Hi, I’m Beth 👋 (see below, but I'm defo due an update on my headshot!)
Not the “perfect email marketer”, not the most successful business owner or marketer, not the absolute master of CRM.
Just someone who lives and breathes email & CRM and has made every mistake you can think of (including one this week 🙃).
I’ve spent 12 years studying and doing this function across hundreds of teams and businesses. This post is for the marketers running on fumes: the one-person marketers, tiny teams, small businesses asking:
“I don’t have time. If I could only do one thing with email, what would make the most impact?”
Short answer:
It depends (of course it does!)
Your offer, sales cycle, audience, resources, everything matters.
But you still need a starting line.
So I’m going to give you a single, highest-leverage move for B2B and B2C/D2C, plus how to do it in a few focused hours, and what to ignore until later.
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B2B: Do this one thing
If you do get time to do this exercise, please create personas first (it will help!).
Reactivate & nurture your warm 5% with a 3 email value sequence
In B2B, ~95% of your market is out of market at any given time, this means they are likely not actively in 'buying mode' because no CMO wakes up one day and says, " I dreamt about getting an audit on this impulsively - it happens over time, the problem identification or need takes time.
Chasing cold leads is a long game (do it later).
Your fastest, most realistic impact with limited time is to work the warm 5%:
- Past customers/clients
- Stalled opps/lapsed trials
- High-intent visitors (demo/booked but never started, revisited pricing/case studies)
This is where revenue hides and easiestto activate.
Your sprint plan
B2C/D2C: Do this one thing
Drive the second purchase (or refill) with a 3-email post-purchase journey
Consumers can be activated any day of the week.
Your quickest lift with limited time is not blasting a sale to everyone; it’s getting first-time buyers to purchase again (or refill) quickly. That’s where lifetime value starts to ramp.
Your sprint plan
Shared truths (B2B & B2C)
- Email is an ecosystem, not a one-off send. If you only track opens/clicks, you’re grading the wrapper, not the present. Look at replies, meetings booked, repeat rate, email-assisted conversions, and “time to first action”.
- Don’t panic-cut every “quiet” subscriber. Email is also an awareness channel. A healthy engaged core lets you keep a broader audience warm (visibility matters—even unopened messages build familiarity). If you want the deeper dive, read my piece on using email for awareness.
- Control groups > one-off A/Bs. If you change a big lever (tone, cadence, segmentation), hold back a comparable control segment for a month and compare programme-level impact. Single-send subject line tests tell you almost nothing in the real world.
- Deliverability is guardrails, not a prison. Exclude the obvious risks (recent complainers, conflict segments), keep replies alive, and be consistent. Test placement weekly if you can, but don’t let fear stop progress.
- AI is a co-pilot, not your voice. Use it to structure, not to speak for you. Readers can smell “AI-ish” a mile off.
If you have one afternoon…
- B2B: Pull warm 5% → write the 3 emails above → set a basic handoff to Sales (or you) → get it out.
- B2C: Pull one-purchase segment for your top category → write the 3 emails above → time them to the product usage window → ship.
Then review in 14–30 days. Keep what moved, refine what didn’t. That’s it.
What comes next (when you have more time)
Well, that's The PPPP™ Email Framework & Ecosystem for the BIG stuff in email, but one thing at a time.
Final word
You don’t need perfect. You need momentum. Pick the one thing above that fits your world, ship it this week, and let compounding do its thing. When you’re ready for the deeper strategy (awareness, segmentation that actually matters, deliverability muscles), I’ve got you!!
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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.