Email Marketing RulesThe Last Word on November 2025
Posted on December 5, 2025
A roundup of digital marketing and email marketing articles, posts, and social buzz you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
AI Agent Survey (PwC)
Meta reportedly projected 10% of 2024 sales came from scam, fraud ads (CNBC)
Google AI Overviews Drive 61% Drop in Organic CTR, 68% in Paid (Search Engine Land)
Naive Design: The ‘Messiest’ 2026 Design Trend (Kittl)
7 Reasons Every Company Needs an AI Use Policy (VKTR)
Telemarketing Isn’t Dead—But Your Old Playbook Is (CMSWire)
Insightful & entertaining social posts
Do rounded corners affect accessibility? 🤔
And what’s the best way to round corners in email?
In this clip from our “Design Trends: Accessibility” webinar, Mark Robbins from Parcel breaks it down. pic.twitter.com/b9nvhWmu82— Really Good Emails 💌 (@reallygoodemail) November 14, 2025
Noteworthy subject lines
J.Crew, 11/24 – The holidays look good on you
Chubbies, 11/7 – You’re not blending in tonight…
Clinique Online, 11/3 – ✨ Your holiday glow-up is on us ✨
Williams Sonoma, 11/17 – Add the finishing touch to your holiday table: use code FREESHIP
Wayfair, 11/17 – THE GIFT SHOP IS OPEN 🎁
Patagonia, 11/22 – Explore our 2025 Gift Guide
lululemon, 11/16 – Early Access to Black Friday starts tomorrow
Priceline, 11/20 – Go! Cyber Week is live NOW
Banana Republic Black Friday Event, 11/24 – Black Friday starts now
West Elm Black Friday, 11/24 – IT’S ON 👀 BLACK FRIDAY STARTS NOW
Macy’s Black Friday, 11/24 – 🚨 Our BEST Black Friday deals are HERE 🚨
kate spade, 11/24 – These might be our best Black Friday deals yet
Bass Pro Shops, 11/24 – Black Friday Week Starts NOW!
REI, 11/24 – Last day—shop our Holiday Sale!
American Eagle, 11/28 – THIS IS IT, Friend! 40-50% off… Black Friday ends today 😲
West Elm Black Friday, 11/28 – Our biggest sale of the year. Up to 70% off.
Pacsun, 11/28 – Top 5️⃣ gifts they actually want (+ 50% off)
Michaels SALE, 11/30 – ⏰ ENDS TODAY: Doorbusters and new markdowns! Plus, more trees than EVER at 70% off!
IKEA Family, 11/18 – Deck the halls and save 🤑 on holiday must-haves
Clinique Online, 11/17 – 7 full-size favorites 🎁 One BIG Gift.
Olive Garden, 11/20 – The *gratest* gift for cheese lovers
Crate & Barrel, 11/4 – It’s officially cookie season!
GameStop, 11/8 – The GameStop Pro Credit Card: Your next shopping spree’s BFF!
Fanatics.com, 11/7 – It’s National Jersey Day — Wear Your Pride
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
The Seventh Age of Email Deliverability
4 Trends Affecting Digital Marketing This Holiday Season
Which AI Path Will You Take as a Marketer?
Posted on December 4, 2025
From the gramophone to the compass to the computer, advancements in technology routinely cause people to abandon skills, says The Atlantic’s Kwame Anthony Appiah in The Age of De-Skilling. “It’s a reassuring pattern—something let go, something else acquired,” he says. “But some gains come with deeper costs. They unsettle not only what people can do but also who they feel themselves to be.”
Of course, AI is the big advancement that’s causing the current cycle of de-skilling. The question for marketers (and everyone else) is: What skills will people give up? And how will that impact their identity?
2025 Q3 Email Marketing Benchmark Report
Posted on December 1, 2025
Zeta Global’s latest Email Marketing Benchmark report shares aggregated data on sends, open rates, click rates, click-to-open rates, unsubscribe rates from July 1, 2025 through Sept. 30, 2025, including year-over-year changes. The benchmarks are broken down by industry (e.g., retail; travel, hospitality & entertainment; financial services & insurance; and media) and by email type (e.g., promotional and triggered).
The report also includes:
- Commentary and context from our digital marketing experts so you can understand these changes
- Tips on how to use benchmarks effectively
- Discussions of the latest inbox provider changes from Gmail and Yahoo Mail and how they affect marketers
To get the report via a free, no-form download…
The Seventh Age of Email Deliverability
Posted on November 17, 2025
The latest evolution of email deliverability introduces a new layer of challenges that make it even harder for senders to consistently create relevant experiences and manage their sender reputations. Before we dive into these new changes, which revolve around inbox providers’ use of AI summaries, let’s quickly put them in the context of other major changes that ushered in a new age of email deliverability.
The Last Word on October 2025
Posted on November 7, 2025
A roundup of digital marketing and email marketing articles, posts, and social buzz you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
Yahoo’s AOL Sale Points to an Email-Centric Future (Email Expert)
Introducing “Insights”: A New Way to Understand Your Delivery Performance (Yahoo)
ChatGPT’s Atlas: The Browser That’s Anti-Web (Anil Dash)
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Instant Checkout: The Dawn of Conversational Commerce CX (CMSWire)
State of the Consumer 2025: When Disruption Becomes Permanent (McKinsey & Co.)
Say It Ain’t So! Why Emojis Undermine the Science of Good Email Marketing (CMSWire)
Bot-Generated Fake Brand Outrage Is a Rising Problem—What Marketers Need to Know (AdAge)
🎉 Because Every Customer Deserves a Celebration (Clinton Wilmott)
Younger Americans Are Ditching Apps for Activities (MarketWatch)
Insightful & entertaining social posts
Noteworthy subject lines
Wayfair, 10/3 – STOCK POTS, SOUP POTS AND MULTI-POTS 🏠 🥂 Holiday hosting = UP TO 60% OFF
IKEA Family, 10/22 – Get into the holiday groove with IKEA Live 💃 🎄
The North Face, 10/21 – Our holiday gift guide is here.
Fanatics.com, 10/28 – Give the Gift of Their Favorite Jersey 🎁
Staples, 10/22 – Shop holiday 🎁 early, stress less – so easy!
Spirit Halloween, 10/27 – $15 2-day shipping on orders over $50!
West Elm, 10/6 – Get your home Halloween-ready
Clinique Fall Gift, 10/25 – 10 treats for me? YES, please. With $85 order.
Michaels Custom Framing, 10/12 – 🖼️ Score 70% off custom frames to create a lasting display for your veteran.
Bed Bath & Beyond, 10/13 – Fall in love with an organized home 🍂
Banana Republic, 10/31 – The sweaters we’re wearing all season long
Columbia, 10/13 – This Omni-Heat™ Infinity gear is on fire.🔥
Columbia, 10/29 – Cold? Not in these jackets.
Brekke from Lonely Planet, 10/8 – Escape to Peru
Bass Pro Shops, 10/22 – Online Shopping + In-Store Pickup = 10% Savings!
Abercrombie, 10/27 – Last chance for code: NEWFORYOU.
GameStop, 10/31 – We made a game! Buy Buck and the Cursed Cartridge today 🐰🕹️🔫
NFLShop.com, 10/28 – luluemon NFL Collection | Selling Fast 🔥
Macy’s, 10/14 – Disney | Macy’s is back!
adidas, 10/3 – adidas x Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 🏁
YETI, 10/10 – YETI® x Howler Brothers
Zara Kids, 10/25 – Bensimon x Zara Kids
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
4 Trends Affecting Digital Marketing This Holiday Season
Posted on November 6, 2025
Every holiday season brings its own unique challenges. Here are four of the biggest ones affecting the 2025 holiday season and how marketers can adapt to those challenges.
- K-Shaped Economy
- Inflation Untamed
- Tariffs & Buying Local
- Social Media Influencers & AI Slop
AI & the Future of Email Marketing
Posted on November 4, 2025
At the same time that email marketers are using AI to transform their email programs, inbox providers are using AI to transform the inbox experience. In this hour-long on-demand webinar, Ortto’s Head of Email Deliverability, Travis Hazlewood, and I discuss the impact of all of these inbox changes on marketers and their email deliverability.
We discuss:
- How Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Apple Mail are replacing brand-crafted preview text and subject lines with AI-generated summaries, and how brand-crafted email content is being pushed out of the preview pane by Gmail’s Deal Cards and other AI-generated content
- How inbox providers are introducing more features that disrupt the traditional “last in, on top” chronological arrange of emails in inboxes
- How these changes are impacting deliverability and changing the email deliverability equation
Travis and I close out the on-demand webinar by each offering advice on how marketers should respond to these inbox changes.
The Last Word on September 2025
Posted on October 1, 2025
A roundup of digital marketing and email marketing articles, posts, and social buzz you might have missed last month…
Must-read articles, posts & reports
Zeta Global to Acquire Marigold’s Enterprise Business (Zeta Global)
Brands Are Using Your Inbox to Get Ready for a New Wave of Tariffs (Fast Company)
Relevance Comes to the Gmail Promo Tab (Spam Resource)
What’s the Most Effective Content Strategy in 2025? [New Report] (Orbit Media)
OpenAI Releases First-of-Kind Study Revealing How People Are Using ChatGPT for Everyday Tasks (CNBC.com)
When AI Sends the Layoff Email: Is Automation Killing Compassion at Work? (ZeroBounce)
BIMI Boost: DigiCert Acquires Valimail, Enters The $4B DMARC Market (MediaPost)
How I Targeted Nonprofits Using Domain Extensions (Email Love)
Insightful & entertaining social posts
Noteworthy subject lines
Spirit Halloween, 9/18 – Your Hogwarts letter from Harry Potter and Spirit Halloween is HERE! 🦉📨
Spirit Halloween, 9/27 – Sinister. Sadistic. Stylish. 🖤
IKEA Family, 9/22 – 🎃 Creep it real with Halloween décor for your whole house 👻
Williams Sonoma, 9/27 – Thanksgiving prep list – pre-order your Willie Bird Turkey today! 🦃
Uncommon Goods, 9/23 – The gifts everyone’s searching for
IKEA Family, 9/30 – Preview the new Gustaf Westman holiday collection!
Burlington, 9/23 – We’re hiring for the holidays!
Goldbelly, 9/9 – Jewish Holidays – Schlepped to You! 🥯
Patagonia, 9/18 – Essentials for late summer
MoMA Design Store, 9/28 – 2025 Fall Trend Report
West Elm, 9/7 – Inside: Our Fall 2025 Lookbook
kate spade, 9/23 – New season—new star-studded campaign
Quiksilver, 9/23 – Layer Up From the Chill 🥶
Everlane, 9/28 – Look Cool, Stay Warm
Duluth Trading, 9/9 – B3G1 FREE On First Layers
VSX: Victoria’s Secret Sport, 9/10 – The Only Five Sports Bras You Need
Google Store, 9/15 – It’s Google’s birthday! Join the party
Nintendo, 9/24 – It’s the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros.!
Burlington | Credit Card, 9/22 – [REMINDER] Save 10% off your first purchases with a Burlington Credit Card – Details Inside!
Uncommon Goods, 9/7 – 10 of our uncommon-est things
Huckberry, 9/21 – Your Favorite Sweatshirt of 2035
Crate & Barrel, 9/28 – Inside: “The best sofa I’ve ever purchased”
Columbia, 9/10 – Crikey! Robert Irwin is our newest ambassador.
NFLShop.com, 9/26 – Just Launched: Football x Football Collection
New posts on EmailMarketingRules.com
Are We Approaching Peak Email Marketing Frequency?
We’ve Lost Preview Text for Email to AI Summaries. Are Subject Lines Next?
Are We Approaching Peak Email Marketing Frequency?
Posted on September 11, 2025
For the nearly two decades I’ve been in the email marketing industry, everyone has always fretted about whether or not they’re sending too much email—and then they’ve gone ahead and sent more email.
A few years ago, I spoke to a reporter who was convinced that email frequency was absolutely out of control. I explained that inbox providers and subscribers are the ultimate arbiters of how much is too much.
Inbox providers start junking and blocking a sender’s emails if they see too low of a positive engagement rate from their users, such as opens, dwell time, forwards, and foldering—or too high of a negative engagement rate in the form of spam complaints. And subscribers opt out if they get too little value from a sender’s messages. Email frequency has a huge impact on both of those perceptions.
That’s still true today, but there are now other forces at work that seem to be finally slowing email frequency growth—and in some cases even reversing it. Here are the four major trends at work:
We’ve Lost Preview Text for Email to AI Summaries. Are Subject Lines Next?
Posted on September 9, 2025
After a long period of relatively stable, if imperfect email inbox environments, the past few years have seen a flurry of investments by Apple, Google, and Yahoo, who impact the vast majority of emails sent. (Microsoft has been almost entirely quiet.) While the first wave of this innovation was all about privacy and the second all about deliverability, the current wave is all about AI.
Across industries and professions, marketers are among the biggest adopters of AI, but the AI that’s being used by inbox providers is largely working against marketers. Nowhere is that more evident when it comes to the various kinds of AI summaries, which are gradually replacing carefully crafted brand copy.
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
