Once upon a time, Ben Settle accidentally sent the same version of an email to his list 10 times back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-well, you get the point.
If you were on his list at the time, one minute you had zero Ben Settle emails in your inbox. And the next minute, you had 10. A minor problem on Gmail’s desktop app since all the emails get grouped together. But absolute overload on mobile, where Apple Mail does no such grouping of emails together.
Anyway, this was a complete accident. Ben apologized when he realized what had happened. And he suspected that he’d get a bunch of unsubscribes from it—but he didn’t because he’s Ben Settle and typical email mistakes don’t apply to legends like him.
(And the obvious: Everyone knew he did this on accident and wasn’t intentionally spamming and jamming the same email down his entire lists’ throats ten times.)
But Ben’s story ain’t what I teased you with in the subject line. It was just to set the stage for the absolute bombshell I’m about to drop on you.
Here goes:
About a month or so ago, I decided to spy on my client’s competitors to see what they were doing in their emails. (Another benefit of working with a freelancer since my email is branded by my business’s website, not yours.)
And for the past few days, I’ve been having a severe case of déjà vu every time I see an email from one of my client’s competitors. As with any case of déjà vu, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until 5 minutes ago.
This particular competitor sent me an email the past three days. And each one had a similar subject line, so I thought. Until I searched for this brand in my inbox.
Turns out, it wasn’t a similar subject line…
But The Same Exact
Blessed Subject Line They Sent Me The Past Three Days!
I decided to take a looksie into the actual emails too instead of just ignoring them like I usually have because the subject line ain’t all that great to start. (It only gets worse when you send it three days in a row.)
Guess what:
NOT ONLY did they send the same subject line each day, but they also sent…
The Same Exact Email
!
Now, I first thought that maybe they were doing a brain dead “resend to unopened” campaign (which tanks deliverability and if your email sucks, then, well, it was all for naught).
But when I searched them, I first realized that I had opened the first one of these emails. So its even worse than a resend to unopened campaign—they’re literally just sending the same exact email to their list each and every day.
I’d like to talk to whichever guru or intern (because I can’t tell which is more likely to recommend this literal brain dead strategy) recommended this.
But it gets worse, cully, it gets worse…
The most appalling thing I saw when I searched their name in my inbox was three straight days of sending the exact same subject line and email.
But when I looked a bit further in the history of their emails, I see that they’ve sent this exact email not three times, not four times,
But 5 God-Forsaken Times In Just The Past Week!
Since January 1st, they’ve sent a daily email. 5 of these emails have been the email I’ve been talking about.
But the other three days?
The other three days, they sent another “same exact email” three times.
Despite emailing me 8 times to start 2025, they’ve sent “Email A” five times and “Email B” three times.
And it only gets worse further down in the history.
They’ve been sending me almost the same exact mf email since I joined their list.
This is your competition lol.
And people wonder why some say email is dead.
Yeah, it’s dead if your “strategy” ends at sending the same exact lame-as-fvck email several times without even so much as changing a single word in the email or subject line.
This ain’t even creative bankruptcy. It’s downright insulting.
Not just to me or to email copywriters or even their customers.
But to the entirety of the digital marketing space and marketplace—and anyone with more than one lonely brain cell running the show.
I’m not kidding when I say this:
I have NEVER stumbled upon a worse set of emails. And I’ve had Nigerian princes in my spam folder for as long as I can remember.
The good news?
Your email strategy physically CANNOT be worse than this.
The better news?
I can help you create and implement a strategy that not only improves whatever you’re doing now, but also creates a stronger bond and connection with your customers and leads too.
Hit reply, and let’s chat.
John
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