Can your emails pass the "towel test"?

Every time I visit my parents, my strategist brain switches on.

Like the time I suggested they’d get stainless steel pans, instead of their 5+-year-old non-sticks. 

Or when I put a “Do you have your keys/wallet/ID with you?” note on their door, which now saves them time and unnecessary frustration.

They always resist at first… and then quietly make the changes later.

But there was one thing they refused to budge on for years - the placement of the hand towel in the guest bathroom.

They kept it near the door, while guests would look for it near the sink.

But everyone dried their hands on the shower towels instead.

My parents insisted the towel was already “in the right place.” But guests clearly disagreed.

So I tested it.

Two new towels, one in each spot. 

The results weren’t even close: The towel by the sink was used every time.

Finally, the towel hanger was officially moved.

There is a reason for sharing this story with you, and no it's not to prove that I was right in my thinking. It's to share that it doesn’t matter what you think your subscribers want, what matters is what they show you through their behaviour.

In email marketing, that might look like:

• A button placement that gets more clicks.

• A subject line your subscribers respond to more consistently.

• A topic that drives replies, engagement, and conversion.

The data will tell you what’s working, if you listen.

When you analyse the story your data is telling, that’s when you find the impact (and the ROI).

So when a client asks, “Should we move this here?” or “Do you think this topic will resonate?”, my answer is always the same:

“It doesn’t matter what we think, it matters what your audience shows us.”

If your subscribers are showing you that you need to move the towel, then for the love of pasta, move the damn towel.

Because sometimes, the smallest shifts, informed by real behavior, make the biggest difference in ROI.

Know that you have a “towel” situation in your email marketing, but you just don’t know where to move it to? Let’s have a call together and see if I can help you out.