Email Marketing RulesThe 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
Stitching Together Email Identities Becomes More Vital after New Gmail Feature
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,…
4 Ways AI Breaks Marketing Trust — and What Comes Next for 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…
Email’s Enduring Advantage in an AI-Disrupted Marketing World
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…
Which AI Path Will You Take as a Marketer?
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…
AI & the Future of Email Marketing
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…
Are We Approaching Peak Email Marketing Frequency?
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…
We’ve Lost Preview Text for Email to AI Summaries. Are Subject Lines Next?
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…
Inbox Survival Guide
Email marketing is evolving, driven by changes at inbox providers and new technologies available to marketers. When I got together with Chintan Doshi, Mavlers’ Head of Email & CRM, for their Marketing Insiders Series, that was the focus of our conversation. Over the course of an hour, we talked about: The most…
Survive the AI Takeover of Search — 5 Moves Every Brand Must Make
Traditional search—and Google, in particular—is under serious threat of being dislodged as the starting point for many buyers’ journeys. In January, ChatGPT and other alternatives drove Google’s search engine market share below 90% for the first time since 2015, according to Statcounter. And the sharks are circling more aggressively now, with both…
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
