Don't just analyze your entire email list's performance. Create a separate set of metrics for "verified subscribers"—those who fit your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). This allows you to differentiate what resonates with your target buyers versus the broader audience, leading to more effective content strategy.

Using subject lines like "Verify your active status" can lift open rates by 27-31% for contacts who haven't engaged in over a year. While effective for reactivation, this slightly gimmicky approach will also annoy some users, leading to a higher-than-usual unsubscribe rate and negative replies, which requires 'thick skin'.

Instead of waiting for customers to churn, use AI to monitor key engagement metrics in real time (e.g., portal logins, link clicks). When a user shows signs of disengagement, trigger a personalized, automated nudge via SMS or email to get them back on track before they are lost.

Focusing on email open rates can lead to clickbait subject lines and weak copy. Instead, orient your entire outreach strategy around getting a reply. This forces you to write more personalized, engaging content that addresses the recipient's specific pain points, leading to actual conversations, not just vanity metrics.

Getting users to reply to your marketing emails is the number one signal to email providers that your content is valued. This action helps your future emails avoid the spam or junk folder, significantly improving deliverability and overall engagement.

The holiday season sees a massive spike in email unsubscribes. This isn't due to your marketing efforts, but because people are trying to "clean up" their inboxes for the new year. Marketers should anticipate this trend and not misinterpret it as a sign of poor campaign performance or reduce email frequency.

Shift your primary success metric from passive opens to active replies. A reply signifies a genuine two-way conversation and a much deeper level of engagement. Actively inviting responses in your emails transforms a broadcast into a powerful relationship-building tool and provides invaluable audience feedback.

Despite claims that Apple's privacy changes and bots have made them irrelevant, open rates remain a valuable leading indicator for email performance. Marketers who dismiss them are ignoring a crucial signal of audience engagement and list health. These metrics are provided by platforms and should be monitored.

The primary goal of a prospecting sequence is to elicit any response, which qualifies as “meaningful engagement.” Even a negative reply is a valuable signal, allowing reps to stop wasting effort and reallocate their time to more promising prospects instead of pursuing silence.