AI & Automation
Personas
Ecommerce
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
Last month, I opened what I thought was just another client email and found myself staring at something that completely broke my understanding of email marketing. It wasn't the usual corporate template with perfectly optimized subject lines and conversion-focused CTAs. Instead, it felt like a genuine note from someone who actually cared about solving my problem.
Here's the thing most marketers won't tell you: while everyone's obsessing over open rates and click-through rates, they're completely missing what actually makes people respond to emails. I learned this the hard way when I was working on a complete website revamp for a Shopify e-commerce client and accidentally discovered something that changed how I think about email marketing for online stores forever.
The conventional wisdom says: optimize everything, A/B test your subject lines, use the "perfect" template, follow the rules. But what if I told you that following those rules is exactly why your emails are getting ignored?
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why "best practice" email templates are killing your response rates
The psychology behind emails that actually get replies
How I accidentally doubled email engagement by ignoring every "rule"
The specific framework that turns transactional emails into conversations
When to break the rules (and when to follow them)
This isn't about fancy automation or expensive tools. It's about understanding the fundamental difference between sending emails and having conversations. And trust me, once you see this difference, you'll never look at your email campaigns the same way again.
Industry Reality
What everyone thinks email deliverability means
Walk into any marketing conference and you'll hear the same advice repeated like gospel. Email deliverability is about technical stuff, right? SPF records, DKIM authentication, sender reputation scores. Clean your lists, segment your audiences, optimize your subject lines for spam filters.
The industry has convinced us that good email deliverability means:
Perfect technical setup - All the DNS records properly configured
List hygiene obsession - Remove bounces, segment inactive users
Template optimization - Follow design best practices, mobile-responsive layouts
Subject line science - A/B test everything, avoid spam trigger words
Automation perfection - Set up drip sequences with perfect timing
And yes, these things matter. They absolutely do. But here's what the industry won't tell you: you can have perfect technical deliverability and still have emails that nobody reads, nobody cares about, and nobody responds to.
The real problem isn't whether your email reaches the inbox - it's whether it reaches the human being behind that inbox. Most businesses are so focused on getting past spam filters that they've forgotten how to get past the mental spam filter in people's heads.
Every email marketing guide talks about engagement metrics, but they're measuring the wrong kind of engagement. Sure, your open rates might look good, but are people actually reading your emails? Are they forwarding them to colleagues? Are they replying with questions or feedback?
The conventional approach treats email like a broadcasting channel when it should be treated like a conversation starter. That's where most "best practices" fall apart in the real world.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When I started working on a complete website revamp for a Shopify e-commerce client, the original brief was straightforward: update the abandoned checkout emails to match the new brand guidelines. New colors, new fonts, done. Simple rebrand work.
But as I opened the old email template - with its product grid, discount codes, and "COMPLETE YOUR ORDER NOW" buttons - something felt fundamentally wrong. This was exactly what every other e-commerce store was sending. It looked like it came from a marketing automation playbook, not from a real person who cared about solving someone's problem.
My client was seeing the typical abandoned cart email performance: decent open rates (around 25%), low click-through rates (maybe 3%), and almost zero actual conversations with customers. The emails felt like digital spam, even though they were technically "delivered" perfectly.
During our discovery call, the client mentioned something that stuck with me: "Our customers keep having issues with payment validation, especially with double authentication requirements. We get support tickets about it daily, but we never address it proactively." That was the insight that changed everything.
The traditional approach would have been to optimize the existing template - test different subject lines, adjust the CTA buttons, maybe add some urgency tactics. But I realized we were solving the wrong problem. We weren't dealing with a conversion issue; we were dealing with a communication issue.
Instead of just updating colors and fonts, I proposed something that made my client uncomfortable: what if we completely reimagined these emails as genuine customer service touchpoints rather than sales recovery tools?
The client was skeptical. "This goes against everything we know about email marketing," they said. They were right - and that was exactly the point.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of following the standard abandoned cart email playbook, I decided to break every "rule" and create something that felt human. Here's exactly what I did:
Step 1: Ditched the E-commerce Template
Out went the product grids, the corporate branding, the "COMPLETE YOUR ORDER" buttons. Instead, I designed the email to look like a newsletter someone would actually want to read. Clean, simple, personal.
Step 2: Changed the Perspective
Instead of writing from "[Company Name] Team," I wrote it in first person as if the business owner was reaching out directly. The subject line changed from "You forgot something!" to "You had started your order..." - a subtle shift that feels more like a helpful reminder than a sales pitch.
Step 3: Addressed the Real Problem
Here's where it got interesting. Instead of just asking people to complete their purchase, I acknowledged the friction they might be experiencing. I added a simple troubleshooting section:
Payment authentication timing out? Try again with your bank app already open
Card declined? Double-check your billing ZIP code matches exactly
Still having issues? Just reply to this email - I'll help you personally
Step 4: Made it Two-Way
This was the game-changer. Instead of treating email as a one-way broadcast, I explicitly invited replies. "If you're running into any issues with checkout, just hit reply and let me know. I check these emails personally and can usually sort things out quickly."
Step 5: Removed the Pressure
No countdown timers, no "limited time offer" language, no urgency tactics. Just: "No pressure at all - I know life gets busy. But if you were interested in [product], it's still waiting for you."
The email read like something you'd send to a friend, not like a corporate marketing message. It acknowledged the customer's situation, offered genuine help, and made it clear that a real person was available to assist.
Authentication Issues
Payment problems are the #1 reason for abandoned carts. Address them proactively instead of reactively.
Human Voice
Write from a person, not a brand. People connect with people, not corporate messaging.
Two-Way Communication
Invite replies explicitly. The best customer service happens in conversations, not broadcasts.
Helpful First
Focus on solving problems before selling products. Trust leads to transactions.
The results were immediate and honestly surprising. Within the first week of implementing the new email approach, something fundamental changed in how customers interacted with the business.
The Metrics That Mattered:
Open rates stayed roughly the same (which was expected), but the real magic happened in the responses. Customers started replying to the emails. Not just occasionally - regularly. Some completed their purchases after getting personalized help with payment issues. Others shared specific technical problems that the support team could address.
The Unexpected Outcome:
But here's what nobody anticipated: the email became a customer feedback goldmine. People would reply with questions about shipping, ask for product recommendations, or explain why they were hesitating to buy. Instead of losing these customers to cart abandonment, we were having actual conversations with them.
One customer replied: "Thanks for checking in! I was worried about the return policy for international orders." That single reply led to updating the checkout page with clearer international shipping information, which reduced similar abandonment issues for other customers.
The abandoned cart email had transformed from a recovery tool into a customer research tool. Every reply gave insights into friction points, concerns, and opportunities for improvement that would have been invisible with traditional "optimized" emails.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
After implementing this approach across several client projects and refining the process, here are the key lessons that emerged:
1. People crave human connection - In a world of automated everything, genuine human communication stands out dramatically. When emails feel like they come from real people, engagement skyrockets.
2. Problems are opportunities - Instead of hiding friction points, acknowledge them directly. Customers appreciate transparency and proactive problem-solving.
3. Two-way beats one-way - Traditional email marketing is broadcast communication. The most effective emails start conversations.
4. Help first, sell second - Leading with genuine assistance builds trust faster than any sales technique.
5. Templates can be traps - Following standard templates makes you sound like everyone else. Sometimes the best approach is completely different.
6. Metrics can mislead - Open rates and click-through rates don't tell the full story. Customer conversations and feedback quality matter more.
7. Timing matters less than tone - How you say something matters more than when you say it. A helpful email sent at the "wrong" time beats a salesy email sent at the "perfect" time.
The biggest revelation: email deliverability isn't just about reaching the inbox - it's about reaching the person behind the inbox with something they actually want to read and respond to.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies implementing this approach:
Write trial expiration emails like personal check-ins, not sales pitches
Address common technical issues proactively in automated sequences
Invite replies from real email addresses that someone actually monitors
Use onboarding emails to start conversations about user goals and challenges
For your Ecommerce store
For e-commerce stores applying this framework:
Transform abandoned cart emails into customer support touchpoints
Address shipping and return concerns before customers have to ask
Write post-purchase emails that invite feedback and build relationships
Use product recommendation emails as personal styling advice