Yuval Ackerman, The Ethical Email Strategist, on Common Email Challenges – And How to Fix Them

Email strategist and copywriter Yuval Ackerman believes email marketing works best when it puts customers first. That’s obvious, you may think. But with so many companies sending pushy and often irrelevant sales emails, Yuval’s mindset is so refreshing. Her people-first approach is helping personal brands as well as eCommerce businesses get more out of the emails they send.

In this #ZeroBounceInterview, we talk to Yuval about:

• Why she describes herself as an “ethical email strategist”
• The biggest email challenges her clients encounter
• Some of the most common email mistakes she sees.

Yuval also shares her productivity tips working as a nomad and gives us three simple things we can do today to improve our email marketing results.

Let’s get to it!

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What does a typical day look like for you as an email strategist? 

The only constant in my routine is my mornings. I wake up at around 8 am, brew some coffee, and write my morning pages. Then I roll out my mat and follow the daily video of the Yoga With Adriene calendar. When I’m done with that, I take a warm shower and get dressed to start my day. 

The rest of the morning is usually dedicated to replying to clients’ emails and messages, networking on LinkedIn and working on my own marketing, and making brunch.

I spend my afternoons doing client work and taking calls, but that chunk of every day looks different.

I assume you work from home and set your own schedule. What are some of the best productivity tips you can share?

I’ve recently gone nomad, so my “WFH” looks very different these days, and I’m still getting used to the fact that I now really work from everywhere.

What’s working for me is knowing that my morning routine grounds me, and that my “best” looks and feels different every day.

I do my best to organize and prioritize my tasks for each week and day in advance, so I know exactly what I’d be doing and how every task moves the needle forward.

Aside from that, I’m a huge fan of auditory aids to help me focus: I either put a white noise video in the background, one of those lo-fi YouTube Lives, or a playlist in a foreign language (although that last one can be quite confusing for my brain on some days).

Oh, and putting my phone away when I’m working. It’s a hard one, but I get so much done when I don’t see my screen blinking every two minutes.

RELATED: Digital marketers, here’s how to manage your time better

You describe yourself as “the ethical email strategist.” What do you mean by that?

Love that question. It means that I create strategies that are customer-centric and people-first.

The brands I’m working with understand that as much as they want to sell, today’s customers (not all of them, but a good number of them) need more education, nurturing and entertainment before they invest money in a brand.

Customers are not walking wallets, but human beings with needs, desires and dreams. My work caters to that and finds a healthy balance between sales and the nurturing process.

What kinds of companies do you work with? And what are some of the most common challenges they need your help with?

I work both with personal brands and eCommerce brands (DTC/CPG). Both always have only so much time on their hands/so many hands on deck, which is where I step in. 

Other common challenges I see are:

• They don’t know their clients/customers well enough, 
• They have blind spots when it comes to how to treat their subscribers better through emails,
• Or they haven’t mapped out the different customer journeys well enough or translated those into effective inbox experiences.

What are the biggest mistakes you see companies making with email marketing?

Using “email best practices.”

Just ‘cause they’ve worked for similar but other brands, doesn’t mean they can be copy-pasted and work for another brand. Many companies use those instead of really learning about their audience and what works best for them.

Related: Benchmark Email CEO Jonathan Herrick Talks Email Marketing

Almost a quarter of the average email list degrades within just one year. How many of your clients would you say clean their email lists regularly?

When it comes to cleaning an email list, I’m currently studying different methods of doing so. That includes an approach that calls for never removing unengaged subscribers from your list, but segmenting your list differently. It’s really interesting.

I will say this – if you’re working with me, you have strategies to manage and have a healthy list. It’s that simple.

Try the ZeroBounce free email verifier

What’s your no. 1 email marketing rule?

Tough one. These days it’ll have to be: Be strategic and have fun, ‘cause it shows!

Please give us three things we can all do today to get better email results. 

• Keep testing.
• Talk to your subscribers constantly and learn from them.
• Have a very strategic onboarding experience to start each relationship with your subscribers on the right foot.

RELATED: How to create captivating content for each stage of the buyer’s journey

Quick question, quick answer with Yuval Ackerman

The best way to grow your email list: Never stop marketing it.

A brand email you always open: Who Gives A Crap.

A word you’re tired of seeing online: Skyrocket/supercharge. No one talks like that.

A word more marketers should be using in their copy: However their customers talk. Use those.

A grammar rule you love breaking: Placing commas and full-stops. Where they’re not “supposed to be.”

The best way to boost your click rates: Talk with your subscribers regularly and understand what they’re interested in. Also, use open loops and create curiosity gaps (but make sure to close them!).

Your favorite place to work: Wherever there’s good WIFI and good coffee.

More about Yuval Ackerman

Yuval Ackerman is an ethical email strategist and copywriter. She works with eCommerce and personal brands to create people-first experiences that stand out in the oversaturated inboxes.

She’s also a globe trotter, a songwriter, and the host of the conscious relationship podcast “Loving Against My Instincts“. When she’s not coming up with bad puns and profitable customer-centric marketing strategies, Yuval is obsessed with anything to do with food.

Want to work with Yuval?

•  Book an email strategy consult (60 minutes)
• Join her next Email Muscle cohort, a 12-week program to (re)start, nurture and grow an email list that you love (accountability, tailored strategy, tech support and real-time writing feedback included!)
• Or let her take over your entire email copy and strategy and give your email marketing the TLC it deserves on repeat.

Not ready to work with Yuval yet? Join her ethical Friday newsletter instead. It’s free.