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In this edition:

→ What is inbox numbness?

→ How to make segmentation even better (and what to stop)

→ Why email is a mirror of your organisation

→ How to use email to create great experiences

Hiya from San Francisco (sort of),

I missed a week of RE:markable. You probably didn’t notice. (If you did, reply and inflate my fragile post-holiday, very sad ego.)

I wrote this in the San Francisco airport after two weeks of being a human instead of a marketer, business owner and workaholic (best trip of my life).

I saw REAL life Whales in the wild, went across the Golden Gate Bridge, attended HubSpot's INBOUND conference, drove Highway 1 to Santa Cruz, ate my body weight in burgers and so much more - 10/10, highly recommend!

Just a little snippet of my trip (not that you asked)

I hope you've been good you? Anything in the email world I've missed?!

Let's get into it...

What is Inbox Numbness?

Why your emails feel invisible

We’re all drowning in “samey” emails, personal inbox, work inbox, cold outreach…

If you’re following “best practice” to the letter, using the same content, and letting AI write the first draft… sorry you, you’re training subscribers to scroll straight past you.

What is inbox numbness?
That glazed-over, autopilot state where the brain files your email under seen it and keeps scrolling. (Even if your content is “good.”)

P.S. This is actually a really normal thing in the inbox, so don't panic

Why does it happen:

Predictable patterns: the brain becomes 'used' to specific words, and we come up with expectations of what we expect an email to include

Copycat content: you borrow from Brand X, they borrowed from Brand Y… everyone looks identical

Over-automation: journeys that never change tone, timing, or message

Cognitive overload: too long, too busy, too many CTAs = “nope.”

The brain scans for novelty, relevance, and low effort.

READ: Neuromarketing & Email: What The Brain Does →

you's try this week (5-minute experiments)

Change one thing your audience expects from you (from name, opener, CTA)
Split by persona and rewrite the lead paragraph for each - make it relevant!
Ask a one-line question to your audience and mean it - get some replies!
Remove 70% of the rubbish (especially if you're B2B)
Keep a control group so you can prove the change made impact

From the Vault

A blog a day keeps the spam filter away

⌚ 4 min read:

→ Email is a Mirror of Your Organisation: Fix the Foundations First

⌚ 10 min read:

→ Segmentation: Where (and When) It Actually Matters

⌚ 5 min read:

→ Neuromarketing & Email: What Their Brain Actually Does In the Inbox

From the Queen’s Court

Voiceover video verdicts

I've rounded up all the video verdicts into one folder for you to explore - aren't I helpful

The collection is now open...

21+ recorded video verdicts of real emails in the wild.

See why Beth hates these emails

The Inbox Drop

How to use email to create great experiences

I’ve just flown to the US with Virgin Atlantic. First time booking with them.

Never been on their list, never used their app before, so I was a brand-new subscriber and customer.

And their emails blew me away

Not because they sold me anything, not because they had a new designI'd never seen (but their designs are insane btw).

Because every single email was designed to make my trip smoother and give me a great experience.

Virgin Atlantic's emails were great & this is just one example

Right timing: travel checklist exactly when I needed it
No noise or other stuff: no irrelevant promos, just useful info I needed
Consistency: what I saw in the emails (like their quirky salt & pepper shakers 👀) matched the brand on the plane
Pre-empted questions: every “what if” I had about my flight was already answered in the email
I didn't need to go out of the email: this is slept on - I stayed and read all emails, everything I needed was there

I didn’t just feel informed, I felt cared for. That’s the point!

Email is often treated as a sales tool. But its real power is experience.

Whether B2B or B2C, every touchpoint is a chance to say: we see you, we know you, we’ve got you covered.

My challenge to you this week:
Next time you plan an email, don’t just ask “what do we want to say?”
Ask: “what experience do we want them to have?”

And if you’ve had a brand email you genuinely enjoyed (rare, I know!), hit reply and tell me. I’d love to hear your examples.