Email Marketing Rules4 Email Design Shortcuts That Kill Performance and What to Do Instead
Posted on January 29, 2026
Every brand is looking to squeeze ever-greater efficiencies out of their email marketing production processes. However, some gains in productivity come at the expense of hurting campaign performance to a much higher degree.
Some shortcuts look good on the surface—and then months later you realize that for every dollar you saved with the “productivity hack” cost you 10 times as much or more in lost revenue. This is especially true at larger brands, where campaigns reach much bigger audiences.
Here are four email design shortcuts that are tempting, but ultimately have huge costs in terms of hurting email campaign performance.
Spam Resource Spotlight: Chad S. White
Posted on January 21, 2026
I’ve known email deliverability expert Al Iverson for nearly two decades, so I was thrilled to be a part of his Spam Resource Spotlight series, where he interviews notable folks in the industry. In our conversation, we talk about:
- How I got started in email
- The origin of “Email Marketing Rules”
- How I determine what email marketing trends and news to cover and at what level and cadence
- Whether marketers are freaking out over the “continued erosion of senders’ control over their deliverability,” as I put it in a recent article
- How recent changes in spam filtering and deliverability requirements by inbox providers has changed my advice on the subject
- What I do for fun
- The food I despise most
- What one thing I’d like to drive broader adoption of
For the answers to those questions and more…
The Trends Shaping 2026 for Channel Marketers
Posted on January 15, 2026
Year after year, our award-winning Creative Services and Strategic Services teams help Zeta Global clients navigate the unique economic, social, and technological issues of the day across their digital marketing efforts. Here are 21 changes our experts see ahead for 2026.
How AI Summaries Are Reshaping Email Deliverability
Posted on January 14, 2026
AI summaries are impacting sender reputations in a fundamentally new way, signaling a new age of email deliverability. I speak with Jake Nathan at Lifecycle Letter about this change and what it means for marketers. He nails the key takeaway:
For the first time, inbox providers are inserting themselves between the brand and the subscriber before an email is ever opened. Subject lines, preview text, and even in-email content are being summarized, rewritten, or compressed by systems brands do not control. That creates a new asymmetry. When engagement drops or complaints rise, brands may be penalized for outcomes shaped by inbox provider decisions rather than their own messaging.
The Last Word on December 2025
Posted on January 9, 2026
A roundup of digital marketing and email marketing articles, posts, and social buzz you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
The Really Good Email Awards 2025 (Really Good Emails)
Amazon Faces ‘Leader’s Dilemma’ — Fight AI Shopping Bots or Join Them (CNBC)
When Conversation Died: The Rise of Automation Over Connection (Reworked)
Insightful & entertaining social posts
Noteworthy subject lines
FIGS, 12/19 – 380,000+ Scrubs Recycled (and Counting!)
Urban Outfitters, 12/27 – The Valentine’s Day Shop is open 💌 Xoxo, UO
Allbirds, 12/23 – Feel-good Flats For Your NYE Fit 🥂
Urban Outfitters, 12/20 – Already planning your NYE fit? 🪩
Neiman Marcus, 12/28 – New Year’s Looks worth celebrating
The Container Store, 12/27 – Start The Year Off Organized! Save 26% Sitewide & Storewide.
Urban Outfitters, 12/1 – CYBER MONDAY 👩💻 40% Off Sitewide
Quiksilver, 12/1 – Cyber Monday Deals Are Live + Free Shipping Today Only!
Bass Pro Shops Cyber Monday, 12/1 – Cyber Monday Deals You Don’t Want To Miss
Vineyard Vines, 12/19 – Super Saturday Starts Now: FREE Gift With Purchase In Stores 🎁
Macy’s, 12/23 – 16 luxe gifts up to 60% off for last-minute shoppers 🚨
West Elm, 12/21 – Ornaments for EVERY style
Home Depot, 12/15 – Get Gifts by Christmas: Delivered Fast or Pick Up in Hours
Eddie Bauer, 12/16 – DON’T MISS OUT! Order by 12/17 for Holiday Delivery With Expedited Shipping.
Pacsun, 12/20 – Presents as low as $15 & up to 50% off (Get ’em by 12/25!)
Williams Sonoma, 12/21 – Hurry—these gifts arrive by Christmas with next-day shipping >>
Abercrombie & Fitch, 12/21 – LAST DAY to use two-day shipping & get your gifts by 12/25
REI, 12/23 – There’s still time to give an e-gift card!
Pacsun, 12/27 – Up To 50% Off What You Really Wanted ➡️
Goldbelly, 12/15 – 💥 Joe & Vanessa’s Top 10 Chrismukkah Picks
Allbirds, 12/21 – December Drizzle, Meet The Mizzle
adidas, 12/22 – Colombia FIFA World Cup 26™ Home Jersey
Quiksilver, 12/15 – These Swim Trunks Are Now $19.99
NFLShop, 12/2 – Now Available: OVO x NFL Collection
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Stripo Choice Awards: 2025 Winners
Which AI Path Will You Take as a Marketer?
Stitching Together Email Identities Becomes More Vital after New Gmail Feature
Posted on January 8, 2026
Google is rolling out a new feature allowing users to add up to three additional Gmail addresses to their Google account while keeping access to their existing data and services. For marketers, the change puts even more emphasis on the ability to connect activity across multiple email addresses to a single customer, but doesn’t pose any deliverability risks.
The new Gmail feature will appeal most to long-time Google account holders, who are the most likely to have changed their name or to want to better align their Gmail address with who they are now. This is a change from the past, when users could create a new Gmail address but couldn’t connect that with an older account and would have to log into each account separately.
Previously, Gmail users could create email aliases that would forward any emails received to the user’s Gmail account. What’s different is this new feature allows you to turn your existing Gmail address into an alias that’s tied to a new Gmail address. It also allows you to check emails received by any of these Gmail addresses in a single unified inbox.
4 Ways AI Breaks Marketing Trust — and What Comes Next for 2026
Posted on January 7, 2026
AI will continue to dominate headlines and drive corporate agendas, but not always in a positive or constructive way. In 2026, unfortunately, we’ll be moving on from AI’s full-of-promise adolescent phase straight into its rebellious phase. Here are four predictions and how they will affect digital marketers’ channel priorities, corporate policies, and martech stack decisions in the year ahead.
Email’s Enduring Advantage in an AI-Disrupted Marketing World
Posted on December 31, 2025
This video interview, in honor of being named a CMSWire Contributor of the Year for the fourth consecutive year, starts with the most flattering compliment I’ve ever received, then we dive into:
- How digital marketing success = owning customer relationships
- Where AI helps marketing—and where it hurts
- Platform risk and the cost of dependency
- Why trust is the real marketing battleground
- Why 2026 will be the year marketers face tough tradeoffs
To watch the video or read the excellent summary…
Happy Holidays!
Posted on December 25, 2025
Wherever you are, whatever you celebrate, my family and I wish you all the best this holiday season. See you in the New Year, Marketers!
Stripo Choice Awards: 2025 Winners
Posted on December 17, 2025
Stripo has announced the winners of the first annual Stripo Choice Awards, which recognized outstanding emails in three categories: (1) Best Email Design, (2) Best Interactive Email, and (3) Best Email with the Idea and Results.
After the email marketing community voted to determine the three finalists in each category, the task of picking the winners was handed over to me, Let’sTalk Strategy Founder Jenna Tiffany, The Future Funnel Co-founder Jasper Van Laethem, and Stripo Founder Dmytro Kudrenko.
We each ranked the finalists in each category from first to third and explained our reasoning, pointing out the strengths of each email as well as elements that could be improved.
Welcome! Email Marketing Rules is your guide to understanding the best practices of this complex, often misunderstood channel as you craft the best executions for your brand. Every week, we’ll explore strategies and tactics, discuss tips and inspiration, and dig into industry news and trends.
Chad S. White
GVP of CRM Strategy
Zeta Global
Author of Email Marketing Rules and nearly 4,000 articles about digital and email marketing
