Email still pays
Email in 2026, the channel everyone wrote off that still pays the bills
I run the email for several B2B clients. Here is what actually works now, and the three habits that quietly ruin most newsletters.
Every year someone declares email dead. Every year email brings my clients more leads per dollar than any other channel. Here is what I have learnt running it for several B2B companies.
First, the thing that changed. Email inboxes are now filtered by AI. The major providers summarise, sort and sometimes hide messages before the reader sees them. Your subject line is being read by a machine first. So is your first sentence. If those two do not say clearly what the email is about, the machine files it under "promotions" and the reader never scrolls down.
The fix is almost funny. Write the subject line as a plain description. "Three changes to the superannuation rules from July" beats "You will not believe what just changed". The first one survives the filter. The second one looks like spam, because it is written like spam.
Second, the thing that did not change. People read email from people. The most opened emails I send for any client come from a named person, with a plain text look, no banner, no three-column layout. It reads like a note from someone who knows the reader. Because it is.
Now the three habits that ruin newsletters.
Habit one, too many links. An email with eight links is a brochure. An email with one link is a request. Pick the one thing you want the reader to do.
Habit two, sending because the calendar says so. A fortnightly email with nothing to say trains the reader to delete you. Send when you have something. The list will forgive gaps. It will never forgive filler.
Habit three, writing for the whole list. One client sells to both small shops and large chains. One email to both means a message that fits nobody. We split the list. Open rates went up on both halves, and the replies started coming.
One more thing that surprised me. Replies are the real metric. A reply is a person who read the whole email and wanted to talk. I now write every email so that replying is the natural next step, and I end with a question.
The tools are cheap. The list is yours. The inbox is still the one place every customer visits daily. Write to one person, say one thing, ask one question.
