Issue #219 All About Email

Hi, {{first_name|friend}}. 👋

Welcome to Issue #219 of All About Email!

Last week, I shared an update on my long-gestating email community, Campfire Email.

This week, I wanted to share some actionable tips to help you start 2026 with a cleaner, more deliverable email list, and yes, this email will clip…🫠 😭

Let’s go! 👇

🚨 Before we get started, these seven repeatable tips are not a one-time thing; it’s a behaviour and an ongoing effort to be a better sender.

You can run these tips this week, and again every quarter if that works for you (you might need to adjust for your particular situation).

If you follow these tips, you’ll start 2026 with:

Before improving your list, you need a baseline.

Create four segments, as this will help tell you where the decay is happening:

Remember, with Apple MPP and bot opens and clicks, replies are very important, whilst opens and clicks need to be treated with caution.

💡 (I talk more about Apple MPP, and bot opens in Issue 189, Issue 190, and more about engagement and segmentation in Issue 212.)

Check your:

💡 Your ESP will often do this for you, but you can add UTM links or use tracking software on your website to help with this.

This has been particularly helpful for me as I know of one referrer in particular who consistently sends excellent subscribers and one who sends not-so-engaged subscribers.

💡 This could well be a very underrated list-health tactic.

Send a short email titled "Here’s what to expect from this newsletter in 2026" (that’s just an example; you should personalise it and make it on-brand).

Inside, make it simple:

🚨 Spam complaints drop dramatically when you set expectations clearly. Bonus points for doing all of the above in every email.

These people aren’t “cold.” They’re just fading.

Send something short and human:

Give them one link to click. That’s it.

A small bump in engagement here protects your sending reputation.

💡 Your 90-day+ inactive subscribers need gentle handling.

Don’t keep blasting them; instead, consider a sunset automation (more on that next week).

If they engage: great. 🎉

If not, then Day 6. 👇

💡 Saying goodbye can be painful, but it’s necessary, and your inboxing, engagement and sender reputation will thank you.

Remove or suppress:

** You could use a tool like ZeroBounce to help with this.

💡 A sprint is great, but a system is better.

You can make things even easier for yourself and better for your subscribers with automation.

Put these in place:

If you want to go deeper, I’ve included some links in the sections above, but here are some more to help you in 2026 and beyond:

That’s it for this week! 👋

Welcome to Curiosity Corner! Each week, I throw one question your way…not always about email marketing, but always worth a reply.

This week’s question is about newsletter length. 👇

In last week’s poll, I asked you about Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers. “Yes” (for a client[s]) leading with 7 out of 14 votes (50.00%). 👇

Want to know what I'm listening to while I write?

Every week, when the newsletter drops, I'll share the track of the moment to create an unbelievably eclectic playlist just for your inbox.

🚨 If you’re interested in sponsoring the “All About Email” newsletter, you can find all the details in this Google Doc.

This week's excellent and insightful email news & tips:

If you have any questions about this email or email marketing, please reply, and I will answer you as soon as possible.

I hope you have a great week! 👋