• by Kara Trivunovic , Op-Ed Contributor, July 23, 2015

Many years ago (and I mean MANY), when I started my career in email, I had a mentor whom I still respect very much. She was a critical contributor to my success in the channel. She showed me some tough love, challenged my opinions, and taught me how to be confident in the advice and direction I shared with clients. Most important, she taught me to truly love what I do. Thank you, Tricia Pridemore (or more affectionately referenced by me as TRob).

One of the most important lessons I learned from her was the 40/40/20 Rule of Email Marketing. I would walk into just about any meeting with her, and she would tell clients that 40% of their program’s success was driven by delivering someone the right message; 40% was driven by getting the message to them at the right time; and 20% was determined by the creative. She would say that you could write your offer on a cocktail napkin, in lipstick -- and as long as you handed it to the right person at the right time, you had an 80% chance of converting.

I’ve always been a big believer in this rule, but as engaging images and video became the norm, I wondered if it could still hold water. To be honest, the more I talked with clients and brands about their creative and their content, the further this rule drifted from my head.

Then it hit my inbox: the very best email I have ever received.

It was a Saturday morning, and my family and I were in the car on our way home from a soccer game. We were talking about how I had been chosen for jury duty and had to report to the courthouse that Tuesday. I was checking my email (while my husband was driving, of course) and there it was. An email from “Juryinfo Systems.” The “from” name had me – but I was skeptical. I thought it could be SPAMMY. Then the subject line caught my eye:  “From: Lake Circuit & Superior Courts.” Well, that’s my county, could be legit, I thought. So I opened it.

There wasn’t much to it: three simple sentences. No HTML, no images, no nothing. Just this: “Kara, you DO NOT need to report on 01/20/2015.  Your jury service panel has been released from jury service.  No further action on your part is required.”

I think I might have danced a jig in the car.

The point is that it didn’t matter what the email looked like.  The message came to the right person at the right time. I do receive some pretty good-looking email in my inbox, but that's the one that I remember.

I know this content is pretty unique, but each of us as marketers should be trying to identify that unique message to deliver to our email subscribers: content that's going to make them say that YOUR email was the best email they’ve ever received.

Sometimes we spend a little too much time on the “pretty” and not enough time on the “substance.” Take some time with your program this year to bring some substance back in to it -- and maybe, just maybe, that 40/40/20 rule of email marketing CAN still hold water.

Sometimes we spend a little too much time on the “pretty” and not enough time on the “substance.” Take some time with your program this year to bring some substance back in to it -- and maybe, just maybe, that 40/40/20 rule of email marketing CAN still hold water.