The one thing that most marketing emails fail to get right

“Mind blown at how much you have grown. Really impressive!!!!!” This is a reply I got from Moses, GoodToday’s executive director, to a recent newsletter.

(Shared with his permission, of course.)

That reply sparked an inbox conversation, and he ended up asking me for more hands-on assistance with the organization’s email strategy.

It’s always a nice (and super flattering!) request to get.

But the background of it is even more interesting -

He used to be subscribed to my list, unsubscribed a while ago, and hopped back on it lately. And even though he’s always been an engaged subscriber, the explicit ask for my help only came around a few weeks ago.

And this is exactly what most email marketing out there fails to get right: 

Email is a relationship-building channel that becomes transactional, not the other way around.

If anything, at any given moment, 95%-97% of the people in any audience are not even ready to buy.

But if you take an honest look at your inbox right now, I bet that the majority (if not all) of the marketing emails there are hard-core sales emails. 

Which means that they’re only aimed at the 3-5% that are either impulse buyers or people with high risk tolerance, or at those who are aware of their challenge, ready to admit that they need someone (or something) new to help them, and are willing to actually do something about it. 

In other words, most of the emails in your inbox right now are burning bridges instead of building them.

Now, don’t get me wrong - 

• Every business has every right to sell to their audience(s). It’s their obligation. They’re not sending emails just for fun, and subscribers are expected to be sold to. But there’s a how and a when to it.

• Email can be a channel of quick wins, but those don’t live in a vacuum. They usually involve a combination of earned trust - right offer - right solution - and most importantly…

• Just like you can’t hurry love, people need to get to the realization that they need your solutions in their own damn time. As frustrating as it can be, some clients/customers need years of consistent relationship building before they take action, no matter how spot-on your service/product/messaging/positioning/pricing/you-name-it is.

It means that you, as someone who’s running a business as a force for good, must remember that 95:5 ratio and think of this channel as a part of your long-term marketing strategy (yes, with quick wins along the way).

Your emails must “see” both types of readers because otherwise, you’re ignoring (or worse, antagonizing) a whole lot of people who are not ready to buy from you exactly when you expect them to be.

Because if you push those 95% to be something they’re not, you’ll leave so much revenue and impact on the table.

So yes, by all means, sell to those 5%.

But for the love of pasta, these are not the only people on your list.

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Practicing what I preach: If you belong in that coveted 5% group - you know that you can get so much more out of your email list but don’t know how to do that, you’re done with sending emails that feel like throwing spaghetti on the wall, and you’re ready to take action on changing things for the better - here’s how I can help.