By Ryan Phelan February 24, 2026 Are empathy, sympathy and humanity bad now? That’s what I hear from some thought leaders and government officials who say we can’t afford to be so soft anymore. I … Continue reading We need more humanity in email, especially at unsubscribe
Six months in, churn remains elevated across industries. Here’s how to respond with engagement-based automation and more disciplined sending strategies. By Lauren McGrath February 23, 2026 When Gmail rolled out a new “Manage Subscriptions” feature last summer, we knew it would make an impact, particularly for brands that didn’t lean into segmentation and … Continue reading Email retention after Gmail’s ‘Manage Subscriptions’ rollout
Email is the backbone of lifecycle marketing. Learn the five programs that build trust and retention, plus one that doesn’t make the cut. Jaina Mistry on October 1, 2025 Email is often the first channel lifecycle marketers jump headfirst into when nurturing and retaining customers. It makes perfect sense. Through well-thought-out, perfectly timed and … Continue reading 5 email lifecycle programs you need — and one to drop
Taking time off is tough — especially for email marketers. Here’s how to prepare, delegate and actually relax this summer. Ryan Phelan on June 26, 2025 Finally, vacation season is here. School is out for most students, and parents want to take a break or send their kids off to camp. However you define … Continue reading 6 steps to take a guilt-free vacation from your email program
With privacy updates, smarter audiences and stricter inbox rules, here’s how to modernize your email strategy. Stephanie Trovato on April 18, 2025 You hit send. Then you wait. Opens trickle in. Clicks? Meh. Unsubscribes? More than you’d like. You didn’t cut corners. You proofed, segmented, tested. Why is performance dropping? It’s not you — … Continue reading 3 high-impact tactics to drive email engagement
Creative, purposeful touches, like interactive designs that engage customers, make your emails stand out. Kath Pay on April 2, 2025 With inbox fatigue at an all-time high, brands need more than static messages to capture attention. Interactive emails turn passive readers into engaged participants — whether through quizzes, carousels or gamification — creating experiences … Continue reading Interactive email is the game changer brands can’t ignore
Boost your email marketing with persuasive, psychology-backed strategies that ethically drive action. Kath Pay on February 11, 2025 If you follow my columns here on MarTech, you’ve learned how to make your email content more persuasive and engaging by using devices called cognitive biases, both in your copywriting and in your message design. (See … Continue reading How cognitive biases shape email engagement
From little things, big mistakes grow: How to ensure your email testing avoids the small errors that can make the results useless. Kath Pay on September 5, 2024 Email and testing go together like peanut butter and chocolate. What is your email audience anyway but a microcosm of your customer base? Email tests give … Continue reading Now playing: ‘The Email Test That Goes Wrong’
In the coming months, your emails will be competing against political campaigns and your competitors for consumers’ attention. Ryan Phelan on August 14, 2024 I’m still buzzing from a call a few days ago with a marketer working for a well-known Western university. These calls are always energizing because we talk about people’s struggles, … Continue reading How to gear up email for a strong finish to 2024
Boost your marketing ROI by identifying sweet spots that resonate with subscribers and tipping points that cause opt-outs and lost revenue. Kath Pay on June 6, 2024 We email marketers often look for the sweet spots in our email programs — the points in an email cycle when subscribers are most likely to do … Continue reading Optimizing your email program: Finding sweet spots and tipping points
