Photo by Le Vu
A reader shared an interesting observation with me. She told me she had “found out the hard way that email marketing doesn’t work in 2026″.
She asked me for my thoughts on why email is so ineffective. I said I’d share them here, as I’m sure some of you will find it useful.
Email marketing works
Email marketing does work. In fact, email marketing works extremely well. Better than ever, in fact.
Just ask any business owner who’s using it correctly. Whether it’s used for newsletters or promotions, the return on investment is off the charts.
Email marketing also works more predictably than any other form of marketing. And the tiny financial investment required makes it the most cost effective form of marketing, with the highest return.
Email marketing doesn’t work when…
What doesn’t work is ineffective email marketing. Just ask anyone who’s doing it incorrectly.
Here are just a few, very common examples of how small business owners get email marketing wrong.
Image: Shutterstock.
- A poorly written email won’t work. It will fail to motivate the reader to take action; to call you, email you, visit your website, make a purchase from you, whatever.
- A professionally written email, sent to the wrong people, won’t work. It will fail to reach those with a want or need for your services.
- A well written email, sent to the right people, with a dull subject line, won’t work. That’s because no one will open it. The subject line has to be compelling or no matter what your message is, it will literally be ignored.
- A well written email, sent to the right people, with a compelling subject line, offering a generic product or service, won’t work. No one wants to switch to a service that’s no better then their current service.
- A well written email, sent to the right people, with a compelling subject line, but sent on the wrong day of the week, won’t work. At least, it won’t be anything like as effective as it would be, if you research the best time of day and best day of the week, to send it.
- Oh, and if you send your emails too often, or not often enough… that’s right, your email marketing won’t work.
You get the idea.
Here’s another reason why email marketing is so extremely valuable to you and your business. It’s the only form of digital marketing where you own your reach.
Social media followers, YouTube subscribers, LinkedIn networks etc., are not under your control. An overnight change to these algorithms can see your marketing reach just a tiny fraction of ‘your’ subs/followers/contacts. That’s because these platforms own your connection. And they can delete your account whenever they wish.
So, instead of telling yourself that email marketing doesn’t work, ask yourself why YOUR email marketing doesn’t work. Otherwise, you’ll needlessly miss out on one of the most powerful forms of marketing on the planet!
IMPORTANT: If you want to make more sales, boost your profits and grow an amazing business, this will help you!