Issue #243 All About Email

Hi, {{first_name|friend}}. 👋

Welcome to Issue #243 of All About Email!

Last week, I picked up a thread that's been running through several recent issues and took a closer look at it. Because if opens are unreliable and clicks are increasingly complicated, the question is: “What do you actually measure?”

This week,  I want to take that one step further. Because if the passive data we've been collecting is increasingly unreliable, what's the alternative? There's one type of data that none of those problems touches. And I’m guessing most of us aren't using it anywhere near as much as we could.

Let’s go! 👇

🧠 Back in Issue #239, while wrapping up the CNIL and Garante tracking pixel series, I wrote:

That line was really about zero-party data, even if I didn't say so directly. And after last week's deep dive into why passive tracking is so difficult to rely on right now, it feels like the right moment to dig into it properly.

💡 I've touched on this topic before, but the context has shifted enough that it deserves a fresh look.

There's a data trust hierarchy worth understanding:

(** 🤮 🤮 (Please don’t buy and sell people’s data) )

💡 That last distinction matters more than it might seem. First-party data, your opens and clicks, is exactly what's been degraded. We covered why last week in detail: Apple MPP pre-loading pixels, security bots inflating click data, and AI intermediaries acting on emails before a human reads them.

🚨 Zero-party data is completely immune to all of that. A subscriber who tells you what topics they care about, how often they want to hear from you, or what their biggest challenge is has given you something no tracking pixel can fake, no security bot can trigger, and no AI can intercept (well, maybe not the last one 🤭 🫠).

💡 Several forces are pointing in the same direction simultaneously:

🧠 The result is a gap: brands that have spent years collecting passive behavioural data are finding it increasingly unreliable, while the simplest solution, “just asking”, has been available the whole time.

Let’s get specific, with some examples (this isn’t an exhaustive list):

Your welcome sequence is the highest-engagement window in your entire email programme. Most senders use that window to introduce themselves to subscribers.

💡 A better question: what if you used it to ask about the subscriber?

A single question in email two or three, "What's the biggest email marketing challenge you're dealing with right now?" or "What brought you here?", takes seconds to answer and gives you context you can actually use.

That reply tells you more about what that subscriber needs than a hundred phantom opens ever will.

🎉 If enough people give similar answers, you've just had your next several issues handed to you.

Most preference centres ask one question: "How often do you want to hear from us?" That's useful, but it's the floor, not the ceiling.

💡 A preference centre that also asks about content interests gives you something genuinely valuable.

🚨 Those answers segment your list in ways no click pattern can replicate. And subscribers who've actively chosen their preferences are less likely to disengage because they're receiving what they asked for.

😎 Beehiiv has a native poll feature, and it's one of the most underused tools in the arsenals of most newsletter operators.

A single-question poll embedded in an issue takes seconds to answer and gives you immediate directional data that no bot can contaminate.

💡 It doesn't need to be heavy. "What's your biggest frustration with email platforms right now?" or a simple this-or-that between two topics you're considering covering.

✅ If you're ending issues with a "hit reply" invitation, you're already doing this; you just might not be thinking of it in these terms.

Every subscriber who replies is handing you something explicit, intentional, and unambiguously human.

💡 The question isn't whether to collect zero-party data. It's whether you're doing anything with it.

🚨 Collecting zero-party data and then ignoring it is pointless, and yet it’s easily done.

It’s not quite as simple as this, but if you ask subscribers what topics matter most and your editorial calendar doesn't change, you've taken something from them without giving anything back.

The value exchange only works if there's an actual exchange.

🤔 For a newsletter, it could be argued** that the bar is lower than for a commercial brand. You arguably don't need a personalisation engine. You just need to let the answers shape what you write.

(** I would argue you should always try your best and aim for a high bar no matter what.)

💡 For example, if the replies to your "what do you want more of?" prompt cluster around one topic, that's your next issue. If your welcome sequence reveals that half your new subscribers are solo consultants, that's context you can bake into how you frame that topic.

🧠 And there's a deliverability benefit too. Replies are among the strongest positive signals that mailbox providers use to assess sender reputation. A list that replies improves your inbox placement over time — not because you asked them to, but because the conversation is real.

💡 The replies I get to "hit reply" prompts have shaped this newsletter more than any open rate or click report has.

They've told me:

None of that came from data in a dashboard. It came from people taking the time to type a few sentences and hit send.

🎉 That's zero-party data. And it's the most useful data I collect.

💡 Start small. Ask one question. Listen to the answer. Let it change something.

1. Add one question to your welcome sequence. Not a survey, one question. Something genuinely useful to you, with a clear invitation to reply. See what comes back.

2. Review your preference centre. If it only asks about frequency, consider adding a content interest question. (If your ESP doesn’t have one or has paywalled it, consider building your own.)

3. Look back at your last three "hit reply" prompts. What did people actually say? If you haven't revisited those replies recently, start there. The answers might reshape what you write next.

🙋‍♂️ I'd love to know:

Reply and let me know.

🏝️ I am very excited that the annual summer series will start in a couple of weeks.

If you are new to this newsletter, it’s my favourite time of the year as some very special guest authors join me as we discuss all things email marketing.

In the biggest series yet, I have ten guest authors (some returning and some new) who will be sharing their thoughts with me, covering a wide range of email marketing topics that have got me full of anticipation. 🎉

I can’t wait, {{first_name|friend}}!

That's it for this week. 👋

Every week, as I write this newsletter, 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 get back to you as soon as possible.

I hope you have a great week! 👋