Email Marketing RulesAn Email Newsletter Can Be Almost Anything. That’s a Good Thing.
What is an email newsletter? That’s a serious question. Think about it for a minute. What is an email newsletter? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and here’s what I came up with: An email newsletter is a message format that mostly contains non-promotional content that’s of interest to a…
Mitigating the Risks of Inbox AI Summaries
Whether provided by inbox providers or via agents, inbox AI summaries of promotional emails are inherently reductive, introduce errors, overwrite brand voice, and deprive marketers of a significant amount of their “first impression” real estate. That has created a host of new risks for marketers, including lower campaign performance and sender reputation…
The Holiday Design Playbook: What to Update & When
When brick-and-mortar retailers want to signal to shoppers that it’s time for the holiday season, they deck their stores with pops of seasonal colors, put up eye-catching decor, and install impressive window displays. Brands should introduce the same festive visual signals into their digital marketing campaigns. Here are four ways to bring…
Owned Audiences and the Inbox as a Search Platform
Google has become the world’s largest publisher—and for brands that relied on organic search, that’s a crisis. In this episode of the Beyond the Search Bar podcast, I chat with host Russ Macumber about how search is changing and the role that email marketing can play as the Google Search monolith crumbles….
Designing for Impact: Our Top Digital Marketing Creative Tips
Campaign design is constantly evolving, driven by tech and inbox innovations, changing consumer preferences, and the growing need to capture attention and serve customers well. In practice, those shifts don’t show up in big strategic overhauls. Performance is shaped by the details. Campaigns underperform because of small creative decisions that compound—things like…
2026 Digital Marketing Lookbook
Zeta Global’s third annual Lookbook chronicles the latest design trends and spotlights 20 standout campaigns from among the tens of thousands our Creative Services team reads each year. For each featured campaign, we point out all the ways they’re innovating and worth emulating, whether it’s in terms of design, development, copywriting, strategy,…
Less Copy, More Clicks: 9 Proven Ways to Improve Marketing Message Performance
Attention is scarce. Performance is everything. Marketers invest heavily in identity resolution, predictive intelligence, and real-time activation to reach the right consumers. But even the most sophisticated targeting can underperform if the message itself creates friction. In permission-based channels like email, SMS, RCS, and push, you have already earned access. The subscriber…
Litmus Live: Omnichannel Subscribers + Email Accessibility Mistakes
If you missed Litmus Live, now is your chance to watch all the sessions on-demand on YouTube. Those include my session on managing omnichannel subscribers better, and a session on email accessibility mistakes by my colleague Tylor Loposser and former colleague Lauren Castady. >> Watch ‘Omnichannel Subscriber’ session >> Watch ‘Email Accessibility…
4 Email Design Shortcuts That Kill Performance and What to Do Instead
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 Trends Shaping 2026 for Channel Marketers
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. >> Read the predictions on the Zeta Blog
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
