Don’t be penny wise with your emails

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Today's Email: Don’t be penny wise with your emails

A lot of email marketers still worry about individual words.

Is “discount” okay?

Should we avoid “free,” or “sale,” or “hurry”?

Will one subject line hurt deliverability?

That concern used to make sense. Inbox filtering isn’t built around single words anymore.

One word on its own rarely causes trouble. Worrying about words too much, and not taking care of your email foundation is like being penny wise, and pound foolish.

👉️ Filters look at patterns around the message, not isolated language choices.

What actually helps is getting the foundation right and keeping behavior predictable.

That starts with basics most marketers already know, but don’t always revisit:

• Your list is clean and regularly pruned

• Authentication is set up properly (DKIM, SPF, DMARC)

• You’re sending from domains with an established, positive reputation

• IPs and domains were warmed up gradually, not rushed

These things matter more than copy tweaks because they shape trust over time.

After that, consistency does a lot of the heavy lifting.

Inbox systems expect rhythm. Sending nothing for months and then blasting a large sale campaign looks unnatural, even if the content is fine.

👉️ Gradual volume changes perform better than spikes. Steady frequency tends to age better than bursts of intensity.

When engagement drops, small adjustments usually work better than dramatic ones.

👉️ Reducing frequency, letting tired segments rest, or smoothing volume is often more effective than rewriting subject lines.

👉️ Clear, normal language is usually safer than overly careful language. People engage with emails that sound human and familiar.

Deliverability improves when the technical foundation is solid and sending behavior feels steady. Once those are in place, copy stops feeling fragile.

At that point, words become what they should be: a tool for clarity, not something to tiptoe around.

Best,
Alec

P.S. Have a topic you’d like us to cover in the next edition? Reply to this email and let us know! We're always eager to address.