Did you know there are about 361 BILLION emails sent every day? That is TOO MANY EMAILS. It’s no wonder the sight of an inbox overflowing with bolded subject lines screaming for attention is universally soul-crushing. For marketers, it’s even worse. How do we craft emails that actually stand out, earn a click, and (gasp) drive action—without ending up in the digital Unsubscribe graveyard? It’s not easy!

We’ve spent the past year obsessing over email trends and tactics: the good, the bad, and the downright cringe-worthy. We’ve attended every webinar, skimmed every industry report, and shamelessly judged our clients’ efforts along with those emails that land in our own inboxes. So grab your coffee (or wine, no judgment), and let’s dive into our top tips for email marketing greatness in 2025.

1. Keep It Simple, Not Stupid

Remember the #1 reason you’re sending B2B emails? Trust. You want to build relationships, deliver value, and—eventually—sell more stuff, more easily.

Let’s face it. There is a lot of crap email out there! I spend one Monday a month doing an objective litmus test of the emails in my inbox. Some emails are too long, others too vague, some clearly have no idea what I do for a living (no, I am not interested in developing off-shore code) and some are so epically bad they literally go straight to our Wall of Shame. However, when we find one of the rare few that piques our interest and actually makes us read, engage, or share the content, we pass it around the office as a reminder of what works. Of course, we always look at the data, too, (see #8) because it doesn’t really matter what we like, it just matters what works.

Pro Tip: Always ask: “Would I open and read this if it landed in MY inbox?” If the answer is a hard no, go back to the drawing board.

2. Remember It’s Not All About YOU

Newsflash: Your audience doesn’t wake up excited to hear about your product launch, your webinar, or your quarterly update. They care about themselves.

When crafting your message, you should always ask: “So what? Why should they care?” Are we solving a pain point? Making their life easier? Offering something genuinely valuable? If not, there’s a delete or an unsubscribe in our future.

Pro Tip: Count how many times your email says “we” vs. “you.” Shift the balance in favor of your reader. We went through this exercise with a client and when we rewrote their product launch email from a “We’re so excited to share” tone to a “You’ll love this because” vibe, click-through rates doubled.

3. Be Conversational

Nobody wants to read an email that sounds like it was written by a boring engineer or a stodgy lawyer (sorry to all of my engineer and lawyer friends but you know it’s true!). Here’s a fun fact: Emails written in a casual, conversational tone have a 15% higher open rate than overly formal ones.

So keep your story short, snappy, and—most importantly—human. Your reader should feel like you’re talking to them, not at them. Ask yourself: “Would I actually say this out loud at a conference or cocktail party?” Tell a story that’s interesting, compelling and genuine and you’ll be more popular than the open bar.

Pro Tip: Start with a strong opening line. Something relatable or cheeky works wonders: “Ever feel like your inbox has turned into a digital dumpster fire?”

4. H.I. Is More Important Than A.I

At Targa, we believe that AI and HI (human intelligence) work hand in hand. AI will become more pervasive and incrementally smarter, but it can’t replace humans. The value of REAL stories and REAL content that resonates with REAL humans will become increasingly valuable. Emails that feel genuine—not generated—are the ones people will engage with and remember.

Pro Tip: Tell the story your readers want or need to hear and make it personal. Let AI help you with the polish and the editing but keep the core genuine and human.

5. Start With WHY

Targa always promotes the value of marketing with purpose. Sometimes it’s hard, especially when we have a lot of good, valuable information to share. But every email we send should have a purpose. Are we trying to get someone to sign up, download, or buy? Whatever it is, we have to make that clear, compelling, and easy to act on.

Too many CTAs can dilute your message. So we stick to one primary goal, with a secondary backup option if needed (e.g., “Register for the webinar” vs. “Learn More”).

Pro Tip: Emails with a single, focused CTA get 371% more clicks than ones with multiple conflicting actions.

6. Choose your Own Adventure

Sometimes, it’s okay to give your readers options. A quick roundup email with small, punchy teasers lets them choose what piques their interest. A client’s teaser-style newsletter saw 40% higher engagement rates when they gave readers a few focused choices.

Think of it like headline news, a veritable newsletter buffet—something for everyone, but not too much of anything.

Pro Tip: Track which teasers get the most clicks. Use that data to guide future content strategy.

7. Get @*$%-ing Creative!

It’s true. A little humor, a little shock-and-awe, sometimes even a little swear word here and there can help break through the clutter. Think infotainment: inform + entertain. Remember, you’re not just competing with other emails—you’re up against every piece of content on the internet where we look for news and information. And, guess what. We read it because it’s entertaining! Just like nobody wants to be stuck by the boring guy at a party, you also don’t want to read that guy’s emails. Keep it real, keep it entertaining, keep it fun, keep it weird.

Think of it like headline news, a veritable newsletter buffet—something for everyone, but not too much of anything.

Pro Tip: Test bold subject lines or unexpected visuals. Just make sure they align with your brand voice.

8. Get It Moving and Shaking

Animations in email get attention. And that’s important when you’re trying to stand out. Guess what else? They’re entertaining! Or informational! Or both if you’re doing it right. Keep it simple and intentional and even a subtle animation can draw the eye, highlight key content, and make your message stick. It’s like email gold! Really. Emails with GIFs see a 25% higher engagement rate!

Think of it like headline news, a veritable newsletter buffet—something for everyone, but not too much of anything.

Pro Tip: The first frame of any animation needs to have all of the content you want to show in a static image.

9. Data Trumps Opinion, Always

Let’s face it, we all have opinions. Some are good, some are bad, some are downright stupid! I had a brilliant boss who always used the phrase “Well, data trumps opinion” and she never hesitated to throw down that gauntlet when someone offered up their thoughts on a specific headline or subject line.

The data is key, and testing is imperative. Here’s a fun fact: A/B tested subject lines can improve open rates by 49% on average! It just goes to show that no amount of creative or strategic suggestions matter if you don’t do the analytics and let the data guide you. Test, analyze, iterate, optimize, repeat. Always.

Pro Tip: Stay focused on the metrics that matter: Click through rate (CTR), Read rate, Unsubscribe rate. Don’t drown in data — swim in insights.

The Final Word

Email marketing isn’t going anywhere. But it’s important to stay up on the trends, understand the data, and lean on the experts to do it well and create emails that people want to read. When you focus on trust, clarity, creativity, and a sprinkle of sass, your emails don’t just land in inboxes—they jump into action.

Ready to level up your email game in 2025? Let Targa help you craft email marketing campaigns that get opened, clicked, and remembered.

LEARN MORE 🚀

Inspiration for our Everyday Work

“Customer connections don’t require abundant experience, but rather a desire to be authentic and gutsy.”

How to Call Upon your Vagus Nerve

• Compassion: Approach interactions with genuine care. Compassion not only builds trust but also reduces stress for everyone involved.
• Authentic “Me” Time: Prioritize moments that recharge you, whether that’s a walk, meditation, or time with family.
• Face-to-face Conversations: Whenever possible, meet customers and colleagues in person. There’s no substitute for the connection of real-world interactions.

Build a Culture of Authenticity

Bringing it All Together

A Season for Gratitude

Perhaps you’ve heard this tale before:

In a quaint little village, three shoemakers had shops on the same street. One day, the first shoemaker put up a sign in front of his shop that read, “The Best Shoemaker in the Country.”

Not to be outdone, the second shoemaker, a few doors down, put up a sign that read, “The Best Shoemaker in the World.”

The third shoemaker, who was more modest but clever, thought for a moment and then put up his own sign. His sign simply read: “The Best Shoemaker on This Street.”

It may seem like customers care primarily about a brand or a product when they are willing to stand in long lines overnight for a product release; however, one must look past the product and recognize what the brand message or the product is promising. This is what the customer cares about. A customer doesn’t love their Apple watch more than they love the efficiency, style, and prestige the product promises. That kind of purchase has nothing to do with a device that tells the time. Instead, the purchase is about how it will make the customer feel.

Building a story brand

Messaging with a customer focus isn’t new, but it appears to be something to revisit frequently within any organization since the needs of customers are constantly evolving. New York Times Best Selling author Donald Miller presents a framework in how to get this done in his book ‘Building a Story Brand’. In these pages, Miller suggests that companies must identify the ‘hero’s journey’ their customers are experiencing and aim to play a supporting/guide role within it.

Companies should aim to be the Yoda rather than the Skywalker, or the Doc Brown rather than the Marty McFly. Miller’s Story Brand outline shows how companies can keep customer messaging as its highest priority.

• A character (your customer)
• Has a problem (customer’s unfulfilled need)
• And meets a guide (you/your company)
• Who gives them a plan (your company’s promise)
• And calls them to action (your company’s product in use)
• That ends in success (customer’s needs successfully met at or above expectation)
• That helps them avoid failure (the uncomfortable alternative of living with unmet needs)

Every single movie, from Top Gun to Toy Story, moves along this formula. It is natural and comfortable for your customer to do so as well. It’s what they are secretly hoping for! All that is required is for companies to know their guide/mentor role within their customer’s story.

Conclusion

So what hero’s journey is your target customer currently experiencing? How can you appear in their path as a viable mentor? Studying the likes of Doc Hudson, Mr. Miyagi, Albus Dumbledore, Goose, and Wilson the volleyball may help drum up some ideas. Recognizing the needs your organization satisfies will inevitably bring you closer to your customers. Making your marketing message about them and filling their needs is the key to ultimately riding off into the sunset.

I’m not an Olympian by any stretch, but I have an Olympic story. My mountain shadow Olympic ski parka has hung in the same closet now for over 20 years. I don’t wear it much (never really), but I love it. Who knows, maybe it will be back in style in ten years (along with my USA Roots beret). I don’t really see it as a warm parka though. It’s a sentimental object imbued with the memories I made while wearing it in the chilly air of the Ogden Ice Sheet. In 2002, it kept me warm as I watched hours and hours of Olympic curling. In 2024, it keeps my memories of that time in vivid color.

I’ve always been a big fan of the Olympic games. When the entire world is watching, it makes sense to me to check out sporting events I might not normally give much attention to. I enjoy a nice Olympic binge for two weeks, and that tends to satisfy my Olympic-competition craving for the next four years when these same sports will then suddenly become interesting once again.

These games aren’t all about the wins or losses though. I love the human element, the stories of the individual athletes, the history of the host cities, and the historic venues, the volunteers… Volunteering in various capacities during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City is a fond memory. Working behind the scenes made it seem like I was getting a sneak peek into the theme and visual design of those Olympic games before anyone else.

I really have grown to love the graphic design behind each Olympic games and how it evolves each year. More and more, host cities are seizing the opportunity to use branding and design to accomplish more than basic way-finding signs and universal-language iconography. They are creating stories that can influence the human family. This is one of the reasons why graphic design is so exciting to me: a host city, who may never again be in the same kind of global spotlight, gets to step up to a world-wide microphone and speak. What is it they’ll wish to say?

Within the many elements of Olympic branding, and one that seems to garner significant attention each go around, are the pictograms illustrating each of the different sports featured during the games. Whether you’re into design or not, it is likely you’ve got an opinion about these each time they’re introduced. Click here to get a visual timeline of notable designs.

Fast forwarding through the years and we see notable design decisions indicating layers of meaning in these curious little icons. These pictograms become multifaceted in their messaging: represent the sport, extend the brand, support a theme, and represent the host city. That is a heavy lift for any designer to build. Years of examples demonstrate how this can be done in different ways through angles, organic lines, positive and negative space, and so on.

I’m excited to see the 2024 Olympics pictograms show a very out-of-the-box thinking compared to previous years. The geometry, consistent across sports, speaks to the art history and culture of Paris. There isn’t a human figure in any of the pictograms, but rather a representation of each sport’s field of play and associated equipment. The symmetry in each design reminds me of the competition of the sport.

This imagery and branding helps set the stage for the stories that will unfold during these games. However, I would argue the charm of the Olympics IS story. The victories, defeats, medals or last place finishes lose all interest without a broader context. Each individual athlete brings that gift to the table. The Olympic branding is simply the party décor and the custom gift wrapping. The reason they are so valued in conjunction with the games is how they help the color of our Olympic memories from fading.

Marketing is a lot like a puzzle

Simple, right? You have a bunch of pieces that you’re trying to assemble into a clear picture. I have these things. I need people to buy them. Make me a flyer. Easy enough.

Filling In the Blanks

Jason’s Take

Love it! Flipping over puzzle pieces, when the missing pieces aren’t on the floor, under the sofa, we use our imaginations and our ingenuity to fill in the blanks. And we stick with it because puzzle-solving is fun. Marketing—like puzzle solving—is not always linear. Everybody has their own go-to steps and tactics. But also we marketers have to change up our preferred tactics sometimes. Okay, I’m getting way too transcendental. You just got me thinking about stuff here.