I subscribe to a lot of emails. Only a few feel worth opening. Even fewer feel worth reading.
But the problem isn’t email marketing. It’s how many use it to market at people instead of connecting with them.
People don’t hate email. They hate being sold to, talked at, and forgotten as humans.
Email isn’t dead. But writing emails that feel like a gift? That’s rare.
Let’s bring it back. ☕
~ Sarah
Sarah Mae Abji-Endicott
Recess Labs Co-founder & Creative Lead
The real reason no one is reading your newsletter…
Inboxes are sacred space.
They’re also emotional space.
When someone opens your newsletter, they’re not just scanning for info. They’re looking for one of three things:
Relief – from the noise, from urgency, from pressure to perform
Recognition – that someone sees what they’re navigating
Resonance – the “oh wow, that’s exactly what I needed” moment
Most emails fail to deliver any of this.
If your email isn’t being opened (or worse, opened and instantly closed), it’s not because of your subject line. Or your timing or button color.
It’s that the email didn’t offer something your reader truly needed. Emotional connection is what gets people to open the next one. And the next.
5 Email Marketing Shifts for Writing Emails People Actually Want to Read
(a human-centered guide to not being archived on sight)
If your email marketing isn’t landing, it’s probably not because your audience “doesn’t read email.” It’s because your email didn’t give them a reason to care today. No shame, we’ve all sent a few forgettable ones.
Here’s what to shift:
1. Lead with Consent and Clarity
People didn’t invite you into their inbox to be tricked, pressured, or oversold. They came for honesty, usefulness, and care.
If you respect your reader’s inbox, your email should be clear, direct, and grounded in consent. You can skip the clever build-up or mysterious subject line meant to “hook” them. People are tired of being teased into attention.
Be clear about what they can expect, then meet or exceed that promise with consistency and respect. This builds trust so your readers always know what they’re getting and why they should care.
In Action: Make sure every email earns its spot. No surprises, no bait-and-switch subject lines, no pressure-laced CTAs.
2. Write Like a Human, Not a Brand
This is about tone.
You’re not writing a press release. You’re writing to real people. Your subscribers aren’t data points, they’re humans with full lives, full inboxes, and limited attention.
You don’t need to sound polished, prolific, or like you’ve swallowed a thesaurus.
You just need to sound like someone who knows people are tired and that one more fluffy funnel disguised as insight isn’t what they need.
The tone of your email should feel conversational and caring, not corporate and calculated.
So skip the jargon. Drop the posturing. Write like a person talking to another person.
When you do that, your emails stop feeling like noise and start feeling like something worth reading.
In action: Go back through your draft and cut anything that doesn’t offer clarity, connection, or care, even if it’s “good writing.”
3. Cut the fluff. Keep what provides real value.
This is about structure and editing, knowing what’s essential and letting go of the rest.
If you’re trying to include four updates, two calls-to-action, a motivational quote, and a cute story about your cat, you’re doing too much.
Your reader is busy. Their brain is full. So cut until what’s left feels like something a real person would be relieved to read on a busy morning.
You’re stepping into someone’s already-too-full morning. Say one thing that matters. Then stop so your email feels like a welcome pause, not a mental burden.
In Action: Find the one sentence you’d want them to underline or forward to a friend. Build your email around that.
Write the kind of message that earns its place in someone’s day.
4. Write Emails You’d Want to Receive
This is about emotional truth and intention.
If it doesn’t feel honest, meaningful, or at least a little satisfying to write, it probably won’t feel great to read either.
That doesn’t mean every email has to be deeply emotional or beautifully written, but it should feel like something a real person took care with. Something you’d actually want to see in your own inbox.
You don’t need a story arc or a perfect punchline. You need a real thought, shaped by a real experience. Share the thing behind the thing, the moment of doubt, the quiet win, the thought you had before you cleaned it up for public consumption.
Sometimes the most resonant thing you can do is simply say: “Here’s what I’ve been thinking. Maybe it’s useful to you too.”
Because facts don’t move people. Feeling seen does.
In Action: Before you hit send, ask: “Would this make me feel more connected, seen, or curious if it landed in my inbox?”
5. Make the Next Step an Invitation
People subscribe to different newsletters for different reasons. Some are looking for discounts, resources, or inspiration. Some are ready to take action.
But if your newsletter exists to build trust, offer care, or foster community, then pressure-based CTAs don’t just fall flat… they break the spell.
Let the next step feel like an invitation, not a demand. If they’re not ready to click, the email should still have felt worth opening.
In Action: Replace pushy CTA language. For example, “If you’re curious to go deeper, here’s what’s next.”
In Action
Open your most recent newsletter draft and
Cut 25% of the copy, especially the parts that are trying too hard.
Rewrite the subject line like you’re texting someone you care about who’s a little overwhelmed.
Replace your CTA with an invitation, not a pitch.
Ask yourself: “Would I want this to show up in my inbox today?”
Is Email Marketing Dead?
No, but only if you stop writing newsletters people want to ignore.
You don’t need to be a copywriter to write emails that resonate. You just need to remember that a real person is on the other side of the send button.
Email marketing isn’t just strategy, it’s relationship, and every email is a chance to build, or break, that trust.
Write the kind of message that earns its place in someone’s day. They’ll thank you by opening the next one.
Until next week,
Sarah & Jamie
P.S. At Recess Labs, we find that sweet spot where smooth ops meet magnetic messaging to help you scale your impact, not staff overtime. If that sounds like something you’d like support with,here’s where to reach us.
Who we are
At Recess Labs, we partner with nonprofits, public sector, community organizations, and changemakers to design brands, growth strategies, and operations that build trust, grow sustainably, and strengthen community.
