Email marketing communications are the backbone of many brands and retailers marketing strategies.

It is a form of direct marketing and allows brands to connect with subscribers to promote their products and content. It can be used to strengthen customer loyalty and grow engagement.

For many retailers email marketing can be a cost-effective way to directly engage with its customer base and can be used to strengthen customer loyalty and grow engagement.

Email marketing can also be automated to enhance a campaign.

But how do you make your communications stand out?

Shauna Murphy CRM Manager at Hotel Chocolat and creative agency Cheil UK’s CEO Chris Camacho explain.

According to Murphy, the effectiveness has become “more challenging over recent years”, however it can still be very effective if a retailer’s strategy “evolves along with customer behaviour”.

She says: “Many brands are too focused on high frequency, offer-heavy batch sends and short term gains. Where email can still be really powerful is in relationship building, lifecycle programmes and build long term customer value.”

Camacho explains that email is one of the most “reliable drivers of revenue in retail”.

He says: “The difference in 2026 is that it cannot be treated as a broadcast tool. The most effective retailers are using data, behavioural signals and increasingly AI to trigger highly relevant messages at the right moment. Done well, email becomes part of a connected commerce ecosystem, supporting search, social and retail media rather than operating in isolation.”

One of the first hurdles marketers face when sending out email communications is the subject line. Subject lines are the first thing a consumer see’s when viewing an email (aside from the sender name) and its important that brand’s stand out to ensure people actually click on their communications.

You can have the most interesting email in the world but it won’t matter if the subject line doesn’t grab the viewers attention.

Murphy explains that it can be tricky to write a subject line as everyone is trying to get the “perfect standout”.

She says:”Sometimes you get a real gem but they are hard replicate and often can veer into click-bait territory and be a bit gimmicky,” she explains.

“What can be more powerful is landing right message, at the right moment when it’s relevant to the customer – like reminding someone to top-up their drinking chocolate around the time we know they’re likely to be running low, or reminding them of a Birthday we know they need to buy a gift for.”

Another factor marketing teams need to be aware of when designing email communications is personalisation.

Camacho believes that personalisation turns email communications from “interruptions to relevance”.

He says: “When messages reflect a customer’s interests, purchase history or browsing behaviour, they feel helpful rather than intrusive. AI is accelerating this by allowing retailers to dynamically generate content tailored to individuals, not segments.

“In practice this means different products, imagery, messaging and timing for different customers. The closer an email feels to something chosen for you, the more likely it is to earn the click.”

Murphy agrees, believing personalisation makes the emails more relevant to the consumer. She adds that it can also make customers lives easier; reducing effort by showing them exactly what they want to buy next, be that flavours or types of products.

She says: “Customers have less and less tolerance for friction and more likely to click if we make it easier for them to find what they want.”

Murphy believes that if retailers want to turn clicks into sales, they need to have a “clear transparent journey”

She says: “Click-baity subject lines can be really powerful in driving the clicks – but they often don’t deliver on the promise and then the sales don’t follow.

“Pre-empting  any barriers to purchase up-front and addressing these in the email content can also help drive the sale – such as product education, customer reviews, quality reassurance – to create confidence in the purchase decision.

Camacho adds: “The biggest mistake retailers make is treating the click as the finish line. It is only the start. The landing experience must be seamless, fast and consistent with the promise in the email.”

He explains that clear storytelling, social proof and simple checkout journeys help keep customers engaged. AI is also being increasingly used by retailers to “optimise landing pages” in real time based on shoppers behaviour.

Murphy says: “We all have fallen into the trap of just sending more emails and batch and blast offers via email when sales are tough. This may look great from a short-term revenue point of view but it’s not a sustainable to way to grow value from your customer base.

“One of the biggest things we’ve done is testing with control groups to see true impact of frequency and send volume to find a healthier balance of short-term revenue with long term customer value.

According to Camacho retailers need to “stop thinking in campaigns and start thinking in journeys”.

He said: “The opportunity is to use email as part of a broader connected commerce strategy, triggered by behaviour across search, website activity and purchase history. Brands that focus on relevance, timing and genuine value will continue to see email outperform many newer channels.”

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