How to Fail At Email Marketing

Hey it’s Max from The Inbox Newsletter.

What does it look like to fail at email marketing?

You reading this may be failing. Today we’re going to talk about what failing looks like.

How to Fail at Email Marketing Like a Pro

Most brands screw this up.

They think they’re doing email marketing, but what they’re really doing is lighting money on fire.

If you want to fail, do what everyone else does.

Here’s the exact playbook for losing revenue, alienating customers, and wasting time.

1. Ignore Pop-Ups Entirely

You are literally shooting yourself in the foot if you aren’t optimizing your pop-up forms.

Pop-ups allow you to capture email addresses from website visitors who are already interested in your brand.

Without them, you’re losing potential customers who will likely never come back.

In many cases we can double or triple a client’s pop-up conversion rate… thus doubling or tripling their list growth AND their email revenue.

What happens:

• Your email list grows slowly, if at all.

• You lose out on revenue from missed opportunities.

What to do:
Use optimized pop-up forms that convert visitors. Test offers, timing, and messaging to improve performance. (Tutorial here).

2. Blast Emails to Your Whole List

Sending emails to your entire list without segmentation reduces deliverability and engagement.

Most of your list isn’t engaged, and inbox providers will penalize you for low engagement.

What happens:

• Open and click rates drop.

• Inbox providers stop trusting you

• Emails end up in spam.

What to do:
Segment your list based on engagement levels. Only send to active subscribers—those who have opened or clicked in the past 30-90 days. (Guide here).

3. Only Send One Email Per Week

Sending only one email a week reduces visibility and just leaves a ton of revenue on the table.

Customers are distracted with messages from other brands, and infrequent emails make it harder for them to recognize or remember you.

What happens:

• Your brand gets forgotten.

• Engagement drops due to lack of consistent communication.

What to do:
Send at least 2-3 emails per week. Use a variety of content, like product highlights, educational tips, and offers, to maintain interest and engagement.

4. Skip Monthly Reviews

Without reviewing your email performance regularly, you miss insights. W

hat works today might not work tomorrow, and ignoring metrics leads to wasted efforts.

What happens:

• Poorly performing campaigns keep running.

• High-performing strategies go unnoticed and unscaled.

What to do:
Analyze key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and revenue monthly. Use this data to adjust and improve your strategies for next month.

5. Neglect Conversion Rate Optimized Email Copy / Design

If your emails aren’t designed to drive conversions, you’re wasting sends.

Overly complicated designs and unclear CTAs reduce the likelihood of customers taking action.

Using a lot of copy and unclear value propositions distract the customer from clicking.

What happens:

• Click-through rates are lower than they should be.

• Customers get distracted or confused and leave without converting.

What to do:
Focus on clear, simple designs. Use bold CTAs, social proof, and compelling copy to guide readers to take action. (Guide here).

6. Set It and Forget It with Email Flows

Email flows can’t be left untouched for months.

Customer behavior and preferences change, and flows need to be updated regularly to stay relevant and effective.

What happens:

• Flows become outdated and ineffective.

• Customers disengage due to irrelevant messaging.

What to do:
Review and refresh your flows every quarter. Update subject lines, offers, and messaging to reflect current trends and customer behavior.

Stop failing at email marketing.

Email is your most important channel in 2025 if you care at all about profit.

If you’re struggling with time, watch this 4 hour per week email marketing system video I posted. 

Email Inspiration Of The Day

Brand:
Tushy

Email Design:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JVGPFxe8rGbmpX4n7QRot1V9cH9gqXBF/view?usp=sharing

Notes:
I think this may be a perfect email…

Education ✅

Clear subheadlines and copy ✅

Positioning our product as the solution ✅

This is amazing.

Template of The Day

If you want access to a bank of 134 mix and match templates like this equating to over 5,000+ possible email designs, click here » 

Helpful Links Of The Day

• Insane marketing trick used by Argentinian Restaurant

• Email marketing segmentation tricks

• Pop-up forms that use psychology

Reply to this email if you have any questions or further content you want covered.

Cheers,

Max

PS - If you run an ecommerce brand above $50k/mo and you want to have a free email strategy consultation with me, book a call here »

PPS - I have a few different products you can buy. If you purchase any one of these products you get access to my private community of 850+ members with daily posts from me, access to me for support 24/7, and private calls.

• Ecommerce Email Mastery: A 60 lesson course breaking down everything you need to know about ecommerce email marketing in the most concise and organized manner. learn more »

• Mix and Match Email Design Templates: 134 email section templates that can make 5,000+ unique email designs with, learn more »

• QuickFlow Templates: All core 7 core email marketing flows fully templatized with examples, learn more »