Email Marketing Practices

We recently cleaned our Sporting Crypto newsletter list✉️ For those writing B2B newsletters, in any industry, there are three key metrics to watch for: 1. Open Rate (OR) 2. Click-Through-Rate (CTR) 3. Delivery Rate (DR) Depending on what type of content you're writing, you may prioritise one over the other. We have always prioritised Open Rate, because the number of links / CTAs we include in our content varies from week to week. 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗲. The reason we spent some time this week removing people from our newsletter list is that we noticed DR had decreased 1-1.5% in the last couple of months. With B2B content, you are at the mercy of people signing up with their work email. This is great, and if it's from acclaimed brands, you can then point to it and say they read your content. The downside is... when they leave that job. And at the turn of the year, people move jobs! You will have one of these two things happen: 1. The business blocks their email almost immediately, and your newsletter starts bouncing to that address 2. The business keeps the email open for a while, meaning your emails are still delivered to that address but unopened With (1) - that's great, you can remove the email address from your database. With (2) - you have to do some snooping and see if the person in question has actually left their job, and then choose to remove/keep the email address in your database. Another culprit for Sporting Crypto was students, signing up with university emails. Same thing once more, when you graduate - you no longer have access to your university email and your emails are no longer being read by that email address. Then you have the grey zone 💭 People who have signed up with their personal email who are either 1) Getting bounces 2) Not reading your content 3) Going to spam / a rogue folder No matter what email marketers tell you -- this grey zone has no right answer. You can try and re-engage these readers, remove them or keep them in your database and hope they one day start reading again - but the truth is there is no right answer here. Sharing in case there are any other people writing B2B email newsletters this might help 😀

Email deliverability teams are often reactive instead of strategic with their Google vs. Outlook sending approaches. The top-performing email operations teams plan their infrastructure meticulously from day one. How? 1️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲. Why? While Google prioritizes domain reputation and trust, Outlook heavily weighs IP reputation and domain age. Generalized approaches fail both systems. 2️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐏 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭. Most teams scramble to fix deliverability issues after campaigns fail, leading to lost revenue and damaged sender reputation. Reactive fixes cost 3x more than proactive preparation. Smart teams achieve 98%+ inbox placement by carefully warming up domains for 14-30 days and maintaining strict 1:1 ratios between warm-up and sending volumes. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐐1 2025, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞: ➤ Register domains through Cloudflare 30 days before your first campaign. ➤ Set up dedicated IPs for every 50-100k emails (50% outbound + 50% warm-up) via private servers -> Mailreef | ScaledMail. ➤ Use separate sending pools for Google, Outlook, and enterprise recipients if posible. 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐮𝐩 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 20 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐱 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲: Week 1 ➡️ 20 warm up emails per day in Smartlead or Instantly.ai for Google Workspace and Mailreef. 0 sending. Week 2 ➡️ Same as above Week 3 ➡️ 20 warm up emails, 15 sending Week 4 ➡️ 20 warm up emails, 20 sending While reactive teams struggle with 40-60% inbox placement, proactive teams consistently achieve 95%+ through proper preparation. Don't let poor planning destroy your email ROI. P.S: This might sound overwhelming, but breaking it down into systematic steps makes it achievable. 💡 What's your current warm-up strategy for new domains? Let's connect if you'd like to discuss your email infrastructure plans. #revops #coldemail #sales

How the top 1% make Cold Email work in 2026: (Based on 1,000,000+ emails analyzed via Instantly.ai) Here's what the best-performing campaigns had in common: 1. Small Targeted Lists > Big Broad Lists Micro-lists of 500-1,000 hyper-targeted prospects beat blasting 100,000 contacts every time. Reply rates: 20-30% vs. 2-3%. → Stop praying someone bites. Start targeting the actual people who have a reason to reply. 2. Hyperenriched Data > Basic Data Go beyond name + email. Collect: - LinkedIn headline & profile - Job postings (signals growth/hiring needs) - Technologies used - Funding announcements - Website case studies → Personalization at scale requires data at scale. 3. AI Personalization > Generic Openers Instead of: "Hey John, hope all is well at [Company]" Try: - Job postings → "Saw you're hiring 3 AEs..." - Funding news → "Congrats on the $25M Series B..." - Case studies → "Just read your case study on..." - Tech stack → "Noticed you recently added [tool]..." → Make every email feel 1:1. 4. 4-Step Sequence > 1 Single Email Most replies come from the first emails, but follow-ups increase overall sequence reply rates significantly. - Email 1: Personalized opener + value offer - Email 2: Short follow-up (3-5 days later) - Email 3: Different angle (3-5 days later) - Email 4: Breakup email (3-5 days later) → Keep them short (2-4 sentences). Reference the original. Add new value. Pro tip: Layer in LinkedIn touches between emails for omnipresence. 5. Value-First > Ask-First Stop asking for their time immediately. ❌ "Can we hop on a call tomorrow at 2pm?" ❌ "Do you have 15 minutes to chat?" ✓ "Would it make sense to send over a quick example deck?" ✓ "Happy to share what's working best right now." ✓ "Can I send you something that could help [specific pain]?" → They raise their hand first. Then you've earned the conversation. 6. Fundamentals > Fancy Tactics Master the 3 core pillars: 1. ICP – Who exactly are you targeting? 2. Offer – What specific outcome do you deliver? 3. Copy – How do you communicate value? → Depth > Width. No shiny object syndrome. 7. Long Game > Quick Wins Cold email isn't a magic pill. It's a compounding client acquisition system. → Quality over rushing. Pipeline over quick wins. Be there when they're ready to buy. 8. Deliverability > Volume None of this matters if you land in spam. - Multiple domains (not just one) - 30 emails per inbox per day max - Proper technical setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) - 30 days minimum warm-up - Clean, validated lists → Sending 100 emails/hour from one email = spam city. 9. Tech Stack - Instantly.ai (sequencing, deliverability, analytics) - Clay (data enrichment, intent, personalization) - Prospeo.io (list building, targeting) Looking for more details? 👇 Check out the Cold Email cheatsheet below. P.S: What's working for you right now with cold email?

Fixing your email copy won't save your outbound campaign if you're emailing the wrong people. I've watched 100+ outbound campaigns fail at ColdIQ (and the problem is almost never the messaging). Here's what I mean: Most companies just grab some list from Apollo, send out like a hundred cold emails, and hope they get a reply. They have no idea if these people actually need their solution. The fix? Intent data. You'll never be 100% sure, but these signals help you: - Target people who are actually in-market - Re-engage old lists when timing makes sense - Stop wasting time on prospects who'll never convert There are several categories of intent signals: 1/ First-Party Intent ↳ Data collected from YOUR business ecosystem. These are people who already know you exist. They're: - Using your product - Visiting your website - Engaging with your content - Subscribing to your newsletter Tools to track this: Website Visitors: Instantly.ai, Clay, Midbound, Vector 👻 Product Usage: Common Room, Pocus, Mixpanel, Amplitude Social Engagement: Teamfluence™, Trigify.io, Clay 2/ Second-Party Intent ↳ Data collected about your company, via partners. That would be prospects that interacted with: - One of your partners who has overlapping customers - Your brand through a partner site - like your G2 page if you're a SaaS Examples of platforms to uncover these signals include: - Champion Tracking: Clay, Common Room - Affinity Signals: Crossbeam, WorkSpan - Review Sites: G2, Capterra 3/ Third-Party Intent ↳ Data collection via external providers. This is public data that shows they might actually need what you're selling. Examples include: Hiring Trends: LoneScale, Mantiks, PredictLeads, Clay Tech Stack Changes: BuiltWith, Similarweb, HG Insights, Clay Funding Events: Crunchbase, PitchBook, Owler - A Meltwater Offering, Clay Custom AI Agents: Relevance AI, Claygent, Apify We use Clay to build most of these workflows: → Filter for buying signals → Enrich contacts in real-time → Combine multiple data sources → Score and segment dynamically Better targeting = better reply rates = better pipeline. P.S: What intent signals are you tracking in your GTM motion right now?

I just tested an outreach campaign that hit a 34% bounce rate. Same offer. Same copy. Same targeting strategy that worked the month before. But deliverability tanked because half the list was outdated. The best cold email in the world doesn't matter if it never reaches the inbox. Poor data quality doesn't just hurt one campaign—it burns sender reputation and tanks future performance too. One agency learned this after three campaigns in a row hit spam folders. Their domain was flagged. Prospects weren't seeing anything. The problem wasn't the messaging—it was the data. Here's what fixed it: They started verifying every single email before hitting send. Used Skrapp.io to pull fresh B2B contacts from LinkedIn and auto-verify deliverability. No more guessing. No more hoping emails would land. The result? Bounce rate dropped to under 2%. Reply rates doubled. And sender score recovered in two weeks. Great outreach starts way before writing the first line. It starts with clean, verified data. If the list is broken, the campaign is already dead. How are teams keeping their contact lists clean right now?

Using HubSpot for marketing emails? When's the last time you verified your domain authentication on HubSpot? I can't tell you how many times I've seen this overlooked. I consistently find it not authenticated in accounts. Here's what happens when your domain isn't properly authenticated: • Your deliverability tanks • Emails hit spam folders instead of inboxes • Your sender reputation takes a hit • You're burning budget on emails nobody sees The fix takes minutes. Go to Settings → Content → Domains & URLs Check for these three things: 1. SPF record (green checkmark) 2. DKIM record (green checkmark) 3. DMARC policy (configured) If you see red X's or warnings, fix them today. Your IT team can help if you're not sure how to update DNS records. HubSpot's documentation walks through it step by step. Don't let a simple technical oversight kill your email performance. Check it now. Your campaigns will thank you.

My best-performing sequence hit a 38% reply rate (No gimmicks. Just better emails.) When I first started building sequences, I made every classic mistake: - Long emails - Generic intros - Feature dumping The “Hope this finds you well” energy And my reply rates showed it. Brutal. It took months of testing, losing deals, and getting ignored to figure out what actually works. Here’s exactly what changed - and how I consistently hit reply rates today: 1. I stopped writing for everyone. I started writing for one person. → “Finance leaders at growing companies” is too broad. → “CFO handling 200+ expense reports manually” is specific. Action: One persona. One moment. One pain. 2. I cut my emails down to 4 - 6 lines. Prospects don’t read long emails - they scan. Format that works: - Line 1: Relevant trigger - Line 2–3: Insight - Line 4: Why it matters now - Line 5: One binary ask If it doesn’t fit on a mobile screen, it goes. 3. I stopped spraying. I started targeting. → Old me: hope any account converts. → New me: laser focus on Tier 1 accounts, I warm up before outreach. → Salesforge 🔥 makes this easier in 2025 - unlimited email + LinkedIn senders to enroll contacts across channels and scale what’s working. Action: Only sequence accounts you’ve warmed up in some way - comment, view, engage, or trigger. 4. I added a short insight in every touch. Not paragraphs - one nugget. Examples: → “Teams with 200+ receipts/month often lose 10–12 hours weekly to manual approvals.” → “Most companies I talk to delay reporting by 5–7 days for the same reason you mentioned.” Action: Teach something small. Relevance is the differentiator. 5. I switched to binary questions. Not: “Let me know if you're open to a chat.” But: → “Worth a 10-min look?” → “Should I send the workflow comparison?” Binary > vague. Always. The result: Real replies Better triggers Shorter emails Cleaner sequence My take: 1. Outbound isn’t dead. Bad outbound is. 2. Write like a human. Keep it short. 3. Speak to their world - not yours. PS: I found an offer for you - Salesforge is giving 1 month of free access to the first 100 users for Black Friday. Just use the code BFCM100 and enjoy. PPS. Never thought I would turn into the "guy who has a discount code" but hey, here you have it 😅

How I doubled my sales with email marketing. You know that feeling when you receive an email, and the subject line  catches your attention. That's the impact of personalization. Also known as a brand's superpower. - It’s an opportunity to connect. - It affects purchase decisions subconsciously. When strategizing for email marketing, leveraging this natural tendency can be a game changer. Here's my method: 1. Identify your marketing goals   → looking to boost sales → expanding your customer list → or you’re launching a new product Your goal shapes how you apply personalization. 2. Target your desired customers   → what's their profile? → what are their interests? → what do they look for in products? These insights are critical for the next steps. 3. Put personalization to work: a. Personalize your emails - segment your list - use clear call-to-actions - address customers by their name - tailor content based on their interests b. Personalize post-purchase communication - ask for a review - provide order updates - introduce other relevant products - send a 'thank you for your purchase' note 4. Be consistent but respectful → use email automation prudently → regularly stay in touch, but don't bombard → aim to be remembered, not seen as an annoyance Personalization is now well-established. 5. Initiate special promotions     → make your communication feel special → offer exclusive deals to email subscribers → share updates about upcoming promotions 6. Maintain and grow the relationship → consider a loyalty or referral program → offer helpful information, tips, resources → continue to engage beyond the purchase It’s not just selling. It’s connecting with a purpose. PS: How do you uniquely "connect" through your email marketing?

A common mistake I see brands make is relying on their own inboxes to test email campaigns. But just because it looks great on your device doesn’t mean it will for your customers. What's often not taken into consideration is how your campaigns render across the 60+ platforms and devices your customers might be viewing your campaigns on. This means that while you and even your team might see a beautifully designed, well-put-together campaign, your customers might be seeing a completely skewed design. Not quite the outcome you'd like... And without proper testing, that beautifully designed campaign could appear distorted, unreadable, or even completely broken for some recipients. Dark mode is a perfect example. It's estimated that around 40% of users have dark mode enabled on their devices, yet most brands don’t test how their emails render in dark mode. The result? Logos that disappear, unreadable text, and broken design elements that ruin the user experience. Internally, we use Litmus to check formatting, links, and deliverability before sending and while this is our go-to, Sinch Email on Acid also does the trick and is much more cost-effective for brands. To give you an idea, here's what you can do using a third-party tool like Litmus or Emails on Acid: ✔️ Ensure emails display correctly, including in dark mode ✔️ Make sure all links work ✔️ Confirm compatibility across 60+ devices ✔️ Prevent email clipping, especially in Gmail (102KB limit) ✔️ Minimise human error by testing beyond just your inbox ✔️ Validate mobile responsiveness ✔️ Provide proper authentication to avoid being flagged as spam ✔️ Monitor for blocklists and spam placements ✔️ Check email load times to avoid slow rendering ✔️ Review accessibility compliance (contrast, font size, readability) I’m still waiting for an ESP to integrate this functionality directly - it would be a game changer. Until then, proper testing is non-negotiable.

Before copy, before offers, before personalization… your emails need to land in the inbox If you're doing [X] - sending emails straight from a fresh domain without setup Switch to warming and proper infrastructure first, because inbox providers will flag you immediately. 1. Disable Tracking Links Tracking pixels and link tracking often trigger spam filters. They add extra redirects → suspicious behavior They signal “mass outreach tool” What works: Use plain links or no links at all in the first email. Focus on getting a reply, not a click. 2. Use Multiple Mailboxes per Domain One inbox blasting emails = high risk. Spread volume across 2–3 inboxes per domain Example: john@ mike@ Why it matters: Lower activity per inbox = more natural sending pattern. 3. Mix Google and Outlook Accounts Email providers watch patterns. If all your emails come from one ecosystem, it’s easier to detect. Better approach: 50% Google Workspace 50% Outlook This creates diversity and reduces risk signals. 4. Warm Up Your Domains (Minimum 2 Weeks) New domains have zero trust. If you're doing [X] sending emails immediately after setup - switch to warming first, because cold domains get flagged fast. Simple process: Start with 5–10 emails/day Gradually increase Use real conversations or warm-up tools Goal: build history that looks human. 5. Use Separate Domains for Outreach Never send cold emails from your main domain. Why: Protect your brand domain reputation Avoid affecting your core business emails Example: Main: yourcompany.com Outreach: yourcompany.co / getyourcompany.com 6. Set Up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Properly Skip this and your emails won’t be trusted. These are your authentication signals: SPF → confirms sender DKIM → verifies message integrity DMARC → tells servers how to handle failures No setup = low deliverability, even with great copy 7. Keep Volume Low (Max ~20 Emails/Day per Inbox) More volume doesn’t mean more results. Among outbound campaigns, accounts sending lower daily volume tend to last longer and perform better. What works: 10–20 emails per inbox per day Scale by adding inboxes, not volume That's it!