Transforming email list into real relationships

Is your email marketing actually building relationships — or just filling inboxes? If your open rates are dropping and conversions are flat, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Here are 6 smart rules that can transform your email campaigns into valuable conversations: 1. Divide and Conquer Don’t treat your audience as one giant group. Segment them by age, interests, location, or buying behavior to make your emails more relevant and targeted. 2. Make It Personal Use details like names, preferences, or birthdays to customize your emails. A personalized touch can dramatically improve engagement and click-through rates. 3. Build Trust First, Sell Later Avoid jumping straight into sales mode. Share helpful content, insights, or updates before making any offers. Relationships come before revenue. 4. Give Before You Ask People are more likely to share their email if there’s value in it for them. Think exclusive deals, useful downloads, or insider access. 5. Let People Unsubscribe Easily An easy-to-find unsubscribe button isn’t a threat—it’s a sign of respect. If they want to leave, let them go without friction. 6. Start Real Conversations Encourage replies, ask for feedback, and respond to your audience. Email shouldn’t be a one-way broadcast—it’s a dialogue. Email marketing is more than sending messages—it’s about delivering meaning. Refine your strategy. Respect your audience. Reap the rewards.

Stop collecting connections and start building real relationships. Too many people network passively, hoping to get lucky. But the best opportunities come from being intentional. Here’s a simple 9-step process to network with anyone and turn strangers into champions for your career. 1. Quality > Quantity Don't spray and pray. Get crystal clear on 5-10 people who could change your life and career, and focus your energy there. 2. Treat Relationships Like a Bank You can't make a withdrawal before you make a deposit. The biggest networking mistake is leading with your needs ("Can I pick your brain?"). Give first. 3. How to Make "Deposits" Value comes in many forms. Recognize an achievement, share an article related to their interests, or offer a helpful suggestion on a project they've shared. 4. Do Your Homework Read their LinkedIn profile, run a quick Google search, and check their other social media. Look for "connection clues" and shared interests you can use as an in. 5. The "10 Idea Strategy" Based on your research, brainstorm 10 specific ways you could add value to them or their business. Don't stop before you get to 10—the best ideas are often at the end of the list. 6. Create Your Engagement Plan Rank your 10 ideas based on their potential impact and how easy they are to implement. This is now your strategic plan of action for building the relationship. 7. Make Contact (and Persist) Take action on your #1 idea. If they engage, great! If not, wait a bit and then try idea #2. Sales data shows most action happens after the 3rd touchpoint—the same is true here. 8. Build a "Second Brain" Create a simple sheet to track your contacts, the date of your last conversation, and key notes about them. Reference it before every interaction to stay sharp and personal. 9. Compound the Reciprocity This is the most important step. Delay your "ask" as long as possible. The more value and goodwill you build upfront, the bigger the ask you can make, and the more enthusiastic the "yes" will be.

When every email looks like a grocery store flyer — just products and prices — you're not building brand loyalty, you're building discount addiction. Deal sheets don’t build relationships. They build habits that hurt your margins. The problem with deal-only emails: - They teach customers to wait for the next sale - They reduce your products to commodities - They make you blend in with every other dispensary doing the exact same thing If the only thing your dispensary emails are doing is listing today’s deals, you’re training your customers to only buy when there's a discount. Want better results from email? Start treating it like a relationship tool, not a clearance bin. Here’s what great dispensary email marketing actually looks like: + Product storytelling: Why is this strain on the shelf? What makes it special? + Behavior-based targeting: Showing customers products similar to what they’ve bought before + Retention-focused messaging: Nudging someone who hasn’t been in for 30 days with a personalized reason to return + Value-building content: Education, brand features, usage tips, and exclusive perks + and many more highly intentional and data-backed strategies Deals can still be part of the strategy. In fact, we've sent out millions of emails pushing deals/specials/discounts. But they shouldn’t be the whole thing. Because if every email is a discount, you’ll start to lose full-price buyers, lose brand value, and lose margin. The goal is not to sell products. The goal is to build a relationship that makes profitable people want to buy from you over and over. If your email strategy isn’t doing that, then it’s just noise. Expensive noise. At Tact, we help dispensaries turn email from a discount machine into a retention engine. Because real marketing isn’t just about what’s on sale... it’s about why customers come back even when nothing is. If that’s not what your emails are doing, it’s time to start over.

Most people think email marketing is about having a big list. Wrong. The money isn’t in the list. The money is in the relationship with the list. Your subscribers are not just numbers. They are real people—with real problems, real desires, and real emotions. Here’s how to do it right: 1️⃣ Talk to People, Not Just “Subscribers” ↳ Write like you're emailing a friend. ↳ Ditch the corporate tone—be real, be human. 2️⃣ Build Trust First, Sell Second ↳ Provide value before you pitch. ↳ Educate, entertain, and engage. 3️⃣ Segment & Personalize ↳ Not everyone wants the same thing. ↳ Send the right message to the right people at the right time. 4️⃣ Make Every Email Worth Opening ↳ If they don’t enjoy reading your emails, they’ll stop opening them. ↳ Keep it interesting, helpful, and relevant. 5️⃣ Sell Like a Trusted Advisor, Not a Pushy Salesman ↳ People buy from those they trust. ↳ Focus on helping, and sales will follow naturally. If you treat your list like numbers, don’t be surprised when they ignore you. Treat them like people, and you’ll build an asset that prints money for years.

Email lists are dead. (Unless you actually know how to use them) I've seen businesses with 50k subscribers generate $0 in revenue. While others with 500 subscribers consistently hit $30k months. The difference is most treat their list like a billboard... Blasting the same sales pitch to everyone, hoping something sticks. But real email marketing is about relationships: • Segment your audience (buyers vs. browsers) • Deliver actual value before asking for money • Speak directly to specific pain points • Build genuine connections, not databases Your list isn't an ATM. It's a people waiting to be nurtured. Stop collecting emails like Pokemon cards. Start treating subscribers like actual humans.

You have no idea what happens after someone joins your list. That’s a problem lol. You spend all this time optimizing landing pages, tweaking CTAs, obsessing over conversion rates. But once someone opts into your list, your strategy becomes hope? You hope the emails work. You hope they drive value. You hope someone eventually buys. Hope is not a system and it’s definitely not a customer experience strategy. Here’s what you should do instead - Use a burner or personal e-mail address. Sign up for your own list. Then wait. What happens first? Do you get a welcome email that actually makes you feel welcome? Or does nothing show up for hours? Next, what’s the tone? Are you already selling something? Are you pitching a product before building trust? Unless someone opted in for a discount, they’re probably not ready to buy. They’re curious. They’re exploring. They’re deciding if you’re worth listening to. This is the moment you either build the relationship or break it. The truth is, most companies treat their email list like a digital flyer rack. No story. No value. Just a weekly nudge to buy something no one asked for. Meanwhile, your smartest friends keep saying “send more emails.” But here’s the better question: How many good emails are you actually sending now? If you wouldn’t look forward to your own emails, why would anyone else? Fix the experience. Make it frictionless. Make it valuable. Make it something you’d want to open on a Monday morning. If your email strategy is “set it and forget it,” don’t be surprised when your list returns the favor. _______ Made it down this far? sign up for my weekly newsletter. It's all things me. BattlBox, Live Shopping, BattlGames, Content, etc https://lnkd.in/eMyvVfch

Here's the deal: people aren't going to open your nonprofit's emails if they don't feel a personal connection. Let that sink in for a moment... Your donors aren't just ATMs – they're human beings craving authentic relationships. And your emails? They're not just newsletters; they're digital handshakes, coffee chats, and thank-you notes all rolled into one. Quick reality check: • Generic = Deleted • Personal = Opened • Authentic = Acted Upon Want to boost those open rates? Start here: ✨ Share real stories from the field ✨ Write like you're talking to ONE person ✨ Let your personality shine through ✨ Sign emails from a real human (not just "The Team") Remember: Every email is an opportunity to deepen relationships, not just ask for donations. What's one way you're making your emails more personal? Drop it in the comments! 👇