Balancing trends and relevance in email content

I was once obsessed with personalization. Crafting emails with every possible data point. I thought it was the secret sauce to winning over prospects. But I was wrong. In the race for hyper-personalization, many overlook a simple truth: 𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. In my own experience, I've gotten outreached about things that were completely irrelevant. At least they knew where I went to university for a few semesters, right? [insert cheesy line about sports mascot or ur fav local restaurant] Here's how you can shift your focus and see instant results: 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 → Dive into their challenges and needs. → Speak their language, not just what you can easily find out about them. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 → Tailor your messaging to address specific pain points. → Show how your solution fits seamlessly into their world. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴 → Understand the industry landscape. → Align your offering with current trends and issues. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘆 → Focus on actionable insights rather than personal details. → Leverage analytics to identify what truly matters. 𝗕𝗲 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘆 → Timing matters more than ever. → Reach out when they are most likely to need your solution. Now, why does this work? Because when you speak directly to the pressing issues your prospects face, you earn their attention. You become not yet another email in their inbox, but a valuable and trustworthy partner. So, next time you prepare your outreach, ask yourself: Is my message truly relevant? Or am I just ticking personalization boxes? Shift your focus and watch the magic unfold. Have you ever experienced the power of prioritizing relevance over personalization? Let's discuss in the comments below.

Everyone and their dog are writing their “top trends/predictions for 2026” posts right now — and honestly, most of them could’ve been written years ago with a fresh coat of AI paint. So, when I was asked about the trends I saw incoming in 2026, for Knak's blog, I kept coming back to a nagging thought: Are these trends actually new — or are we just finally being forced to take fundamentals seriously? Here’s where I land. 1️⃣ Inbox trust isn’t a trend. It’s a relationship. (If you know me, you know this isn't something new for me to say!) Yes, authentication matters. Yes, inbox providers care about engagement. But trust isn’t built by technical compliance alone. You build trust when: – your subject lines match what’s actually inside the email – personalization feels intentional, not creepy or lazy – accessibility isn’t an afterthought – “last chance” doesn’t show up every Tuesday Trust is created through transparency and restraint, not tricks. Inbox algorithms are just enforcing what subscribers have wanted all along. 2️⃣ The other thing. AI is everywhere, so why isn’t everyone better at email? AI can generate faster, yes. But it can’t decide what deserves to be sent. And sometimes what it does send isn't what customers want. Without clean data, clear guardrails, and thoughtful HUMAN review, AI just helps teams ship more emails that feel generic, misaligned, or irrelevant. 3️⃣ Relevance isn’t just about timing but also, credibility. Inbox placement is increasingly influenced by how people engage over time, not how clever your send-time optimization is. If recipients don’t trust your emails to be useful, honest, or respectful of their attention, you won't get the click and risk losing future inbox visibility. And, lastly, here’s the part I don’t see talked about enough: 4️⃣ Email isn’t owned by one team anymore. Demand gen, growth, product, field marketing — everyone NEEDS to send email now. Not everyone understands deliverability, knows accessibility, or how trust works in the inbox. This is where marketing ops matters — not as gatekeepers, but as system designers and architects. They put up the guardrails that encode best practices, create the templates that protect trust by default, and design processes that make good email easier than bad email. The inbox is getting smarter and less forgiving. If you’re looking for one investment that actually strengthens your email channel in 2026, it’s not another tactic or tool. It’s marketing ops.

When it comes to outbound emails, Personalization is not what gets replies (sorry GTM gurus). RELEVANCE gets replies. Relevance > Personalization. 🟡 Personalization is about making the email feel specific to the person. 🟢 Relevance is about making the email matter to the person. HUGE difference. The problem with many personalized emails is that they focus on superficial details that have nothing to do with the prospect’s actual challenges or goals. Saying, “Hey, I saw you went to [University]!” (or were on XYZ podcast or have a specific job title or are connected to so and so) - none of this creates value. It just shows you (er, your subscription to Clay) can copy and paste information found on the world wide web. Cool 👍 On the other hand, relevance is about tying your message directly to the problems your prospect is trying to solve or the outcomes they’re trying to achieve. It’s about showing you understand what they’re dealing with and positioning yourself as someone who can help. For example, attached is one I got this morning. The problem? It's personalized, but not relevant to me. How could this email have been put together differently to factor in both personalization, AND relevancy? Here is an example (of course it could be MUCH better than what I wrote, if I was actually in this industry and had more relevant info to share): "Hi Jeff, I know as a small business CEO, you’re likely balancing big goals with tight budgets and lean marketing resources. One challenge we often hear from leaders of bootstrapped companies is that finding cost-effective ways to get in front of their ICP with a message that resonates is hard. Podcasts can be a great solution for (XYZ reason). And our company helps with this! I just listed to your episode on (podcast name here) and thought it was great. Do you have the desire to do more, and ultimately use podcasts to drive qualified pipeline? If so, I’d love to explore how a simple podcasting strategy could help Sales Assembly connect with more revenue leaders while keeping costs low. Does that sound like something worth discussing?" _____ See the difference? This version isn’t just personalized—it’s relevant. It acknowledges my reality as a small business CEO, ties their solution directly to my potential challenges, and frames their offer in a way that feels actionable and aligned with my priorities. _____ The best emails don’t just sound like they’re written for someone—they sound like they’re written for a problem. And that’s the difference between getting ignored and getting a reply.

Your prospect doesn’t need another “personalized” email. 🔥 They need a message that actually speaks to what they’re working on right now. Weak personalization isn’t just lazy, it’s costing you pipeline. And the worst part? You’re doing more work for less return! Personalisation makes sense only when there’s relevance. And relevance starts with research. Here’s what we learned from our campaigns that showed positive results👇 ✅Segment before you write Not everyone should get the same message. We look at: → Role + seniority → Growth signals (funding, hiring, churn) → GTM motion (product-led, sales-led, channel, etc.) ✅Tie your message to real impact Don’t pitch features. Speak to pain or missed opportunity. One example: A RevOps lead was ignoring job change data. We showed them how much revenue they were leaving on the table by not tracking their champions. It was nearly 2x their current pipeline potential. ✅Scale with smart systems Skip writing 100 mediocre messages. And instead focus on 5 great ones that feel custom to each segment. Here’s how: ✅ Airtight segments ✅ Dynamic fields that actually say something useful ✅ Templates built around use cases — not features Our go-to framework: [Trigger] + [Pain] + [Impact] = Hook What to avoid: ❌ Overused triggers (“saw you raised funding”) ❌ Lazy intros (“Hope this finds you well”) ❌ Talking about you before talking about them If your message doesn’t matter to them, it won’t matter at all. Real personalization works, when it actually means something to them. Want better replies? Start by understanding what matters to your buyer before you hit send. #personalisation #outboundsales

In business development, we often hear that messaging needs to be personalized. But what's frequently overlooked 👀 is the equally, if not more, important concept of relevance. Whether writing a cold email, building a landing page, crafting website copy, or producing thought leadership, understanding the difference between being relevant and being personalized is essential. 💭 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲? 🥅 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 means the message speaks to a real challenge or goal the prospect is experiencing. It answers: "𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘄?" Examples include:  • A shift in strategic priorities  • A recent hire, funding round, or campaign  • Engagement with your content or brand 🙋♀️ 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 adds specificity to make the message feel unique for them. It answers: "𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗺𝗲?" Examples include:  • Name, company, industry, or job title  • Insights from interviews, articles, or social posts  • Background details like interests or affiliations Here's the nuance: if personalization is surface-level or disconnected from their challenges, it's just noise. Referencing someone's alma mater or favorite sports team doesn't move the needle if you're not addressing a business problem they care about. 📊 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲/𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘅 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮 𝘁𝘄𝗼-𝗯𝘆-𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘅:  • 𝗫-𝗮𝘅𝗶𝘀: Low to High Personalization  • 𝗬-𝗮𝘅𝗶𝘀: Low to High Relevance ↙️ 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺-𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 (𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻): The spray-and-pray approach. Generic and forgettable. ↘️ 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺-𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 (𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻): You reference something personal, but the message lacks strategic value. Today's buyers spot this quickly. ↖️ 𝗧𝗼𝗽-𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 (𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻): Still effective. A well-timed, well-targeted message can resonate even without deep customization. ↗️ 𝗧𝗼𝗽-𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 (𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻): This is the goal. You've identified a pivotal problem and connected the dots with tailored messaging that proves you understand them. If resources are tight, prioritize relevance. But for maximum impact, combine it with smart, thoughtful personalization. That's how messaging earns attention—and drives real conversations. ___ 📥 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀? Join 40,000+ agency and consulting leaders getting smarter about business development—subscribe to my "𝘕𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘞𝘪𝘯" newsletter. https://lnkd.in/gv2CvHNU

“We don’t want to annoy people…” That’s what a founder told me when I asked her why they weren’t sending more emails. Totally fair concern. They sell a gifting product for kids. Not something people need every week. But here’s what they didn’t realize… It’s not how often you email. It’s how relevant the emails are. Because when the content actually resonates with the reader? You can email way more than you think… and get more clicks, more sales, and fewer unsubscribes. Here’s how to make that happen: 1. Segment by scenario. Sending a birthday reminder to a grandparent? Different tone than a “congrats on the new baby” email. Different again from “hey, school’s starting, don’t forget a back-to-school gift.” Same product. Different angles. More relevance. 2. Stop talking about the product. Start talking about the moment. What it means. How it feels. What the gift represents. People don’t want a toy or a box. They want to feel like a gift-giving rockstar. (Your copy should reflect that.) 3. Rotate soft sells + hard sells. Some emails should sell. Some should make people feel seen. Some should build anticipation. Some should start a story and pay it off later. You don’t need a discount to drive action, just a reason that matters to the reader. Here’s the deal: If your emails feel repetitive, irrelevant, or kind of awkward… It’s not because you’re “emailing too much.” It’s because you’re not making it about them. And that’s GOOD news. Because once you fix that? → More opens → More clicks → More sales → Less stress about “over-emailing” And the best part? You don’t need 17 flows, 92 segments, or a Pixar-quality brand story to do this. You just need to know what to say, when to say it, and how to tie it to what you sell. If that’s something you want help with, I do this all day. Lemme know and I’ll show you how it works.