AI in email marketing is no longer the future – it is the present. Companies that do not use it lose competitive advantage every month. Here are three areas where the change is most tangible.

1. Real-time personalisation

Before you had segments – groups of people with similar attributes. AI allows personalisation at the individual level.

Each contact gets a different:

• Subject line (optimised based on open history)
• Product recommendations (based on full on-site behaviour)
• Send time (predicted based on when this person typically responds)
• Content block (different variants based on interests)

Result? 15-30 % lift in conversions versus static segmentation.

2. Predictive send-time

Traditional: send at 9am Wednesday because “that is when it works”. AI: send each person at their optimal time.

How it works

1. The system analyses the open history for each contact.
2. It predicts the probability of an open for each hour.
3. It sends at the time with the highest predicted probability.

Result: +22 % open rate on average.

3. Copy generation

ChatGPT and language models are rewriting the rules of copywriting. But not in the way most people think.

What AI does well

• Alternative subject lines for A/B testing
• Translations and localisation
• Different CTA text variants
• Summarising long content

What AI cannot yet do

• Genuine humour and irony
• Understanding your company culture
• Emotional authenticity

Rule: AI helps with speed and variation. Humans bring strategy and authenticity.

Practical start

You do not need to deploy everything at once. Start:

1. Week 1-2: AI for alternative subject lines.
2. Week 3-4: Predictive send-time for your top 10 % contacts.
3. Month 2: Personalised product recommendations.

In Incomaker

Integrated AI helps at every step: from subject line suggestions through product selection to optimal send time. Just turn it on.

Wrap-up

AI in email marketing is not magic – it is a tool. Whoever uses it smartly wins. Whoever ignores it loses.

A newsletter does not have to be boring. A regular email that people do not unsubscribe from is a small art. The key is content type – not frequency.

7 formats that work

1. Curated newsletter

Weekly pick of 5-7 articles from your field. Value: saved time. Example: “Best email marketing articles of the week”.

2. Educational series

Step-by-step course split into 4-8 emails. Value: a concrete skill. Example: “Email marketing in 7 days”.

3. Personal story

Founder writes about experiences, mistakes, plans. Value: authenticity. Example: “What I learned in 10 years of SaaS”.

4. Case study

A specific customer with specific results. Value: proof it works. Example: “How Y increased revenue 47 %”.

5. Seasonal / topical

Reacts to a concrete event – Christmas, Black Friday, product release. Value: relevance in time.

6. Community round-up

What is happening in your community – news, top posts, polls. Value: social belonging.

7. Product + tips combo

Every week: 1 product tip + 1 useful external resource. Value: practical use.

How to choose

It depends on:

• Your industry – B2B appreciates educational series, B2C personal stories.
• Frequency – daily = curated, weekly = story-driven.
• Capacity – personal story takes time.

Measurement

Watch the unsubscribe rate. If it is above 0.5 %, people are telling you the content does not work for them.

Rule: 100 readers who look forward to your email is more than 1000 who just open it out of habit.

Wrap-up

A newsletter is not one big thing. It is small regular value. When you package it well, people get used to it – and unsubscribe only when they lose relevance.

The stats are clear: 61 % of emails are opened on mobile. If your template is not optimised for small screens, you are losing half your readers. And most companies do not even know.

What breaks on mobile

• Two columns – they do not fit side by side at 360 px width.
• Small text – below 14 px is hard to read on mobile.
• Wide images – stretch the layout off-screen.
• Layered menus – do not work on touchscreens.
• Hidden links – a finger needs at least a 44×44 px target.

5 rules for mobile email

1. One column, always

Single-column layout is the only safe choice for cross-device compatibility. No exceptions.

2. Buttons, not links

Text links are hard to tap on mobile. Use big buttons with enough padding (min. 44×44 px).

3. Fluid-width images

Never fixed width. Always width: 100%; max-width: 600px;.

4. Subject line under 30 characters

On mobile only the first 30 characters are visible. The rest is hidden. Put what matters there.

5. Preheader text

Those 90 characters that follow the subject. Write them as a sentence, not a meta description.

How to test

1. Open the template on iPhone and Android.
2. Use Litmus or Email on Acid to preview across devices.
3. Send test emails to yourself – Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail.

Bonus tip

If you have a responsive template in Incomaker, it adapts automatically. You do not need to code anything – just verify mobile-first styles are enabled.

Wrap-up

Mobile optimisation is not a nice-to-have. It is the baseline. If your email does not work on a 5-inch screen, it does not exist for 60 % of your audience.

You sent 10 000 emails. 800 people opened them. Not because the content was bad – simply because 800 ended up in spam. Deliverability is the silent killer of email marketing.

What deliverability actually is

It is the percentage of emails that land in the inbox (not spam, not Promotions, not the unopened folder). The target is 95+ %. Average in Europe? Often under 80 %.

Three pillars of deliverability

1. Technical setup

• SPF – DNS record that says who can send email from your domain.
• DKIM – digital signature that verifies the email was not changed in transit.
• DMARC – rule for what to do with emails that fail SPF/DKIM.

Without these three you have no chance. Gmail and Outlook require them.

2. IP and domain reputation

Sending from a new IP? Warm it up first – gradually increase volume, do not start with 50 000 emails a day. Same for domain reputation – the more people report you as spam, the worse.

3. Content

Spam filters watch hundreds of signals. The biggest problems:

• Too many images, too little text – spam filters hate it.
• Capital letters and exclamation marks – “SALE!!!” = spam.
• Purchased lists – never. Ever.
• Bad text-to-image ratio – ideally 60:40.

How to improve deliverability

1. Verify SPF/DKIM/DMARC via MX Toolbox or Mail Tester.
2. Watch the reputation score on Sender Score or Postmaster Tools.
3. Regularly clean your list – remove inactive contacts.
4. Use double opt-in – verified email = fewer complaints.

Tools that help

Incomaker monitors deliverability in real-time. If it drops below 95 %, you get an alert before it is too late.

Wrap-up

Deliverability is not a one-off project – it is an ongoing discipline. But it is worth it. The difference between 70 % and 95 % deliverability is thousands more customers reached.

“I think it will work” – that is the most expensive sentence in email marketing. Instead of guessing, test. A/B testing is a simple concept but most companies do it wrong.

What to test

1. Subject line

Biggest impact on open rate. Test:

• Length (5 words vs. 10 words)
• Personalisation (“Hi [name]” vs. generic)
• Question vs. statement
• Emotion vs. pure fact

2. Call-to-action button

• Colour (red vs. blue)
• Text (“Buy” vs. “See how”)
• Position (top vs. bottom)
• Size

3. Send time

Test day of week and hour. For B2B typically Tuesday 9am, for B2C Thursday 6pm – but verify with your own data.

How to test properly

A/B testing has three golden rules:

1. Test only one thing at a time.
2. Statistical significance – you need at least 1000 contacts per variant.
3. Clear winner – +5 % is not enough. You need a decisive gap.

Practical example

We send a newsletter to 5000 people. Variant A has subject “New course is here”, variant B “5 lessons that will change your emails”.

Result: A = 18 % open, B = 27 % open. B wins by 50 %. Next email we always send with subject type B.

Tools that help

In Incomaker you set up an A/B test in 3 clicks: pick a variant, split the audience, send. The system automatically picks a winner and delivers to the rest.

Common mistakes

• Sample too small – from 50 people you learn nothing.
• Evaluated too early – let the test run at least 24 hours.
• Testing unrelated things – subject + image at once = no conclusion.

Wrap-up

A/B testing is not rocket science. You just need discipline and enough data. After 3 months of testing you will have knowledge that saves you hundreds of thousands.

Welcome emails are the highest-engagement email you will ever send. 4× the open rate, 6× the transaction rate. Yet most companies treat them like an afterthought.

Mistake 1: No clear CTA

“Click here” is weak. Try “Download your first template” – specific, action-oriented, valuable.

Mistake 2: Too long

People scan. Cap your welcome email at 150 words. One screen on mobile.

Mistake 3: Sending too late

Best practice: under 5 minutes after signup. Every minute of delay costs engagement.

Mistake 4: Generic greeting

Use their first name. Mention what they signed up for. Make it feel personal.

Mistake 5: All about you

Do not open with “We are the leading provider of…”. Open with “Here is what you get”.

Mistake 6: No follow-up

One welcome email is not enough. Plan a 3-5 email sequence over 2 weeks.

Mistake 7: No tracking

If you do not measure opens, clicks, conversions, you will never know what works.

Mistake 8: HTML-only

20-30 % of users read email in plain-text mode. Have a plain-text version.

Mistake 9: Image-heavy

Many email clients block images by default. Make sure the email works without them.

Mistake 10: No unsubscribe link

It is legally required. And if someone wants out, let them – do not make them hunt.

The fix

Use the Incomaker welcome-email template. Tested across 50+ use-cases. Mobile-first. Trackable. Done.

If you send the same email to everyone on your list, you are wasting 70 % of your potential. Segmentation is the single highest-leverage activity in email marketing.

Why segmentation matters

People in different lifecycle stages need different messages:

• New subscribers – onboarding, expectations
• Active customers – upgrades, cross-sell
• Lapsed customers – win-back, special offers
• Loyal fans – referral programs, beta access

The same email cannot serve all four.

Five segments to start with

1. By lifecycle stage

Where is the contact in their journey? New, active, at-risk, lapsed?

2. By engagement

Who opens, clicks, and buys – vs. who ignores? Target each differently.

3. By purchase history

What did they buy? When? Cross-sell and replenishment based on actual data.

4. By geography

Different time zones, languages, currencies, regulations.

5. By source

How did they sign up? Lead magnet vs. demo request vs. blog reader. Each needs tailored follow-up.

How to implement

1. Audit your current list – can you split by at least 3 criteria?
2. Start with the segment that moves the most revenue.
3. Build the segment, send a tailored campaign, measure the lift.
4. Iterate. Add segments gradually.

Real numbers

Companies that segment see 3× higher transaction rates than those that do not. (DMA, 2024)

In Incomaker

Segmentation is built-in. Build dynamic segments based on any combination of behaviour, demographics, and custom fields. Update in real-time.

Wrap-up

Segmentation is not a “nice to have”. It is the highest-impact activity in email marketing. Start small. Measure. Expand.