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Emails have a short lifespan. However, according to a recent Adobe survey, many have no life at all when it comes to attitudes towards email. Among the many insights and data we have discovered, two that I have noticed are opened and read, which means that 75% of everything you send is ignored. And when read, 50% are not considered useful.

As is so often the case, it's easy to conclude that marketing emails must be dead. But it would also be wrong. Because we found that people usually and almost always check emails before going to work. It is an integral part of people's lives. They don't ignore their emails. They ignore the emails they receive.

What are we missing as the originator of all this ignored content?

Relevance (or a lack thereof)

It is a big word in marketing and we all want to consider ourselves relevant because if we are not, we are irrelevant. But if most of what we send via email is not read and half of what we read is not useful, most of us will get it to matter.

Being relevant doesn't just mean addressing the interests of others. It's about doing it at the right time without overdoing it. An email with discount codes can contain relevant content – the recipient wants to save money on the goods – but if the same offer is sent every day for months, it loses its urgency and is ignored. It is now irrelevant, although the content is useful.

Responsibility (for the right thing)

Too often, and especially in B2B marketing, we give the sales developer (SDR) the task of building the relationship that turns marketing leads into sales opportunities. But often they are not the right people for this task and it is not fair to expect them to do it, especially when it comes to making a perfectly written copy. SDRs are often at the beginning of their careers, and this responsibility requires more experience and skills than they can offer.

If you invest time and money in marketing, you need to target potential customers so that they are on board when we answer our first call. Throwing such a crucial point in developing the relationship to a poorly composed, untargeted marketing email takes time and money.

Instead, responsibility should lie with people who have the skills to do it successfully. I regularly check what we send because I know people are leaving the script, from poor language usage to a lack of professionalism. I also know that it is my job to ensure that these problems are resolved rather than being left to someone who does not have the skills or knowledge to do so.

Respect (for the message and the recipient)

It shouldn't be difficult to spell correctly, use the right grammar, and construct sentences correctly. And if so, it is not difficult to find someone who can. To get this stuff right, it's not about pedantry and nitpicking. It's about treating your audience with a certain amount of respect. We have taken the time and made the effort to read this well as we appreciate your attention.

People in positions of influence react better to correctly articulated messages. And although many people do not notice a different apostrophe or an overly long sentence, they will notice that they do not understand the message because it is too difficult to read.

Email is still important for marketing and for the people we want to reach. It changed our lives in a way that social media still doesn't. Our survey shows that most people only check this when they get to work.

It may not be as dominant as it was, but email is not put anywhere and it still offers the ability to send the right message to the right person at the right time. Now is the time to get this message across better.

Learn more about email marketing in our eBook: The 8 Biggest Mistakes Email Marketers Make and How To Avoid Them.

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