Let’s address the elephant in the inbox.

Email marketing is far from obsolete. It hasn’t been overshadowed by the likes of TikTok, Threads, or a host of AI technologies. In reality, when used effectively, email remains a dependable and high-return marketing tool.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that many businesses fail to utilize email to its full potential. They often see it as an outdated tactic from years past, rather than a strategic tool for revenue generation. As a result, when their email campaigns don’t succeed, they tend to blame external factors like the platform, audience, or open rates, rather than addressing the real problem — an ineffective system.

I’ve encountered numerous clients who reveal a common issue in our discussions. They claim they’ve been sending out emails for years, such as newsletters, promotional sales, or special offers, yet they just aren’t seeing results anymore.

Spoiler: The problem isn’t email. It’s execution. Let’s break it down.

Stop sending and hoping

Before you dispatch your next email, consider this critical question: What is the true objective of sending this email? If your aim is to “generate leads,” that’s a decent starting point. However, leads won’t magically appear just because you send an email. Email is about fostering relationships, not wizardry.

Developing a strategy is essential. Are you enhancing relevance, segmenting based on interests, optimizing timing, and tracking engagement through your site and CRM? If not, then you’re merely sending electronic brochures and hoping they catch someone’s eye.

Your list isn’t a strategy

Here’s the harsh reality: most email lists are digital junk drawers. Bloated, unsegmented and outdated.

One client of mine had a daunting list of 25,000 contacts all lumped under “Newsletter” with no segmentation or tagging. They were sending the same messages to potential leads, top-tier clients, and inactive contacts without differentiation. The result? Their click-through rate was under 1%.

Would you hand the same sales pitch to a returning customer, a cold prospect and a lapsed buyer? Then why are you emailing them like they’re all the same person?

Your email platform has segmentation tools for a reason. Use them. Tag based on behavior, purchase history, content engagement and lifecycle stage. And if your list is outdated? Run a re-engagement campaign. Let people self-select. And yes — let them unsubscribe. Because a clean, active list will always outperform a bloated one.

Your platform might be failing you

If you’re still using the free version of Mailchimp from 2017, expecting results is like entering a Formula 1 race on a tricycle.

Email platforms have evolved. If yours doesn’t offer automation, A/B testing, tagging, CRM integration or real-time analytics, it’s holding you back. For ecommerce, I recommend Klaviyo. It connects directly to Shopify, lets you recover abandoned carts, trigger smart automations and — this is key — track actual sales tied to email behavior.

And yes, you’ll need to invest in a platform that can handle more than “send newsletter.” If you’re serious about revenue, stop being cheap about the tool that drives it.

Stop worshiping the open rate

Everyone obsesses over open rates like they’re gospel. But here’s the truth: a high open rate doesn’t mean anything if no one clicks, converts or remembers you. Don’t just design pretty emails. Design strategic ones.

Ask better questions. What KPIs actually map to your business goals? For ecommerce, it might be revenue per email, cart recovery rate or product clicks. For B2B, it may be meetings booked or resources downloaded.

Start there. Reverse-engineer your content. Then test relentlessly. Subject lines. Send times. CTA placement. Message framing. Real marketers test. Lazy marketers send and pray.

Visibility, credibility, engagement — then sales

Email doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It’s part of a journey. You don’t go from “nice to meet you” to “here’s our invoice” overnight. So layer your content.

Visibility gets you seen.

Credibility makes you trusted.

Engagement builds the bridge.

Sales walk across it.

If every email is just a promotion, you’re not building a bridge — you’re shouting into the void. Offer value. Share insight. Deliver relevance. And when it’s time to sell, you won’t have to beg for attention. You’ll already have it.

Campaigns don’t build revenue — systems do

Most marketers jump straight to tactics — “Let’s send something Tuesday at 10 a.m.” — with no infrastructure underneath.

But if your email doesn’t plug into a system, it’s a short-term stunt, not a long-term strategy.

Here’s what a real email system looks like:

• Set up automated workflows for key stages like onboarding, re-engagement and post-purchase to nurture your audience over time.
• Build segmented customer journeys that align with specific buyer behaviors so your emails are always relevant and timely.
• Integrate your email platform with your CRM and ecommerce systems to enable real-time targeting based on user actions.
• Define clear KPIs that are directly tied to business outcomes before you create or send any campaigns.

This is the work most marketers skip. And it’s why their email marketing never scales. Strategy always beats volume.

Want to win Q4? Fix this in Q3

Here’s your reality check: once fall hits, you’re out of time. Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Holiday chaos. End-of-year goals. Your calendar will be execution-heavy and strategy-starved.

So fix it now.

Audit your platform. Clean your list. Segment your contacts. Define your goals. Connect your data. Build the machine. Because when email works, it doesn’t just deliver opens. It delivers ROI. Recurring revenue. Customer loyalty. And a real reason to celebrate when the quarter ends.