The Email & CRM Vault

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

Written by Beth O'Malley | 09/2025

 

Email doesn’t lie!

Your email marketing/emails sent from your business or organisation are a mirror.

It reflects the state of your business, how well your CRM and operations are aligned, how much you actually understand your customers (and audience), and how much you really value email as a channel.

 

Before you dig in, why don't you get access to RE:markable

RE:markable is the weekly email about emails. Dropping the latest email marketing news, updates, insights, free resources, upcoming masterclasses, webinars, and of course, a little inbox mischief.

 

If your emails are chaotic, passive, irrelevant, or underperforming, that usually means one of three things:

  • Your data is messy or incomplete
  • Your systems aren’t talking to each other
  • You don’t have a clear strategy (or internal buy-in) for how email should work

And if you think you can hide those cracks behind a ‘great’ new email design, you can’t. Because email is brutally honest. 

It will expose the gaps in your systems, your data, your people, and your processes every single time. 

 

Email has evolved

The email marketing ecosystem is lagging.

Human habits and inbox behaviour have changed. People are intentional with their inbox and more so, their time. Nobody scrolls through their email like it’s Instagram. They scan, evaluate, and make a split-second decision. Most of the time, people go in to check to see if there is something they need to know, searching for something specific, have missed or an important email they are waiting for. 

If it looks (or more importantly, feels) like spam, it is spam to THEM. 

Marketers need to evolve to meet people where they are, not simply send more and hope for the best.

That means building a structured, strategic email ecosystem that works as part of your wider business function, not just a “campaigns channel.”


 

The PPPP™ Email Ecosystem Framework

This is where my PPPP™ Framework comes in.

Unlike another template, it’s a systemic, layered approach to email that looks at the entire ecosystem, the hidden foundations as well as the day to day campaigns.

Let’s start with the Pillars, because if you don’t get these right, nothing else matters.


Why the pillars matter

Because they’re invisible until they’re not.

Your audience doesn’t see your messy CRM, but they feel it in irrelevant messages.

They don’t know you’re working in disconnected systems, but they notice when your emails contradict what sales told them.

They can’t see your lack of strategy, but they can tell when your content feels scattergun or pointless.

That’s why the pillars matter. They are the foundations of your email ecosystem.

Get them right, and everything else - from design to deliverability to automation - gets easier, smarter, and more effective.

So, where do you start?


Here’s my advice if you’re feeling stuck:

  1. Audit the entire experience from your audience perspective, not just your emails. Look at the full customer journey and map out every touchpoint. You’ll be shocked at how many teams are sending uncoordinated messages.

  2. Check your systems. If you’re still exporting/importing lists every week, that’s your red flag. Fix the pipes before you try to optimise campaigns.

  3. Review your data collection. Ask if the data you’re gathering is usable. If the answer is no, stop collecting it and redesign your forms/flows.

  4. Align on purpose. Get sales, marketing, service, and leadership in the same room. Agree what role email should play in the business (growth, retention, awareness, all of the above).

Final thoughts

Email is not “just email.”

It’s a reflection of how your business sees customers, how much you value strategy over shortcuts, and how well your systems and data are aligned.

If you want your email marketing to evolve, you need to fix the foundations first. Because no subject line test, flashy design, or “quick win” campaign can save an ecosystem that’s broken underneath.

And that’s exactly why I built the PPPP™ Email Ecosystem Framework — to help businesses align systems, strategy, and data into something that actually works.

So next time you’re staring at a disappointing campaign report, don’t just ask “what subject line should we try next?”

Ask: what is our email telling us about our business?

Want to dig into your own ecosystem?

Book an audit or join the next free PPPP™ Masterclass.

 

Like this blog? You'll love RE:markable

RE:markable is the weekly email about emails. Dropping the latest email marketing news, updates, insights, free resources, upcoming masterclasses, webinars, and of course, a little inbox mischief.