Say au revoir to stale, unimaginative emails that scream "Like us on Facebook" or "Follow us on Twitter." Instead, show your customers what they are missing by bringing a snapshot of the conversation right into their inbox. The content on social is a free and easy way to fill your email offering without a lot of effort from the email team.

"Well, it looks like adidas wins this one by a landslide. I love Nike's desktop website and prefer it to Under Armour's, but it just doesn't handle email subscription very well (an admittedly niche bit of UX, but one that shouldn't be forgotten). Keep your eyes peeled, I'll be looking at more website features from these three giants soon."

The email equivalent of cold calling is sending thousands of emails to random contacts on an email list. If you're using the "spray and pray" approach to email marketing with a list of registered subscribers, then you're squandering your assets. And if you're not working with an opt-in list, then you're not an email marketer at all -- you're a spammer.

While it is great to curate others' content, it is even better to curate your own. You can do themed roundups of the guides, how-tos, tips and tactics, infographics, and interview series you have created in newsletters. It is good to mix up the roundups with regular newsletters containing fresh content. Use a content calendar to plan what (theme) you plan to roundup and when.

Many brands pour their time and resources into creating homogenous content and email marketing campaigns that appeal to the masses. But organisations must continue to adapt and change with their customers, no matter how effectively traditional advertising has been proven to perform in the past. According to the DMA, over 75% of email revenue is generated by triggered campaigns.

Subscriber expectations have grown steadily over the years, driven higher by a wide range of factors, including the adoption of smartphones, the increase in targeting and the rise in omnichannel experiences. For email marketers to be successful, they must meet or exceed these expectations, which can be measured by a set of success metrics and a set of failure metrics.